Magic

What is magic?
Magic is the product of 1)arcane energy and 2) the will of an arcana user.
We know that arcane energy has been unleashed and made readily accessible upon the surface of Rifts Earth in the form of Ley Lines and Nexus Points. But just because it is there and ready to be exploited does not mean that everyone who can does so the same way. There are many different means that people have of accessing and manipulating it to their own ends.
This is a description of who can access arcane power and how they use it:
Shifter: Like directing the flow of a stream using earthenworks, pipes and valves, Shifters direct the flow of raw arcane energy through the use of sigils, runes and rituals. This gives them access to more raw power than any other arcane user. Shifters rely on the flow being constant but will install aspects into their constructions to manage power fluctuations. Unfortunately, sometimes power surges in the arcane flow are so massive they overpower even these safety devices, to disastrous results. There are three major areas of focus for shifters:

• Summoners: Specialize in extra dimensional travel and communication
• Brauchers: Masters of Folk magic, charms, talismans and wards.
• Diabolists: Creating self-powerd magical items using the souls of summoned entities
• Shifters are not limited to only one of these areas and may delve into each as deep as they desire.

Sorcerer: Sorcerers have no inherent arcane abilities or powers. Through intense study and praxis, they have learned how to use Shifter-made artifacts as well as Technowizardry constructions to harness the arcane energy around them.
Ley Line Walker: Ley line walkers tap into the flow of arcane energy, drawing it through themselves and manipulating it with their own mental discipline. Since Ley Line walkers draw only the power they need to produce the desired magical effects, there is very little risk of runaway magic. The breadth of Ley Line Walkers' arcane abilitis is limited only by their will and mental discipline, so they have become the epitome of spellcasting on Rifts Earth.
Tattoo Magic: Those who use tattoo magic do so in a meld of how shifters use sigils and runes and how Ley Line Walkers tap into arcane energies. Users of magic tattoos tap into arcane energy the same way Ley Line walkers do, but rather than manipulating it through practice and discipline, they just channel it through their tattoos to achieve the desired effects.
Life Magic: Arcane energy is the energy of life, from which the raw lifeforce of living things comes and to which it returns. So it can be said that every living being inherently possesses a certain amount of arcane energy. If Shifters and Ley Line Walkers use raw external arcane power, Biomancers manipulate that raw lifeforce contained within all living things. Biomancers use the lifeforce within living things reshape them, augment them, and empower them to produce the desired effects. Biomancers have little need for technology as all their needs can be met by modififying the natural world around them.
Besides biomancers, there are others who tap directly into the lifeforce of living beings, consuming or even sacrificing it for their own desired effects. Among these are Psi-Stalkers, Animators, Diabolists and BioWizards.

Spirit Magic: Related to Life Magic, spirit magic is associated with the spirit world, an entire parallel world created out of pure arcane energy populated with and given form by the collective beliefs of the people of Earth. Shamans have the ability to beseech the spirit world to grant them powers and abilities. In these cases, the spirits dole out arcane power to Shamans for the requested effects.
Warlocks, like Shamans, also draw their powers and abilities from the Spirit World. Rather than beseeching the spirits for donations of power like shamans, Warlocks actually invite elemental spirits to coexist in themselves, merging their spirits together to become a new more powerful lifeform and accessing this surplus of life energy to produce their effects.

Stone Magic: Even inanimate objects can be affected by the flow of raw arcane energy. Like how magnetism affects the patterns and arrangement of ferrous and magnetic materials and crystals, so the flow of arcane energies also affects the formation and state of magic-compliant materials. Practitioners of Stone Magic have learned how to arrange these materials and even pump arcane energy through them in order to achieve their desired effects. It was the study of pyramids that led to this unique branch of magic. Anyone with an arcane background can learn stone magic, but only Atlanteans and a rare few others have ever learned it to a practical extent.
Technowizardry: Technology obeys the laws of the physical universe. Magic does not. When magic and technology interact, the results are unpredictable; often causing neither magic nor technology to work as intended. However, there are some who work in the overlap of magic and technology, who can not only predict the resultant interactions, but who can achieve the interactions they desire. These people are called Technowizards and their twiz constructions channel the arcane energy of their weilders, and in some cases use it to magnify and direct raw arcane energy itself.
Others: Finally there are those who produce magic-like effects. Witches and most Mystics fall into this category. They are granted powers and abilities through the direct intervention of a greater power. Whether this power comes from the access to arcane energy or some other method depends entirely upon the nature of the greater power.