Magic

Matter and form, all creation, is subject to the sacred power of the Will. -ibn Jabīrūl, philosopher

Magic is the art of imposing the symbolic over the literal.

Mages change the physical world by interacting with the metaphysical. All ideas and concepts are connected through associations and representations. Everything great and small influences the whole. Perceiving the world as a web of conceptual aspects, mages can use narrative logic in place of empiricism. That is to say, because reality is defined by ideas, and mages are creatures that can think, they can, with the willpower and ritual process, make the world work the way they imagine.
Philosophers talk about the cosmos as existing in three layers. The Elemental Realm, also called the material realm, is the world of math, chemistry and physics. Mortals appear to be composed of the stuff of this realm, though they have a presence and a connection to the upper realms greater than that of inanimate objects. Any "place" that one can inhabit contains stuff of the Elemental Realm, including otherworldly planes. It is made of matter.
The Empyrean Realm, also called the arcane realm, is the world of stories, metaphors and tropes. Every culture, every writer, every dreamer, feeds into this plane of consciousness. Incarnations are composed of the stuff of this realm, each of them being a unique blend of Elemental Realm matter and defined by their Empyrean Realm symbolism, from where their identity and powers originate. Instead of objects made from matter, this realm is made from virtues or motifs.
The Divine Realm, or the intellectual realm contains the essences, meanings, and beliefs that the lower realms are built from. It is said the lower realms are reflections of this, and that this realm is the source of everything sacred and profane. Celestials and their demonic counterparts resemble incarnations, but are composed of ideas from this realm. Gods are the worshiped embodiments of the Divine Realm: philosophical concepts that take on aspects and sometimes matter from the lower realms to manifest. This realm is made of ideals and domains.
The Divine Realm's ideals flow down into the Empyrean Realm's aspects, down to the Elemental World's base matter. Magic interposes the practitioner into this process. Because this is an act of will and creative expression, no magic can happen without effort. A mage performs a specific set of actions, a ritual that symbolizes the way their will should be reality. A ritual can use the written or spoken word, specific gestures and movements, or items prepared for the purpose. Different disciplines have different rituals they use, but the end result is a magical change in the world called a spell. Invocation is calling upon a spell that is still in effect to affect a new situation. It is simpler to invoke an object or being that has been bespelled than it is to do the ritual that cast it. To cast a spell requires knowledge, but something bespelled can be invoked by instinct or accident. An incarnation or other immortal can invoke themselves to do a specific effect tied to their type of being. The opposite of invocation is thaumaturgy. Also known as "great ritual magic", thaumaturgy is the practice of involving multiple types of ritual and often multiple casters into a dramatic magical working that creates a novel spell effect.
The energy for these changes is called aether. Aether comes from natural processes, like living things, weather, and heavenly bodies. It flows through the earth in the same way it does living creatures: in dense networks of roads or canals that flow across them. The currents running through the earth are called leylines, and it is these that mages tap to work magic. Aether can be drawn into the body like breath and shaped with a spell like air into words. Cultural concepts both emanate from and flow into the collective consciousness. This meaning is imposed on aether, creating magic. "Pure" aether does not exist: because magic is inseparable from meaning, all aether has a virtue or ideal attached to it. When a mage tries to alter reality, they use aether that has the concept they want, or impose a concept onto aether they have drawn. As this "shaped" aether dissipates, reality returns to normal, unless the magical working can continue to draw aether into itself. Incarnations are often drawn to, or the source of, the virtues that cling to natural aether. Mapping leylines, understanding what makes them connect and shift, is an important part of magical study.
A spell of any discipline can fail if done incorrectly. Depending on what kind of magic one studies, there are different requirements. Some require flexible creativity, or a certain mental and emotional focus, or the perfect precise execution of the ritual actions, or some combination. If the ritual for the spell is not skilled enough, or the effect too grand the spell will consume more aether than is desired. For some disciplines, this drains the spellcaster of their vitality, leaving them exhausted if they do not abandon the spell. For others, the excessive aether is itself harmful, burning through the body's channels and damaging both their physical health and spiritual ability. Mages quickly learn their limitations, not daring to cast a spell beyond their skill unless they are desperate. Limitations of aether can be mitigated with tools, with additional spellcasters, or with modifications to the ritual, but every spellcaster has limits. A sloppy or lazy mage will tax their body more, a poorly done spell fades more quickly and is easier to break, and mages do on occasion die from miscasting.
The different disciplines of magic are usually divided as such:

• Wizardry is the how of magic and uses poetic language to describe the change the wizard wants to take place. This is done by wizards and other scholarly magicians.
• Witchcraft is the who of magic and uses acting and aesthetics to emulate the type of person or spirit for whom a spell should happen for. This is done by witches.
• Sorcery is the what of magic, using magically reactive or symbolic components to create ensorcelled beings or objects that are magical tools. This is done by and to sorcerers, and also by artificers and alchemists.
• Liturgy is the why of magic, using ideals and philosophy to assert that the correct state of the world is in keeping with the caster's beliefs. It is done by clergy, priests and other holy men.
• Spellsong is the when of magic, using performances to recreate a spell that once happened in the past. Bards are most well known for it, but it is common peasant magic.
• Animism is the where of magic, connecting the natural properties of locations to the types of effects they best symbolize. Shamans, druids, and other old traditions use this approach.
• Cultivation is the whence of magic, seeking to alter the properties of the spirit to change how cultivators interact with magic. Monks, berserkers, and other ascetics practice this.

Type

Metaphysical, Supernatural