Primeval Magic Physical / Metaphysical Law in Arcane Realm | World Anvil

Primeval Magic

Magic Power that is associated most commonly with nature and natural phenomena, especially the natural elements. It is also associated with the background magic power of a realm that permeates through all objects and lifeforms on an entire world in various degrees. Many things that are exposed to the magical field on a daily basis, can retain some of this energy, this is especially notable for crystals and biological molecules. And since  primeval magic is composed magic power, it can be used directly by certain kinds of magic users.          

History

  Of course, this concept has not always been the used by the people of the time. Earlier periods in the world's history came to see a division of what was seen as natural law, from the affairs of the divine. Magic done by mortals was within the natural order while deities, angels, and other sacred spirits were seen as above that order, being called supernatural. Indigenous inhabitants of what would become the seas and islands of Whenua, have called this natural power of the world mana, a term that travelled to other context due to cultural diffusion.     Primeval magic was considered 'untamed' and even alien by denizens of other spirit realms beyond Kaf, most notably that of Godrealms. When primeval magic manifested near fey rings, people thought it became 'purer' in nature and could be used to partially seal the breach between spirit realms. Paradoxically, some scholars believed that primeval magic was the force that bound the Other Realms with Kaf together.   Then with the reconstruction of civilization after the Ghulat Wars, a new way of understanding came from the growing influence of Hauflins at time. They saw themselves and certain races them determined similar to themselves in many facets as natural. Other groups of species like Fey or Magical Beasts had traits that labelled them preternatural while most Spirits were now paranormal. While there is better understanding and more nuance in this classification of life, the division it harbored still lingers in old texts and the minds of folk who grew up in those generations.

Manifestation

The prevailing idea is that primeval magic is an inherent and sustaining part of the universe. In other words, nature and everything in it is at some level inherently magical, so the natural world and magic are not considered separate. Magical force is just as abundant as other fundamental forces (gravity, etc) and like them play a key role in observed natural phenomena and physical laws. For example, highly magical events include eclipses or giving birth and lesser magical events include the weather, chemical reactions, and diseases.    

Practitioners

  Primeval magic is often associated with those that made their home in the wilderness and tended to nature, such as druids, shamans, rangers and certain types of berserkers.   Primeval Elements System   In the past, it was thought that all of matter could be classified into easily viewable "elements" that one can observe with the naked eye. Thus, all of the world was made up of natural forces such as "earth, air, fire, water" et al. Primeval magic was thought to be composed of these elemental forces that made up everything. Future discoveries like that of the atom mostly disproved that, but the idea was so deeply rooted in both the public, religious, and philosophical thought that it's become a popular thematic motif for spellcasting and summoning in particular. Coincidentally, the primeval elemental system still finds parallels in modern physics' four commonly observable states of matter: solid (earth), liquid (water), gas (air), plasma (fire), so more reason for it to stick around even if what the "primeval elements" are varies from culture to culture.
Type
Natural

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