Is Magick just Reality Warping with rules and consequences?

I know in DC comics they like to say that magic is just another form or level of science, that non-magic wielding people don't understand.
I'm ambivalent about that, as I feel it takes a little of the wonder out of magic. Magic should inherently be magical; something that can defy explanation or reason. There should of course be rules, at least for fictional narrative purposes - I mean, how stupid would it be to have someone posses blood that can inexplicably cure death...? 😗😔

Ideally what magic would be, is that extra ethereal essence; the force that make some things living and other things not. It's not matter, it's not energy, and at the moment we can't quantify it; and in a certain sense, there's magic all around us, from the ancient forests, to the depths of the sea, and just boundless magical potential in a newborn baby. To expound from that then to include magic in the conventional sense, would be to tap into that essence, and wield a fraction of the power used to create the very universe. And it has to be fraction, and those best practiced in the art understand that limitation, because to exceed that and posses the full command of that power would mean to become God; while for others chasing more power, are perhaps doing so for exactly that reason.


"Sorry, I mistook you for a corpse."

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I don't have an answer, but this conversation deserves a BUMP! 




"It's a real burden being right so often." Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly

I generally see the difference as..magic is using an outside force to manipulate reality. Reality warping is usually done by the person's own willpower/mental powers. Of course there is a lot of overlap there. In Buffy, Willow often does magic and changes reality with just her thoughts. But even when she becomes very powerful, magic still seems to be described as an outside eternity possibly controlling her.

I think I'll expound a little more on this, since I started reading the OP before realizing it was an older thread, and that I had already responded (and at least with some of what I was planning on saying, about DC's concept of magic being a esoteric form of science.)

I would say that it all has to be a little bit part and parcel. In most iterations of magic, the concept tends to at least loosely follow the laws of thermal dynamics, where there are limits to the level of power a given person can yield; especially someone with less training. Most often the process is kept ambiguous, probably intentionally, so it's hard to define the exact mechanics of something like "reality warping," to say whether or not there are limitations to that ability, or how it functions. Without limitations would arguably make it omnipotence.

I also wouldn't say that a witch or mage subverts the rules of reality, but rather taps into something not everyone has the understanding or skill to connect with; and work within the very fundamental rules of what reality allows to happen when the right combination of words or magical trinkets are assembled. The various forms of magic are essentially specialized, cosmic circuits; which produce a specific and consistent result. When you say X, Y, Z while shaking your gourd, crossing your eyes and wiggling your nose; and the universe recognizes all of that says, as a universal constant all of these combined creates a rabbit, so you here you go. And it doesn't even matter if you know what it's going to yield, if you put it all in place, that's what you get; just as you get water when you combine 2-parts hydrogen with 1-part oxygen. It's the fundamental nature of you produce when the constituent parts are combined.
Now in the case of magic, as I suggested before, energy is part of that equation; and if you aren't tapped in well enough to properly power the cosmic machine you're invoking, nothing's going to happen; just as most people can't just make every or even any spell work. Alternatively, if there's not enough power, or especially if there's too much, improperly managed in the spell, you could cause the circuit to fail; which will lead to unpredictable results.

Omnipotence then, would be an unlimited access to power and the means to channel it through the universe however you saw fit. Arguably omniscience (knowing everything) would need to go hand in hand with omnipotence, in order to know how to use that power to it's fullest extent. Anything short of that would invariably be a limitation in the exercise of that power, making you not omnipotent.

One example of magic and the rules that govern them, that I've always liked was from A Wizard of Earthsea. In that story, and in the books that follow, the premise is that when reality was formed, it was crafted by speaking specific words the invoked the existence of everything that comprised reality. As a result, everything has a name or word in a very ancient language, which defined it's existence; and any mage or witch that learned those names could use it to control those things. This even applied to an individual, where people - at least a wizard in training, to be sure - was given a true name, that must always be kept secret, to prevent anyone else from controlling them; while being identified through a public name, that would have no such effect. A wizard's spells could be counteracted by invoking their true name.
If memory serves, things like transmutation were largely illusionary; you could use this ancient language to tell a stone to become a pot roast, but while it may look and smell, and perhaps even taste like a pot roast, it would always in actuality be a stone, and eating it would provide no real nutritional value.


"You can lead a hearse to water, but you can't make it sink." The Cat

Still no answer (stupid migraines!) but it's great to see that all (or even part) of our history may be saved and not lost forever!