research for book

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[brandyewine]

Hi, I'm interested in gathering accurate information on preforming spells and magic. I'm writing a book that has a mystical undertone and I would like to know where to begin my research. Its not a book about magic it just has magic, spells, incantations, ect. in it. I would like a starting point and any suggestions. I'm also interested in origins of rituals and mystical creatures. I've been looking for the past few weeks and am overwhelmed by info. with no real starting point. My book is fiction but I would like to accurately describe rituals and such for a belief system I find fascinating. Any suggestions would be more than appreciated.

[Star]

Hi, I'm interested in gathering accurate information on preforming spells and magic. I'm writing a book that has a mystical undertone and I would like to know where to begin my research. Its not a book about magic it just has magic, spells, incantations, ect. in it. I would like a starting point and any suggestions. I'm also interested in origins of rituals and mystical creatures. I've been looking for the past few weeks and am overwhelmed by info. with no real starting point. My book is fiction but I would like to accurately describe rituals and such for a belief system I find fascinating. Any suggestions would be more than appreciated.

Welcome to the Cauldron!

I think my first advice to you would be to narrow down what you're looking for.  What kind of spells and magic?  Spells and magic to accomplish what?  Formal or informal?  Have you run across anything so far that attracts your attention and you'd like to pursue?

Same goes for rituals.  What kind of rituals?  Magical, religious, or both?  Rituals to do what specifically?  How ritualistic do you want to go?  A ritual can be as simple as lighting a candle and saying a prayer at the same time every day, or it can be big and complicated with specific incantations and movements and lots of candles and incense and symbolism and ritual robes and tools and things.  You mention the rituals of a belief system; which one?  (Paganism is actually a lot of very different belief systems; click here for more info.)

Similar thing again for mystical creatures.  Which creatures, specifically?  (And with some you might need to get more specific than that; dragons, for example, have a different significance and I would imagine a different history in the Western world than in the East.)

I know this is a lot of questions, but I think you'll find it's going to be difficult for us to help you without getting a bit more specific.  If you can answer at least some of these, hopefully someone here will be able to help you. 

[brandyewine]

Lets see, I need binding, protection spells for peaple and places ( by witches and Warlocks). I need some info on Sorcerors,Mythical creatures such as faries, elves, Gods, anything thats from nature( I know hardly any). I also need some info on dark stuff too. Bad spirits, possetions, rituals of sacrafice, and thier origins. Anything spooky/ shocking. ( remember this is for a fictional novel). I guess I need somthings on creation in general, or how things started in a general sense. ( I'm including alot of different times in history in my work)I would like to include in my book a little something from all the major paegan religions or a blending that would include a very rounded view. Good and Bad? I hope this makes sense. I'm in the early stages of research and I'm not exactly sure what I'll need. But , and remember again my book is a work in fiction, not that theses things dont exist, and I mean no disreaspect to anyone. I want to have Witches, Warlocks, Sorcerors, Demons, Angels, kinda a glossery of supernatural beings. I would like to be as realistic as possible as to rituals and spells because I do personaly belive in such things. So I hope I answered most of the questions. If this is not clear enough I could go into alittle more detail but would prefer not to. ( Plot lines and such) Thank you in advance. There is so much info out there, I'm not sure where to begin. 

[Star]

Lets see, I need binding, protection spells for peaple and places ( by witches and Warlocks).

Have you checked out our grimoire?  That might help you some with the spells.

I need some info on Sorcerors,Mythical creatures such as faries, elves, Gods, anything thats from nature( I know hardly any).

That's...  still a rather large range of beings, especially when you get into Gods.  Are there any particular sorts of Gods you're interested in?  A particular culture, perhaps, or a particular sphere of influence?  (I.e. gods of X Thing)  What sort of role do these beings (all of 'em, not just the Gods) play in the storyline?

Bad spirits, possetions, rituals of sacrafice, and thier origins. Anything spooky/ shocking. ( remember this is for a fictional novel).

If you're looking for "accurate" information on this sort of thing, especially from a "dark" angle, it may be difficult to find.  People aren't likely to step up and present you the beliefs and practices of their religion so that you can portray them as ooky and spooky.  (And you may get some argument, actually, about whether all the things you're calling "dark" and "spooky" and "shocking" really are.)

I guess I need somthings on creation in general, or how things started in a general sense. ( I'm including alot of different times in history in my work)I would like to include in my book a little something from all the major paegan religions or a blending that would include a very rounded view.

This is going to be really difficult at best, if not impossible.    The range of religions covered by the Pagan umbrella is so broad that there isn't really a way to blend all of them and remain remotely accurate to any of them.

If this is not clear enough I could go into alittle more detail but would prefer not to. ( Plot lines and such)

Well...  I want to be clear here that I'm not asking you to, like, tell us the entire story of your plot or anything.  I wouldn't want you to feel like you were being asked to give away the entire book or something like that.  And of course you don't have to give us any more information than you feel comfortable with.  But without knowing a little bit more about where you're going with this, it's really very difficult to give you much information, because the field of possibilities is so broad. 

It's...  hrm, somewhat like someone popping up and saying, "Tell me about signs!" and they'll tell you that they don't mean Sign From God signs, but they won't tell you anything more about the signs they're interested in--what size or shape, words or no words, what the signs are to be used for, what they're made from, etc.  So all you can say is, "They're...  er, signs?  They're used for communication?"  Because you don't know if they're talking about the giant electronic screens in Times Square, or homemade protest banners somewhere in Asia, or the boards painted with the sign of an anvil to signify a blacksmith's shop that you read about in a fantasy book that one time, or what.  You know?

(PS--Just a side note...  Could you please use the "quote" button on each post when replying, so that we can all see exactly who and what you're replying to?  It's not such a big deal with the message I'm replying to here because my message is the only one you could be replying to, but as more people get involved, or if you get involved in other discussions...  It's a good idea to get into the habit now anyway.  )

[RandallS]

Hi, I'm interested in gathering accurate information on preforming spells and magic. I'm writing a book that has a mystical undertone and I would like to know where to begin my research.

Welcome to The Cauldron!

Since this is for fiction, let me give you the same advice I have given many other authors who have asked similar questions about magic:

First of all, remember that fictional magic needs to feel realistic -- not be real -- as its main purpose is to advance your plot without getting in the way. Unless it is somehow central to your story, magic doesn't need a lot of details. Summoning a demon according traditional medieval grimoires can take days of detailed preparation, long prayers, and chants, etc. Going through all of this in any detail would be boring in just about any work of fiction.

If you are looking for complex ritual magic, read Donald Kraig's Modern Magick to see how it works in the real world. If you are looking for witchcraft type magic, Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft is a good book.  If you are looking for sometime for specific, I'll need more info.

[HeartShadow - Cutethulhu]

Hi, I'm interested in gathering accurate information on preforming spells and magic. I'm writing a book that has a mystical undertone and I would like to know where to begin my research. Its not a book about magic it just has magic, spells, incantations, ect. in it. I would like a starting point and any suggestions. I'm also interested in origins of rituals and mystical creatures. I've been looking for the past few weeks and am overwhelmed by info. with no real starting point. My book is fiction but I would like to accurately describe rituals and such for a belief system I find fascinating. Any suggestions would be more than appreciated.

I'd also like to point out: if you're going through various times (I assume ye olden days and modern, with maybe some in the middle) you're going to be dealing with DRASTICALLY different religions.  You can have a fictional holdover from ye olde matriarchal religions, but if you're looking for accuracy, that's not going to work.

What I've done: pick my time period.  Pick my research.  and use just enough detail to give a feel without enough detail to screw me up.

Good luck!

[brandyewine]

OK, I figured out how to use the quote, so after this I will. Thanks for telling me that. I 'm answering to you like this cause I'm gonna tell you my story line as far as mystical creatures and magic are concerned and maybe you guys could help me narrow down what I need.
Lets see, how do I begin??? Its a little hard. Well, I'm telling a story that twists thru time, back and forth. Its about how(hopefully) Vampires, fairies, humans, demons, witches, warlocks, angels, sorcerers, spirits, elves came into being resulting from 1 event and snowballing into different races. My main story being the "main event" and their direct descendants. The off shooting branches are sub characters of those mentioned before. I have an Ideal of how I would like to assume they were created, but would like to throw in or mesh it with actual folklore, history and religious rituals, and magic. The underlying tone is that these things are real and how my characters( Descendants from the main event) deal with the different powers on earth or earthly beings. They have friends and protectors in witches and warlocks. They also have friends in the natural realm( for the story) that are Elves and fairies, and such. Now, I don't want to offend anyone I just didn't know how else to explain my version of darker arts. Almost every story has to have good and bad, mine says the bad are some spirits, demons, some vamps, some sorcerers, and even an angel or two. Remembering this is my fictional version of creation. Does this help? Also, one of my main characters is Irish born in the 15th century. I have another character born now( American), and one during the time of Sumerians or Babylonians. There will be some things on the Irish god Dagda. (hope I spelled that right) Archangels, and modern magic. This is a very condensed version, I was hoping to gain enough info to weed out elements I cant incorporate and of course to add some truth to my version. Kinda like backing up my characters with actual accounts of things like rituals, historic battles, celebrations of solstice and ECT. Please fill free to give any and all advice it is much appreciated. And also where would I find the books and such you suggested? Please remember I am VERY NEW to this site and all the things it entails(sorry) and I  don't want to offend anyone or there beliefs in my research. Also someone asked if I wanted religious or magic rituals, definitely magic. But would like to include some paegan. Thanks again. B

[LyricFox]

First of all, remember that fictional magic needs to feel realistic -- not be real -- as its main purpose is to advance your plot without getting in the way. Unless it is somehow central to your story, magic doesn't need a lot of details. Summoning a demon according traditional medieval grimoires can take days of detailed preparation, long prayers, and chants, etc. Going through all of this in any detail would be boring in just about any work of fiction.

If you are looking for complex ritual magic, read Donald Kraig's Modern Magick to see how it works in the real world. If you are looking for witchcraft type magic, Paul Huson's Mastering Witchcraft is a good book.  If you are looking for sometime for specific, I'll need more info.

Randall,

A fictional work that I always like to recommend to people is Katherine Kurtz's Deryni series. To me, she hits the right notes. She sounds like she's got a decent grasp on the magical rituals, but she doesn't overwhelm the reader. It's got the right "feel" without taking the reader to a place they're probably not interested in going.

[Daecon]

For real magic in a fictional setting, I reccomend Authentic Thaumaturgy by Isaac Bonewits.  It was written to supply workable magic systems for roleplaying games.

[RandallS]

For real magic in a fictional setting, I reccomend Authentic Thaumaturgy by Isaac Bonewits.  It was written to supply workable magic systems for roleplaying games.

I've never seen the new edition (published by Steve Jackson Games) but the original edition had a system that was far to complex for game use and far more than any novel that did not revolve around how magic worked.

[catja6]

Hi, I'm interested in gathering accurate information on preforming spells and magic. I'm writing a book that has a mystical undertone and I would like to know where to begin my research. Its not a book about magic it just has magic, spells, incantations, ect. in it. I would like a starting point and any suggestions. I'm also interested in origins of rituals and mystical creatures. I've been looking for the past few weeks and am overwhelmed by info. with no real starting point. My book is fiction but I would like to accurately describe rituals and such for a belief system I find fascinating. Any suggestions would be more than appreciated.

I'd recommend the Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, by Judika Iles.  It has, well, 5000 spells, organized by purpose (protection, money, love, etc.) from an enormous variety of magical systems from all over the world, contemporary and historical.  While this isn't really a scholarly work (not many footnotes, etc.) per se, she's got a good grasp of folklore. 

[EverFool]

If you're looking for "accurate" information on this sort of thing, especially from a "dark" angle, it may be difficult to find.  People aren't likely to step up and present you the beliefs and practices of their religion so that you can portray them as ooky and spooky.  (And you may get some argument, actually, about whether all the things you're calling "dark" and "spooky" and "shocking" really are.)

Actually some Chaos magic deliberately aims to be ooky and spooky (in order to trip the right emotions in the caster), so some online rituals in Chaos magic might be suitable for the original poster.  I recall one particularly whacky ritual (Id love to know if *anyone* tried it.  ever) which seems to involve gettimng everyone naked in the pouring rain, throwing blood about, and then running off with peoples clothes/ money.  Or possibly I've mixed up two rituals in my head.

[nigel]

Actually some Chaos magic deliberately aims to be ooky and spooky (in order to trip the right emotions in the caster), so some online rituals in Chaos magic might be suitable for the original poster.  I recall one particularly whacky ritual (Id love to know if *anyone* tried it.  ever) which seems to involve gettimng everyone naked in the pouring rain, throwing blood about, and then running off with peoples clothes/ money.  Or possibly I've mixed up two rituals in my head.

...I know this is off topic but that sounds frickin hilarious. 

[Star]

Actually some Chaos magic deliberately aims to be ooky and spooky (in order to trip the right emotions in the caster), so some online rituals in Chaos magic might be suitable for the original poster. 

I stand corrected, sorry. 

[Mandi]

OK, I figured out how to use the quote, so after this I will. Thanks for telling me that. I 'm answering to you like this cause I'm gonna tell you my story line as far as mystical creatures and magic are concerned and maybe you guys could help me narrow down what I need.
Lets see, how do I begin??? Its a little hard. Well, I'm telling a story that twists thru time, back and forth. Its about how(hopefully) Vampires, fairies, humans, demons, witches, warlocks, angels, sorcerers, spirits, elves came into being resulting from 1 event and snowballing into different races. My main story being the "main event" and their direct descendants. The off shooting branches are sub characters of those mentioned before. I have an Ideal of how I would like to assume they were created, but would like to throw in or mesh it with actual folklore, history and religious rituals, and magic. The underlying tone is that these things are real and how my characters( Descendants from the main event) deal with the different powers on earth or earthly beings. They have friends and protectors in witches and warlocks. They also have friends in the natural realm( for the story) that are Elves and fairies, and such. Now, I don't want to offend anyone I just didn't know how else to explain my version of darker arts. Almost every story has to have good and bad, mine says the bad are some spirits, demons, some vamps, some sorcerers, and even an angel or two. Remembering this is my fictional version of creation. Does this help? Also, one of my main characters is Irish born in the 15th century. I have another character born now( American), and one during the time of Sumerians or Babylonians. There will be some things on the Irish god Dagda. (hope I spelled that right) Archangels, and modern magic. This is a very condensed version, I was hoping to gain enough info to weed out elements I cant incorporate and of course to add some truth to my version. Kinda like backing up my characters with actual accounts of things like rituals, historic battles, celebrations of solstice and ECT. Please fill free to give any and all advice it is much appreciated. And also where would I find the books and such you suggested? Please remember I am VERY NEW to this site and all the things it entails(sorry) and I  don't want to offend anyone or there beliefs in my research. Also someone asked if I wanted religious or magic rituals, definitely magic. But would like to include some paegan. Thanks again. B

As a writer, I must say that's quite a complicated plot!  I would try to simplify as much as possible.  It sounds like you're trying to create a place where all of the dubious beings of lore play together, and have their place.

Personally I would go through, and anything that wasn't vital to the central plot (most of the rituals) would go on the *if we need it/ if it supports the plot* shelf.  Then I would make a list of all the characters that you want to include, and list their primary traits.  That way you've had a bit of an introduction and can decide if vampires really do enjoy hanging out with witches and angels, and if they participate in magical systems and what kind.

Unfortunately you've got a load of mixed nuts, and are fictionally saying they all come from the same tree.  Which presents some problems.

Are you going to also be having their magical systems be similar and rooted from the same source? 

For those who's magic comes from a belief system (the gods do things, if we petition them correctly) are they all offshoots of the same belief system, with "dialect" changes between 'species'?

For those who's magic comes from the self, (directing my own personal effort) how is their magic different than those who feel it comes from god?

Are they in conflict with each other?  Does one group see another as being heretic?

Unfortunately without knowing what you want your characters to be capable of, whether you have a superstitious vampire, a Wiccan in training, and a cranky fairy and where you put each on the hierarchy, it's hard to give any 'general' information that would be useful.

I would say so long as you had decided what you wanted each to be doing, and stayed consistent it should work.

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