Witchcraft

Witchcraft is the art of manipulating the fundamental laws of the universe and the very world around one with nothing but the will, drive and desire to do it. Only a witch processes such power.

Fundamentals
Witchcraft originates from the ability to manipulate a fundamental part of the universe know as "threads". These threads saturate the universe holding reality together, by manipulating the Threads of the world one manipulate reality itself. Different threads will hold together different aspects of reality and therefore by manipulating specific threads one can manipulate their complimentary aspects such as the bindings of living things being held together by brown threads, strongly connected to the power of the earth, so by manipulating these threads one can harness the power of plants and animals. Using this power, a witch can produce potions, medicine and poppets.

These threads can be manipulated by the use of three methods: spell casting, magic, and weaving. Each of these methods has their own strengths and drawbacks and each can be used in a variety of circumstances.

Spell casting (Earth magic)
Spell casting is the most common form of magic. Spells are created by weavers and put into words for another witch to use. These spells are often stored in family grimoires and as weavers are rare creatures these spells are spread by word of mouth across the world. Spells come in four common forms: Earth spells, Air spells, Water spells and Fire spells. The most common spells are Earth spells as all weavers can create earth spells and all witches can preform earth spells. Earth spells are spells that are tied to the earth and its natural magic. These spells include potion brewing, herbal magic and the general spells people think of like moving objects and lighting a candle. Use of spells and the mastery of the skill requires decades of study and hard work. Earth spells are also used defensively and offensively, with earth magic relying on a witch's will to protect or harm rather than control of the element like fire or air. Rare and powerful earth witches can also preform something called "higher magics", the most powerful form of spells. These higher or dark magics are described as addictive, as the power they grant their wielder can be intoxicating and are physically taxing to preform. Misuse of dark magic can easily kill the user as the concentration and power needed to preform these spells can strain the heart and mind of the practitioner. Examples of higher magics include necromancy, death magic and scrying.

Magic
Magic is the most powerful Witchcraft that will be commonly seen in the modern era, but they are still rare with the Madison Coven having only three witches out of their three dozen strong coven having some kind of elemental abilities. What sets apart magic from spell casting is that magic does not require study to use, although it requires practice to master. Magic is an inherited ability passed from parent to child. Elemental abilities are inherited from the mother and father, while more specific abilities such as telekinesis and the ability to see ghosts are inherited from the mother only as the root of these abilities come from the mitochondrial DNA which is only passed from mother to child.

There are three forms of elemental witches: Wind witches, Water witches and Fire witches. Wind witches are individuals with power over Air and have the ability to preform spells that are linked to the air and its capabilities. Wind witches have an easier time flying that other witches since the skill comes naturally to many wind witches while other non-wind witches require the genetic predisposition to fly. In the modern day, many wind witches are capable of producing strong winds, use false telekinesis using air currents and wind specific magic. In ancient times, wind witches were the best flyers in the world with some having the capability to fly for several miles at high speeds and these ancient witches had the capability to use the purest form of a wind witches power, Witch Wind. Not just a powerful blast of wind, Witch Wind is a powerful force of nature that is not only characterised by its high speeds and damaging impacts but also its innate power and its ability to be used as an offensive weapon being able to slice and throw people and objects around with enough force to be lethal with very little effort from the user. By the time of the first book, a true witch wind had not been summoned for centuries as many wind witches of the modern era lack the innate raw power to draw on such a primal force of nature. Water witches are witches who have power of the seas, rivers and lakes who can wield devastating power over water, they are far more rare than Wind witches. Water witches often have the personality of a quickly flowing stream with not many being able to keep up with their train of thought. Water witches are often the best scryers among their fellow witches as they have the ability to see premonitions through water to a higher degree than most. Modern day water witches have the power to create waves on a lake and to create powerful storms while some have the ability to use water as a direct weapon by turning the water to ice or using the weight and power of the water to damage on impact. However, this pales in comparison to the abilities of ancient water witches. In the past, water witches did not just manipulate existing water but they could create something know as Witch Water, a powerful substance produced directly from the body of the witch. Witch water can be made from anywhere on the body, though it is mostly produced from the hands and arms. When summoned, the body part producing the water often turns into a shimmering metal like substance which the water flows out of. Witch water can be manipulated to a higher degree than regular water and a water witch can produce witch water at such a furious pace that it can cause significant damage to the surrounding area and pose a genuine risk to any bystanders. Fire witches are, on average, the most powerful witches alive and make up the smallest population of elemental witches. Several of the most powerful witches in the series were fire witches as their burning intensity is a very hard thing to hide away. Fire witches can produce fire from their bodies that can be used to light fires and candles without the need of a spell. However, the main reason fire witches are so feared is their ability to summon Witch fire, a powerful and deadly magical substance. Even in the modern era, fire witches have not lost their powers to as high of a degree as Water and Wind witches. Witch fire is describe as lethal and of often regarded as the most powerful magic in the world as witch fire is so intense and powerful that it eats through any and all forms of protective magic meaning it cannot be warded of or deflected. Witch fire also travels at such high speeds that its almost impossible to dodge physically meaning that being on the receiving end of witch fire means almost certain death. Even if an individual somehow survives a bout with a fire witch the burns they sustain are chronic and cannot be healed using any form of witchcraft and often lead to death at a later date. Witch fire is easy to recognise due to its supernatural appearance as the flames are a deep black with streaks of gold and red running through and the smell of sulphur and ash being strong in the air as well as the distinctive movement of the arms while summoning witch fire. Due to the highly noticeable outward signs of witch fire any witches are educated on the signs of witch fire for their own protection. Some even believe the goddess herself will always be present when witch fire is summoned lending into its almost legendary status. The final talking point for magic is Time Walking. Time walking is often confused as a stand alone inherited ability like Telekinesis or Second Sight, this is incorrect. Time walking is on the same level as Elemental affinity and is therefore located in the 24th Chromosome and not the mitochondrial DNA, this is how Diana can Time walk like her father since offspring do not inherit Mt DNA from the father. This is further shown in the first book where it's revealed that Diana possesses some DNA absorbed from a miscarried twin therefore becoming a Chimera. The twin DNA revealed that the twin carried the genes for Time walking and Witch Fire meaning both are located on the 24th chromosome as the Mt DNA of siblings are usually identical. Time walking is the ability to move through time and is an ability almost as rare as Witch Fire. Being a Time Walker is the main symptom of being a "Time Witch", not a canon term but a useful one to help explain Time Walking. So called Time Witches are witches with the ability to move through and manipulate the time-space continuum, the main use of this is to Time Walk. However, as being an Elemental Witch gives you access to elemental spells, so does being a Time Witch. Time Witches seem to have the ability to stop time for certain individuals and use other spells involving the manipulation of time such as Philip causing time to stop for Marcus while attempting to sooth his damaged memories. Time witches also seem to have the ability to manipulate space as well shown by how Diana was able to Teleport in the first book and how Time walking allows the witch to appear wherever they want across the world in a different time. A Time Witches power is usually great enough to travel into the past as it easier to move to a time that has already occurred, but they will need to ground themselves to the time and place by using three objects that were at the time and place they intend to travel to, though this is not necessary for short distances. However, when traveling forward in time either from the present or to return from the past requires the use of Earth Magic and Witchcraft as at the place the Time Witch is located in time the future or present has not occurred yet relative to their location in time and space, therefore makes it harder to lock onto said destination meaning Witchcraft in necessary to guide the witch to their desired destination.

Weaving
Weaving is the form of Witchcraft preformed by Weavers, a powerful and incredibly rare subsect of witch with the capabilities to preform all types of Witchcraft due to their ability to see and manipulate the threads of the world directly and with intent. Weavers are the only creatures who can naturally see the treads and interact with them and only a weaver can reveal the thread of the world to other beings by purposely showing them.

Each weaver has a unique method of manipulating the threads. The most common method seen is to directly pick up the threads from the world around one and knot them together. The act of knotting together the threads combines their respective powers and thereby creates a new spell. There are nine "formal knots" developed by ancient weavers as the most efficient use of this method. Each knot has a "crossing" which is the point where two threads cross each other in the knot. Each successive knot requires the mastery of the previous and each successive knot is harder to master than the last. Knots contain a different number of threads and crossing with the knot's name representing the number of crossings in the knot. For example, the fifth knot contains five crossing, made up of six threads and is shaped like a five pointed star. The more advance the knot, the more powerful the spell, with the best example being Diana Bishop's annihilation spell made with the ninth knot used to completely destroy the soul of the target whipping them from existence entirely. Even more powerful spells require multiple knots bound together, these spells are typically reality altering spells that bend space and time such as the spell used by Time Walkers to travel into the future which requires an eighth and ninth knot to complete. Weavers also have the ability to see and interact with pre-existing spells which allows a weaver to pick apart the threads that make up a spell thereby deactivating the spell. Weavers can also manipulate existing spells to suit another purpose while still keeping them around, such as Diana Bishop replacing an alarm spell's target from a gate to a granite bolder allowing the spell to ignore any movement of the gate allowing for its use. This complete mastery over past, present and future magic allows for many to confidently say that Weavers are the most powerful of creatures.