BOOKS & GAMES

Here are all the different types of magic-users I can think of. I'll explain them in the context of fiction, although many of these terms have been or are used to refer to real people. Alchemist: A very versatile term in fiction, often referring to sciency-type hard magic, or else to potion making. Alchemy was a real thing, explained here, but alchemy in fiction usually doesn’t resemble real-life alchemy beyond passing references. Alchemists seek to magically, spiritually, or chemically transmute something from a base state to a higher, purer version of itself. Conjurer: A wizard that specializes in conjury. Sometimes that means making objects appear out of thin air, but it can also mean conjuring spirits from other planes and/or binding them to one’s will (in that case, “conjure” is used interchangeably with “evoke”). A conjurer’s art differs from an illusionist’s in that the things a conjurer makes appear are actually there, rather than just appearing to be there. Diviner: A person who specializes in gaining information through magical means. Divination is widely practiced in real life. There are many types of divination, but it usually consists of interpreting random patterns to devise meaning from them. The only thing that’s technically magical about it is the assumption that patterns created by random chance have inherent meaning, or the assumption that the patterns are messages from the gods. Astrology, tarot reading (cartomancy), palmestry (chiromancy), tea-leaf reading (tasseomancy), casting bones or rune stones (cleromancy), augury (interpreting natural patterns), scrying (crystal-gazing or mirror-gazing), pyromancy (fire-gazing), and necromancy (see below) are all forms of divination. Druid: A word for an ancient Celtic priest, who played a combined role of lorekeeper, scientist, and clergy. Next to nothing is known about real Druids, but Druids in fiction are usually wizards who practice tree and nature-based magic. Druids in real life are neopagans or occultists who follow Celtic-based (or Celtic-inspired) magical paths. Elementalist: A magic-user who specializes in manipulating some kind of elemental force, usually the four classical elements, but sometimes other ones (say, darkness, light, or electricity). Different kinds of elemental manipulation have their own names (i.e. aerokinesis, pyrokinesis, geokinesis, hydrokinesis, etc). Enchanter/ess: A magic-user that specializes in enchanting objects or people, which means putting spells on them to imbue them with magical properties or alter their behavior. If something is described as being “bewitched,” it’s enchanted. May also specialize in curses, which are baneful enchantments. Illusionist: A magic-user that conjures deceptive sensory stimuli, usually (but not always) images. There are two types of illusions: projections, which make something that isn’t there appear there, and glamours, which disguise or alter something that is there. An illusionist’s magic is the equivalent of VR — the sights and sounds and sensations seem real, and can be fun or scary to interact with, but ultimately they have no substance. They’re just messing with your perception. In real life, “illusionist” is another word for a stage magician, because their whole job is to mess with your perceptions. Mage: A generic term for a magic-user. It lacks the association with stage magic that “magician” has, and also lacks the gendered or scholarly connotations of “wizard.” That makes it particularly versatile. I see it most often in RPGs, and therefore it most often refers to a magic-user who’s using their magic for combat, out there getting their hands dirty. TVTropes distinguishes between the Black Mage who specializes in offense, the White Mage who specializes in defense and healing magic, and the Red Mage who does a little of both. Magician: A generic term for a magic-user. It tends to be rare in fiction because of its association with stage magic in real life. Sometimes it works, though, and in the right context it can sound just as mystical as any other term on this list. For example, the protagonist of The Arcana is called a “magician.” Sometimes, it could also be used in the context of ritual magic, since real practitioners of ritual magic are called “ceremonial magicians.” Mystic: A word for a person who uses magic as a means of experiencing some form of spiritual transcendence, or vice-versa. In fiction, it tends to be used as a non-denominational variant of “monk.” You’re most likely to find a mystic meditating somewhere on a mountain while floating half a foot off the ground, and opening portals with their mind. Mystics are therefore something like wizard-priests, or wizard-gurus, who practice a particularly spiritual variant of magic that’s centered around connection to some higher power (rather than summoning and commanding lesser spirits). In real life, magic and mysticism tend to go hand-in-hand, and are lumped under the umbrella of occultism. Shamanism and theurgy are both forms of mysticism. Necromancer: A person who does any kind of magic involving the dead — their souls, their bodies, or a combination of the two. The word “necromancy” originally referred to a type of divination (hence the -mancy suffix) that involved summoning the souls of the dead to learn mystical secrets from them. Now, it refers to any kind of death magic, from raising zombie hordes to holding seances. Necromancers in fiction are broadly evil, but this isn’t always the case. Magic is a tool, and although necromancy may be morally dodgy, it can be practiced ethically (in fiction or in real life). Occultist: A general term for anyone who studies magic in real life. There’s lots of different types of occultists, and what they call themselves depends a lot on their specific field. Any of the words on this list could be used to refer to occultists of various types, and many have historically been used. Magic-users are almost never called occultists in fiction, and there are probably several reasons for this — occultism usually has a spiritual dimension that is lacking in fiction, many fictional magic systems don’t resemble real-life occult ones, and it may be pointless to call a fictional magic-user an occultist if magic is an accepted part of their reality instead of being “hidden.” (I’ve only ever heard two fictional characters self-identify as occultists. These are Anathema Device in Good Omens, and Saint Germain in Castlevania.) In my opinion, an occultist should strive to achieve the trifecta of disciplines for studying and manipulating the physical and spiritual world — scientist, priest, mage. Psion: A term for a magic-user who specializes in using psychic power, rather than flashes of light or complex rituals or any tools at all. This person uses their mind to do magic. They don’t “cast spells” so much as manipulate their surroundings with their mind. Often they have telepathy, empathy, or telekinesis, but psionic magic could extend into other kinds of psychic powers like clairvoyance, clairaudience, psychometry, etc. Some can control or manipulate other people’s minds. More wizard-like psions are also capable of energy manipulation, like manifesting psi-balls out of thin air and throwing them at things. This one has the odd distinction of being mainly found in sci-fi, making them wizards-but-more-sciencey. Shaman: A tribal medicine man/woman who is the spiritual leader of their community. This term originally referred to such people in Siberia, but now is applied to folk healers and spiritual leaders among indigenous people throughout the world. Most shamans use various methods — drumming, dance, chanting, wearing masks, using psychedelics, etc. — to experience an altered state of consciousness, which will allow them to travel to other planes of existence and communicate with spirits. This way, they act as the “bridge” between their tribe and the spirit world. The word is sometimes used in fiction to describe the Ethnic Magician, though it probably shouldn’t be, since this idea is often culturally appropriative at best and represents the racist “noble savage” trope at worst. Shapeshifter: Exactly What It Says On The Tin — a person who can magically change their physical form. They can actually change their shape, as opposed to just making themselves appear different (that’s the illusionist’s wheelhouse). Some shapeshifters can turn themselves into animals, some can make themselves look like other people, some can even become non-living things like wind or water or fire. Seer: A person with the inherent ability to see the future. This is distinct from a diviner, who analyzes random patterns to acquire information. Anyone can learn to be a diviner, but a seer is gifted (or cursed) with the inborn ability to see random flashes of the future, to get prophetic dreams or intuitive premonitions, or even to randomly go into trance and recite entire prophecies. Seers and oracles existed in real life, and they were very important. In Greece and Rome, the oracles advised kings and generals by going into trance and receiving messages directly from the gods. Sorcerer/ess: A generic term for a magic-user, but with particular connotations. Sometimes a “sorcerer” is evil while a “wizard” is good. Sometimes wizards and sorcerers practice different types of magic (like in DND, where wizards develop magical ability through study while sorcerers have inborn ability). But in general, the most common attribute of a sorcerer/ess is that they are powerful. They’re wizards or mages (or witches) with enough raw power to move mountains and summon storms. You don’t argue with a sorcerer. Often, a sorcerer is an ugly old man while a sorceress is a beautiful young woman, for some reason. In real life, the word is not favored by occultists, but there are some who use it. Summoner: A magic-user who specializes in summoning spirits, magical beasts, or other such entities to server or fight for them. There are lots of different ways that this can work. Maybe the summoner uses traditional ceremonial methods from real-life grimoires, but they’re more likely to open portals to other planes or yell out a dramatic “I SUMMON THEE!” evocation. Or maybe they just throw a pokeball. Summoning magic is very cool, but summoners are limited in that they can’t do much without the aid of other entities. Thaumaturge: A strange and uncommon term for a magic-user, specifically a “worker of miracles.” This type of magic-user is officially sanctioned by the Church — saints’ abilities to perform miracles is thaumaturgy. This type of magic comes straight from God. One could argue that Jesus Christ is the most famous thaumaturge of all time. In fiction, this word is used all over the map, but the most accurate use of it would be to describe a person who specializes in holy-themed elemental/healing magic. Theurgist: A practitioner of ritual magic, specifically, working with higher-ups like gods and angels. (The word goetia describes working with demons and the like.) Ceremonial magic in real life is extremely complex, and involves a lot of very specific procedures and tools. It’s often called “high magic” to distinguish it from “low” folk magic. Theurgy is the highest of high magic, because theurgists intend to unify themselves with the divine (rather than control gods for their own petty needs. It’s ritual-mysticism, referring to a combination of magic and esoteric religious practices. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this word in fiction (except in Wizard101, which misuses it, so that doesn’t count), and that’s a shame. It should really be used more often! Warlock: I may as well mention it. The word “warlock” is used way too often to mean “witch, but male.” It does technically mean that, but etymologically it means “oath-breaker,” referring to the deception of the Devil and those who serve him (i.e. witches). Therefore, it’s not really as reclaimable as “witch,” and most men who practice witchcraft in real life call themselves witches. (If they do call themselves warlocks, it’s usually because they’re uninformed or edgy. Most consider “warlock” derogatory.) In fiction, it can refer to a lot of different things: male witches, battlemages, evil sorcerers, cambions. Witch: A complex and divisive term that has meant many different things in different contexts. Sometimes a witch is a malevolent devil-worshipper that’s only a step above a demon (The VVitch), sometimes a witch is any female practitioner of magic (Harry Potter), sometimes a witch is an alternate species of human that is born with magical abilities (The Owl House), the list goes on. It often has negative connotations, but doesn’t always, especially in modern media. The influence of Wicca in real life has also changed the use of the term in fiction. In general, I would define a witch as a person who practices a combination of folk magic and a more practical and animistic form of theurgy. Witches practice folk magic — none of those bright lights or loud bangs of wizards and mages, but herbal remedies and homemade charms, pieces of string in one’s pocket, sensing the presence of spirits and telling them to get lost, etc. They’re more likely to live in cottages in the woods or swamps than the lofty towers of citadels or universities. Their spells are powerful and effective, but indirect — they will manifest later, after you forget about them, and will have longer-lasting effects (i.e. bringing you luck or money). Witchcraft is defined by practicality. This does not cover every use of the term (Wicca has plenty of pomp and ceremony, The Owl House and Harry Potter have plenty of bright flashes of light, etc.) But, for now, this is a working definition. Wizard: A generic term for a magic-user, but with the connotation of academia. Wizards are both skilled and knowledgeable — you have to study to be a wizard. It doesn’t matter whether this studying happens in a formal school, in an initiatory secret society, while apprenticed to a master, or simply on one’s own. You have to study astrology, correspondence tables, divination, entire books worth of spells, long lists of the names of spirits, etc. Wizards may have some things in common with theurgists, like practicing planetary magic with many robes of different colors and wands of different woods for each planet, or (more rarely) calling up and controlling spirits. But in general, wizards in fiction practice magic that has immediate effects. They turn people into animals, they make things disappear, they animate inanimate objects, etc. Because it’s so closely associated with fantasy magic, the word “wizard” is not often used by occultists in real life.