Magic in the Bartimaeus series by Jonathan Stroud can be created by two entities, the magician or the magical entity summoned from the Other Place.
Each country has a different process of training apprentices. Italy favours the child remaining in the family, which later apparently causes many family rivalries. However, in British culture, children are given up by their parents to undergo magical training with a qualified magician. In return, the parents, usually commoners, receive a large sum of money as compensation. Apprentices are then trained in all manner of magical arts. They have rigorous physical as well as mental training. Physical exercise might be useful in order to summon and control more powerful spirits, however some magicians in the series, such as Marmaduke Fry, appear to have risen to power but not maintained the vigour in which they were trained. This makes it unlikely that it is a requirement of powerful magic.
The knowledge of a person's true or birth-name can give one power and control over that individual. (It is by this means that magicians are able to summon spirits in the first place.) For this reason new apprentices, when taken as children, are instructed to forget their birth-name and choose a new one when they come of age. This allows them to summon spirits without fear of loss of control from a spirit that knows their name. The power provided by names is shown in the series when Bartimaeus is able to reflect Nathaniel's punishments because of his use of Nathaniel's birth-name.
Due to the extended use of magic as a culture many people in Britain built up resilience to magic as well as talents such as seeing into the other planes of existence, detecting magical auras, or not affected by magic. In fact, Verroq (The Mercenary) has continuously survived from Bartimaeus' highly powerful attacks with little to no injuries; However, as stated in The Golem's Eye: "resistance is not the same as immunity," because while he was fighting Mandrake to get Gladstone's staff, the resistance of Verroq was overcome by a mighty pestilence, and he aged to death. These talents made them able to resist the magical attacks of demons and so resist the Ruling class of magicians who had few non-magical means of restoring order.
The most commonly summoned magical entities exist in five basic types, listed in increasing order of power:
All spirits' abilities are static; they cannot grow any stronger over time.
There are many magical beings below imps-for example, "mites," small magical bugs—and other beings who are much stronger than Marids (Nouda, Ramuthra and Uraziel are such entities), but these are not really classified into levels and are rarely summoned. This is primarily because the former are not very useful, while the latter are too powerful for any but the most powerful magicians to control.
Elementals are also mentioned in the books, but their actual nature is unexplained and their classification is unclear. In the prequel, Bartimaeus explains that elementals are made up of solely one element (as opposed to the other spirits which are made up of two or more). Bartimaeus mentions that spirits like himself, who are beings of fire and air, are harmed by the element of earth (such as that of a golem) and Honorius is almost completely powerless in water (proven when he fell into a river), so the existence of water and earth elementals implies that they are a different form of spirit than the five conventional types.
In total there are thirteen thousand and forty-six classified types of spirit, and according to the magician Petronius there are forty-five thousand unclassified, although another magician, Zavattini, believes there to be forty-eight thousand.
The various subclasses of djinni are:
Similarly, above marids exist entities of terrible power which few magicians dare bother. One of these, due to lack of a constraining pentacle, destroyed and sunk Atlantis, causing tidal waves to lap up onto the Egyptian coast. Examples of these would be:
The basic form of the magical entities consists of a substance named essence, a flowing shapeless matter, described as a smokey liquid, while in the other place it is described as a mixture between gas and liquid. Bartimaeus himself (in the 3rd book, Ptolemy's Gate, during a confrontation with the Djinn Faquarl, involving a silver pot of fish soup and a wall), describes Essence as an oily fluid mass, not unlike dishwater. It is responsible for their personality, power, and abilities. While on earth, they have to create a physical body for themselves, which may be of any form they please although they have a set appearance on the 7th plane that never changes. Maintaining this form pains them, and their essences weaken if summoned for a prolonged period. Their essences are also extremely vulnerable to silver and iron. These metals are often used to subdue spirits, such as when Bartimaeus chases Honorius (The Golem's Eye) and when Mandrake tries to threaten Bartimaeus with a silver-tipped spear (Ptolemy's Gate). It is to be noted that the Resistance often used silver throwing discs against spirits. The spirits are also vulnerable against rowan powder, rosemary, garlic, and a few other substances.
There are multiple co-existing planes in the Bartimaeus trilogy. The first plane contains all physical things, while the others show magical activity. Humans can normally only see the first plane; however, magicians use lenses that allow them also to see into the second and third planes (and blearily onto the fourth). Usually, these lenses take the form of contact lenses, but magicians sometimes use them in the form of eyeglasses or monocles. Auras are emitted on the first plane, but are invisible to humans. (Spirits and cats can see them, however.) These can reveal someone's emotions or intent. Almost all spirits are able to see and change their appearance on other planes. The number of planes on which a spirit can operate depends on that spirit's power. Bartimaeus is able to see and disguise himself in the first seven planes, though the disguise is weaker on the higher planes. A spirit cannot hide their true appearance to any spirit at least as powerful as themselves, as their "true" form is revealed on a higher plane. There is a theoretical 8th plane that the demons sealed inside seven-league boots can access. According to Bartimaeus, seven planes are enough for anyone and those who operate on more are "just showing off".
To summon an entity, a magician is required to draw a pentacle; failing to do so will result in the magician's being attacked and/or torn apart by the entity he summons. He also needs to take many precautionary measures to prevent any mishap (like escape of the entity which will likely result in the death of the magician at the hands of the entity). A number of herbs act as instruments to ward off entities. The magician then speaks a spell. The spell acts in the following manner: the magician's voice carries to the Other Place taking nine seconds, where it draws the attention of the entity being called (seven seconds). The entity then has to answer the summons or risk tearing its essence apart. It then appears in an adjoining pentacle (three seconds).
Depending on the skill of the magician, there are limits to summoning ability. Some powerful magicians mentioned in the series were:
Magicians, despite relying heavily in demons to do most magical tasks, are able to perform some magics unassisted. This is unconfirmed, however, and the source of such magic may indirectly be attributed to demons. These are often punishments to their slaves that include:
Detonations are common, simple-to-cast spells of varying degrees of power (depending on the caster), used primarily in fierce combat. They appear to be large green explosions (although blue before thrown, as depicted in The Ring of Solomon) usually strong enough to blow apart walls or 'vaporize' a human being.
A plasm is a bolt of force which can be shot by men as well as spirits, they appear to disintegrate whatever they strike. Its colour, size and shape remain undefined.
Inferno is a spell used most commonly by spirits in combat. It is described as a flash of light that engulfs the target in red-hot flame of varying colors.
Strings of power that throttle whatever they strike.
Blasts that shake apart whatever they strike. One of Nathaniel's Djinn, Mwamba, favoured these.
An attack that causes whatever it hits to implode into a small marble sized piece of dense matter.
A common trap, Pestilences most often appear as sickly green clouds of vapor acidic enough to eat away skin and kill human beings; the effects of a Pestilence on a spirit remains unseen.
A Flux is a wide-area attack that negates magic of most sorts, including that of demons and other spells.
Shields are (usually domed) constructs of protective magic designed to protect the user from physical and/or magical attack.
A Void is what basically creating a void that sucks up an enemy. Barty uses one in the Ring of Solomon, and Ms. Whitwell is rumored to have defeated 2 marids with one.
Used by spirits, Pulses are sonar-like spells that allow one to accurately detect the strength and location of surrounding magical forces, usually small and marble sized, spherical in shape, and have an array of colours to indicate the magnitude of the magic detected.
Large nets of magical energy designed to sound an alarm should anything of magical (or possibly physical) origin step within their range. High level nexus can also block things from going through them.
The Red-hot Stipples are used as punishment to force spirits to do a magician's bidding. Like the name implies, the stipples are a heat-based punishment that causes acute pain. Bartimaeus was the subject to many stipples due to his penchant for annoying his masters. Many magicians use the Stipples to prod their servants. "As always, the Red-Hot Stipples made me lose my train of thought" - Bartimaeus, The Golem's Eye
A bolt of lightning. A commonly used punishment by Magicians during the older time periods.
An advanced spell that causes lightning bolts to strike from all five corners of the pentacle. Others include:
A common punishment for spirits who are becoming annoying (Bartimaeus has several recollections of this spell used on him) where the spirit is bound into an object until released. The object is often the first thing to come to sight (Bartimaeus was once confined to a pot of jam because of his cheek during afternoon tea) Mandrake used this spell in the Amulet of Samarkand as a threat to ensure Bartimaeus' loyalty when he overheard his birth-name, by not having the spell activate immediately but setting a date on it.
A basic spell which Bartimaeus describes as "the bully's favourite" It is a number of concentric bands of force that compress the spirit into submission.
A basic and simple spell which simply causes a small lilac flame to jab the Djinn, used usually during annoyance as it doesn't cause any real harm.
A web of white threads that prevent any object or sound escaping their range. More often used on humans than on spirits, due to the fact that if there is even the tiniest flaw in the stricture, the spirit can usually escape, and if that fails, stronger spirits can simply blast their way out. Jessica Whitwell uses it on Mandrake and Bartimaeus and nearly prevents them stopping Lovelace, but the disruption Ramuthra causes blows it apart.
The preferred method of interrogation in the Tower of London for spirits. A small energy sphere that prevents summons working, it consists of thin white lines of force that tear essence apart, that said, its overall colour is blue. At a magician's words it can shrink, eventually to nothing, destroying spirits inside it unless they co-operate before this happens.
The ultimate punishment a spirit can earn and can only be used on a spirit who deliberately disobeys an order. It is an incineration spell that is made up of fifteen curses in five different languages, tiring a magician that uses it and killing the unfortunate spirit. A last resort for these reasons.
A prototype of the Shrivelling Fire which causes similar effects.
In the Golem's Eye, Bartimaeus summoned a strong gust of wind to blow the Mercenary off the mountain.
Used by Bartimaeus in the Golem's Eye to dismantle a low-level nexus.
All magical items contain demons/spirits. The type of spirit(s) contained determines what powers the item has. The majority of magical artifacts appear to be talismans, which are defined as only usable upon command.
Small glass balls that upon being thrown will explode with four different elements. The larger the sphere and the smaller the area it detonates in, the more destructive the effects. Higher level spirits such as Honorius can diffuse the orbs before they explode. The resistance kept several of these and one was used by a renegade member in an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister. Most of the rest were taken into the crypt but proved useless against the power of Honorius. One more was used by Kitty Jones to obliterate a night policeman in his werewolf form.
Small tube shaped devices that explode in an imitation of a Detonation upon uttering the command and throwing it at the enemy. They were produced in great numbers by the Alchemists of Prague for the war against Gladestone. According to Bartimaeus they were "Shoddy mass-produced rubbish, inclined to explode too fast or often not at all". Bartimaeu's last master from Prague used this in an attempt to fight off a hoard of imps and ended up hesitating too long at his target and being caught in the explosion and killed.
A reflective disc that allows magicians to view things that are far away or to spy on others. It is possible however, for Magicians to track a Scrying Glass's user via the astral cord that links the spirit within it to the wielder. Though the exact method of this would likely vary between different Scrying Glasses, Nathaniel's Scrying Glass acts by using an imp to track and record the images of him to watch, though Bartimaeus describes Nathaniel's Scrying Glass as being a "shody pieces of work".
A whip with many cords. A powerful magical talisman that releases spears of yellow energy upon cracking the whip and reciting a short incantation, each thong releases a single spear of energy that remains attached to the whip allowing the wielder to flail around multiple targets at once and are strong enough to carve into stone. They can cause considerable injury to Djinn and were used to discipline unruly spirits though their abilities also make the Essence Flail a powerful weapon. Ancient ones are better than the modern ones made by Thebian craftsman. Khaba the cruel wields an original Essence Flail that he carries with him at all times. According to Bartimaeus, they were the favoured weapons of the priests of Ra in ancient times during the reign of Khufu.
A passive defensive item. Amulets absorb magical attacks directed as its wearer, though the wearer has no control over the amulet. Amulets appear to be the opposite of talismans.
It is an immensely powerful amulet, that contains an unusually strong entity (enough to ward off the power of Ramuthra, a being so potent that it disrupts each of the seven planes) who can absorb any magical spell or creature that is of lesser strength than the trapped spirit residing in the Amulet. It was created some 3,000 years ago in the Steppes of Central Asia as a gift to a princess. It is made of pressed gold in an oval shape, bearing shapes of running horses, and hangs on a gold chain. There is a jade stone in the center where the spirit is contained, and all magic is absorbed into it.
Gladstone's staff is a powerful offensive weapon containing the power equal to at least two marids, this is because of several potent entities within the staff contained in a small thimble sized node. It was used by Gladstone, the most powerful magician of Britain, in his conquest of various countries across the world, thus building a world empire. The staff was destroyed by Nathaniel when he let the entities inside break free so that the magical shockwave would collapse the Crystal Palace, in which Nathaniel and Nouda were fighting, and destroy Nouda through the falling iron frame. The talisman was used most notably by Gladstone during the siege of Prague, where he used it to summon bolts of lightning from the sky, and thrust them from the tip of his staff into the powerfully defended and famous city walls. According to an Afrit, it did not take very long for his staff to obliterate the wall entirely. According to Bartimaeus, this weapon was the most formidable weapon in the history of magicians since the glory days of Egypt.
A large ivory horn that can be used to summon any entity within the users command at a moments notice regardless of how powerful it is, breaking the horn while reciting the correct incantations will automatically dismiss the summoned Spirit. According to Bartimaeus, any spirit that is within range of the horn when blown will be "begging for mercy", likewise a spirit can tell a genuine Summoning Horn from a fake as it makes them ill to be in the presence of one. Summoning Horns are quite rare given the prerequisite needed to make them work; the first user must surrender himself to the mercy of whatever Djinn he is summoning, because most Djinn are malignant towards Magicians, this generally results in the death of the first user. Simon Lovelace had one in his collection and used it to summon Ramuthra to destroy the government, the horn was broken by Nathaniel near the end of the book and so Ramuthra was automatically dismissed.
A magical, ornate stone eye made from hardened river mud, this allows a magician to see what the golem is seeing and to give the golem commands. The eye is used in conjunction with a golem's body and golem's scroll, and one of the few recorded in modern times was in the collection of Simon Lovelace. After the events of the Amulet of Samarkand, it is placed into government vaults and used later in the Golem's Eye.
Golems were creatures shaped from mud and created by a spell that required the majority of the energy of the magician. They originally came from Bohemia, especially Prague, where the great magician Loew (based on legendary Rabbi Loew of Prague) created one deep in the ghetto 400 years prior to the book "The Golem's Eye." They were used as a last-ditch defence against the British invasion of Prague. They were controlled by a golem's eye, a magical instrument that allowed the magician to see what the golem was seeing and thus direct it. One was used by Henry Duvall to destroy large parts of London. The body must be combined with a golem's eye and golem's scroll to make a golem. It is implied that golems draw power from a different (earthly) source than spirits. They are slow but are very strong. Golems have a cloud of black smoke around their bodies. This cloud is harmful and can be lethal to djinn and other demons. Golems negate demons' powers and eat away at demons' essences. Gladstone's afrit, Honorius, was destroyed when he made contact with Duvall's golem. Bartimaeus had to have Kitty Jones attack the golem in the second book, because he could not get close to the golem.
A magical scroll inscribed with an ancient, secret Czech spell, the spell is lost as it was never recorded, only passed through word of mouth. The spell must be written with equal parts ink and blood, and a small square is made at the bottom, where the user of the golem signs his name using his own blood. It is implied that whoever signs their name in that box is the only person able to control the golem. The golem's scroll is placed inside a golem's body, which animates the golem. When a golem's scroll is removed from a golem's mouth, the scroll disintegrates, and the golem returns to its owner to "die", or collapse into a pile of mud. The spell is very draining to the writer as they sacrifice much of their life-force. The last known magician to be able to create the scroll was the magician Kavka who killed himself by destroying the second scroll and preventing another golem being unleashed on London.
These are magical talismans, allowing people to travel great distances in a few steps. They are activated by a single, magical command. They can be used to appear and disappear from numerous situations and scenes without leaving a trace. When Nathaniel retrieved them, they were part of his key plan to destroy Nouda and the other Hybrids. The pair that was worn by Verroq was destroyed (or at least unfindable) when Nathaniel broke Gladstone's Staff's bonds. They are alleged to work by using contained Djinn that travel on a hypothetical 8th plane, where they use their powers to warp space.
First appears in the prequel novel where it is the object of desire for the whole book. It is described as 'a small plain gold band, set with a black stone' and is possibly the most powerful magical artifact in existence as Bartimaeus commented that Solomon could control well over 20 000 spirits with this ring. One of Solomon's rivals at one time summoned Bartimaeus and ordered him to steal and throw the ring into the ocean, because he states that he had to "talk fast" to get out of a situation during the mission it can be concluded that he wasn't successful. It's powers were revealed in detail in the Prequel "The Ring of Solomon". The ring contains a greater spirit, on the same level or greater than Nouda and Ramuthra, by the name of Uraziel. The spirit is described as a tall dark presence and possesses the power to see through all illusions and act as a gateway to the Other Place. This makes the ring a portable gateway able to summon any number of potent spirits, which serve the Spirit of the Ring who in turn serves the wearer. It is revealed later in the prequel, that whomsoever wears the Ring is burned by it and has their life force used up by it as the energies of the Other Place contained in the ring is simply too great. This results in Solomon being unwilling to use the Ring regularly as it would use up his life force, making him age faster. Because of the energies of the Other Place radiating out of it, from the second plane onwards it blazes like a miniature sun, and can harm humans and spirits who touch it, as well as effectively blinding spirits on the Seven Planes. But the ring also affords the user much power, being able to summon marids by merely touching the ring, and calling the fearsome Spirit of the Ring when turning it on the finger. The ring was the main reason why Solomon's Israel was the greatest country of that time (in the same place as Britain in the original trilogy) and why magicians flocked to Solomon to serve the most powerful magician in the world.
A relatively unknown magical artifact that belonged to the Old Priestess of Ur, one of Bartimaeus's first masters and mentioned several times throughout the Prequel book "The Ring of Solomon". According to Bartimaeus, he had to help her with temples rituals, mass sacrifice dogs and servants for her and he describes her as being ferocious. The Circlet was made by the Old Priestess who had forced dozens of Magicians to craft the circlet which ended up containing several powerful spirits and consequently, like the Ring of Solomon, possesses too much of the energies of the Other Place and thus have adverse effects on the wearer (Bartiameus does not mention details but he states it was already too late when the Old Priestess put it on). The Circlet of Harms, according to Bartimaeus, grants immortality (specifically perpetual life) to the wearer, however he also mentions that the Circlet did not exactly perform the exact meaning of the words though he does not specify what he means. The Circlet of Harms is currently still worn by the Old Priestess after Bartimaeus apparently buried her alive (along with the circlet) in a lead-lined tomb, though Bartimaeus states she still lived on but "not in the pleasant manner she had assumed".
|
|||||||||||||||||