Magic is a vast topic with seemingly limitless possibilities; this can make it highly confusing. Ranging from ritualistic to the supernatural, elemental to illusional, magic can be anything you want, and do anything you want.

If you want to include magic, but aren't entirely sure what you want to do with it, here are some magic types with explanations of how they can be used or how magic itself can be explained and therefore incorporated into the world you've created.

Magic is a branch of one of nature's uncontrolled components (elements like Earth, Fire, Wind and Water) controlled with a store of energy within a person's will (mind). It has its limitations, such as weakness to other elements and energy supply, a person's willpower, and it has its realities. If you have a character with water element, it takes an immense load of practice, devotion and energy to produce water. A small orb would sap energy of a weaker mage.

Now, there is another set of elements to magic. Mystery, spectral, dark, light and healing.

Spectral is the manipulation of energy; the ability to drain power, use electricity and to be able to teleport on a whim. Spectral magic can also let you possess people. This is a very powerful element to be in control of, and well trained, it is quite formidable.

Dark magic is the ability to strike fear in the hearts of your opponents just by being there. It's the ability to make illusions out of the shadows, to conjure ghastly creatures, and to destroy living things. It's also the ability to curse, and curse badly in binds only you can choose to break. Quite a mysterious element, and when mastered, deadly. Umbrakinesis is the ability to mentally repulse photons to create shadow or darkness, or to psychokinetically move objects via shadow.

Light is a skillful element to have control over. It is a truly good element to have. with light comes a sixth sense, though this can be developed out of this element with more difficulty, a second wisdom. Light is the ability to cast illusions, create light, create shields, and hypnotize, surprisingly. When mastered, Light is an honoured element. You can also bless in this element, the opposite of curse, bringing good fortune to the recipient.

Let me tell you more about hypnotism; to hypnotise is to manipulate imagination into being accepted by the mind as reality. Therefore, you cannot hypnotise someone into doing something they see as morally wrong, you have to convince their imagination they are doing something good to their moral standards. They can be violent if they have violent traits as bad side-effects, and can be more extreme in their normal emotions and traits such as protectiveness, and when brought out of a trance they do not remember anything.

Now, healing magic. This has to be the most beautiful and treasured ability for anyone to possess. This is taught as well as a natural gift, a flexible element in all truth, yet difficult beyond reason and more life and death than any other element. To heal is to give others a second chance. This can also be healing of hurt feelings, where it is the healing of insecurity, sadness or any bad emotion by channeling love rather than energy into someone. This is what makes healing so special. To be able to heal demands traits of love, care, devotion and self sacrifice. Tonnes of energy can be poured out if you are to save a life from supposedly fatal injury. Healing is the transference of energy into another body and reconstructing their cell build-up, pulling together cuts and giving strength. This takes precision and the willingness to give up your own inner energy. To be known as a healer needs great trust, faith and respect for people to know you do not abuse your power.

To use healing in a necromantic way is totally disgusting, an utter disgrace and pure evil. This is the crime of taking energy from another's body, even core, corrupting cells, and when this destruction is perfected it can ravage limbs at a time and give you a hefty amount of energy you just drained, sapped from their body. This is about the most hated ability you can even think of trying.

Mystery magic is just so- almost all magic fits into a category, but the truly inexplicable is what we would think of as Mystery magic. Everyone has the element in them; but it is in only some that it's released, and when the gates are open, the unimaginable is suddenly a marvelous - or malovelant - reality.

 Of course, there are other magical abilities I have not described here. Such as, creating solid objects (I call this sculpting), and blood magic. I will never be able to write down everything about magic, or list everything that is magical. I won't be able to say how magic is involved in potion making, or what makes a creature mystic. Because, in the end, magic is limited possibility made endless, personal, unique, malleable, reflective, omnipotent... it's whatever you want it to be, so why not use your imagination?