A list of the several mysteries of Magecraft present in the Nasuverse.
By nature
Curses
Cursed Boundary Layer
呪層界 - Jusoukai
Matou Sakura makes a cursed shadow expand itself around her and uses it for teleporting herself, repairing physical damage, restraining and consuming others, tentacle attacks and generating her Shadow Giants. Created by the combination her Shadow Element, the Magecraft of Matou line and Angra Mainyu’s power.
Gandr
ガンド
A simple curse originated from Scandinavia, decreases the physical health of the target. Because the curse properly said is released from the caster’s index finger and the target must be within the field of vision to be aimed at, it is dubbed Gandr Shot. A Gandr with so much prana concentrated into it that becomes capable of physical interference is called Fin Shot. Tohsaka Rin’s Fin Shot has roughly the destructive power of a pistol bullet and while a single hit is not enough to kill someone, is still capable of knocking out a normal person. The Edelfelt are among the best Gandr-users in the world.
Geis
ゲッシュ
A curse that imposes a mystical restriction over one's action, apparently the consent of the target is required. Cú Chulainn has one of these that forces him to yield in battle against an Ulster-born adversary wielding Caladbolg.
Earth Magecraft
Magecraft highly tuned to the Earth Element.
Petrification Magecraft
石化魔術 - Sekika majutsu
A type of Magecraft that only few modern magi possess. Its power is inferior to that of the Cybele Mystic Eyes.
Flame Magecraft
Magecraft highly tuned with the Fire Element. Unnamed examples include a certain visible curse that is powered by the caster’s hatred, it causes blood to be ignited and burn like gasoline once in contact with the air.
Sea of Flames
炎の海 - Honoo no umi
One of Cornelius Alba's spells. Cause blue flames with temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius to erupt from the ground for a few seconds.
Spontaneous Combustion
発火魔術
A power that causes the target to combust, the type of Magecraft that Kokutou Azaka excels at. Her particular incantations for this spell consist of single words with musical notations.
Flowing/Transferring of Power
力の流動・転移 - Chikara no Ryuudou/Teni
Spell that deal with transference of energy or information from an object to another. An unnamed example is a certain ritual that allows one to reacquire past knowledge and abilities by performing a spiritual possession on one of his past incarnations. In the Fate/Stay Night’s Unlimited Blade Works route, a similar phenomenon allowed Emiya Shirou to absorb Archer's memories and skills by just having contact with him.
Jewel Magecraft
宝石魔術 - Houseki majutsu
The type of Thaumaturgy that the Tohsaka family is specialized at, jewels are said to be able to absorb and accumulate the thoughts of its owners, so the same thing is valid for prana. Among the jewels of the world, there are those that spent years under the ground having contact with the spirits of nature. These special jewels became "stained" with power of said spirits and can be used as a simplified type of Thaumaturgical Crest.
Once prana is embedded into a jewel, it will be tinted by the mystical properties of the stone, and the magus can then use that power whenever and in whatever way he finds necessary. A specific example would be the topaz, which has properties that makes it optimal for anti-spirits tasks. Tohsaka Rin used one of these bound to a wind spell against Saber during the Prologue of Fate/Stay Night. Within a few limits, is possible to modify the properties of a jewel so it can be used for different purposes, but as a consequence its efficiency will not be optimal.
By releasing all the energy of the jewel at once, it will produce the effect that is most tuned for at maximum power, but at the expenses of burning out the jewel to ashes. Depending of the amount of prana stored inside the jewel, it is possible to cast a High Thaumaturgy-level spell instantly. The same rules apply if the magus decides to use the jewel as a single use explosive. It is possible to preserve the jewel by simply removing the power stored from inside of it and use that to strengthen a spell cast by normal means, but overall effect will be decreased.
At the beginning of the 5th Grail War, Tohsaka Rin had 10 jewels worth ¥10,000,000 per stone. Each one of these jewels had stored inside them prana equivalent to an A Rank attack, which took Rin over 10 years to accumulate. A direct hit from four of those was enough to take one of Berserker's lives.
Reincarnation
転生 - Tensei
To be reborn into another body while retaining characteristics of past life, so far presented more along the same lines of Transference of Consciousness Magecraft, but in which the magus takes over the control of the body. Usually used when the target is still a baby, known examples are all imperfect since past traits are not fully retained. In this case what the magus is really doing is repeatedly recreating imperfect copies of himself, each copy potentially being far inferior and having no guarantee that the new child will have all the abilities as the original. To transfer one’s mind and soul completely onto a familiar with a soul and take control of its body also falls within the domains of Reincarnation Magecraft.
Shared Perception
共有知覚 - Kyouyuu chikaku
A spell that allows a magus to share the sensorial inputs (sight, hearing, etc.) of a creature that he has a pass of prana with (such as the one established in a contract between Master and Servant). Approval from the other party is a requirement. Uses include monitoring of target’s activities at distance and it is especially effective if said target is trained for scouting operations. Kotomine Kirei learned this from Tohsaka Tokiomi.
Transference of Consciousness
意識の転移 - Ishiki no teni
To transmit one’s consciousness into another object to acquire information from a different perspective. Widely used by magus onto their familiars so to remotely control them at distance as well as to performing spiritual possession on inanimate objects. If the target has his own soul and personality, the body control will remain with him. If the magus own body is disturbed, the spell will be immediately canceled and his consciousness will be forced back. Likewise, no matter how complete the transference is, once the body of the magus dies his consciousness will fade away with it. The Einzbern are particularly proficient with this Magecraft.
Material Transmutation
Spells that interfere with the properties of an object. Include Reinforcement and Gradation Air Magecraft.
Alteration
変化 - Henge
The intermediary step between Reinforcement and Projection, to give an object a property or effect that it originally didn’t have.
Cremation Sacrament
火葬式典 - Kasou shikiten
A spell sigil engraved in the Black Keys that makes them burn once they pierce the target. Since it is originated from the "heretical" Thaumaturgy, not many Executors can use this. Ciel learned it thanks to the bits of knowledge about Magecraft that she got from Roa.
Dokhma Sacrament
風葬式典 - Fuusou shikiten
A spell sigil engraved in the Black Keys that makes them dehydrate the target once hit by the blades. Another spell that few Executors other than Ciel can use due its connections to Magecraft.
Interment Sacrament
土葬式典 - Dosou shikiten
A spell sigil engraved in the Black Keys that cause petrification of the target once hit by the blades. Another spells that few Executors other than Ciel can use due its connections to Magecraft.
Jhator Sacrament
鳥葬式典 - Chousou shikiten
A spell sigil engraved in the Black Keys that call forth crows to devour the target that was pierced by the blades. Another spell that few Executor other than Ciel can use due its connections to Magecraft.
Reinforcement
Reinforcement (強化 kyouka) is the most difficult magecraft with the purpose of pushing a basis to the utmost. It is the foundation of all magecraft that enhance the existence of the target by pouring prana, but as no clear expression of how much it can be enhanced is defined, almighty reinforcements are rare. It is the same as adding something to an object that is already complete, in case of failure the target will receive it as a poison. Success requires a good grasp of the inner structure to fill openings with prana. Reinforcing the purpose of existence would be increasing the sharpness of a knife, the nourishment of food, or in the case of a living creature, physical strength and durability. It is impossible to reinforce something vague. As living things will resist invasion of your prana, reinforcing someone else is the hardest. By putting this in application, Emiya Shirou is able to create a bow out of the branch of a tree, repair a soccer ball, or change the shape of an object.
Mental Interference
Spells that cause some sort of effect on the target’s mind.
Memory Manipulation
記憶操作 - Kioku sousa
Alteration of the mind’s records to make a person forget about a certain event, effectiveness is limited by the number of deviations between what the target remembers and what the people around him remembers. A magus that that has been discovered by normal people is expected to at least cast this on his witnesses.
Command
Bends the target's will to the caster's. The subjugation lasts for success levels in rounds, but during that time the subject
will do anything the caster wants as long as it does not contradict his basic nature. It can be cast and recast as necessary. Touko used this spell on a criminal to learn what crime he had committed in the third Kara No Kyoukai film.
Runes
ルーン
A type of Magecraft originated in the old Scandinavia, symbols that once inscribed automatically realize mysteries accordingly with the meaning that they represent. Possessing mechanics similar to the Thaumaturgical Crests, their usage is unpopular within the Mage's Association. It is possible to affect a target with a Rune inscribed at distance, but the rate of success is low with the target that possesses Magic Circuits due the effect of Resistance. In this case, the Rune must be inscribed directly onto the body. If used in combinations, it is possible to create Bounded Fields with them.
These runes seem to be based off the real-world occult Armanen runes as well as the historic Futhark runes, considering that they mention that Lancer knows "all 18" and there were exactly 18 in the Armanen, but some of the runes mentioned are under their Futhark names.
Ansuz
アンサズ
Aozaki Touko inscribes this Rune with the flame of her cigarette to make said flames to spread over the target. She once used it at distance against a Wraith-possessed corpse, but it was ineffective. In the Unlimited Blade Works route, the one that Cu Chulainn used was able to completely burn down the Einzbern Castle.
Ath nGabla
アトゴウラ
Cu Chulainn’s spell for death-matches, a curse of one-on-one combat amongst the Knights of the Red Branch. Once it is cast by inscribing Algiz, Nauthiz, Ansuz and Inguz in this successive order, the caster becomes forbidden of retreating and the target cannot refuse combat. The name means "Ford of the Forked Branch" in Old Irish and is called "Shoal of Four Branches" in Fate/Unlimited Codes. It comes from a scene in the Táin Bó Cúailnge where Cu Chulainn beheads an entire troop of Connacht soldiers and sticks their head on a forked stake.
Berkana
A rune that Cu Chulainn uses for tracking purposes. It uses stones as material components.
Kenaz
ケナズ
Bazett uses this Rune to enhance her sight.
Sowilo
ソウェル
The Rune of fire.
Unknown Runes
Besides the ones mentioned above, the following unnamed Runes are also known to exist:
- A Rune that can erase memories, limitations of its use is the same than that of the Memory Manipulation Magecraft. Bazett inscribe it using a special talon and can do it so efficiently that use in middle of combat is possible.
- Rune of hardening that Bazett inscribed on her gloves. Combined with her fighting style the final effect is powerful enough to crush a human head with a punch.
- Speed enhancing Rune that Bazett inscribes with the heel of her shoes.
- A Rune that Cu Chulainn uses to temporary boosts his attack power. With the help of it he has enough strength to bypass God Hand’s protection and kill Berserker.
Starmine and Starbow
スターマイン スターボゥ
The style of Magecraft of Aozaki Aoko, the concept behind is the usage of spells that cause nature interference based on the images of exploding fireworks and rotating stars, since the said images are something that Aoko can visualize rather easily. Spells of the Starmine's category are those whose energy has a fluid motion, while those who has a fluctuating motion are under the Starbow category. A melee combat type of magus, Aoko sends prana from her ribs to her limbs and expels it in its ritually complete form from her arms and legs, making her limbs look like rocket burners.
Seems that the reason why she introduced martial arts to her style of Magecraft was due the influence of a certain male roommate that she had back in her high-school days….
Wind Magecraft
Magecraft highly tuned with the Wind Element.
Air Strike
空気打ち - Kuuki uchi
Not much is known about this spell other than it is the one that Forte is particularly proficient with.
Protection Against Wind
風除けの加護 - Kazeyoke no Kago
A mystic charm originated from the Middle East, it offers protection against phenomena related to the wind. Original use was to guard oneself against sandstorms and the spirits known as Jinn. Used by True Assassin, note that the real name of this spell was never revealed.
By schools
Alchemy
A school that aims at the study and manipulation of the flow of matter. The Thaumaturgy of the Einzbern family is based on this school and focus mostly in the creation and use of matter. Known applications of their Magecraft include coining of homunculus, creation of the vessel for the Holy Grail and Transference of Consciousness spells. As such, the magi of the Einzbern are not actually fit for direct combat, although that does not mean that they are weak in any way.
Transmutation
The field in which the Einzbern truly specialize in, to do things like manipulating the configuration of noble metals. Irisviel developed an application of this for combat-purposes use: to pass prana through metal-wires so to shape the threads accordingly with her mental images. The precision of the shapes and the fluidity how she can change between them serves as a statement on how the Einzbern Thaumaturgy excels in Alchemy.
Memory Partition
Memory Partition is an ability the Alchemists of Atlas use to split the mind into several autonomous parts like a computer. The average alchemist can create three to five partitions, while prodigies such as Sion Eltnam Atlasia can create up to seven partitions.
Divine Words
神言 - Shingon
A Thaumaturgical Theory from the Age of Gods, when words themselves had power. Fundamentally different from modern incantations, which are mainly just a means of self-hypnosis.
Aero
病風 - Shippuu
A Wind Element attack spell used by Caster, it can grind the flesh of a human being.
Argos
盾 - Tate
A protection spell that borrows the concept of the Argos, allows Caster to create a transparent barrier that is as resistant as Berserker’s skin. Still, it was unable to withstand the firepower stored inside Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon.
Atlas
圧迫 - Appaku
One of Caster’s spells that is in par with High-Thaumaturgy, alters the atmospheric pressure a section of space, consequentially freezing all the targets in range and preventing them from moving. It was useless against Saber and Archer as they were able to break free through a burst of prana.
Rain of Light
光弾雨 - Koudanu
A High-Thaumaturgy-level spell used by Caster, a volley of beams of light ranked A in power fired at quick succession. Caster can use it repeatedly when she is inside Ryuudouji.
Trofa
空間転移 - Kuukan teni
Spatial Transference. In short, teleportation. A spell of Caster that is close to the level of Magic.
???
Caster was also able to use Reinforcement type magecraft. Whether that was done with High-Speed Divine Words or not is unclear.
Holy Church
聖堂教会 - Seidou Kyoukai
The Holy Sacraments of the Church, its Thaumaturgical Theory is the most widespread and well stabilized in the world.
Baptism Sacrament
洗礼詠唱 - Senrei eishou
Purification Incantations. The sole mystery that is freely taught to all members of the Church. A simple ritual with an aria that falls on the Ten-Count category, it is capable of exorcising Devils and sending Wraiths back to the world of the dead. Possess weak capacities of physical interference, but its power is overwhelming against spiritual bodies. Ineffective against spirits on the level of Servants though.
Houjutsu
方術／法術 - Houjutsu
The other name given to the Thaumaturgical Theory of the Onmyoudou, a variant of the Chinese school of Thaumaturgy that uses the concept of yin and yang as foundation. The predominant system of Magecraft in Japan, it is ideologically incompatible with the Western schools of Thaumaturgy. A system that excels at divination, curses and the like, its most famous practitioner was Abe no Seimei.
Edict of Binding
禁縛の勅 - Kibaku no Mikotonori
A spell that restrains non-humans, it is completely useless against humans and hybrids of humans with other creatures. This flaw led to formation of Demon Hunter Organization in Japan that used different methods in fighting demon hybrids.
Kongouyaku - Shuku
金剛訳・粛
Usually called simply Shuku, one of the spells that Araya Souren uses on the Ogawa Mansion. Crushing of an area of space after chanting an aria of just one word followed by a clench of the fist. Aozaki Touko was surprised to find out about the existence of a Magecraft capable of spatial interference that could be so easily actualized.
Shikigami Exertion
式神行使
A symbol of power for the Onmyouji, Shikigami are beings that are at the disposal of the practitioner similarly to the Western familiars. Creatures that share a spiritual connection with its master after receiving a part of his self, their powers are limited to a single-purpose curse and once the contract has been formed they will remain for as long as their master’s power does not runs out.
Taizouyaku – Ten
胎蔵訳・転
One of the spells of Araya Souren, its powers is unknown.
Numerology
数紋法
The type of Magecraft that Michael Roa Valdamjong learned. Apparently related to the Kabbalah’s Thaumaturgical Theory.
Set
セット
A trap-type magic spell.
Square
スクウェア
A spell that boosts the power of other spells. Roa’s Reality Marble applies this over all spells that he cast inside of it.
Snap
スナップ
A magic projectile attack that falls under the Single Action-type.
Others
Counter Magic
抗魔術 - Koumajutsu
A Magecraft that disrupts the activity of Magic Circuits, thus preventing the conversion of prana and the casting of spells.
Formalcraft
フォーマルクラフト
Convertion of elements (元素変換 Genso henkan). The Magecraft that magi with weak bloodlines uses. An ancient system in which material sacrifices are made to compensate for the lack power of the caster. Relies mainly on mana and very little on od. Also involves the use of sacrifices and magic circles. Knowledge is a strong requirement. Used by Sajyou Ayaka, who called it a "thaumaturgy for dummies". A positive Magecraft.
Innate Time Control
固有時制御 - Koyuu Jiseigyo
A Magecraft that is said to be an imitation of Magic. Used by Emiya Kiritsugu.
An Reality Marble-like application of Time Manipulation Magecraft, which is categorized as a High-Thaumaturgy. Simply put, it is about creating a Bounded Field and then making "adjustments" in the flow of time on the space inside of the field so to create a difference between it and the passage of time outside of the field. Taking the time of the "outside" as a standard, the time in the "inside" can be either accelerated or slowed.
The major drawback is that the efforts necessary to activate this Magecraft increases in proportion to the size of the Bounded Field and to the deviations between the two flows of time. Usually, one need to would expend same amount of prana and time performing rituals used when activating High-Thaumaturgy to use this Magecraft, but Kiritsugu was able to mostly bypass that by limiting the size of the Bounded Field to his own body and deviating the time only by a few seconds. Although such approach does not allow for much interference with the outside world, it grants great control over the rhythm of one's biological functions, permitting things like performing physical feats above humans by accelerating said functions or simulating a state of suspending animation by slowing them. However, Kiritsugu's particular use of this Magecraft puts a heavy burden on his body, because once the Bounded Field is lifted, the world will forcibly correct all time deviations in the affected space, which in this case is his own self.
Unified Language
The Unified Language (統一言語, touitsu gengo?), referred to as "The Book of the False God", is the language of ancient Babylonia, a time when no other languages existed and no distinction was made between the speeches of humans, creatures, and living and non-living things. The "truth" spoken before humans became scattered across the world can directly draw from the records, memories, and phenomena recorded by the world, similar in concept to the Akashic Records. It is spoken directly through the soul resonating with Akasha, allowing it to act as a powerful form of telepathy and hypnotism. The receivers must obey the speaker, known as a "Master of Babel", unquestioningly, as a human rejecting the words of the Unified Language would be the same as rejecting their own existence. Being able to speak the Unified Language allows resistance against this effect. It is considered several ranks above Divine Words in "power", though it lacks the Divine Word's ability to affect nature. Before the events of Kara no Kyoukai, Kurogiri Satsuki is the only living Unified Linguist.
Witchcraft
ウィッチクラフト
Cursing Techniques (呪術 Jujutsu).The common term given to the practices that one would expect from the traditional (and very cliché-like) witches and shamans. Things that fall along the lines of potions, medicines, spirit exorcism and curses that uses a material medium (ex: a straw doll). Have a strong presence within the Japanese supernatural world. Users include Kuonji Alice and, at first, Sajyou Ayaka.
Unnamed spells known to exist include:
- A spell is cast on Matou Zouken’s body and the Worms that form it. The spell causes deterioration of any strange body that harms it, dissolving it in a matter of moments.