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KutuluMike
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Unless otherwise specified,This is my own term for this type of magic; in the show, it is typically what the termterms "magic" meansand "spell" mean when it's being appliedthere's no context to a non-witchindicate otherwise. These are the magical practices that that involve spells and ingredients and incantations that anyone can apparently use, without any need for association with demons.

There's a subtleThere seems, IMO, to be distinction between this and the previous"mechanical" type of magic, in that "the magic" here is the language itself. This angelic magic seems to derivederives its power directly from the words (written or spokespoken), as if saying or writing something in Enochian makes it happen. Note, however, that one does not have to be an angel to use written Enochian sigil magic. I don't remember if we ever see a mortal (or demon) use a spoken Enochian incantation (if anyone else does, please remind me! )

Unless otherwise specified, this is typically what the term "magic" means when it's being applied to a non-witch. These are the magical practices that that involve spells and ingredients and incantations that anyone can apparently use, without any need for association with demons.

There's a subtle distinction between this and the previous type of magic, in that "the magic" here is the language itself. This angelic magic seems to derive its power directly from the words (written or spoke), as if saying or writing something in Enochian makes it happen. Note, however, that one does not have to be an angel to use written Enochian sigil magic. I don't remember if we ever see a mortal (or demon) use a spoken Enochian incantation (if anyone else does, please remind me! )

This is my own term for this type of magic; in the show, it is what the terms "magic" and "spell" mean when there's no context to indicate otherwise. These are the magical practices that that involve ingredients and incantations that anyone can apparently use, without any need for association with demons.

There seems, IMO, to be distinction between this and the "mechanical" type of magic, in that "the magic" here is the language itself. This angelic magic derives its power directly from the words (written or spoken), as if saying or writing something in Enochian makes it happen. Note, however, that one does not have to be an angel to use written Enochian sigil magic. I don't remember if we ever see a mortal (or demon) use a spoken Enochian incantation (if anyone else does, please remind me! )

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KutuluMike
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However, not all magic appears equal in the Supernatural world; if we take a look at the kinds of magical events that happen, we can group them into a few categories. As @Thaddeus points out in the comments, the show itself is not known for being rigorous in its depiction and classification of magic; there are more commonly-accepted terms for the types of magical effects that we see on-screen but the characters rarely seem to use them. The following is mostly a descriptive, rather than official, breakdown of the kinds of magic that happens in the show.

Mechanical"Mechanical" Magic

ThisUnless otherwise specified, this is typically what the type of magic we seeterm "magic" means when it's being applied to a non-witches usingwitch. These are the magical practices that involvesthat involve spells and ingredients and incantations that anyone can apparently use, without any need for association with demons. 

In this type of magic, the effect comes from just "following the recipe", so to speak. Anyone capable of recreating the exact conditions needed by the spell can make it happen. However, they are limited by the precise constraints of the spell, and we've never seen any indication that a non-witch can "create" (or possibly "discover") a new spell on their own.

In this case, the The magic here is in the knowledge"the knowledge". Just by knowing the list of ingredients and symbols that Balthazar used to send Sam and Dean to the "real world", Dean fully expected to be able to recreate the effect on his own. This form of magic simply is -- its part of the world that is available to anyone who knows. (And is apparently not part of the "real world" since it didn't work for Dean as expected.)

The incantations used in this type of magic sounds like it's supposed to be Latin (though modern TV almost never gets classical Latin pronunciation right -- it's always Chuch Latin at best). Even the exorcisms that Sam and Dean occasionally perform can be lumped under this type of magic, thoughmagic; arguably theirthat "power" may be more divine than mechanical but the show is never clear either way.

In my mind, there'sThere's a subtle but important distinction between this and the previous type of routine magic performed via spells, and the Enochian magic performed by writing or speaking Enochian, but I can't really articulatein that "the magic" here is the differencelanguage itself. TheThis angelic magic seems to derive its power directly from the words (written or spoke), as if saying or writing something in Enochian makes it happen. For "normal" magicNote, the ingredients by themselves have no powerhowever, it's knowing the "formula" to mix them together that produces an effect.

(I admit that I have no other canon support for this than my own intuition from watching characters thatone does not have used both, e.g. Balthazar using "normal" magic to send Sam/Dean away, or Sam/Dean activating Enochian sigilsbe an angel to banish angelsuse written Enochian sigil magic. I don't remember if we ever see a mortal (or demon) use a spoken Enochian incantation (if anyone else does, please remind me! )

However, not all magic appears equal in the Supernatural world; if we take a look at the kinds of magical events that happen, we can group them into a few categories.

Mechanical Magic

This is the type of magic we see non-witches using that involves spells and ingredients and incantations. In this type of magic, the effect comes from just "following the recipe", so to speak. Anyone capable of recreating the exact conditions needed by the spell can make it happen. However, they are limited by the precise constraints of the spell, and we've never seen any indication that a non-witch can "create" (or possibly "discover") a new spell on their own.

In this case, the magic is in the knowledge. Just by knowing the list of ingredients and symbols that Balthazar used to send Sam and Dean to the "real world", Dean fully expected to be able to recreate the effect on his own. This form of magic simply is -- its part of the world that is available to anyone who knows. (And is not part of the "real world" since it didn't work for Dean as expected.)

The incantations used in this type of magic sounds like it's supposed to be Latin (though modern TV almost never gets classical Latin pronunciation right -- it's always Chuch Latin at best). Even the exorcisms that Sam and Dean occasionally perform can be lumped under this type of magic, though arguably their "power" may be more divine than mechanical.

In my mind, there's a subtle but important distinction between the type of routine magic performed via spells, and the Enochian magic performed by writing or speaking Enochian, but I can't really articulate the difference. The angelic magic seems to derive its power directly from the words (written or spoke), as if saying or writing something in Enochian makes it happen. For "normal" magic, the ingredients by themselves have no power, it's knowing the "formula" to mix them together that produces an effect.

(I admit that I have no other canon support for this than my own intuition from watching characters that have used both, e.g. Balthazar using "normal" magic to send Sam/Dean away, or Sam/Dean activating Enochian sigils to banish angels.)

However, not all magic appears equal in the Supernatural world; if we take a look at the kinds of magical events that happen, we can group them into a few categories. As @Thaddeus points out in the comments, the show itself is not known for being rigorous in its depiction and classification of magic; there are more commonly-accepted terms for the types of magical effects that we see on-screen but the characters rarely seem to use them. The following is mostly a descriptive, rather than official, breakdown of the kinds of magic that happens in the show.

"Mechanical" Magic

Unless otherwise specified, this is typically what the term "magic" means when it's being applied to a non-witch. These are the magical practices that that involve spells and ingredients and incantations that anyone can apparently use, without any need for association with demons. 

In this type of magic, the effect comes from just "following the recipe", so to speak. Anyone capable of recreating the exact conditions needed by the spell can make it happen. However, they are limited by the precise constraints of the spell, and we've never seen any indication that a non-witch can "create" (or possibly "discover") a new spell on their own. The magic here is "the knowledge". Just by knowing the list of ingredients and symbols that Balthazar used to send Sam and Dean to the "real world", Dean fully expected to be able to recreate the effect on his own. This form of magic simply is -- its part of the world that is available to anyone who knows. (And is apparently not part of the "real world" since it didn't work for Dean as expected.)

The incantations used in this type of magic sounds like it's supposed to be Latin (though modern TV almost never gets classical Latin pronunciation right -- it's always Chuch Latin at best). Even the exorcisms that Sam and Dean occasionally perform can be lumped under this type of magic; arguably that "power" may be more divine than mechanical but the show is never clear either way.

There's a subtle distinction between this and the previous type of magic, in that "the magic" here is the language itself. This angelic magic seems to derive its power directly from the words (written or spoke), as if saying or writing something in Enochian makes it happen. Note, however, that one does not have to be an angel to use written Enochian sigil magic. I don't remember if we ever see a mortal (or demon) use a spoken Enochian incantation (if anyone else does, please remind me! )

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KutuluMike
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In my mind, there's a subtle but important distinction between the type of routine magic performed via spells, and the Enochian magic performed by writing or speaking Enochian, but I can't really articulate the difference. The angelic magic seems to derive its power directly from the words (written or spoke), as if saying or writing something in Enochian makes it happen. For "normal" magic, the ingredients by themselves have no power, it's knowing the "formula" to mix them together that produces an effect.

(I admit that I have no other canon support for this than my own intuition from watching characters that have used both, e.g. Balthazar using "normal" magic to send Sam/Dean away, or Sam/Dean activating Enochian sigils to banish angels.)

In my mind, there's a subtle but important distinction between the type of routine magic performed via spells, and the Enochian magic performed by writing or speaking Enochian, but I can't really articulate the difference. The angelic magic seems to derive its power directly from the words (written or spoke), as if saying or writing something in Enochian makes it happen. For "normal" magic, the ingredients by themselves have no power, it's knowing the "formula" to mix them together that produces an effect.

(I admit that I have no other canon support for this than my own intuition from watching characters that have used both, e.g. Balthazar using "normal" magic to send Sam/Dean away, or Sam/Dean activating Enochian sigils to banish angels.)

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KutuluMike
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