Just because the first researchers concentrated in thaumatological engineering it does not mean "mystic" magic is not impossinble, just thta how doing it is not known. Of course, in the (very) long range the best resulst wil come to those who discover how to unite both branches. An Unified Magic Theory will be high on the priorities of most researchers...
For traditional magic, there is this from the other thread:
My opinion os that we should avoid making "real world" magic work, for one simple reason: It has never worked before. So I think all the mythical and folk magic traditions should have the same relation with "real" magic as, say, the Philosopher's stone to chemistry or the Four Humors to medicine: They may have some basis in truth, and be the eventual parents of the real thing, but are fundamentally flawed or outright supertitious theories.
For traditional magic, there is this from the other thread:
Quote:Ace Dreamer wrote:
Depends what flavour of magic we are talking about. There are so many it is difficult to "shake a stick" at them all.
Of course, you might try using a meta system, and seeing what you get out of that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Bonewits
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...ributions_to_Neopaganism
If you are interested in "Real World" magic, I strongly recommend you reading a copy of "Real Magic". I'm pretty sure it is the libraries of quite a few of the more mystically inclined Fen...
If you can't get you hands on a copy of "Real Magic", you could try and see what you learn from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentic_Thaumaturgy
which is the same theories applied to (tabletop) role-playing games.
A potentially interesting question is "what is the cross-over between magic and psionics?". Some consider magic to be a ritualised way to access psionic powers, others that they are at root the same thing. The dividing point tends to be the question of whether "magic objects" can exist; things which are magic in and of their own selves. It is generally considered that there are no "psionic objects", though there may well be things like amplifier crystals.
My opinion os that we should avoid making "real world" magic work, for one simple reason: It has never worked before. So I think all the mythical and folk magic traditions should have the same relation with "real" magic as, say, the Philosopher's stone to chemistry or the Four Humors to medicine: They may have some basis in truth, and be the eventual parents of the real thing, but are fundamentally flawed or outright supertitious theories.