The Magic Circle as Occult Technology
The Magic Circle as Occult Technology
The Magic Circle as Occult Technology
By Chloé Germaine
December 18, 2022
Summary
I argue that the magic circle is not only a metaphor for understanding the boundaries of play; it is a technology that paradoxically erects and disturbs ontological divisions and a ritual technique that enacts as do many forms of magic a "Reciprocal participation between people and things." 4 Drawing on speculative and animist philosophies, I seek to shift discussion away from anthropocentric ideas of play and consider, instead, the magic circle as a technology through which mutual participation and mutual immersion between "World" and "Player" is revealed.
The most obvious example of this hails from the College of Wizardry larp series, which developed a simple magic spell system that allows any player to attempt to cast any spell for "Whatever effect they desired."14 However, as useful as it is to think about magic, magic circles, and larp as social ontology, the focus on horror-themed games in this paper contributes to a broader argument about the nature of games in its analysis of the magic circle as a material and nonhuman element of play.
The technology of the magic circle intervenes in the collapsing of in- and out-of- game social frames, the blurring of distinctions between player and character, and through phase shifts occurring in the physical spaces created by the game.
This function of the magic circle recalls Huizinga's notion of play as a "Cosmic happening" - a particularly apposite description for Lovecraft-inspired larp, which incorporates as theme and content a horrifying encounter with the Outside, aiming to produce in players what Lovecraft describes as "Cosmic fear."23 It also accords with Gosden's discussion of magic more generally as a mode that "Knits us into a dense skein of connections with all other things" and Christopher Braddock's more "Disturbing" description of magic as "Contagion," a mode of participation that allows contamination and consubstantiality between the animate and imanimate, human and nonhuman.
Examples include plots that hinge upon a magic circle that has been opened, the use of a magic circle to transport something from one reality into another, or moments when a magic circle is invoked by players seeking protection from the monsters that stalk them, and, conversely, instances when a magic circle is enacted by players in order to summon a supernatural agency.
The initially bounded play space transforms into what speculative philosopher Eugene Thacker describes as a "Magic site."36 Where the magic circle is largely controlled by human agencies, albeit through interaction with nonhuman others and objects, the magic site refuses such human governance.
The game becomes, through immersion in both the magic of the game and the magic in the game, which Braddock suggests is characterized by "Contagion", a magic site rather than circle, its effects spilling beyond the borders marked at the beginning of play.
Reference
Germaine, C. (2022, December 18). The Magic Circle as Occult Technology . Analog Game Studies. Retrieved January 16, 2023, from https://analoggamestudies.org/2022/12/the-magic-circle-as-occult-technology/