Glyph Magic (or Titan Magic) is a form of magic that is practiced by Luz to cast spells in the Disney Channel animated series, The Owl House.
Background[]
Glyph magic originates from an ancient race known as the Titans. Each individual Titan was capable of creating their own unique form of glyph magic, with The Boiling Isles' Titan's glyphs formerly being the only ones remaining after the eradication of their race.
Practicing glyph magic became lost knowledge prior to the beginning of the seires, either forgotten or rendered obsolete in the light of the discovery of more efficient methods. One such method is through drawing power from the magic bile sac attached to a witch's heart, a method exclusive to witches. For beings, like humans, who lack bile sacs or any natural reservior of magic, one must improvise by drawing in the magic through the use of glyphs. They can be found within the enviroment of the Boiling Isles, but instead of exisitng naturally they are placed in the enviroment by the Titan. As revealed in "Watching and Dreaming", The Titan only shows his magic to selected individuals whom he favors, while hiding them from those he disfavours.
Since glyphs draw magic from the environment, they are ineffective in the Human Realm where there is no magic. However, Luz discovers that glyphs are specifically powered by the Titan itself, and being within range of Titan's Blood, even at a distance, can allow one to perform glyph magic in the human realm. However, the further a person gets from the blood, the weaker and less stable the glyphs become, until eventually they do not produce an effect beyond destroying themselves; getting even further away would only cause partial self-destruction such as burning away some lines, until eventually the glyphs will become completely inert. Also, when I Titan fully passes away, the power behind the glyphs dies with them, rendering them powerless.
When glyphs are drawn on paper, they consume the paper they are drawn on. But if drawn on other surfaces like the ground or a wall, they will not consume it. Instead, they will simply disappear. But if drawn or tattooed onto a living being, the glyphs can have harmful effects, as seen when Philip Wittebane tried to give himself magic by carving them onto his arm. This ended up damaging his body in the process, leaving him to absorb Palismen to keep him alive for centuries to prevent the glyphs he carved onto his body from killing him.
Glyphs[]
There are four confirmed glyphs: light, ice, plant, and fire. While it is implied that there are only four, there are many ways to combine them to create more complex spells. As discovered by Lilith in "Escaping Expulsion", the glyphs act as words that command the magic present within the enviroment of the Boiling Isles. By arranging the glyphs in specific patterns connected in a circular pattern by lines, it is possible to organize the commands to achieve different specific effects.
Performing glyph magic effectively requires the caster to both draw the glyphs accurately as well have specific intent for the action when activating it. Should either the glyph or the combination be drawn incorrectly, as demonstrated by Eda and Camila, the spell would become confused and cause unintended or even disastrous results.
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The light glyph is drawn with a large triangle in the circle with a smaller triangle and circle on top. Down the middle a long line with two smaller lines across, side by side within the large triangle.
When cast it generates a floating sphere of light. The intensity of the spell can be changed depending on the size of the glyph/spell circle. The light spell is considered a basic spell that can be cast at a very young age. |
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The ice glyph is drawn with a kite shape with a line down its center, sat on a horizontal line across the lower third of the circle. A curved line from the two center points on either side of the kite curves through it in a bow shape. Sometimes a small diamond is included at the bottom or an upside down triangle.
When cast it causes a pillar of ice to form. The diameter, height, and speed of growth of the pillar is dependent upon the size of the glyph. |
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The plant glyph resembles a flower. Drawn with an upside down triangle with a line across the bottom, resembling a flowerhead, connected to a line heading down to a circle at the bottom with a dot in the center. Two other lines stick out at the top of the circle, resembling leaves.
When cast, flowers, and other types of plants or trees, sprout from the glyph. The plants can be any size, even towering over people. |
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The fire glyph is drawn with a larger circle at the bottom of the spell circle with a dot in the center. On top is a smaller circle with a curved triangle on top. Another curved triangle is also included on top of the bigger circle which goes over the smaller circle.
When cast it conjures a ball of fire. If cast on the surface of an object, it will set that object on fire. |
Variants[]
| Light | Ice | Plant | Fire |
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Combinations[]
| Combo | Glyphs | ||
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Snow | ||
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| Combining the light and fire with two ice glyphs casts snow. First used by Lilith in "Escaping Expulsion" when Eda tried overlapping the glyphs resulting in an out of control spell of growing ice spikes. | |||
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Invisibility | ||
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| The glyph combo for invisibility is two light glyphs (one in the center) and two ice glyphs. When cast, it can render anyone or anything invisible. However, when used on a person, the invisibility spell only lasts for as long as the caster holds their breath. | |||
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Mist/Sleep Smoke | ||
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| Combining the fire and ice glyphs allows the caster to conjure up a thick mist. Also, by including pollen from sleeping nettle flowers within, the combination will create a sleep-induced smoke. | |||
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Teleportation | ||
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| The glyph combo for a teleportation spell is a very complex combination of five ice glyphs, eight plant glyphs, and eight fire glyphs, with varying sizes and placed on multiple different rings. First discovered and used by Philip Wittebane in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" to transport himself, Luz, and Lilith to the skull of the Titan. The first time it is shown, one of the fire glyphs is oriented diagonally, going down right instead of straight like other glyphs. The second time it is shown, however, the fire glyph is mostly straightened besides a slightly left tilt, but the central fire glyph has been turned upside-down. The reason has not been explained, though it can be inferred that this changes where the teleport leads to. | |||
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Safety Hover | ||
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| The safety hover was first discovered by Luz in "Reaching Out". It acts like a safety net for when someone is falling, making them hover for a couple seconds just before hitting the ground. The combination is a light glyph inside a larger circle between an ice and fire glyph. | |||
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Wind | ||
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| One of four unfinished glyph combos drawn by Philip Wittebane, the following combination casts a powerful wind spell using a light glyph in the outer circle and an ice glyph in the center, surrounded by three fire glyphs. | |||
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Water Fountain | ||
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| One of four unfinished glyph combos drawn by Philip Wittebane, the combination of three ice glyphs in the outer circle and a fire glyph in the center circle, connected by three curved lines that swirl into the center, creates a weak water fountain. | |||
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Petrification | ||
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| One of four unfinished glyph combos drawn by Philip Wittebane, this glyph combination with three ice glyphs and two plant glyphs connected by one line can cast a petrification spell, turning anything or anyone to stone. | |||
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Monster Summoning | ||
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| One of four unfinished glyph combos drawn by Philip Wittebane, this glyph combo uses two plant glyphs and two fire glyphs to summon a hand of a murderous monster seemingly made out of a regenerative mud-like substance. | |||
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Lock | ||
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| This combo was drawn up by Philip as a magic stone lock to his secret Grimwalker creation lab and Golden Guard graveyard at the base of the Titan's skull. It is a mix of multiple circles, featuring the ice, plant, and fire glyphs. | |||
Trivia[]
- Spell Circles and Glyph magic appearing in The Owl House are part of a magic system trend that is popular in modern fantasy genre. This recurring trend of magic needing the use of glyphs originates from black magic practices of the Middle Ages and from alchemy of the late Renaissance period. A perfect circle was believed to be a universal symbol for balance and perfection in both mathematics and occult practices of those time periods.
- Certain glyphs are drawn with an outer circle, though they do not appear to require them to work.
- Belos mentioned in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen" that it took years for him to discover the Plant, Ice, and Fire glyph's, almost as if the world were trying to keep them from him. In "King's Tide", Belos mentioned that the same was true for combining glyphs. Luz on the other hand learned all four and figured out the combination process in a couple of months. In "Watching and Dreaming", The Collector mentioned that The Titan must like her to have shown her that much, revealing the Titan's spirit only shows his glyph magic to those he takes a shining to.
Gallery[]
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