Psychic Magic

Psychic Magic is a discipline relating to, affecting, and influenced by the mind. Magicians with an affinity for this Discipline are capable of extraordinary mental processes, such as extrasensory perception, astral projection, and telepathy.

Characteristics

The Psychic discipline is the area of magic that encompasses the mind as a whole. At Brakebills University, Psychics work frequently in the Consciousness Building to heighten their mental powers and process their experiences. The Amplifier is a room in which a Psychic's powers are 'dialed to 11', allowing them to experience more than normal by focusing the Psychic's abilities.

Disciplines

This article is currently under construction. The information contained within should not be considered fully accurate and/or complete.

• Telepathy: Telepathy is the magical ability to navigate through the many layers of a mind to discern thoughts and emotions. It's possible to use this ability to communicate as well, like The Beast did with Penny. Quentin Coldwater took advantage of his knowledge of this ability, as well as Penny's lack of self-control with it, to send a distress call out to the latter while under the effects of the Scarlatti Web hex^[1]. Victoria Gradley also used the same method to call for help while trapped in a Fillorian dungeon by The Beast. One of the girls in The League, Holly, was gifted at mind-reading, and although not being able to be specific, she could pick the emotional tone of people in the streets^[2].
• Mind Control: Controlling the behavior of others through mental command. It is a common trait among deities and their demigods. Mind control might be limited by psychic wards used by skilled magicians, though more powerful beings have been known to bypass them. The Beast was able to control Eliot's boyfriend, Mike from another world, doing so in an attempt to kill Quentin with a magical dagger, as well as to kill Eliza^[3]. Demigods are able to unconsciously use this ability, as John Gaines had used this to win his political campaign.^[4] While absent from the bulk of Brakebills' curriculum, this field of magic is taught by Professor Mischa Mayakovsky to First-year students.
• Memory Magic: A specific strain of psychic magic that deals with accessing memories and manipulating them. Marina altered Julia's memory of her assault by Reynard, implanting incredibly realistic memories that did not happen.^[5]. At Brakebills, there's a group of employees that use this kind of magic to replace memories of people who fail the exam. Deities are capable of detecting traces of memory alterations, probing the mind of others to discern between genuine and false memories, as well as remove them.^[6] Gummidgy, a hedge witch, was able to restore the memories of Free Trader Beowulf if they had been wiped by other Magicians such as by the staff of Brakebills.^[7]
• Dream Manipulation: The ability to enter and change the dreams of others and communicate with them. It's a common hazing prank between Psychics, and something Penny used multiple times to communicate with Quentin and Margo.^[1][8].
• Traveling: The rare skill to move throughout the Multiverse. This is the discipline of Penny and Victoria, but others can also be studied extensively with years of study, notably done in practice by Martin Chatwin, and in theory by Professor Pearl Sunderland. It was a principal field of magic studied by Christopher Plover in his pursuit to reach Fillory alongside the Chatwins
  • Astral Projection: A method of Travelling that works through letting your mind wander the universe instead of your body. This also exists as a discipline itself, as Chelsea, a member of The League, possessed and utilized this ability to pull an elaborate prank on a student at Brakebills^[2].
    • Object Possession: While in the Astral plane, the user can channel enough energy to manifest themselves within living or inanimate objects, although Hyman Cooper mentions "controlling things with brains is a lot harder." Penny Adiyodi is seen doing this as he first enters a literal penny coin, the Margolem and eventually a candle that incinerates his physical body.^[9]
• Precognition: This is the ability to see minor flashes of future events. This is Pushkar's discipline.^[2]
• Premonition: This discipline was mentioned by Pearl Sunderland while testing Quentin.^[10]

Note: Classically, the difference between Premonitions and Precognition lie in the fact that Premonitions occur while conscious, offering brief glimpses of the future while the Psychic is awake, while Precognition occurs while the Psychic is asleep, usually manifesting as a dream-like vision. The decision to differentiate between these two may suggest that they're treated akin to their classic manifestations.

Psychics

• Penny Adiyodi
• Joe
• Victoria Gradley
• Stanley
• Hyman Cooper
• Camille
• Plum Chatwin

References