Witch

A witch is a person who is born with the power to affect change by magical means (Witchcraft). While many witches are the self-proclaimed "Keepers of the Balance," other witches have been known to work against the Balance and use their power for personal gain.

The Balance of Nature
The Balance of Nature is a spiritual belief system based around the observance of the Earth and reverence of Mother Nature. The goal of many witches is to honor the design of nature and to maintain balance within the natural world. The balance of nature is intimately tied to one's spiritual relationship with the Earth, and the idea that all living things (e.g. animals, humans, plants, etc.) are considered sacred, as they are all different aspects of nature. Contemporary witches would also agree that using modern ceremonies, rituals and shamanic practices is the best way to attune themselves with the natural rhythms of the universe in their efforts to obtain guidance and knowledge from wiser known witches called "The Spirits."

History
The origin of witchcraft remains unknown, however, it is known that witches have existed for many centuries passing down their knowledge and skills through generations of family lines. Contrary to popular belief, witches do not receive their powers from demons, nor do they worship the devil. Instead, witches consider themselves "the Servants of Nature," as they make it their duty to maintain balance within the world.

Magic
Magic is a practice of witchcraft that encompasses many different types of activities including astrology, divination, spell casting, and spirit communication. It includes the practices of many cultures, nations and religions as well as many books and writings from ancient times. Depending upon the individual, some witches practice their power by certain belief systems, such as Shamanism, Voodoo, Wicca, or any number of other magical practices from countries and cultures all around the world. Although the majority of traditional witches are commonly portrayed as being kind and selfless humans who use their powers to maintain balance within the world.

Basic Powers
The Basic Powers of every witch includes:
 * Spell Casting: The power to change and control events through the use of incantations and more.
 * Channeling: The power to invoke extra forms of energy by focusing on external forces.
 * Potion Brewing: The power to brew and concoct potions, remedies and elixirs that have supernatural properties.

Other Powers

 * Telekinesis: The power to move objects and persons through mental influence.
 * Pain Infliction: The power to create excruciating migraines through supernatural means.
 * Elemental Control: The power to control and manipulate the elements of air, earth, fire, and water.
 * Divination: The power to divine future, past, and present events based off extrasensory perception.
 * Clairvoyance: The power to divine future, past or present events through instinctive knowledge.
 * Intuition: The power to divine future, past or present events through the use of instinctive knowledge.
 * Premonitions: The power to divine future, past or present events through the observation and study of dreams.
 * Psychometry: The power to divine future, past or present events through contact with or proximity to a certain object or person.

Uncommon Powers

 * Projection: The power to separate from one's body and project the mind to another location or to instantaneously travel from one point to another.
 * Transmogrification: The unique power to alter the physical structure of objects living or dead, changing their form.
 * Telepathy:The power that allows witches to access the minds of others through spells.
 * Possession:The power to jump one's spirit into the body of another, taking control of said host body.
 * Illusions: The power to alter the senses of others to perceive a false reality.
 * Dream Manipulation: The power to control people's dreams through spells.
 * Resurrection: The power to bring someone or one's self back from the dead.
 * Siphoning: The rare ability to absorb nearly all forms of magic from external sources in place of their lack of personal power. As a result of this ability, they are able to detect the magic within other beings as well as unravel the most sophisticated of spells. Siphoning can be used to siphon the magic of enchanted objects as well as the magic from supernatural beings such as other witches, vampires, werewolves, doppelgängers, etc. This also extends to a supernatural being's body fluids, such as the blood of a witch, vampire or doppelgänger, or a werewolf's venom.

Weaknesses

 * Disbelief: The act of denying or disbelieving in one's potential could cause a witch to inadvertently suppress their magical power.
 * Distraction: Denying a witch from concentrating or giving full attention to their spells, may render them ineffective. Since most spells are spoken verbally and take time to take effect, witches are vulnerable to attack before their completion. Additionally, certain spells require items, tools, and/or special events during casting, therefore they can't be invoked on mere whim.
 * Emotions: A witch's magic is subject to the influence of their emotional state and may fluctuate according to them when untrained. According to Thomas, strong emotions such as worry and anger can fuel a witch's power while emotions such as fear may prevent a witch from properly accessing their powers.
 * Herbs: Ingestion of certain herbs can cause a witch to lose consciousness and prevent them from using magic for an undetermined amount of time. The Lobelia flower prevents concentration and the practice of magic and can be used to weaken a witch as one would weaken a vampire with vervain.
 * Magic: Witches are still susceptible to the powers of witchcraft. A siphoner can siphon the magic from a witch and prolonged exposure may lead to death.
 * Mortality: Despite their mystical attributes, witches are still human and share many of the same weaknesses as non-supernatural beings (e.g. age, decapitation, disease, heart-failure, suffocation, snapped neck, etc.). However, witches can temporarily get around this weakness through the use of protection spells.
 * Overexertion: The excessive use of magic could lead to disorientation, nose bleeds, unconsciousness, and if taken to the extreme, death.
 * Nature: It is said that nature will always find a balance when witchcraft is performed and spells will always have loopholes. This means, among other things, that no being can be truly immortal.
 * Founders Bell: An indestructible bell that amplifies the affects of the Staff of Arcadius when combined with the Maxwell Striker, allowing it to produce a frequency that disrupts psychic activity. It is also proven as effective on Witches and Siphoners as it is on Sirens since witchcraft has roots in psychic energy.

Spells and Rituals
One of the defining characteristics of a witch is their ability to cast spells; a "spell" being the word used to signify the means employed to carry out a magical action. A spell could consist of a ritual action, a set of words, a verse, or any combination of these. For reasons unknown, the majority of spells used by practitioners of Spirit Magic and/or Traditional Magic are spoken in an ancient language similar to Latin. However, witches who practice other forms of magic have been known to use spells in different languages; for example, the French Quarter witches of New Orleans performs many of their spells in language similar to French Creole, while Hectate performs his spells in a language similar to Czech. However, the ancient witches Thomas and Christopher Chamberlain have been known to perform spells using a language similar to Old Norse.

Nature
"Witches have a connection to the Earth. We can literally feel nature."

- Thomas Chamberlain

The relationship between Nature and witches is a very deep and spiritual connection. While the majority of witches seem to respect Nature with just as much commitment and reverence as religious factions do about their churches or mosques, it has been proven that not all witches share this belief and have made malevolent acts against the Balance of Nature.

Witches
"Well the way he sees it all witches are family. We're all bonded together by a code of loyalty to help each other."

- Christopher Chamberlain The relationship among witches is generally a positive relationship where witches not only help and protect each other, but often treat one another as members of an extended family. However, while the majority of witches feel it is their duty to help their fellow man, it has been proven that some witches may disregard this belief and turn against their own people if it comes to it, such as with their own safety, that of their loved ones or that of their own beliefs.

Humans
The relationship between humans and witches is generally a positive relationship, although this was not always the case. Throughout the past, more than half of the human population lived in fear of the supernatural community. This fear caused many human parents to teach their children to hate and persecute all creatures who were different from them, especially witches. This eventually led to some of the world's most infamous witch trials that massacred hundreds (possibly thousands) of witches.

Shamans
The relationship between Shamans and Witches is largely unknown, but given their similar practices, one could speculate it would be neutral or positive. Like Witches they share a very deep and spiritual connection towards Nature, abiding by its Laws while even calling upon it to create the powerful Shamanistic Huntress.

Siphoners
The relationship between Siphoners and witches is a negative one. Witches see Siphoners as abominations of Nature just like vampires.

The Spirits
The relationship between the Spirits and the witches was more of a political relationship than a spiritual one. The Spirits were highly involved in the activities of witches and often communed with them during their rituals and spells. The Spirits were known to have created the laws of witchcraft and distributed punishments to any witch who disobeyed their rules.

The Ancestors
The relationship between the Ancestors and the New Orleans witches is more of a political one than a spiritual one. They seem to be a near divine pantheon to the living witches of New Orleans; the orders of the Ancestors are treated as divine edicts that must be obeyed. They are the power source of all New Orleans covens. The relationship between the Ancestors and the New Orleans witches varies from witch to witch.

Werewolves
The relationship between werewolves and witches is a neutral to negative relationship. Werewolves and witches have been shown to be at odds more than allies. Apparently the two species did once have a strong relationship with one another, however this was ruined by the inception of the vampires. However, witches and werewolves have been known to ally themselves with each other against their common enemy (the vampires), though these alliances are typically short-lived due to werewolves not wanting to be controlled. It was further revealed that the Werewolf Curse was cast upon a Native American tribe of Witches begetting the seven werewolf bloodlines.

Physics
The relationship between witches and psychics remains largely unknown; however, since witchcraft is rooted in psychic energy, psychics could be the precursors to witches, though no such indication is accurately known.