The Spell Circle is the most common form of magic utilization among witches on the Boiling Isles. This spell is the conduit to accessing all known spells.
Casting[]
To create a spell circle, a witch simply needs to draw a glowing circle in the air, from which the desired spell is cast. The size of the circle drawn determines the power of the spell; the larger the spell circle, the more powerful the spell. Some spells, such as certain illusion spells shown by Gus, require the circle to be repeatedly retraced, either to charge up the spell before casting or in order to maintain the spell. This is usually done with two hands so as to not break the circle and has been shown to be possible with multiple circles at once, such as three, and the fingers need not necessarily trace the active spell circle themselves, merely make repeated circular gestures in the air in front of the caster. However, this version of retracing circles appears to be rather difficult and requires great focus in maintaining, suggesting it is an advanced method.[1]
The circle can be drawn with a fingertip, a sweeping gesture of the hands, a tracing motion with the feet, a training wand, or the end of a witch's staff. A witch can also create additional spell circles from their existing active circle by doing a pulling apart gesture, which causes the active circle to briefly stretch before forming an exact copy.[2] Another method of casting multiple iterations of a spell is by creating a single spell circle, then slapping it with the palm of the hand. The witch then sweeps their hand, which creates multiple identical spell circles.[3]
It has been shown to be possible to create spell circles without needing to draw them, allowing for potent but simple spells to be cast by simply pointing and allowing a small spell circle to use the finger as its center or by allowing the circle to expand outwards from the fingertip to create larger spell circles.[4]
Another method of non-drawing exists that allows for the creation of larger, stronger spell circles, which is performed by bringing two fingers close together without touching and then pulling the arms apart to allow the circle to expand between them as wide as can be reached - with the two fingers being on opposite sides of the now-formed circle.[5] It is also possible to only draw the spell circle partially through a trick where the witch draws part of a larger spell circle, then shrinking the circle while it is being drawn and causing the longer magic line to fill in the now-smaller circle.[6] It has also been shown to be possible to have the magic line of the spell circle to leak off its energy as it is being drawn or after in order for a second, slightly smaller spell circle to be made within it, creating a concentric spell circle drawn with two lines instead of one; this is an indication of potentially a powerful spell, such as those that are fatal to the target,[7] or already-powerful ones further enhanced by magic-amplifying items.[8]
Two and possibly more witches can cooperatively draw a single spell circle together.[9] Witches can also put the circle through an object or person for self-defense and can also use the circle as a bracelet around their wrists to allow repeated casting of a chosen spell of a certain strength.[10] Furthermore, a circle is not necessarily fixed in place in the air or on a object once drawn and can be moved with a gesture from the witch either to better aim a spell, to cast it on an object, or to spread the spell over an area. This is sometimes done by grabbing it or condensing it to a point or ball at the fingertips before aiming and expanding it elsewhere, enclosing the hand around it before throwing it into the air, or when using a spinning staff to draw to simply move the staff while it spins. In contrast, a spell circle may also be fixed in place, not in the air, but in relative position to the witch caster; a spell circle drawn in front of a witch running forward will remain steady and move forward at the same distance it was drawn.[11][10]
Likewise, their size is also not fixed when drawn, and a witch can either condense it or enlarge it to a different within only a couple seconds after being drawn before it is cast, seemingly without any additional gestures. One method of this that does use gestures is if a witch cannot draw a large enough spell circle due to their arm's reach, where they can increase the size of a drawn spell circle by putting the hands into the circle and pushing outwards, which will cause the spell to grow for as long as the witch can reach.[12] Another method of growing a circle is to draw two smaller circles, then place them near each when casting a spell, causing them to merger and form a larger circle performing a powerful spell.[13] Similarly, another method of creating a larger spell circle involves having a smaller spell circle active as a bracelet around the wrist, then slamming a hand onto the ground, causing a larger circle to quickly expand outwards around the user to cast a powerful spell,[10] possibly used as a method of making a pre-set spell in the bracelet more powerful without needing to redraw the circle at a greater size.
A spell circle requires magical energy in order to function. This means that the caster must either have their own supply of magical energy, such as the magic bile sac attached to a witch's heart, or the caster must be on the Boiling Isles or another magical place to directly access the fallen Titan's power in the air.
Although it is the case for almost all witches to require drawing a spell circle, there are very rare cases where a witch's magic in a particular area is so naturally strong that they can cast said magic without a spell circle. This is usually not consciously activated, but can be controlled with practice, and is done so in periods of great emotion like anger or stress, causing the witch's eyes to glow in a bright color that corresponds to their natural affinity, such as Willow with plant magic (green),[14] Gus with illusion magic (light blue),[7] or Alador with abomination magic (orchid).[13] This glow appears to have different levels of intensity, shown either to only cause the iris to glow[13], to have the whole eye glow but having the pupil and iris still be visible, having the whole eye glow but having the iris and pupil only appear as discs of white light, [7] or having the whole eye glow to where no pupil or iris is visible.[14] Such witches are usually considered prodigies in their fields.
Circle Colors[]
The color of a given witch's spell circle is constant, except for members of the Emperor's Coven, whose spell circles are white.
- Red
- Orange
- Yellow
- Eda Clawthorne
- Matt Tholomule
- Luz Noceda (with training wand)
- Raine Whispers
- Hunter (with Flapjack)
- Lime
- Green
- Cyan
- Blue
- Purple
- Kikimora
- Darius Deamonne
- Malphas
- Luz Noceda (With Titan Magic)
- Magenta
- White
- Emperor's Coven
- Adegast (wizard form)
- Jerbo
- Detention monitor
- Oracle teacher
Sightings[]
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "A Lying Witch and a Warden": | Debut | 10. "Escape of the Palisman": | Appears | |||||||||
| 2. "Witches Before Wizards": | Appears | 11. "Sense and Insensitivity": | Appears | |||||||||
| 3. "I Was a Teenage Abomination": | Appears | 12. "Adventures in the Elements": | Appears | |||||||||
| 4. "The Intruder": | Appears | 13. "The First Day": | Appears | |||||||||
| 5. "Covention": | Appears | 14. "Really Small Problems": | Appears | |||||||||
| 6. "Hooty's Moving Hassle": | Appears | 15. "Understanding Willow": | Appears | |||||||||
| 7. "Lost in Language": | Appears | 16. "Enchanting Grom Fright": | Appears | |||||||||
| 8. "Once Upon a Swap": | Appears | 17. "Wing It Like Witches": | Appears | |||||||||
| 9. "Something Ventured, Someone Framed": | Appears | 18. "Agony of a Witch": | Appears | |||||||||
| 19. "Young Blood, Old Souls": | Appears | |||||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Separate Tides": | Appears | 11. "Follies at the Coven Day Parade": | Appears | |||||||||
| 2. "Escaping Expulsion": | Appears | 12. "Elsewhere and Elsewhen": | Appears | |||||||||
| 3. "Echoes of the Past": | Absent | 13. "Any Sport in a Storm": | Appears | |||||||||
| 4. "Keeping up A-fear-ances": | Appears | 14. "Reaching Out": | Appears | |||||||||
| 5. "Through the Looking Glass Ruins": | Appears | 15. "Them's the Breaks, Kid": | Appears | |||||||||
| 6. "Hunting Palismen": | Appears | 16. "Hollow Mind": | Appears | |||||||||
| 7. "Eda's Requiem": | Appears | 17. "Edge of the World": | Appears | |||||||||
| 8. "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door": | Appears | 18. "Labyrinth Runners": | Appears | |||||||||
| 9. "Eclipse Lake": | Appears | 19. "O Titan, Where Art Thou": | Appears | |||||||||
| 10. "Yesterday's Lie": | Absent | 20. "Clouds on the Horizon": | Appears | |||||||||
| 21. "King's Tide": | Appears | |||||||||||
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||
| The Owl House Main Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| The Owl House Credits Theme: | Absent | |||||||||||
| 1. "Thanks to Them": | Appears | 2. "For the Future": | Appears | |||||||||
| 3. "Watching and Dreaming": | Appears | |||||||||||
| Shorts | ||||||||||||
| Owl Pellets | ||||||||||||
| 1. "Welcome to Hexside": | Absent | 2. "Eda's Cursed Brush": | Pictured | |||||||||
| 3. "Paint Scare!": | Absent | 4. "Art Lessons with Luz": | Absent | |||||||||
| 5. "Coven Lovin Soap Opera": | Absent | |||||||||||
| Chibi Tiny Tales | ||||||||||||
| 1. "The Bake Off!": | Absent | 2. "Hooty the Palisman Sitter": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "Lumity Date": | Absent | |||||||||||
Gallery
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Trivia[]
- Spell circles appearing in The Owl House are part of a magic system trend that is popular in modern fantasy genre. Other shows and comic books that utilize spell circles, or floating incantations, include Fullmetal Alchemist, Fairy Tail, Garo, She-Ra: and The Princesses of Power, and The Dragon Prince. This recurring trend of magic needing the use of circles or a glyph 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.
- Basilisks can absorb the magic of spell circles, though glyph magic is strangely harmful to them, especially with one of them getting harmed by glyph magic.
References[]
- ↑ John Bailey Owen (writer) and Aminder Dhaliwal (director) (August 22, 2020). "Agony of a Witch". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 18. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace (writer) and Bo Coburn (director) (April 9, 2022). "Reaching Out". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 14. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Zach Marcus (writer) and Sage Cotugno (director) (March 13, 2020). "Something Ventured, Someone Framed". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 9. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace (writer) and Bridget Underwood (director) (July 17, 2021). "Hunting Palismen". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 6. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Mikki Crisostomo (writer) and Bo Coburn (director) (April 30, 2022). "Edge of the World". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 17. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace (writer) and Amelia Lorenz (director) (July 24, 2021). "Eda's Requiem". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 7. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Dana Terrace, Luz Batista (writers) and Bridget Underwood (director) (May 7, 2022). "Labyrinth Runners". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 18. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Zach Marcus, Dana Terrace (writers) and Bridget Underwood (director) (May 28, 2022). "King's Tide". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 21. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Molly Ostertag (writer) and Stu Livingston (director) (August 8, 2020). "Enchanting Grom Fright". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 16. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Rachel Vine, Molly Ostertag (writers) and Sage Cotugno (director) (August 15, 2020). "Wing It Like Witches". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 17. Disney Channel.
- ↑ John Bailey Owen (writer) and Amelia Lorenz (director) (April 2, 2022). "Any Sport in a Storm". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 13. Disney Channel.
- ↑ Dana Terrace, Rachel Vine (writers) and Stephen Sandoval (director) (August 29, 2020). "Young Blood, Old Souls". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 19. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Emmy Cicierega, Mikki Crisostomo (writers) and Bosook "Bo" Coburn (director) (May 21, 2022). "Clouds on the Horizon". The Owl House. Season 2. Episode 20. Disney Channel.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Dana Terrace, John Bailey Owen (writers) and Stephen Sandoval (director) (January 24, 2020). "I Was a Teenage Abomination". The Owl House. Season 1. Episode 3. Disney Channel.