Spell circle
(Also "spell diagram") Taken as a whole, the "written" master structure of a spell (whether composed and enacted in the mind, or actually written or drawn on some concrete structure or in the Wizard's Manual). The term is also sometimes used to indicate merely the outermost circle or spell/world interface of a wizardry.
A spell circle does not have to be circular: spell structures can as easily be angular, polygonal or elliptical, spherical or multidimensional, depending on the preference and species of the wizard, and the necessities of the complexity of the desired spell. That said, the tendency toward circles and spheres is widespread enough that the standard terms for the most significant component parts of the structure are "chord" and "arc".
The diagram to the right shows the most basic elements of a spell circle. "A" shows the prime or master circle, sometimes also called the "body" or envelope. This circle serves as a container for the major components of the wizardry. "B" and "C" (and the two other unmarked circles) illustrate "component circles", also called enclosures. Such subsidiary circles are used to set apart important components of the spell from its general body, the entire area enclosed by "A". Enclosures can contain personal information, data about the location or nature of an object the wizard desires to operate upon, or specific instructions about the operation itself. They can also be used to "set off" the power structures being invoked to power a specific spell, or as a containment area for a wizard acting only as the power source for the wizardry as opposed to another wizard handling the actual invocation.
"L" illustrates a typical arc of a spell -- any part of an outer or inner circle which occurs between any two objects in tangent to it or intersecting it. The area "D", enclosed by two arcs, is equivalent to the area of intersection in a Venn diagram, and is usually referred to in wizardry as a conjunctive or conjunct area.
All the lines in the unlabeled circles, considered separately, are chords. Lines EF and FG, considered together, are "convergent chords"; IJ and KH are "sectionals" or "intersecting chords".
The actual words of a spell are written in the Speech along, inside, or outside any of these circles, arcs or lines (except for the prime circle, which is the spell's boundary with the world on which it acts: no charactery is ever inscribed outside it). The positioning of the elements along which the words are written normally has something to do with the purpose or function of which the words are an expression. For example, a pair of intersecting chords such as IJ and KH might indicate a pair or set of wizardly forces which were at odds with each other, and which the wizard intended to transform or resolve. Or a pair of convergent chords might indicate a pair of forces which a wizard was intent on bringing to bear simultaneously on a single problem (usually indicated by the point in the secondary circle where the two chords meet).
A conjunct area like "D" can also indicate different forces or situations being asked to influence one another. Alternatively, it may suggest that items or forces contained in the two (or more) contributing circles had something to do with one another before the spell began. Wizards with a close physical relationship -- for example, the members of a twychild pairing -- might site some of their personal information in such conjunct circles, with shared data being sited in the overlap.
Once the graphic structure of the spell is complete in the Manual, as a drawing on some other surface, or in the wizard's mind, its words can be spoken. The spell then executes to completion. The diagram then either vanishes completely (if set to do so) or stores itself in the Manual in its pre-execution form (the default, as this allows the spell to be used by other wizards who might stand in need of it).
Many wizards like to build a certain amount of interactivity into their spell diagrams, so that they can monitor a spell's progress. Spell circles with this interactive function activated will change as the spell works, helping the wizard identify where (as occasionally happens) something goes wrong in the execution stage.
(SYWTBAW et al)