Path of the Gods

The Path of the Gods, is a branch of magic which utilizes the power of the Egyptian Gods. It is the oldest and most powerful form of magic ever practiced by the House of Life. After the fall of Egypt, the path was abandoned for nearly two millennia. It is to harness a god's power and use that power to perform a certain magic. So if a magician followed the path of Horus, he/she could channel Horus' power for whatever magic the war god was capable of providing, which in Horus' case is combat magic.

History
The Path of the Gods is the very origin of Egyptian magic itself. In ancient times, magicians would call upon the aid of the gods to work their greatest feats of magic. While most would only use their strength, some would attempt to host the essences of the gods inside themselves.

The goal was to become the "eye" of a god and gain full access to their divine partner's vast experience and might without the Path of the Gods. Although there were those who would gain a limited success in this objective, it was the Pharaoh and his family who truly achieved it.

However, housing gods is very dangerous as they will overwhelm a weak host and possess them. Furthermore, the magician will be killed or even destroyed by the god's possession if they reside too long within such a mortal. Even if death doesn't occur, containing a god can shatter the host's sanity.

After the Roman conquest of Egypt, Chief Lector Iskandar forbade any further usage of the path of the gods. His reason was fear of the dangers that the gods represent. Plus, he was afraid of being too dependent on them. Two thousand years later, Carter and Sadie Kane renewed the practice by recruiting descendants of the Pharaohs.

A magician can follow any path, but they usually follow a path that is best for their speciality. However, if a mage hasn't done magic without the path of the gods, that mage should pick a god's path that is suited for them. For example, Carter needs the path of Horus to use combat magic as he didn't have any training in magic other than the path of the gods and hosting Horus.

While dying, Walt Stone chose to follow the Path of Anubis which has never been followed before due to his friendship with the god and decision to host him when he dies. After seeing Walt channel Anubis' powers, Neith refers to him as a "child of Set" which is what Anubis is. Apparently a magician following a certain path can be refered to as a title pertaining to their particular god as Walt was not actually hosting Anubis at that time.

Divine Magic
Divine magic is when a connection is formed between a magician and a god. This connection is utilized to channel the god's path and do great feats of magic. It is usually performed unconsciously or instinctively.

Divine magic also helps if a magician has no knowledge on how to use the path of the gods to do magic. After Carter gave Horus, he lost his link to the god and as such couldn't do combat magic. However, using divine magic, the absent link between Carter and Horus was re-created. Another example is with Sadie, who gave up Isis and lost the ability to speak Divine Words and elemental magic. She used divine magic to regain her connection to Isis and perform hieroglyphic and elementalist spells.

Known Paths

 * Bast - Combat Magic, Animal Charming (Cats)
 * Geb - Earth Magic
 * Horus - Combat Magic
 * Isis - Divine Words, Elemental Magic
 * Osiris - Necromancy, Death Magic
 * Thoth- Divine Words, Elemental Magic
 * Sekhmet - Fire Magic, Healing Magic
 * Nephthys - Water Magic
 * Anubis - Death Magic, Necromancy, Animal Charming (Jackals)
 * Set - Chaos/Storm Magic, Combat Magic (Set Avatar)
 * Apophis - Chaos/Storm Magic
 * Serqet - Animal Charming (scorpions)
 * Shu - Air Magic
 * Sobek - Water Magic, Combat Magic, Animal Charming (Crocodiles)
 * Ptah - Animal Charming (Rats)
 * Khonsu - Time Magic
 * Ra - Fire Magic, Healing Magic