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Some magical societies are politically powerful (perhaps even [[The Magocracy|running the country]]), while others are persecuted. In either case, they might keep their existence a secret. There can be conflict between a magical society and other powers ([[The Government]], [[The Church]]...), between the society and people who are trying to practice magic outside it, and between members of the society itself (the issue of whether to allow [[Black Magic]] is a popular subject).
A magical society may be the ones behind a [[Wizarding School]], especially if the society only exists because [[Power Incontinence|untrained magic-users are dangerous]]. Even if it doesn't have a school, it could be involved in setting up [[The Apprentice (trope)||master-apprentice]] deals. In some settings, it's impossible to learn magic anywhere ''but'' one of these.
If a magical society has a headquarters, there's a fair chance it'll be [[Mage Tower|a tower]].
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{{examples}}
== Literature ==
* In ''[[Discworld]]'', one of the unspoken functions of Unseen University is to keep wizards tangled up in bureaucracy and academic politics, and to ensure that they can live comfortably without having to actually do very much. That way, they're not turning their magic on everyone else, and over the years since the university was founded, wizardry in general has become more sedate and inward-looking. Which makes the world a considerably safer place: it's noted that "there were still quite deep scars in old buildings that showed what happened when you had the other kind of wizard", and that in the old days, "the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'".
** Witches, by contrast, don't have the same level of organisation. They occasionally have big meetings, and some of them will clump together in [[The Hecate Sisters|groups of three]], but there isn't any formal leadership. (Informal leadership exists to an extent - it's noted that Granny Weatherwax is "the most highly-regarded of the leaders they didn't have".) One short story deals with someone trying to set up a committee to make their big meeting more organised - it fails.
** That said, witches always keep an eye on one another to ensure they don't start cackling.
* In ''[[The Black Magician Trilogy]]'', there's a Magicians' Guild that all magic-users are required to join, since untrained magic-users are a danger to themselves and those around them. The plot of the first book has the protagonist (who doesn't really understand the danger, and just wants to be left alone) being hunted by the Guild for this reason.
* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' has the Aes Sedai. In theory, long-term membership is not compulsory, but they do insist that anyone with power undertake training, and it's implied that the Aes Sedai are ''very'' reluctant to let go of anyone with serious potential. They also crack down on anyone being too obvious about using the One Power outside their ranks, as many people consider "can use the One Power" and "is Aes Sedai" to be the same thing. Over the course of the books, it emerges that they're not actually doing as well as they think - there are plenty of people who would make strong Aes Sedai but who, one way or another, are not signed up.
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* The Enchanter's Guild in Pratt and DeCamp's "[[Harold Shea|The Mathematics of Magic]]."
* The Palace of the Prophets in [[Sword of Truth|The Sword of Truth]] series. It's also suggested that something of this nature existed within the Wizard's Keep at Aydindril, but is no more because there are so few wizards left.
* ''[[Jonathan Strange
* The Twenty Palaces Society from Harry Connolly's book series.
* ''[[Labyrinths of Echo]]'' had orders formed around every nascent magical tradition. There was Age of the Orders when these were main power players, allying jostling and fighting with others and leaving little real power to the monarchy until Order of the Seven-Leaf allied with the King won the civil war, outlawing all other magical orders and use of magic above the weakest grades, since overdraining of magic in the World's Heart was about to cause [[The End of the World as We Know It]].
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Shadowrun]]'' products have had a variety of small magical societies, usually informal groupings of like minded magic users. Some were more formal, such as groups set up and run by [[Mega Corp|megacorps]]. The various ''Grimoire'' supplements for the second and third editions of the game actually included rules for groups set up by player characters for their own benefit.
* ''[[Mage: The Ascension]]'' features the Council of Nine, the ruling body of the nine major magical Traditions, which themselves range from mentalist martial artists to Hermetics to enlightened scientists to pagans to reality hackers to shamans. And then there are the many other Crafts that exist beyond them...
** It also has the Technocratic Union and its five Conventions - Iteration X (engineers and inventors), the Progenitors (biologists and geneticists), the Syndicate (financiers and economists), Void Engineers (explorers), and the New World Order (masters of information and its control). However, many members of the Union see what they do as Enlightened Science, not magic.
* Ascension's successor game ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'' has the Pentacle Orders on one side, and the Ministries of the Seers of the Throne on the other.
* Likewise, ''[[Wraith: The Oblivion]]'' has several Guilds, each of which shows a proclivity towards one of the [[Functional Magic|Arcanoi]]. Some are ill-favored but looked upon as a necessity (the Pardoners, whose knowledge of Castigate helps keep [[Enemy Within|Shadows]] in check), some are looked upon with scorn (the Haunters, who use the art of Pandemonium to fuck with reality), and some are outlawed entirely (the Mnemoi, whose knowledge of Mnemonysis allowed them to control memory and resulted in the entire Guild being smashed for hideous crimes).
* ''[[Dungeons
** The Orders of High Sorcery in ''[[Dragonlance]]''. Created directly by the three gods of magic, they have almost total authority in all magical matters, and being a practicing wizard of substantial power without joining (and thereby being subject to the Orders' regulations) is a crime punishable by death. There are three Orders, White, Red, and Black, each with their own distinct philosophy in magic; representatives of all three sit on the Conclave, which governs all magical matters on Krynn.
*** Later in the timeline, other magical organizations (such as the Grey Knights of the Thorn, a subgroup of the Dark Knights of Takhisis/Neraka) start springing up which are powerful enough to exist independantly of the Orders, as do other forms of magic-users such as mystics and primal sorcerers whose magic doesn't come from the moon gods and therefore lies outside the Orders' jurisdiction.
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[[Category:Urban Fantasy Tropes]]
[[Category:Wizards and Witches]]
[[Category:
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