Aspects of Magic

General Information

Aspects are "mystical elements" which are bound together to form an item. The aspect of an item are closely related to its nature. For example, most wood logs have the Lignum aspect, flint is made of Instrumentum and Saxum (it is an instrument coming from the rocks). The aspects of magic are very important as they are the main source of knowledge for the thaumaturge as well as a means to direct what he or she trying to do.

According to the Thaumonomicon, there are close to 50 known Aspects. However, it also says more are being discovered all the time (This might be a reference to more aspects being added). Some items may have no aspect. It generally happens for items added by other mods.

All aspect names are in Latin, which is why some look very similar to the English, e.g. Machina.

Use of aspects

Research

Main article: Research

Aspects of magic can be studied by the thaumaturge at a Research Table. To do so, the player has to place an item that has the aspect to be researched on the table (in the left hand slots of the UI). Note that up to four items can be placed in the table, but only five aspects can be researched.

Essentia

Essentia (or raw essentia) are Aspects of Magic that have been "somehow separated from their object and purified." Any item that has at least one aspect can be broken down to release the essentia of this/these aspect(s). Essentia are required by many recipes to craft advanced magic items.

To break down an item into essentia, the thaumaturge will need a Crucible. When thrown into boiling water in this Crucible, the item will infuse the water with its essentia. The Goggles of Revealing can show what essentia is present in the different item that can store it.

Gathering essentia

When a crucible holding essentia is right-clicked using a Magic Wand, these essentia will try to mix together in order to form a new item that has the corresponding aspects. If there is no such match, or if the item crafted leaves essentia unused, the essentia will be released into the Aura, generating flux.

As research progresses, the thaumaturge will have the possibility to use Alembics to collect the leftover essentia (or at least some of them) to avoid generating more flux because of his/her practice. Using a Glass Phial, it is possible to transfer essentia from the Alembic to Warded Jars. This allows the thaumaturge to store unbound essentia on a long term basis.

Using essentia

Essentia can be used in some ways:

Right-click a filled Crucible with a Magic Wand
Crafting recipe on an Infusion Altar having a filled Crucible nearby
Crafting recipe on an Infusion Altar having filled Warded Jars nearby

Note that you can only use one Crucible but many Warded Jars.

Thaumonomicon Entry

Every item, object or creature is bound by varying mystical elements known as aspects. Aspects describe the objects makeup and bent towards the magical elements. A simple stone may possess the aspect of Saxum (or stone) while more complex items like trees or even creatures can be made up of various different aspects in varying amounts. There are close to 50 known aspects with more being discovered all the time.

To view what aspects an item possesses, simply hover your cursor over the item and press sneak (shift), and you will see what aspects that item has and what amounts of each.

Aspects that have somehow been separated from their object and purified are known as Essentia and are very valuable: both as a crafting tool and as a subject for magical research.

List of Aspects

(in DIESSS

Cognitio (Learning, Knowledge, Inquiry)
Corpus (Body, Flesh, Physique)
Fabrico (Create, Construct, Work)
Flos (Flower, Bloom, Blossom)
Fractus (Destruction, Fragmented, Shattered)
Fungus (Mushroom, Toadstool, Fungi)
Gelum (Cold, Ice, Frost)
Herba (Herb, Plant, Grass)
Ignis (Fire, Heat, Burn)
Imperito (Control, Command, Dominate)
Instrumentum (Instrument, Tool, Implement)
Lignum (Wood, Forest, Tree)
Lux (Light, Brightness, Day)
Machina (Mechanism, Machine, Device)
Malum (Evil, The Nether, Malice)
Messis (Crops, Harvest)
Metallum (Metal, Mine, Ore)
Mortuus (Death, Decay, Undead)
Motus (Motion, Movement, Speed)
Mutatio (Flux, Chaos)
Pannus (Cloth, Fabric, Garment, Thread)
Permutatio (Exchanging, Change, Barter)
Potentia (Power, Energy, Strength)
Praecantatio (Magic, Sorcery)
Purus (Pure, Clean, Stainless)
Sano (Healing, Repair, Make Sound)
Saxum (Stone, Rock)
Solum (Earth, Soil, Ground, Foundation)
Sonus (Sound, Noise, Din)
Telum (Arrow, Sword, Weapon)
Tempus (Time, Moment, Season)
Tenebris (Dark, Night, Blindness)
Tutamen (Defense, Protection, Security)
Vacuos (Empty, Void, Insubstantial)
Venenum (Poison, Drug, Impure)
Victus (Life Force, Food, Sustenance)
Vinculum (Bind, Imprison, Trap)
Visum (Sight, Vision, Appearance)
Vitreus (Glass, Crystal, Gem, Transparent)
Volito (Flight, Leap)
? obscurus

Items with no known Aspect

This list does not include items from other mods.

Monster Spawners (unobtainable)
Cobblestone Slabs (although wood slabs do have an aspect)
Mob Spawn Eggs (unobtainable)
Discoveries (neglecting those crafted from knowledge fragment)
Firework Stars
Firework Rockets
Minecart Tracks
Nether Brick (the item, not the placeable block)
Nether Portal (unobtainable)
Infernal Furnace

Thaumcraft 4 Aspects

This is a list of Thaumcraft 4 aspects, arranged by "tier" and starting with the 6 primal aspects.
The 1st tier is made of the compound aspects you can discover by scanning right out of the gate, or by combining only primal aspects in the research table.
Tier 2 aspects require you to have discovered a tier 1 aspect before you can discover them (whether through scanning in the world, or combining in the research table).
Tier 3 aspects require a tier 2 aspect to be unlocked before they become available, this continues for every subsequent tier

Note: Some of the ( ) are merely guesses based on the Latin. They may be incorrect.

Primal Aspects

Aer (Air)
Aqua (Water)
Ignis (Fire)
Ordo (Order)
Perditio (Entropy)
Terra (Earth)

Tier 1 Aspects

Gelum (Ice) = Ignis + Perditio
Lux (Light) = Aer + Ignis
Motus (Motion) = Ordo + Aer
Potentia (Energy) = Ordo + Ignis
Saxum (Stone) = Terra + Terra

Tempestas (Storm) = Aer + Gelum
Vacuos (Void) = Aer + Perditio
Victus (Life) = Aqua + Terra

Tier 2 Aspects

Bestia (Animal, Beast) = Motus + Victus
Fames (Hunger) = Victus + Vacuos
Granum (Seed, Young) = Victus + Ordo
Iter (Journey) = Motus + Terra
Limus (Slime, Sticky) = Victus + Aqua
Metallum (Metal) = Saxum + Ordo
Mortuus (Death) = Victus + Perditio
Permutatio (Exchange) = Motus + Aqua
Praecantatio (Magic) = Vacuos + Potentia
Sano (Healing) = Victus + Victus
Tempus (Time) = Vacuos + Ordo
Tenebrae (Darkness) = Vacuos + Lux
Vinculum (Trap) = Motus + Perditio
Vitreus (Crystal) = Saxum + Aqua
Volatus (Flight) = Aer + Motus

Tier 3 Aspects

Alienis (Strange, Alien) = Vacuos + Tenebrae
Auram (Aura) = Praecantatio + Aer
Corpus (Body) = Mortuus + Bestia
Exanimis (Resurrect, Undead) = Motus + Mortuus
Herba (Plant) = Granum + Terra
Spiritus (Spirit, Soul) = Victus + Mortuus
Venenum (Poison) = Aqua + Mortuus
Vitium (Taint) = Praecantatio + Perditio

Tier 4 Aspects

Arbor (Wood) = Aer + Herba
Cognito (Thought, Mind) = Ignis + Spiritus
Sensus (Sense) = Aer + Spiritus

Tier 5 Aspects

Humanus (Human) = Bestia + Cognito

Tier 6 Aspects

Instrumentum (Tool) = Humanus + Ordo
Lucrum (Greed) = Humanus + Fames
Messis (Crop) = Herba + Humanus
Perfodio (Dig, Mine) = Humanus + Saxum

Tier 7 Aspects

Fabrico (Create, Build) = Humanus + Instrumentum
Machina (Machine) = Motus + Instrumentum
Meto (Harvest, Reap) = Messis + Instrumentum
Pannus (Fabric) = Instrumentum + Bestia
Telum (Weapon) = Instrumentum + Perditio
Tutamen (Armor) = Instrumentum + Terra

Ira (Wrath) = Telum + Ignis