The basic form of the magical entities consists of a substance named essence, a flowing shapeless matter, described as a smokey liquid, while in the other place it is described as a mixture between gas and liquid. Bartimaeus himself (in the 3rd book, Ptolemy's Gate, during a confrontation with the Djinn Faquarl, involving a silver pot of fish soup and a wall), describes Essence as an oily fluid mass, not unlike dishwater. It is responsible for their personality, power, and abilities. While on earth, they have to create a physical body for themselves, which may be of any form they please although they have a set appearance on the 7th plane that never changes. Maintaining this form pains them, and their essences weaken if summoned for a prolonged period. Their essences are also extremely vulnerable to silver and iron. These metals are often used to subdue spirits, such as when Bartimaeus chases Honorius (The Golem's Eye) and when Mandrake tries to threaten Bartimaeus with a silver-tipped spear (Ptolemy's Gate). It is to be noted that the Resistance often used silver throwing discs against spirits. The spirits are also vulnerable against rowan powder, rosemary, garlic, and a few other substances.
Read more about this topic: Magic In Bartimaeus
Famous quotes containing the word essence:
“Painting dissolves the forms at its command, or tends to; it melts them into color. Drawing, on the other hand, goes about resolving forms, giving edge and essence to things. To see shapes clearly, one outlines them—whether on paper or in the mind. Therefore, Michelangelo, a profoundly cultivated man, called drawing the basis of all knowledge whatsoever.”
—Alexander Eliot (b. 1919)
“The rebellion is against time pollution, the feeling that the essence of what makes life worth living—the small moments, the special family getaways, the cookies in the oven, the weekend drives, the long dreamlike summers Mso much of this has been taken from us, or we have given it up. For what? Hitachi stereos? Club Med? Company cars? Racquetball? For fifteen-hour days and lousy day care?”
—Richard Louv (20th century)
“It is of the essence of imaginative culture that it transcends the limits both of the naturally possible and of the morally acceptable.”
—Northrop Frye (b. 1912)