The divine act as cosmic coalescences of mortal will, gathering the light of a given population, distilling it into important commonalities, and giving the end result shape. The Gods offer their people all manners of magical boons both direct and indirect.

Divine magic, also referred to as Celestial magic or Boon magic, is magic specifically generated from a divine source and then passed down to mortals. Of all of the magical types, Divine magic has the most diversity of both form and function, because each God provides its own unique set of boons to their followers.

Gods, in Elstren, are manifestations of mortal will. The exact form this can take is highly variable, ranging from the standard image of a singular God as an all-encompassing arbiter of moral judgment, to hero-Gods that arose from legends and may once have been mortal men, to transactional Gods that exist only to broker cosmic power to those a culture deems worthy, to even specters of harrowing death and judgment that arise unwillingly from cultural legends. The single, uniting factor is that all Gods are empowered by, and limited by, faith. A large culture with at least somewhat harmonious values has a fair chance of giving rise to a divine form that acts as the embodiment, and sometimes the judge, of those values. A culture which believes in a fundamental force may bring that force into existence, whether they want it to exist or not. A culture that has come to treat a single man as a hero may find that man gaining divinity... but, too, those individuals may be warped by their ascension, if they embrace it. A culture that believes in an entity that produces benefits in exchange for sacrifice may indeed bring such a creature into existence.

A few examples of each can be given:

Visiver, the most worshipped God in all of Elstren, the God of Nature, has been worshipped since nearly the dawn of time. Visiver arose from the personification of nature by stone-age Segharva and Humans, taking on a variety of forms throughout history until his form today, that of a stern, but fair and at times kind, overseer and guardian to Nature. His two 'children', Serash and Haija, are nearly as worshipped as him, representing Life and Summer, and Death and Winter, respectively. He allows his followers to become Wildkin, binding their souls with those of animals and taking on the appearance of anthropomorphic animals, and worship of him is helpful in honing Animus magic.

Vask, the hero-God of the Ghazka, once themselves a mortal Ghazka who ascended first to be their leader, and later their god, revered for their wisdom, kindness, and nigh-prophetic foresight. Now, from their perch in the firmament as the second most worshiped God in Elstren, Vask passes on messages and prophetic sights to their most devoted followers, and nudges the wheels of fate in favor of his followers wherever they can.

Nailaxha, the Apocalypse in Form, a Goddess born from the seething hatred of a band of crusaders who, upon suffering unspeakable torture at the hand of a band of witches they'd been sent to exterminate, came to believe that the entire world was lost, and should be purged. She grants her followers magical fire, which can burn souls, with which to cleanse the world. Her followers forcibly recruit people by lashing their souls bare, leaving them empty shells to be re-educated and to worship through fear.

Fanekh, one of a pantheon of Human Gods which has recently begun to collapse, is the God of Light, Mercy, and Justice. Fanekh arose naturally from ideas pervasive in the Dominion of Mere, believed to once have been a simple healer renowned for his gentleness and compassion. His faith comes from small daily practices and prayers, and he passes on healing magic and light magic to those who need it most.

Kharuhex, the Webbed Broker, is the sole God belonging to any Khesil culture. Kharuhex, a relatively simple God, is often depicted only as a web of eyes in an infinite black void which greets the dead. Kharuhex grants its followers the ability to consume magic, which it rewards with boosts to physical prowess... all in exchange for renouncing the ability to use magic on one's own. It also manages a cycle of reincarnation in which worthy Khesil souls are allowed to pass on, but those who are immoral in very basic ways, or lived a karmically poor life, have their souls cast into oblivion. Kharuhex is a 'transactional' God; most of people's faith in it is the faith that it can provide what it claims to offer, reincarnation and power, in exchange for certain terms.

Naqaj, the Dreaming Veils, is a God worshipped since the Stone Age, now known to be fading out of existence. Naqaj arose not from worship, nor from strong ideals, but merely from theories and ideas about the world. Naqaj was a sort of personification of fate, a cosmic energy that wove together the past, present, and future all at once, one which people could tap into with enough work. Worship of Naqaj delivered dream-like prophetic insights, many of which could be used to change the course of events or avert catastrophe.

Myrian, the Goddess of Luck, is a Goddess worshipped throughout almost all of Elstren, with few even noticing their worship of her! She is referred to by scholars as a 'hidden' God, glimpses of her worship caught mostly in prayers to vague forces of luck and fortune. When one beseeches the universe for luck, wittingly or not, they are praying to Myrian. For the less devoted, she may gently tip the scales, but the most devoted and loving may find that she can provide far better than good luck...

As can be seen, the forms that faith takes, and the forms that faith gives rise to, are highly varied. As long as one believes in the power of something, whether good or bad, it can attain increasing degrees of divinity depending on how many people share that belief. Magic passed on by Gods ranges from simple boons like increased harvests to the direct empowering of individuals with forms of magic that are usually difficult to come by. It all depends on what their purpose is, who they are, and how much power they have through faith... after all, a God is only as powerful as its followers. Divine magic is usually a transaction; a person makes a sacrifice, be it a sacrifice of time and faith through genuine prayer, a sacrifice of a material nature, or even, at times, a mortal sacrifice, and in turn receives a boon.

Of course, it's important to remember that because someone, or everyone, believes something about a God, does not necessarily make it true. Gods are strictly limited by many rules, and by the bounds of the power their followers give them. A God that is believed to be an inherent part of reality, like Naqaj, is not actually so; it lives and may die just as any other God, and many such religions eventually come to realize that their God is as 'artificial' as any other. Likewise, Gods cannot usually directly influence most events outside of their relationship to their followers; even if someone believes a God is the moral arbiter of everyone, it has no ability to inflict direct punishment or judge the soul of someone who does not and never believed in it... but they may certainly ask their followers to.

Divine magic is the most common form of magic in all of Elstren. Many people may be using Divine magic without even noticing it; it is a day-to-day part of the lives of many, as they pray to generalized Gods for good fortune, good health, good harvests, whatever their priorities may be. Some of the more devoted may wield Divine magic directly, whether as a weapon or as a tool. Gods are capable of granting their followers Afterlives, as well, allowing souls that pass through the Black Path to have a final resting place in the hospitality... or enmity... of their God.