Quote Originally Posted by Design View Post
So,

Basically are they all trying to help each other? Hurt each other? Save each other? One trying to suppress the other's magic?
It would be more accurate to say they compliment each other. I'll try and explain this from my own perspective, which is a very different angle.

Conjury is the magic of nature. It weaves the aether of nature to manipulate nature, thus making it dependant upon an understanding of nature and its elemental guardians. Earth is uplifted, air is moved and water is gathered. Curing magic re-forms the body to close wounds (enhanced in WHM). It is the magic of motion.

Thaumaturgy is the magic of raw energy. It draws forth the aether of one's own wellspring and by regulating their aether in the astral and umbral polarities, are able to channel the latent aether of the world (and void - BLM) through themselves and into an expression of energy. This takes the form of electrical currents, burning heat, or the icy absence there of.

Arcanima is the magic of matter-alteration. Through the use of symbols, they apply aether to transform the environment around them. This can inflict disease and slowly tear at a victim's biology. It can also cause the aether around them to transform into an entity that bear's the consciousness of aether (much like how a primal is summoned but on a smaller scale) and bind it to their will. This bears a greater similarity to ancient Allagan techniques, which may have persisted in Nym and the Southern Island areas in isolation from the Black/White advancements of mainland Eorzea.

Motion, Energy and Matter. Three ways of manipulating aether, all with very different results.