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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sword of Spirit" data-source="post: 6547549" data-attributes="member: 6677017">It occurs to me that part of this issue involves interaction with D&D's general conception of spellcasting. D&D has traditionally taken a rather scientific approach to spellcasting. It's more or less a technology. You push the right buttons and gears on the cosmic machine and get the prescribed results. From that perspective, it makes sense that the vocalizations and motions don't bear a resemblance to normal words and gestures. You aren't communicating, you are pushing cosmic buttons.If you take the approach that more accurately mimics real world occult practices, the magical words are generally going to be real phrases in whatever language you happen to be speaking, and any physical motions are going to represent or symbolize things in the world, and hence also be a form of understandable communication.So D&D seems to be taking the scientific approach, but then assuming that certain spells use the symbolic approach instead, without clearly telling us when they shift paradigms. Hence the issue.</blockquote>