The difference between Witches, Wizards, and Warlocks is often stated to be a matter of gender.

That's not interesting.

Here's an alternative split.

The Witch and the Wizard will be a separate post.



WARLOCKS

Warlocks are mortals who gain supernatural power as a result of a Pact with a Patron.



(Yes, I'm using D&D 3.5/4E/5E terminology to simplify things. Deal with it.)



The Patron is a powerful supernatural entity. A high-ranking demon, one of the fairy queens, an ancient vampire or lich.



A typical prospective Warlock has to do the following things:



Summon/Call the PatronMake a Pact with the PatronFollow-through on it

SUMMON

The Pact typically starts with a ritual to summon the Patron. For some Patrons, the Patron is not summoned but the ritual instead gathers their attention. These entities are too powerful to be summoned, too vast to enter our world without breaking it. Instead, the ritual may summon a proxy, or perhaps an avatar of the Patron, or merely focuses their att…