My Geekomancy teacher always said there are several rules that any paradigm should follow for a Geekomancer to use it. One of them is that the paradigm should be safe for magicians. This means that there should be no in-canon reason why practitioners are doomed if they are practitioners. Puella Magi Madonna Magica is not a safe paradigm unless you are using the paradigm specifically after Madoka’s wish. Note, this post includes spoilers. 

Why the Paradigm was Originally Dangerous 

Before Madoka’s wish, there was an established cycle. Normal girls used a wish, and became magical girls in return. Magical girls had to use Grief Seeds from Witches in order to keep their Soul Gems from becoming completely corrupted. Once a magical girl’s grief seed became totally corrupted, they became a witch. 

The point of this cycle was actually intended to create an energy source for Kyubey’s species, the Incubators. Thus, the fact that magical girls turned into witches was intentional. This was interesting from a few perspectives. First, the kanji characters used for ‘magical girl’ was the exact same as used for ‘witch’ but with the character for ‘child’ added onto the end. Second, this can be considered a metaphor for loss of innocence (or trauma) and the gain of power. 

Once a girl becomes too ‘corrupted’ by negative emotions and despair, she transforms into a witch. Her soul gem also transforms into a Grief Seed.This was originally a tragic cycle, because it meant that human girls were being used as a resource—and being exploited by the Incubators. They were fated to have their humanity stripped away once they suffered too much—and then killed by the magical girls who essentially took their place. 

At the same time, magical girls had to constantly consume Grief Seeds (the souls of their predecessors) in order to keep themselves human. So all the suffering and deaths of witches (former magical girls) cannot stave off the transformation. It is noted in the series that there are not enough Grief Seeds to go around. Magical girls are all essentially ‘rivals’ for limited resources (The Different Story Manga, Chapter 1, Chapter 5). Senior magical girls also caution newbies against fighting familiars, since they do not drop Grief Seeds. Instead, they are encouraged to wait until the familiars kill enough humans to become a witch (The Different Story manga, Chapter 1, Chapter 3, Chapter 4). 

Why the Paradigm Changed

Within the context of the show, Madoka uses her wish to become a Deity—and re-write the magical girl cycle. Post wish, magical girls simply died and went to a magical-girl afterlife after their Soul Gems became too ‘corrupted.’ At that point, simply dying was a far better end than being recycled. 

In the Rebellion Movie, Homura essentially turned herself into an Anti-God, and splits Madoka the God. Madoka’s divinity was left where it was in order to continue rescuing the souls of magical girls after their deaths. Homura put Madoka’s mind into a dimension where she can be a ‘normal girl’ and puts her into a prison where she can be happy.   

Current Paradigm 

Magicians are created when a person forms a contract with the Incubators. The Incubators then give the magician power, as well as a magical form, in return for the energy created with a wish. Magical girls have a color scheme, a weapon, a theme, and it is implied that they can decide on their own magical girl clothing. Their power comes from the Incubators—but also the innate power of wishes. A practitioner would need a representation of their Soul Gem, and a weapon they could use to defeat Wraiths. 

Magical girls also gain power by hunting ‘Wraiths,’ which are created from grief, curses, and despair. Once a magical girl has suffered too much, she dies—and Madoka takes her to the magical girl afterlife. This means that magical girls have an imperative to combat Wraiths—which are representative of negative emotions, suffering, and despair. 

I would still not consider this a great paradigm to practice. First, because knowledge and suffering are treated as a blank negative that one person can only take so much of before they die. I could consider it a paradigm that is dangerously close to purity culture. Innocence is more valuable than experience and knowledge—because the later leads to death. 

Second, the practitioner gains nothing after making their contract. All their work is paying off the wish they received in the first place. Because of these two reasons, I can’t fuck with this paradigm.