This all changed after World War One. The informational basis of magic was beginning to flow easier (thanks, Gutenberg!), more people knew it and decided that there was enough demand for contact with the dead that they could emerge from the shadows, practice the Art openly, and be accepted and respected by their communities.

It would have worked, were it not for the first overtly occult government organization, a German group with the innocuous name "National Socialism."

Mutants, like sorcerers, have also been around for forever. But due to a confluence of factors, they almost never became active. To develop a mutant power, you need to (1) have the gene, (2) survive puberty, (3) be well fed enough, for long enough, to fuel the transformation and (4) be placed in a situation, as an adult, where you would accept your ability to do the impossible.

Historically, most mutants were either god-king types or horrible monsters. But just as the increasing affluence of Western societies meant more people were hitting requirements (2) and (3), along came World War Two to take care of (4).

The US had the most mutants, simply because it was the best-fed nation. Thanks, Iowa. The Allies discovered that you could hang a lot of weight on stories of everyday soldier Joes becoming mutant war heroes -- just like you could get a lot of mileage out of scare stories about Nazi sorcerers experimenting with That Which Man Was Not Meant to Know.

Of course, everyone was chasing magic in secret, and after the war (which was influenced perhaps 5-10% by the presence of metahumans, if that) the race was on to get the scraps of the Nazis' occult program. This secret conflict, which settled into a harsh stalemate, was called "The Grim War" instead of the Cold War of our history.

The USSR kicked America's butt when it came to gathering secret knowledge, and it helped them not one bit against the US' ravenous free market. It collapsed on schedule, bringing us to where we are today.

More and more people are becoming active mutants, because it's psychologically acceptable now. But troublingly, more are transforming earlier and earlier, before they're emotionally prepared for powers that would disturb even the most staid of adults.

At the same time, interest in sorcery is greater than ever, and access to information on it -- genuine stuff, and crap, and dangerous half-and-half -- is easier than ever. Thanks, Xerox, Al Gore and Google!