Belief magic

Belief magic is the most basic form of magic. It serves as a direct, abstracted form of prayer, connecting one to vaguely defined deities. Belief magic is like the stem cells of magic: if studied closely, it starts to take on stricter, usually somewhat arbitrary rules.
Belief magic is the metaphysical process by which consciousness' perception of reality alters the world. 
Spoiler warning: this page currently contains spoilers for The Bible, Earth X, American Gods, Dark Knights: Death Metal and The Nixonverse. 
==Functioning==
Reality is fundamentally based off belief.Dark Nights: Death Metal Rise of the New God (2020) [comic book] Through a mind's inherent connection to The Dreaming, strong enough belief will change the properties of the universe that mind inhabits. The effects are more potent depending on the quantity of consciences believing and the stronger that belief is. 
These metaphysical mechanics work above usual chronology, through higher temporal dimensions which make up hypertime. As such, belief magic has the power to not only change the present, but also retroactively change the history within a timeline.A Dream of a Thousand Cats [comic], Issue 18 (1990), Sandman Volume 2 [comic book]
Faith, by way of worship, can birth a god in The DreamingThe Sandman Volume 2 (1989) [comic book] off the object of worship. These gods are products of specific perceptions of them, and are reliant on constant belief. As such, over time, they are molded into reflections of cultural trends in their worship.American Gods (2001) [novel] Gods who lose worshippers will lose power and may physically wither and even die.Planescape (1994) [campaign setting], Dungeons & Dragons [tabletop game] Faith may also empower the original object of worship.Dungeons & Dragons (1974) [tabletop game]
Other magical entities also depend on belief: fairies' health are depended on belief in their existence; Jack Frost depends on belief of him to be perceived in the physical plane.Rise of the Guardians (2012) [movie]
Local belief can change an area's landscape. 
==Hypertime==
In a previous version of the universe, giant cats preyed on and ruled over humanity, until one human dreamt of a world where humans were the dominant species. He got a large amount of people to believe that if they all dreamt of such a world, it would come true. Because of humanity's belief, their dream became true through the connection between The Dreaming and reality, giving origin to a world where humans subjugated the much smaller cats. 
Belief magic was weaponized to defeat an entity known as the Crescent King, who gained power from people’s belief in his existence, in a previous version of reality centered around Richard Nixon. People were lead to start believing the Crescent King was fictional, and as such he stopped ever existing and became a DC Comics character.THE ED DWIGHT PARADOX (2022) [webvideo], The Nixonverse [YouTube series]
==History==
Fairies evolve to develop a biological connection and dependence on belief magic.Peter and Wendy (1911) [novel] After being hit by the Godwave,New Gods Secret Files and Origins (1998) [comic book] the Asgardians also evolve a connection to belief; their forms and minds are directly affected by the belief of those around them.Earth X (1999) [comic book] 
When humans start worshipping the Asgardians, their perception of them manifest as the Norse Pantheon in the Dreaming. At the same time, the Asgardians themselves are molded by this belief, making them almost indistinguishable from their non-physical counterparts.
13 millenia BCE, the Olympians start being worshipped in Latium after a conflict with Darkseid. They make avatars to act as emissaries for them, which are molded over generations by the population's beliefs.Issue 132 (1998), Wonder Woman Volume 2 [comic book]
In 813 CE, Vikings arrive in North America and worship Odin Borson there, which creates an American manifestation of Odin.
In the 1st Century CE, Jesus of Nazareth starts being worshipped as the son of God.The New Testament [book series] A reflection of how he is seen by believers of this new faith is born in The Dreaming. As views of him diversify, multiple aspects of Jesus Christ come to being. 
A magic tower is built in Fairy World that siphons belief from Earth to power the fairies' wands.The Fairly OddParents (2001) [TV show]
In the 20th century, the U.S.A. government founds the Department of Truth, a federal agency dedicated to controlling misinformation from manifesting as reality due to popular belief in conspiracy theories.The Department of Truth (2020) [comic book]
In the 1990s, Calvin Somebody finds a tiger plushie and imbues it with his Imaginary EnergyFusionFall (2009) [videogame] which allows anyone who believes it is a real tiger to see it as an anthropomorphic tiger named Hobbes.Calvin and Hobbes (1985) [comic strip]Bloom County (1980) [comic strip]
==Miscellaneous==
*Some people, such as Odin Borson (Mr. Wednesday) and Philomena Cunk, believe airplanes don’t fly because of aeronautics, but rather run on belief magic.Rise of the Machines [episode], Cunk on Earth (2022) [mockumentary series] Cunk also believes that’s how wi-fi works.
==Sources==