Traditional Hermetic Magic often required creation of elaborate pentacles, pentagrams, magic circles, runes, etc. before a spell could be cast. These would typically be scratched into the ground, or made with special materials. This takes too long to be practical in a fight or immediate crisis, but it does look really cool. Many works get around this by having special effects do the work. As soon as the mage calls out the attack, any required circles, designs and written magical incantations appear glowing in the air. This is common for Hermetic-flavored Magical Girls.