In English, for example, a common magic term is Abracadabra. Though the term itself may not stem from English, it is nevertheless a term most native English-speakers are aware of.
Are there similar incantations associated with magic, in Chinese?
about incantations / mantras / "咒", there's no confucian counterparts. meanwhile, there're numerous in taoism and buddhism. only those of taoism are native chinese, when relevant ones of buddhism are translations.
in taoism literatures, "急急如律令" and its deviations, are often used at the end of most mantras, that deities / daemons would follow the instructions of the speaker. here're 3 examples from 鬼谷子天髓靈文, 雲笈七籤 & 太平廣記:
in buddhism, the most common mantras are: 南無阿彌陀佛, or "喃嘸阿彌陀佛", that the speakers of this mantras "would" reborn in amitābha (阿彌陀佛)'s sukhavati (西方極樂世界) after death.
another one is 六字大明咒, "唵嘛呢叭咪吽", Om mani padme hum
this one is tibetan in origin, i would say this one is quite "popular" in taiwan & hong kong :)
-
In the TV adaptation of 《济公》, the sainted protagonist sings 唵嘛呢叭咪吽 every time he does some magic. – Wang Dingwei Sep 26 '16 at 10:07
I just think of one universal Chinese incantations , that it appear on many literature and still using it.
It is
变 or 變
(transform, convert, conjuring). One can repeat it many times to emphasize it.like 变! 变! 变! 变! 变!
天灵灵，地灵灵. Or maybe not an incantation, you can say见证奇迹的时刻. :D – songyuanyao Aug 25 '16 at 3:42