Ruling spells grant fuller control over phenomena than a mere Compelling spell. Water can be made to flow uphill or into unnatural shapes (Matter), animals (or even human beings) can be commanded (Life or Mind), or time can be momentarily made to accelerate or slow down (Time).
A Ruling spell can’t fundamentally alter its target’s abilities: Water can be directed, but not turned solid or gaseous. Time can be altered, but not overwritten. An animal can be commanded, but not made stronger or fiercer.
In Game:
Spells of the Practice of Ruling often assist a mage with mundane tasks, creating a foundation on which she can build using her natural abilities, rather than any paranormal talent — effectively, a small “boost” that facilitates the use of normal talent. These can be more potent than the what can be imparted imparted by Compelling spells, and begin to bridge the gap between the miniscule alterations of the Practice of Compelling and the obvious paranormal manipulations of the Practice of Weaving.
Other Ruling spells actually create outright supernatural effects, though these are small and almost always, in and of themselves, harmless. (Which is not to say that an insightful willworker couldn’t use them to set up a dangerous situation for an enemy; rather, they’re not usually inherently dangerous.) When Ruling spells are used to directly cause harm, the harm is caused by the phenomena being manipulated and not the raw power of the magic moving it which comes later.
Ruling spells can sometimes be a bit difficult to categorize. (This is actually the case, with many of the Practices that involve direct magical interaction with the mage’s environment, but the issues of distinction really begin with Ruling.) Perhaps the best way to discern if a given spell should belong to the Practice of Ruling is to ask if the spell’s effects manipulate a person, place or thing in some small way.
Does the spell suggest, rather than force? Does the spell affect cosmetic change, rather than any true alteration or act of creation? If so, then the spell probably belongs to the Practice of Ruling.
In Story:
Many young willworkers consider their early castings within the Practice of Ruling to be their first “real” experiences with magic. This error is easy to make; the feeling of power that comes from being able to so directly affect the world around oneself, even if only in small ways, can be truly intoxicating. Such inexperienced Awakened cite that it’s all well and good to see things that others can’t, or to gently nudge one’s environment, here and there, but, for them, the gravity of their gift doesn’t set in until they can make fire dance on their fingertips, or peer through the threads of space, to gaze upon places miles away.
Naturally, this attitude is precisely what makes the Practice of Ruling such a dangerous one. Most willworkers, before they become experienced and powerful enough to make use of Ruling magics, don’t have any appreciable access to spells that can be pushed to great effect, and so are largely forced by their ignorance to preserve the integrity of the Veil and the secrecy of the Mysteries. Thus, most wise mentors begin their students’ instruction in the Practice of Ruling well away from the eyes of Sleepers (and, if at all possible, away from things that could be damaged or destroyed by an incidence of Paradox or two). Those who have access to Demesnes often make use of them, though few teachers (and even fewer students) possess such valuable resources.
The Practice of Ruling, because of its status of the “second tier” of Practices aimed at manipulation of the Fallen World, often gets overlooked by mages of greater power. To many willworkers, something can either be gently nudged with Compelling or forced with Weaving. To such Awakened, Ruling becomes a nebulous middle ground.
Wiser mages, on the other hand, remember the utility of Ruling spells and their tendency toward covertness, and do not automatically cast them aside in favor of more potent magics. To a true master, or the master spies of the Guardians of the Veil, it is their most cherished practices.