Only a select few. Those with the wherewithal and proper tools can wield it in many forms.

[It's been a while since he talked about Urulat. Hadriel had become more and more of his home over the past seven months.]

All of those guesses put together. I knew a Sorceress who ruled by virtue of being the strongest magic user there was in the West. My mother ruled her race, the Were, by being the strongest, oldest, and wisest of her kind. It varies.