Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25240460-20140827135038/@comment-24674051-20140827170132

I think it's a little of both. I think that Magic does run in certain bloodlines, like Cora/Regina/Zelena. But Rumple was ordinary until he took on the Dark One's powers, sorta like being changed into a magical creature.

Emma has magic abilities which she was born with (The product of Twu Wuv), but needs help in controling and using said abilities.

Belle does not have any magic abilities that we've seen, but she is able to use magic items (better than most others) to cast simple spells, like the location spell she cast on Eric's cloak in The Jolly Roger.

There is no definitive answer, and I highly doubt the writers of the show are going to provide one, so anything we (as fans) come up with is pure speculation. But my thought is that there is some magic ("simple magic") that can be learned by anyone, but more complicated magic requires a certain genetic predisposition towards magic.

But we do need to remember the golden rule of magic: "All Magic comes with a Price". Which is why Joe Average does not try to do magic, they don't want to pay the price.