Eastern Magick
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Part of a series on the
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History |
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Divine Magick |
Eastern Magick employs elements of Shamanism, Druidism and Runecraft, using the source: Faith and to a lesser degree Sorcery. It is comparable to Amunic Magick and is unique to the Eastern Empire, nearly unknown outside of it.
Eastern Faith
The core of the Eastern Faith is the belief in harmony. The four elements (Earth, Fire, Air, Water each represented by a sleeping dragon empress or Hoang Ba Long) are bound together with this harmony, each element balanced against the other. Ultimate balance is ultimate harmony. Everything in the universe is made of a combination of elements and students are taught to recognize this. Nature is the display of harmony and in it priests try to find deeper understanding.
In society man and woman form a balance just like the elements do, which has developed into very distinct spheres. To man there is violence, strength, keeping, defense, muscle. To woman there is fertility, creating, growing, thinking. The latter sphere includes all administrative, political and economical positions. The man is the soldier, the woman the steward. Tradition and family forms an important cornerstones of Eastern belief. The family is seen as the main mechanism by which traditions are preserved, giving life a slow peacefulness which may seem rigid to outsiders. Relationships are codified so that they remain harmonious.
The elements can be balanced both positively and negatively. Generating, as in creating, may be considered positive, where as overcoming or destroying, may be considered negative. The way the elements interact with eachother is easily demonstrated.
Generating:
- Fire creates Earth (ash)
- Earth distributes water
- Water begats Air
- Air spreads Fire
Overcoming:
- Air moves Water (tsunami/storms)
- Water erodes Earth
- Earth smothers fire
- Fire poisons air (smoke)
Kami
See the main article on Kami
The worship of the sacred spirits or Kami, both of dragons and of ancestors, is what fits that together. Through the Kami the priests (Sojen) and other magick users invoke the elements. While there are monasteries, there are no temples, safe for the palace. There are however shrines to the Kami in every family home. It contains origami representations of the Kami and the elements. It is important to maintain a permanent good relationship with the Kami, by elaborate ceremony and ritual, but also by keeping to behaviour that is pleasing to the Kami. Out of respect to Nature and the Kami the Eastern people live by a strict code of physical cleanliness. To respect the balance of your own body is to respect your forefathers.
The antithesis to the Kami are the Oni, or evil spirits. They are to be avoided because they cause imbalance, but people can be tricked by them.
The Path of the Sojen
The Sojen live separately of society, which is mostly built around the two spheres of man and woman. They have withdrawn to contemplate the universe. A Sojen can be both a man or a woman. Once a person becomes a Sojen the gender no longer matters. The monestaries are built on places thought to be especially harmonious. Sojen are dependant on charity from their neighborhood to survive. Families might send their children to the monasteries to enlightened by them.
Sojen distinguish in their studies the following aspects:
- control - mastering an element means exerting complete control, shown in small, perfect ways in the most pure form, such as creating a cup of the purest water.
- self betterment - reaching harmony with oneself and one's environment, attunement to nature
- enlightenment - coming to a true deeper understanding with a weariness about scholar explanations or theoretical understanding
- "Don't ask me why my water is so clear, just do it over and over again until you progress, then you'll realize no word could convey the right meaning."
By avoiding the endless classification of 'kinds' of energy, the Sojen is able to tap into the Aether more easily-- their understanding of energy is inherently more primal than that of other regions, but also more subtle. They invoke the Kami and operate the elemental energies through them, so they only have one source to access. Living life in attunement to Nature centers the monk. Similarly, the common people, who live with the understanding of elements in balance, are naturally 'centered' by default to a small degree and performing small feats of magic is not unusual to them. The use of Kami also doesn't necessitate grounding or shielding, as the sacred spirits are thought to provide that.
Prayer Papers & Origami
Rice paper and black ink is used to paint prayers in Noi Long. The prayers reach the Kami by letting them blow on the wind, burned on a shrine, let it drift away on water or other very elemental focused ways of consumption. Sometimes prayers are fixed in places, causing charms to be. For instance by tying a prayer paper into a tree, or hidden under a stone.
Another way of formulating a request is by using origami: the folding of ricepaper into a carefully crated form that is evocative of the requested effect. The more intricate and detailed one is able to master the origami, the stronger and the more likely successful the request is. While it takes time to create a spell in this way, it is entirely possible to prepare beforehand.
In the end however the effects are granted by the Kami, not by the skill of the master in folding paper. The level of attunement to Nature and the balance of spirits therefore is the most defining aspects. All Eastern people are taught such balance and how to make small requests. The Monks devote their entire life to it and are therefore able perform greater feats through Kami favour.
Because of the nature of Eastern Magick most spell effects are not instantaneous. They take time to prepare, both to ensure continued Kami sponsorship and to form the request in a way that follows tradition. Because they then go through an intermediary it follows that there is another delay in the spell effect. Eastern Magick users are therefore never in haste. While there are applications in war, it is unlikely to be used in the heat of battle. Foresight and preparation are the tools of the Eastern Magick user.
Bonsai
Perfection, balance, harmony. Nature itself is a symbol and in their use of religious symbols the Eastern people use stylized forms of wild nature in their own homes. They create new order. Trees are shaped in specific forms, using both prayers and endless pruning and cutting, as is stone. Touches of moss, of bamboo are placed just so. The sound of trickling water is always nearby
Referred to as the Art of Bonsai to create harmony in the home, this magick is known as Shaping outside the Eastern Empire.
