User:Rajavlitra/Magic

Mechanics from Breviarium

I wrote this shit you fuckers I have all the right to rip myself off

b. ) Energy is scientifically the metric of the capacity to do work. In Magic, this refers to the capacity of work itself (coming from the original greek source of the word meaning “potentiality”, which in later esoteric sciences becomes attached to connotations of scientific force), and its many forms are the source in which magical phenomena are ascribed to (the semantics is an intensively long discussion, so we would be practical and refer to magic energy as the noun being measured by the scientific concept.)

It was in 1934 that such an ambitious undertaking began. Spearheaded by Bjorn Ravnson, a Master in the Royal Magical Society in Sjealand (also known for his apprenticeship with the legendary alchemist Harald Stjornusson), he was particularly inspired by early Vestiborevian analyses of East Borean religions and Wisdom Teaching, along with developing trends in the mundane sciences and philosophies, Superstructuralist studies on symbolism, the Theory of General Relativity and Psychoanalysis. In short, he was creating an idiosyncratic synthesis of two irreconcilable systems of thought. This new empirical theory is the foundation of modern Metamechanics, which currently serves as the scholarly framework of this book.

In his own studies of pre-Khaturvic spiritualism, Ravnson built up the idea of another standard of measuring potentialities in material processes: ”transformative energy”, ie. potentialities which serve as the transitionary state of one energy form to another (ie. kinetic > potential, heat > light, etc.) The conceptual basis of transformative energy, despite its connotations, rests solely in the mundane sciences, thus distinct from energy as a magical term. His main thesis regarding transformative energy is based on the idea of consciousness—in the mundane sciences, consciousness is powered on chemical and neural processes in the nervous system to maintain all vital functions.

Ravnson postulated through this concept that the nervous system is suspiciously one of the most powerful and complex coordinations of energy transfers and conversions in the physical world, coordinated in such a manner that is coherent and in a way following a specific pattern. He argues thus that energies are coordinated in specific conversions and moved to specific locations in space thanks to a feedback loop between gravity and matter (the former being a consequence of space-time distortion, which is in turn a consequence of the latter). This feedback loop, now called the Ravnson-Bracken principle (aka the RBP), is the main basis of the modern idea of energies—all energies are derived from this feedback loop, the dharma that binds all matter together. The two cardinal forces, Electromagnetism and Gravitation, are derived from this (esoterically laid out in Ravnson’s notes as a “north-south” relationship).

This would later be picked up in 1944 by Sayid Ardahan, then-Head Astrologer and Badrageh of the Temple of Faidah. Unlike Ravnson, which presented his theses in a semi-scientific tone1, Ardahan interpreted the idea in religious terms, however expanded. He thought of the RBP as the will of God or the manifestation of God. He later posits that God’s will made manifest through the creation of coherent patterns in nature (both living and inanimate, ergo evolution being a sort of hyper-abstract pattern influencing life, etc.). All natural processes, including the RBP, are examples of these patterns, and through those patterns both concrete and abstract does preternatural processes (ie one that deviates from the physical laws of the mundane world) flow through these specific patterns. “God speaks in a language written in the hearts of worlds.”

Ardahan’s students would later map out the global flow pattern of these preternatural processes, influenced by the notion of ley lines, the power of sigils and words and the areas of known geographic locations. This would lead to the discovery of the Faidanic circuit (originally the “Serene Radiant River”), a major cornerstone in the rise of Metageographism (the modern circuit model is now more closely pictured as similar to sea or wind currents rather tha, mostly aligned with the ones within the electromagnetic field in compliance with the RBP’s feedback loop.) In essence, the circuit-currents direct the flow of energies and phenomena brought forth by the RBP, forming natural discrepancies of its concentration throughout the world. It should be said, however that energies in the Faidanic circuit also flow through lifeforms, which are active actors of patterns and all forms of energy.

Two of Ravnson’s students continued on their master’s work further and pushed more radical additions to the metamechanical corpus, this time pertaining to the human soul. Klaus Ahigen-Aleckzeihausch disputed an earlier postulation by the Faidah school that souls are concentrated essences of the Serene Radiant River. Instead, he argued that souls are by itself sustaining without the need of the Faidanic circuit, citing the survival of life in areas with little to no concentration of preternatural energies. He instead argued that souls are instead independent concentrations brought by the RBP, amplified only after by the circuit once they have entered its range. The debate between an independent and dependent souls has been one of political and religious controversy due to its massive societal implications (Ahigen-Aleckzeihausch was also a known freethinker outside Breviarium, as opposed to the Irfanic mysticism of the Faidah school.)

Taking from Ravnson’s works on the nervous system and its relation to the RBP, Reynir Neymandi elucidated on a formal theory of potentiality of manipulation of particular energies in some lifeforms (ie kinesis, psychism, etc.), describing their development as mutations in the evolutionary process—culminations of energies flowing across numerous patterns somehow influence the genetic code of particular individuals, giving a formal explanation of “magical affinity” as a basis. Individuals with affinity with the energies of the Faidanic circuit have, at best, higher chances of proficiency or a heightened capability to manipulate physical phenomena without use of ample devices.

Magical manipulation (whose specific arts shall be laid out in the later chapters) is brought by technological aids or through affinity. In some areas where there are such high concentrations of Faidanic energies, affinity is considered a normal constant. Non-affinity and Esquarian individuals may practice innate magic in a limited form, such as directing their innate energies in particular forms of the body (cf. Cakra and Qi). Casting magic actively however would require pattern-based aids (ie sigils), specific language (wave patterns of the voice and the mouth as sigils) and conductors/sources of magical energy (ie crystals, swords, cards, wands, etc).

It can be said that Faidanic energies affect both Breviarians and Esquarians fully, recognized then in the latter in the form of Humorism, Reiki, “applied inheritance” (lihi) and other premodern medicinal practices.