By Felipe Lohan Pinheiro da Silva
This is a resource for writers. But far from limiting or “forcing” other writers to use this template, this is intended to help them. Of course, this theory is rooted in the Cosmic Mythopoeia.
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Azathoth is the supreme God of the Cosmos and all the Universes of its Multiverse. He’s a mindless God that sleeps in a location called the “center of the cosmos”. He’s called the “Daemon-Sultan Of The Nuclear Chaos”.
Legend says that his sleep created the Cosmos, because the Reality is merely the dream of Azathoth. When He wakes, He will devour the Cosmos; when He sleeps again, other Cosmos will be created. That’s why He’s lulled by bat-like dancers who play drums and play flutes for him.
The Cosmos have countless [universes/planes of existence] (we live in a multiverse).
Across the Cosmos there are non-tetrapodic (and, of course, non-anthropomorphic) mighty godlike interdimensional entities called the “Great Old Ones”, “Forces Which Are Distasteful And Harmful Unto Life”, “Monstrosities of the Outer Circle”, “Outer Monstrosities”, “Outward Powers”, etc.; obviously, they’ren’t as powerful as Azathoth. Generally, their physical form is a huge mass of tentacles, eyestalks and proboscides (proboscis is a body appendage found in mollusks that looks like a tentacle/trunk w/ a mouth at the end) w/ mouths w/ sharp teeth. They’re the personification of either physical-chemical phenomena of the Cosmos, or mental phenomena that occurs among the sentient life through the Cosmos.
Magic is a way to manipulate the Ether[eal/ic] forces of the multiverse; so “psionics”, “magic” & “[mediunic/paranormal] powers” are fundamentally one & the same. As such, the power source of a magical item & an item that augments the psionic abilities are one and the same.
Every spell has a source code, just like a computer program: change it & you’ll change the spell. However, you can also cast magic by using “raw” magic power, w/ little to no source code; that’s what “sorcerers” and “psionic users” do; for the sake of comparison, it’s like using the huge raw electrical power from a generator or a mini powerplant.
Wands & staves are like conductive [wire/cable]s or radio/WiFi/Bluetooth antennae: they increase the range of spells, by channeling the magical energy on them.
The universe inhabited by humans also contains an astral/ether[eal/ic] dimension. Being a dimension, a spellcaster can (among other things) do things like (but not limited to): carry objects/items (including weapons) stored in the astral dimension and later cast a spell to draw them; travel temporarily (or indefinitely) over it to trespass physical barriers or hide himself, etc. Just read these excerpts:
«In his dream-delirium Gilman heard the hellish, alien-rhythmed chant of the Sabbat coming from an infinite distance, and knew the black man must be there. Confused memories mixed themselves with his mathematics, and he believed his subconscious mind held the angles which he needed to guide him back to the normal world — alone and unaided for the first time. He felt sure he was in the immemorially sealed loft above his own room, but whether he could ever escape through the slanting floor or the long-stopped egress he doubted greatly. Besides, would not an escape from a dream-loft bring him merely into a dream-house — an abnormal projection of the actual place he sought? He was wholly bewildered as to the relation betwixt dream and reality in all his experiences.»
The Dreams In The Witch House – Howard Phillips Lovecraft
«A minute came and went, and I was at the exit of the chasm, staring out upon an enormous amphitheatre of mountains. Yet, of the mountains, and the terrible grandeur of the place, I recked nothing; for I was confounded with amazement, to behold, at a distance of several miles, and occupying the centre of the arena, a stupendous structure, built apparently of green jade. Yet, in itself, it was not the discovery of the building that had so astonished me; but the fact, which became every moment more apparent, that in no particular, save in colour and its enormous size, did the lonely structure vary from this house in which I live.
(…) Steadily, I neared the great building. Then, all at once, something caught my vision, something that came round one of the huge buttresses of the House, and so into full view. It was a gigantic thing, and moved with a curious lope, going almost upright, after the manner of a man. It was quite unclothed, and had a remarkable luminous appearance. Yet it was the face that attracted and frightened me the most. It was the face of a swine.
Silently, intently, I watched this horrible creature, and forgot my fear, momentarily, in my interest in its movements. It was making its way, cumbrously, round the building, stopping, as it came to each window, to peer in, and shake at the bars, with which — as in this house — they were protected; and whenever it came to a door, it would push at it, fingering the fastening stealthily. Evidently, it was searching for an ingress into the House.»
The House on the Borderland — C.Ⅲ/3: The House In The Arena — William Hope Hodgson
See also the tale «A Victim of Higher Space», the sixth case of John Silence, the Physician Extraordinary.
This astral/ether[eal/ic] dimension have “ether[eal/ic] atoms”, capable to make chemical bonds w/ «regular» material chemical atoms, and also subject to physical phenomena (including the astronomical ones); they form “ether[eal/ic] molecules”, that in their turn will trigger a process of ether[eal/ic] abiogenesis, generating the ether[eal/ic] life; this is also the basis of the alchemy. This life will suffer a process of evolution & can eventually achieve sentience, and also sapience, just like happened w/ the material life. That way, a process of abiogenesis that mixes material and ether[eal/ic] components explains the existence of races of beings w/ supernatural abilities; it also allowed different ether[eal/ic] lifeforms to evolve to make bonds w/ different chemical substances, being the beings that we call “elementals” (for example, fire or water elementals, etc). That also explains why the werewolf transformation only occurs in the nights of the full moon phase, or why vampires are inactive or lose their powers during the day, or why vampires heal wounds under the moonlight; this would also explain the the vulnerability of werewolves to silver and Aconitum (flowers of the homonym genus, a.k.a wolfsbane), and the vulnerability of vampires to the garlic and the wild rose. İt’s a similar concept to what we see in works of William Hope Hodgson & the 1919 version (edited by Alfred Percy Sinnett) of the book “Occult Chemistry: Clairvoyant Observations On The Chemical Elements” (http://archive.org/details/occultchemistryc00besa/page/4); İt’s an interesting concept for those who write speculative ƒіction or play speculative ƒіction RPGs. These are the source of stories about “ghosts”. Also, just read this excerpt:
«A reservoir of darkness, black, As witches’ caldrons are, When filled with moon-drugs in th’ eclipse distill’d.»
İn some mythologies, people “tainted” by ether[eal/ic] parasites becomes [mythical/legendary] beings, like werewolves, vampires or zombies. The ether[eal/ic] parasites feeds through their hosts (for example, when a vampire drinks blood, a werewolf or zombie devour flesh, etc.). The ether[eal/ic] parasites begotten by the Great Old Ones also sends part of that energy metabolized to other [dimension/universe] to their Great Old Ones creators (it’s a way from these Great Old Ones to harvest energy).
Living beings have a builtin “magical firewall”; it works as a resistance against incoming spells and as a immune system against infestations of ether[eal/ic] parasites. Spells, alchemical potions & magical artifacts can alter this firewall.
There are lines of magical energy around the world, called Earth-Current; they form a grid around the world. The locations located along these lines emanates magical energy & are prone to supernatural events; societies that doesn’t know the magic just call them “[sacr/haunt]ed sites”; they can also be called «places of power»; locations located in the crossing of these lines are much more powerful. Spellcasters can use the magical energy of these locations to cast their spells.
Astronomical events, sexual activity & the consumption of [hallucinogen/recreational] drugs affects the magical rituals, so they can be an element in them. That’s why some spellcasters does some rituals in specific conditions.
Thomas Moore – Alciphron – Letter Ⅳ/4: From The Same To The Same
During these astronomical events, portals/gateways to other [universes/planes of existence] can be opened (either naturally or through a spell) in the locations of the crossing of magical lines.
Spellcasters can i[mbu/nfus]e spells or magical energy into objects and consumable ingredients. Examples include (but aren’t limited to): armors (and bulletproof vest) that are more resistant than the normal; machineguns that can fire more shots per minute; pistols whose shots have more devastating effects; flasks of regular water that becomes “holy water”, that can harm supernatural beings that suffer from ether[eal/ic] parasite infestations (actually the water isn’t “holy” at all; the “cleric” just i[mbue/nfuse]d it w/ a regular spell or magical energy); the alchemical potions; etc. More mechanical mobile parts the object have, less effective is this i[mbuement/nfusion]; for example, an i[mbuement/nfusion] in a thrown weapon is more effective than in a bow & arrow, and the i[mbuement/nfusion] of the bow & arrow will be more effective than the one in a crossbow; for example there’s a point, for a mage, that a mace is more effective than the shots of a machine gun.
The true origin of the “divine magic” is that it’s provided from powerful astral/ether[eal/ic] beings (called by the human belief systems as gods, demons, [djinn/genie]s, etc.) that acts as a “patrons” to the spellcaster; these beings generates the spell in an regular way, & later provides it for their [follower/cleric/paladin]s. For the sake of comparison, this “patron” is like a powerful mainframe server that contains a set of precompiled closed-source programs (each program is a spell), & the divine caster is someone using a regular computer, just accessing these programs remotely.
Each spellcaster leaves a unique signature in his spells, like a fingerprint. Also, every [person/thing] retains in [him/it]self, for some days, a residual «signature» of the energy from the «places of power» [he/it] had vised recently. Also, every subject of a spell (regardless if it’s a living being or a inanimate object) retains in [him/it]self, for some days, the residual «signature» of the spells [he/it] had suffered. This is the base of the magical forensic science.
Once in a while, the cosmic energies becomes saturated into the body of a pregnant woman, turning her child (or children, in the case of twins) into a being w/ the potential to be a [hero/villain]. This saturated cosmic energy corrects the DNA of these children, turning them into physically impressive children, at superhuman levels of health, beauty, and physical and mental ableness. Also, these children have great capacity of being spellcasters (specially, but not necessarily, [sorcerer/psi]s); however, not always this will be the case, specially in societies that doesn’t have a established tradition in magical studies, and therefore usually don’t identify this aptitude properly. Anyway, when these children grow, they’re the source of the stories of mythical [hero/villain]s. This phenomenon have a slightly greater chance of happening at the lines of the Earth Current, specially at the «places of power» at their crossings; however it must be noted that these children can born ANYWHERE in the cosmos.
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