Dead Man Rising

by Lilith Saintcrow

  It is critical to understand one simple thing about the Canons. This is a magickal law you have had drilled into you ad nauseum, and I will repeat it again.

  There is no such thing as an empty word. Write that down, underline it, brand it into your memory. The psionic arts are tightly regulated and accredited practitioners are held to a high standard because of this simple fact Word wedded to will—intent, that is—produces change in reality, which is the heart of even simple sorcery. Words are an extension of action; an action wedded to intent is sympathetic magick, the First Great Branch of sorcery. The Second Branch, encompassed by but distinct from the First, is runewitchery and other magickal writing. The propagandists of the twentieth century fumbled with this law, and their shortcomings as well as triumphs will be studied later this semester.

  Let us take a short look at the Canon itself before we dive into theory, shall we?

  The Nine Canons we have now had their nucleus in one Canon, from a manuscript dating to just prior the Seventy Days War. As you will no doubt recall, just prior to the War, the Awakening was beginning, and a renascence of occult knowledge as well as workable techniques for controlling Power were flourishing, both in the subversive stratum of noncitizenry in the Republic of Gilead as well as in what we now refer to as the Putchkin Alliance. This particular Canon, today known as the Jessenblack Runes and the first half-canto of the Nine, was codified by a nameless person in Stambul. It was first distributed among the ceremonial magicians in that city as a set of broadsheets, stapled together and extremely perishable. The great revolution in the Jessenblack Runes was their accessibility—they are never more than two syllables, and were distilled from several different occult traditions. They are more properly glyphs than runes—Question? No? Very well.

  We know very little about who discovered the actual technique for distilling a rune, but history has provided us with some interesting candidates, any one of whom would be an excellent subject choice for your term paper, by the way. Let us explode one myth right now: Saint Crowley the Magi had nothing to do with the Jessenblacks, though his strain of magickal theory certainly fed the spirit of experimentation that bore such fruit during the Awakening itself.

  The easiest and best theory is that the Jessenblacks were simply in the right place at the right time. Due to the explosion of psionic ability during the Awakening, any set of runes would have done just as well. However, the Jessenblacks were easy, they were simple, and they worked nine times out of ten—which is far more than many other pre-Awakening occult practitioners could say.

  The rest of the Canons were added in dribs and drabs over the next century of magickal experimentation, leaving us with the Nine we know today, which encompass by themselves an entire branch of magick. Not only that, but the fact that the Nine have been used by so many psions for so long has given them a quantum increase in the amount of untapped Power each rune possesses.

  This is of course a simplification. The Canons are not powerful in and of themselves. Like any symbol, they are fueled by human intent. Think of it this way, especially those of you talented as runewitches: The Nine Canons are a set of doors. It remains up to you to expend the effort of opening the door. Once opened, the door will stay open as long as you hold it, and the combined weight of expectation—of Power—built up over successive uses of the rune is there to be tapped.

  Now, can anyone tell me what holds the door open? Yes, Miss Valdez? (Indistinct murmur) Very good!

  Your sorcerous Will holds the door open, which is why practice is so important to runewitchery. This is a feedback cycle. Your Will is strengthened and trained by attention and practice, allowing you to hold the door open and incidentally adding the weight of your expectation to the symbol countless other psions have used. This is the reason the Canons are required study for every psion, not just runewitches or Ceremonials.

  Now, if you will open your books to page eleven, we will begin the first Canto…

  (Fadeout.)

  Neither Friend Nor Foe

  Term Paper: Magi Studies 403

  EastMerican Hegemony

  Academy of PsionicArts

  Dacon Whitaker

  The current strain of Magi thought has undergone a complete reverse in past years. This paper examines the attitudes most current among active Magi practitioners and touches on how this change came about.

  The pre-Awakening view of demons was hazy in the extreme, tainted by the Religions of Submission. Of all spiritual practices, only Vaudun and Santeriana came close to a workable theory of interaction with noncorporeal or sometimes-noncorporeal beings. This had begun to change by the end of the twenty-first century, when a vibrant counterculture existed, most notably of those studying Saint Crowley's work. However, the Republic of Gilead interrupted most serious experimentation in this area, and the confusion of the Seventy Days War, as well as the social and economic dislocation caused by the Awakening, further interfered.

  Between the Awakening and the advent of Adrienne Spocarelli's work, demons were defined as primarily non-corporeal as well as ethically unsound and morally capricious—in essence, trickster demigods, against whom humans are essentially powerless and can only beg for favors from. Magi theory at that time held that whatever place demons existed in prior to and after their visits to our physical plane was an environment unsuitable to flesh-and-blood beings. This attitude was widespread even though Broward, in his classic study, points out that demons do indeed seem to breathe and bleed (witness the woodcuts of the Sterne collection and the holostill captures of the Manque Incident.) Broward's observations were treated with the assumption that when demons enter our physical plane, they take on a physical body and so, can be hurt. (Adrienne Spocarelli, in her famous essay What's Flesh Got To Do With It?, remarked wryly that a thermonuclear strike might even work to kill a demon—with a whole lot of luck.)

  It was Spocarelli's work with a reliable method of calling and constraining imps that finally answered the question. Spocarelli claims to have been able to induce an imp to write in Merican on the hardwood floor of her study inside a circle; the imp's claws would scratch out a word or two in response to her carefully-phrased questions. The complete transcript sounds like a conversation between a lawyer and a mischievous five-year-old, but several important points can be deduced.

  First of all, whatever place demons come from, they are physical there as well as here. Much ink and breath has been wasted on trying to determine actually where they come from, whether different plane, dimension, planet, or simply state of being; Spocarelli's greatest revolution was declaring that she didn't care where they came from, she simply wanted to find out how they affected our home plane and planet—and why they seem so damn interested in it. As physical beings, they only seem to violate natural laws; in reality, they may well be made of a stuff that conforms to different laws only because of its basic alienness but conforms to laws all the same. In other words, just because hover technology superseded petrolo does not mean that either violated natural law. And just because demons supersede humans in magickal technology does not mean that human or demons violate natural laws.

  Spocarelli's other great revolution is so simplistic as to seem obvious and is predicated on the first. While other practitioners looked upon demonic lying with several layers of shock and disapproving prudery, she pointed out that demonic culture may be so different from ours as to make their "lying" simply a different set of social interaction rules. If they are physical sentient beings, they have a culture; if they have a culture, they may even have prohibitions against whatever they define as "lying." All verbal brinksmanship on both sides aside, Spocarelli declared that she wanted to discover how and why demons are seemingly addicted to interaction with humanity, and that it might be worthwhile to apply anthropological and archeological tools as well as magickal theory to our interactions with demonkind.

  The effect of this simple suggestion cannot be overestimated. At one stroke, Spocarelli disposed of any lingering superstitious wor
ship of demons, reducing them to the level of beings that could be studied with scientific techniques; she also made it possible, though reactionaries loudly trumpet against her, to put the Magi in a position of power instead of supplication when it came to these beings.

  The next thing that can be deduced from Spocarelli's transcript of the imp's replies is this: demons are as fascinated by humans as we are by them.

  Spocarelli, while often scoffing at the notion of demonic involvement in human evolution, nevertheless does not completely rule it out Again, she is utilitarian: whatever involvement demons might have had in shaping human genetic code is irrelevant at this juncture. What matters is that they are now seemingly enthralled by and disdainful of humanity at the same time, much as Nichtvren are. But while Nichtvren have the advantage of once being human, demons do not. Why, then, are they so fascinated?

  Even pre-Awakening sources (Caplan, Perezreverte, Saint Crowley, Saint Goethe, and the anonymous author of the Illuminatis Papers, to name a very few) agree that demons are possessive and controlling in the extreme. A human who catches a demon's attention does not easily escape meddling. Even Spocarelli herself seems to have had some murky trouble with a particular demon, though reports of this are sketchy at best and mixed up with legends about other members of her famous family.

  Perezreverte, in his classic Nine Gates, postulates that demons are hungry for human adulation, that it feeds them in some way. This is sound magickal theory and a good working hypothesis, even if demons presumably had other means of gaining Power before the advent of humanity. Perezreverte also seems to think demons are lonely, sometimes bored with their own kind, and turn to humanity for momentary diversion. He seems to give some credence to the ancient tales of fleshwives, though any mention of that myth tends to drive Magi to fits of frustration. Dealing with demons is hard enough without pulling in outright fabrication to muddy the issue.

  This leaves us with something important to remember: We simply do not know what demonic motivation is yet. They are jealous and possessive when they deign to take notice of humanity, and the Circles working with Lesser Flight demons often note how one or more Magi within the circle will be singled out for positive or negative attention, often with almost-disastrous results on the Circle's cohesive magickal Will necessary to keep a demon under control (if such a thing can ever be said to be done.)

  The logical extension to these new strains of thought is a deeper examination of reported instances of demon behavior, especially when the demon attaches himself to a particular human, whether as familiar or nemesis. Many Magi circles are reporting positive signs in dealing with imps and certain Lower Flight demons with anthropological cultural-sensitivity guidelines establishing their behavior. The amount of information available about demon anatomy and hierarchy has quintupled since Adrienne Spocarelli's time, and instances of severe harassment seem to be on the decline. However, this may not prove anything, as Circles are not likely to report ignominious failures, and actively demon-harassed Magi rarely live long enough to report their experience.

  To sum up, having accumulated enough data since the Awakening, the Magi community was simply ripe for someone to put into words a few laws about dealing with demons in a way free of pre-Awakening superstition. Genius often consists of simply seeing what was there before, something Spocarelli seems to have excelled at On the other hand, her utilitarianism has earned her severe criticism, mostly from hard-core academes who consider her as throwing the baby out with the bathwater and not practicing proper caution. On the other hand, Spocarelli survived far past the median age for actively demon-consorting, solitary Magi. She must have been doing something right.

  We do not yet know why demons are so fascinated with humanity, or whether they are at heart friendly or inimical to human interest. The gamut of opinion runs from the ever-cautious old-fashioned Magi who think extreme caution must be taken to defend the greater mass of humanity from demonkind to those who insist that it is humanity's prerogative to bargain with demonkind for superior magickal training and technology, to the benefit of both sides.

  Whether friend or foe, demonic intervention in human affairs does not seem likely to cease. And that is the strongest reason for the Magi to continue research, to find out exactly what they want from us.

  Note: The electronic notation on this document reads: "B-. Wonderful paper, Mr. Whitaker. Who wrote it for you?"

  Glossary

  Animone: an accredited psion with the ability to telepathically connect with and heal animals, generally employed as veterinarians

  Anubis et'her ka: Egyptianica term, sometimes used as expletive; loosely translated," Anubis protect me/us"

  A'nankhimel: (demon term) 1. a Fallen demon 2. a demon who has tied him/herself to a human mate 3. chained 4. shield

  Awakening, the: the exponential increase in psionic and sorcerous ability, academically defined as from just before the fall of the Republic of Gilead to the culmination of the Parapsychic Act (codifying psionic power) and the Paranormal Species Act (giving protection and voting rights to paranormal species), a dual triumph for the alternately vilified and worshipped Senator Adrien Ferriman. Note: After the fall of the Republic, the Awakening was said to have finished and the proportion of psionics to normals in the human population stabilized, though there are fluctuations occurring in seventy-year cycles to this day.

  Ceremonial: 1. an accredited psion whose talent lies in working with traditional sorcery, accumulating Power and "spending" it in controlled bursts 2. Ceremonial magick, otherwise known as sorcery instead of more-organic witchery 3. (slang) Any Greater Work of magick

  Clormen-13: (Slang: Chill, ice, rock smack, dust) addictive alkaloid drug Note: Chill is high-profit for the big pharmaceutical companies as well as the Mob, being instantly addictive. There is no cure for Chill addiction.

  Deadhead: 1. Necromance 2. normal human without psionic abilities

  Demon: 1. any sentient, alien intelligence, either corporeal or noncorporeal, that interacts with humans 2. the denizens of Hell, often mistaken for gods or Novo Christer evil spirits, actually a sentient nonhuman species with technology and psionic/magical ability much exceeding humanity's 3. any member of the previous definition's species 4. (slang) A particularly bad physiological addiction

  Feeder: 1. a psion who has lost the ability to process ambient Power and depends on "jolts" of vital energy stolen from other human beings, psion or normal 2. (Psion slang) A fair-weather friend

  Flight: a class/social rank of demons Note: There are, strictly speaking, three classes of demons: the Low, Lesser, and Greater. Magi most often deal with the higher echelons of the Low Flight and the lower echelons of the Lesser Flight. Greater Flight demons are almost impossible to control and very dangerous.

  Freetown: an autonomous enclave under a charter, neither Hegemony nor Putchkin but often allied to one or the other in matters of trade

  Hedaira: (Demon term) 1. an endearment 2. a description of a human woman tied to a Fallen (A'nankhimel) demon

  Hegemony: one of the two world superpowers, comprising North and South America, Australia/New Zealand, most of Western Europe, Japan, some of Central Asia, and scattered diplomatic enclaves in China Note: After the Seventy Days War, the two superpowers settled into peace and are often said to be one world government with two divisions. Hegemony Afrike is technically a Hegemony protectorate, but that seems mostly diplomatic convention more than anything else.

  Ka: 1. (Archaic) soul or mirrorspirit, separate from the ba and the physical soul in Egyptianica 2. fate, especially tragic fate that can't be avoided, destiny 3. a link between two souls, where each feeds the other's destiny 4. (Technical) Terminus stage for Feeder pathology, an externalized hungry consciousness capable of draining vital energy from a normal human in seconds and a psion in less than two minutes

  Magi: Note: The term "Magus" is archaic and hardly ever used. "Magi" has become singular or plural, and neuter gender. 1. a psion who has undergone basic training 2. t
he class of occult practitioners before the Awakening who held and transmitted basic knowledge about psionic abilities as well as training techniques 3. an accredited psion with the training to call demons or harness etheric force from the disturbance created by the magical methods used to call demons; usually working in Circles or loose affiliations Master Nichtvren 1. a Nichtvren who is free of obligation to his or her Maker 2. a Nichtvren who holds territory

  Merican: the trade lingua of the globe and official language of the Hegemony, though other dialects are rampant 2. (Archaic) A Hegemony citizen 3. (Archaic) A citizen of the Old Merican region before the Seventy Days War

  Necromancer: (slang: deadhead) an accredited psion with the ability to bring a soul back from Death to answer questions Note: Can also, in certain instances, heal mortal wounds and keep a soul from escaping into Death.

  Nichtvren: (slang: suckhead) altered human capable of living off human blood Note: Older Nichtvren may possibly live off strong emotions, especially those produced by psions. Since they are altered humans, Nichtvren occupy a space between humanity and "other species"; they are defined as a Paranormal Species and given citizen's rights under Adrien Ferriman's groundbreaking legislation after the Awakening.

  Nine Canons: a nine-part alphabet of runes drawn from around the globe and codified during the Awakening to manage psionic and sorcerous power. Often used as shortcuts in magical circles or as quick charms. Note: Separate from other branches of magic in that they are accessible sometimes even to normal humans, by virtue of their long use and highly-charged nature.

  Novo Christianity: An outgrowth of a Religion of Submission popular from the 1100s to the latter half of the twenty-first century, before me meteoric rise of the Republic of Gilead and the Seventy Days War. Note: The death knell of Old Christianity is thought to be the great Vatican Bank scandal that touched off the revolt leading to the meteoric rise of Kochba bar Gilead, the charismatic leader of the Republic. Note: the Republic was technically fundamentalist Old Christianity with Judic messianic overtones. Nowadays, NC is declining in popularity and mostly fashionable among the middle-upper class.