A new perspective on Bohemians: introducing the Brumairians!

In a prior post I recapped that the French version depicted Roma people (here called "Bohemians") as magical creatures, how racist that was, and how someone suggested removing the racial component. In a subsequent post, I mentioned how I opted to name the Western Tradition (as Major Arcana calls it) to the Bohemian Tradition in memory of their roots as refugees from Akhet-Aton.

I wrote those before I actually started transcribing, translating and reading the Bohemians supplement. Ignoring the racism, it introduces two concepts: the Boheim ("Bohemia") and the Brume ("Mist"). Paraphrasing from the introduction of the book:

The Boheim is an inspiring, creative and libertarian force that inhabits all humans, but few recognize. It is the flame that illuminates certain artists, but also certain political leaders—Che, Gandhi, Zapata and Aung San are examples of this “enchantment”. It embodies courage, thirst for freedom, strength to resist all oppression, the notion of guide and reverie.

The Brume is Akhenaten's gift to the Chosen People before the exile from Akhet-Aton. It is a magical essence—like the Nephilim's Pentacle, the Selenim's Core, and the Ar-Kaïm's Heart—born from the eight earthly Ka, containing traces of Black Moon-Ka and Saturnian-Ka. Unlike the Boheim, only the “magic bohemians” possess it. 

Many Immortals know about the Boheim, but the Brume is invisible to Ka-Vision. The Bohemians prefer to keep it that way, so most Immortals think their particularity is the Boheim—when it actually comes from the alchemy of the Boheim and the Brume.

I stand by my prior statement to remove the racial component and make the Brume something anyone can learn. Under my scheme, the Brume is an extension and expansion of the Boheim that has been awakened by learning its mysteries. In order to distinguish these "magic bohemians" from other people living an unconventional lifestyle, I've opted to call them Brumairians (meaning "advocates/believers of the mist/haze/fog"). This name indicates that they have access to and draw power from the Brume.

The Brumairians

Awakening the Solar-Ka is merely the first step in a mortal's initiation. To truly learn magic, the Initiate must accept magic into themselves. The Ar-Kaïm's Heart is a natural microcosm of the Earth's Grail that forges the magic fields, but any mortal can learn the techniques to cultivate this microcosm within themselves. This requires going on a vision quest within their own "inner Astral", a Subtle Plane representing their conscious and unconscious mind. By doing so, they bring themselves into osmosis with the magic fields. This reveals the Boheim they had all along and sublimates their magical essence into the Brume, thereby becoming Brumairians.

Ethnic minorities and the occult scene

Becoming Brumairian is an Arcane Technique, not something you are born as. That said, developing the Brume without an active teacher is virtually impossible. Almost all Brumairians underwent their vision quest with the aid of another Brumairian. The origin of this Technique is unknown: while the Bohemian Nephilim largely believe it originates from Akhet-Aton, a few of the eldest Nephilim recall similar peoples in older eras.

The Brumairians' Techniques may be found hidden among bohemians and occultists who live with various nomadic peoples and ethnic minorities (including now extinct ones): Romani, Tuareg, Chukchi, Yakuts, Basques, Berbers, Cretans, Guanches, Pavees, etc. This isn't because those ethnic minorities are inherently magical, but because opposing secret societies have pushed these Techniques into the margins of the world. Since the Renaissance, Brumairian Techniques have spread throughout counterculture movements worldwide.

Likewise, Immortals may be found among the same groups. A Romani woman might incarnate an Undine carried in her family for generations, a Basque boy might awaken as a Serpentary, etc. Their occult knowledge isn't any different from that of other Nephilim of the same tradition.

Conversely, the anti-Nephilim secret society HIOTES (Nephilim rulebook p196) infiltrated nomadic caravans in Europe and carnivals in the USA. They are bohemians in a very literal sense, but enemies of the Immortals and the Brumairians of the Bohemian Tradition.

Chimerical Arcana

They organize themselves into 5 "Chimerical Arcana" corresponding to the lost Minor Tablets (mentioned in another post), as given on the table below:

Suit Element Divination Gift Role and Motive
Ivory Sword Air Augury Tale The keepers of traditions. Seek to preserve knowledge of the past.
Emerald Shield Earth Geomancy Song The gardeners of the world. Seek to enchant the land anew, healing Orichalka’s wounds.
Ruby Wand Fire Cartomancy Blade The defenders of freedom. Fight to end all tyranny, occult and mundane alike.
Sapphire Cup Water Palmistry Dance The seekers of despised lore. Seek wisdom in antinomian practices and traditions of the poor.
Silver Key Moon Oneiromancy Reverie The protectors of humanity. Seek to protect the human subconscious from those who would abuse it.

Although the Minor Tablets were inscribed during the reign of Akhenaton, they mapped paths that already existed: the Brumairians themselves are much older and may date back to Tarshish or even earlier. The Chimerical Arcana consider themselves the legitimate mortal Initiates of the Arcana, dismissing friendly secret societies like the Rosicrucians, Priory of Sion, Mithradites, Cultes des Goules, and the like.

Similarities to the Immortals

Brumairians lack Ka-elements other than Solar-Ka and thus cannot perform any of the Occult Sciences. They do have their own limited forms of magic powered by the Brume, but the capabilities are limited in comparison. They can learn certain Arcane Techniques like other mortals. Since they have Solar-Ka then they can learn and perform Qiyas: they are the only role that can assign points to the first circle at character creation.

Although Brumairians cannot reincarnate and their bodies age and die at the normal human rate, they can channel the souls of deceased Brumairians in a manner similar to the flashbacks experienced by Immortals.

Population dynamics

There are about 20,000 "Western" Nephilim globally, with fewer than 4000 in the United States, according to Major Arcana. They're concentrated in Westernized and Islamic regions: Europe, the Near East, North Africa, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Russia. Latin America and Central Asia have fewer. There's almost none in non-Westernized, non-Islamic areas like China, Japan, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Nephilim of other Traditions are estimated at 1 for every 500,000 mortals in their region. This would give ~2824 Chinese Nephilim, ~251 Japanese Nephilim, ~2816 Indian Nephilim, and ~2360 Sub-Saharan African Nephilim as of the early 2020s.

The US version never gave populations for Selenim. The Gamemaster's Book for Nephilim: Revelation says the ratio of Nephilim to Selenim is 8:1. Ar-Kaïm are rarer still. The Codex of the Bohemians says there are about 80,000 people worldwide who use the Brume. Naturally, they serve a protective role for the other Immortals and at one point are called their "warriors" by the Templars. For simplicity, I'm probably using similar numbers myself.

The Brumairians are useful insofar as they boost the population of occultists and help to explain how the Immortals can wield so much power in given periods despite the small population of Immortals. Several passages throughout both the French and US versions describe the Immortals behaving like an ethnic group, so the Brumairians address that by providing a more disposable population.

Conclusion

At the time of writing I'm still transcribing the Bohemians supplement and don't have a full understanding of how they work. I'm still unsure whether to integrate them or not and how to do so. The US version developed its secret societies and their Techniques completely independently from the French version, so trying to integrate them raises its own challenges. I'll probably have a better handle on it after I transcribe the French supplement Les Arcanes Mineurs, which explains the various rituals developed by the French version's secret societies.

Hope you enjoyed!

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