My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

In a  prior post , I referenced the etymology of Archemy as deriving from archimastry . According to  another source ,  Archemy  comes  from  archè  (" principle") and  mia  (" one"). [Although I cannot find any corroborating sources for this latter part's etymology. Perhaps it derives from Italian mia  ("mine") or Latin monas  ("one; unity")?] Therefore meaning “the principle of unity”. Thus, Arkhémia is “the land of the principle of unity”, an apt name. In French fanzine Vision-Ka #2–3, a fan introduced an original occult science of Archemy designed specifically and solely for Ar-Kaïm. It displays noted similarities to Alchemy and is suggested as a path to Qiyas. The name is a play on Alchemy (which it resembles in some respects), Ar-Kaïm (who practice it) and archetypes (which informs how spells work). It involves invoking archetypes in order to get symbolically appropriate benefits, with the practice relying on physical cataly...

In the French version, the prima materia  ("primary matter, first matter") is a foundational principle of alchemy, though the details differ between editions. The name is taken from real alchemical texts, although the French writers interpret it quite liberally. Furthermore, the word materia in alchemical contexts doesn't simply refer to matter as we understand it, but to the created world (see A dictionary of western alchemy  by Jordan Stratford). The prima materia is the residual Ka present in all material objects, leftover from the original formation of the Earth and the movements of the magic fields. It is the origin of matter. Alchemy operates by acting on this prima materia , activating it and causing the desired magical effect. The alchemical substance generates its own miniature magic field, which resonates with the ambient magic fields of the Earth to produce the spell (so alchemy spells cannot be cast if the appropriate magic field isn't present). In editi...

In a  prior post  I mentioned that I had the idea to call the Major Arcana tribes and their members “bohemians” in order to reclaim and distance the word from its application to Romany people in the gaming space. Since then I have changed my mind and decided to call them  Atenists  instead. I feel this name is both accurate and avoids confusion with mundane and magical “bohemians” found elsewhere. I apologize for the confusion. 

I'm currently studying the fourth edition from 2012 and it has given me some new ideas... The following rules are for the third edition d20 system. Some text translated and adapted from articles by "Ethaniael" and "Tchakaha", which I previously quoted in another older post. I recap that all here for ease of reference. Long story short, I nixed the rule for Solar Enthronements and some new astrology jargon from 4e and retrofitted it to 3e. Weirdly, the 3e rules never explained how to determine the element of Solar Enthronements, but I suppose this might count as unofficially errata. Magical Enthronements ( src ) Enthronements are the result of the concentrations of different magical fields. They depend on the current astrological day and month. The day influences more than the month, which is why we speak of Fire Enthronement on Tuesdays for example and not during the entire month of Aries or Scorpio. We speak of a Grand Enthronement when the day and the mo...

I have some revisions to present for my prior categorization of sacred places. I apologize for the intrusion. Plexus:  A particular magical phenomenon that appears at an analogous landmark when and where two rays of the same magic field meet, lasting anywhere from an hour to a century. This allows the recharging of Stasis items and the performing of difficult magical operations of the Enthroned element. Plexi only form for the five elemental Ka and very rarely for Saturnian-Ka. Nexus:  A rare magic phenomenon that appears under Grand Enthronements where rays of all five elemental fields cross, creating a Plexus of each element in the same place. This provides the same benefit as a Plexus, but for all five elements. A Nexus may give birth to a Paredrus or an Ar-Kaïm; the Immortal's Dominant Ka is determined by the analogous landmark.  Analogous Landmark: A landmark providing the conditions favorable to the appearance of a Plexus, Nexus or Bitume-pouch, with Dominant Ka de...

"Conductor" is a term I came up with to refer to previously non-magical locations conducive to the generation of magical phenomena: Loci, Plexi and Nexi. (See my post on those for details.) During a Grand Enthronement, a Conductor can sustain a Plexus or Nexus appropriate to the nature of the conductor. The oldest tree in a forest will host an Earth Plexus, a volcanic caldera will host a Fire Plexus, an abandoned church will host a Moon Plexus, etc. If the Conductor is destroyed, then the magical phenomenon can no longer form there. By destroying Conductors, anti-Nephilim conspiracies can deny access to the benefits. Furthermore, the phenomenon behind Conductors is the same basis behind esoteric architecture such as the Egyptian tombs and the European cathedrals. The only distinction is that Conductors are naturally-occurring and simplistic, whereas esoteric architecture is artificial and far more complex. Destroying a Conductor while it is currently hosting a Plexus release...

This is an addendum to my posts on  summoning spell types  and  magical names . There are two types of Invocation : The first is when a spirit is invoked to grant the summoner its desired qualities,  as opposed to  appearing before the summoner and acting on his behalf. This is a Spiritual Invocation . The second is when one of the divine names is prayed to or called out in order to bind or compel a spirit into service,  as in the Key of Solomon . E.g. Latin In nomine Jesu “In the name of Jesus”. This is a Divine Invocation . The divine invocation is not actually its own spell, but part of any summoning spell. When a summoner dominates or banishes an entity, he usually invokes a divine name as part of the ritual.

While researching the French books I came across some unfamiliar words in the jargon for Alchemy:  Arkhémia and Spagyrie . The former refers to new world being created by a group of five master alchemists, while the latter refers to alchemical artifacts. I did some research and these words derived from real alchemy practices: the words in the English lexicon are seemingly " archemy " and " spagyrics " (sometimes "spagery" or "spagyry"). Various "modern alchemy" blogs define this in very different ways, even some academic papers too, but I found the historical uses. According to  A Dictionary of Western Alchemy by Jordan Stratford, on p10: archemy, archimastry A neologism that implies superior practice of the art of alchemy. It seems to be used by some alchemists to differentiate their activities from those of their rivals (Giovanni Agostino Pantheo refers to the rival practice as "illicit and duplicitous alchemy" as opposed ...

I don't think I ever explicitly stated this, but for a while I've been using a jargon distinction based on the French version. I use Orichalka to refer to the meteor from Saturn, but Orichalc to refer to the substance used to create antimagic amulets and weapons. I don't know why the US version changed this, but it may have been due to a find-and-replace error during translation.  Other jargon I use is Saturnian-Ka for the Ka-energy of Saturn (used by the Fraternitas Saturnii in Secret Societies ), and  Hercolubus as another name for the meteor that destroyed Atlantis. In contrast to the rulebook, I refer to protective items as Orichalc Amulets to match the distinction made in Gamemaster's Companion . These not only protect against possession attempts, but against elemental spells in general. Orichalc Talismans  (magic items used to cast Spells of Saturn) don't appear to exist, except perhaps in the hidden reliquariums of the Fraternitas Saturnii.

In a prior post I briefly recapped the Bohemians (Roma; the g-word is a slur like the n-word so I'm reticent to use it) from the French version and some ideas for salvaging their lore from its racist conceptions. Since then, I've done a lot more thinking and revising of my setting to make my Nephilim true composite beings rather than body-snatchers. One idea that came to me was to rename the "Western Tradition" as it's called in Major Arcana to the Bohemian Tradition: i.e. the Western Nephilim who adopted the Major Arcana would be known as the Bohemians, to contrast them from the pre-Arcana Western Nephilim and to denote their philosophical origins as refugees from Akhet-Aton. So where does that leave Roma and other nomadic ethnic groups? It leaves them in the same place as everyone else. Depicting Roma as having magical powers due to their ethnicity is racist drivel and I'm not using it in my campaign settings. In my campaigns some Roma are Nephilim and som...

What follows is my attempt to convert the US version's rules for magical places to the French third edition rules. Magical places include the Locus , Plexus and Nexus . All three are represented with an Intensity Characteristic, noted on the table below: D20 Intensity Duration Charges Bonus 1–4 Not Intense 4 hours 10 +1 5–8 Low Intense 8 hours 20 +2 9–12 Enough Intense 12 hours 30 +3 13–16 Intense 16 hours 40 +4 17–20 Very Intense 20 hours 50 +5 The Intensity of a magical place is variable. The GM may roll a d20 to randomly determine the phenomenon's Intensity on the day it forms/starts, plus the daily astrology modifier of its element. The Intensity determines the duration of the phenomenon and the charges it has for recharging Stasis items and other applications. Eve...

When Chaosium adapted Nephilim from the French version to the US version, they renamed Kabbalah to Summoning and introduced the Kabbalistic Lore Skill that covers understanding Ka-energies in general. Why do this? IIRC, it was because they felt it was inappropriate to reduce an entire mystic tradition to just the flavor for a summoning system.  Practical Kabbalah  is an extremely dense mystical tradition and has nothing to do with magical evocation. Most of the summons are drawn from the Good Ministers of the Enochian Ethers recounted by the Aurum Solis, in name if not effect, which have nothing to do with Kabbalah. I agree with Chaosium’s decision here. Kabbalah makes more sense as a mystical tradition underlying all the Nephilim’s occult sciences, not just one. Since each Sefira is associated with a planet, they can be associated with specific Ka-elements. Each Olam has its own Tree of Life with all ten Sefirot too, so it can represent the Ka-elements within the Ka-eleme...

The word paredrus is Latin and refer to the power of a familiar spirit in magic or wizardry. I first learned the word on Montgomery's blog and, as I noted in a prior post, adopted it to refer to the elemental half of my setting's vision of Nephilim as hybrid beings. A Nephilim is created when a Paredrus merges with a mortal and creates a microcosm of the Solar system: on its own the Paredrus has no awareness, identity or will, which is provided by the mortal's Solar-Ka. The Paredrus is what allows a Nephilim to work magic and to access past lives' experiences.  So how does that fit with the backstory involving the KaIm? Well, I'm still using the secret history as recounted in the Gamemaster's Companion . The difference is the introduction of the Paredri and their role in the creation of Nephilim. After the fall of the Orichalka meteor, many KaIm were destroyed outright and most of the survivors were locked into permanent physical bodies. By the birth of Christ, ...

A syntactic magic system is one in which casters can create spells on the fly using a system of "nouns" and "verbs" (or "realms", as GURPS parlance puts it). Ars Magica is the classic example.  In the French version, both alchemy and sorcery would use some variation of the concept in different editions.  Starting in the 1e Alchimie supplement and continuing thereafter, alchemy used verbs in the forms of processes : Destruction (Powder), Transformation (Liquor), Mastery (Metal), Revelation (Vapor) and Creation (Amber). The elements provided the noun. However, the actual lists of formulae didn't respect these themes at all Sorcery, renamed Magie (Magic) in French, gained verbs starting in the third edition. Again, the elements provided the noun, with a table of analogs for each element being given at the back of the book. In third edition, the first circle had the verbs of Perceive, Modify and Sense, the second Commune, Displace, and Transform, and the...

As part of my rewritten summoning system I took inspiration from real occultism and divided summoning spells into three types: invocation, astral evocation, and physical evocation. An invocation doesn't cause the summoned entity to appear before the summoner, but causes the summoner themselves (or another target) to exhibit the desired traits of that entity. For example, invoking Mammon makes the invoker better at building wealth. An evocation summons the entity to appear before the summoner. There are two types: astral evocation and physical evocation . An astral evocation summons the entity on the astral plane. The evoker then communicates with it through the ritual altar's crystal ball, mirror, or even the reflective surface in the cup of water. This evocation has limited influence over the physical world, but the benefit is that the entity may show the evoker any imaginable image. This type of evocation is extremely useful for acquiring knowledge. A physical evocation su...

In Nephilim: Revelation , the French third edition, the Occult Sciences got some new jargon for their practitioners and spells. These were: Occult Science  Keyword Practitioner  Spells Magic Intuition  Mage Sortileges Kabbalah  Relation Kabbalist Invocations  Alchemy  Construction  Alchemist  Formulae Each Occult Science had some further jargon specific to it, the "symbolic and social", including titles for each circle, colors, and attributes. The third edition structured these after the medieval tradesmen system of Apprentice, Companion (Journeyman) and Master. E.g. an Apprentice Mage was titled a Disciple, and one with mastery in Lower Magic was ranked as a Master Disciple. Technique Title Color Attribute Lower Magic Disciple ...

In the French version, subsequent editions after the first introduced the idea of sub-skills and sub-paths within the occult sciences. You had paths associated with the various Dominant Ka, and you had various skills which determined the exact applications, and the paths and skills within an occult science may or may not have been associated with each other. It was all very complicated and varied across editions. Sorcery For Sorcery ("Magic" in French), the paths were: The Central path of the stray Principle (Pyrim) The primal path of the Rising Spiral (Hydrim) The Natural Path of the Winding Trail (Faerim) The Torturous path of the Schematic Labyrinth (Eolim) The path of the Maze of the soul (Onirim) The skills were: Perceive (mundane phenomena), Feel (magical phenomena), Modify at First Circle; Commune, Transform, Move at Second; Create and Destroy at Third. Summoning For Summoning ("Kabbalah" in French), the paths were: Aresh, world of conflict (Pyrim) Meborack, ...

Over the course of my homebrewing I came up with a number of alternative names for stasis items (known simply as stases in the French). Names like bound talisman, anchor, fetich, memorarium, monstrance, stasis item, stasis object, reliquary, etc. Ex Oculis opted to rename them to "talismans" (a name that was already taken by artifacts that weren't amulets in the Gamemaster's Companion , confusingly enough) as part of their attempt to rewrite Nephilim as maybe-maybe-not enlightened humans. The original name, stasis item or stasis object, was re-flavored as a more technical sounding name used by The Chariot and similarly mechanical minded Nephilim. I guess I can see the logic in that, as it does sound fairly clinical. Anyway, memorarium is a nonce word I coined myself out of memory and -arium to mean a container of memories. In my campaigns, inspired by ExO, the stasis item or memorarium is what contains or anchors the memories of past lives. It can be replaced if de...

In the first edition and US version derived from it, Sorcery was named Sorcery. In subsequent editions, French only, this occult science was renamed Magic. In fourth edition, it  was specified  that the Enochian name was “HeKa.” This  comes from  Ancient Egyptian. In the unfinished Ex Oculis fanbook, “HeKa” was the Enochian name for Raw Magic. That is, the Elemental Effects from Liber Ka p88.

On Major Arcana p139 reference is made to “the Four True Fields.” This isn’t elaborated, but it seems to be a prejudice against Moon-Ka as not being a legitimate magic field. It reminds me of the  Tutorat de l'Empire des Quatre Eléments and  Prophètes de la Nitescence Opaline from the French, who likewise proclaimed that Moon-Ka should be excluded from the Ka-elements. They (and their modern adherents) amputated the Moon-Ka branches from Nephilim, turning them into “Cruxim.” This disregard towards Moon-Ka as an illegitimate element was echoed in Arcana descended from them like The Empress, Justice, The Wheel of Fortune, The Tower and The Sun. Inspired by the French version, I’m thinking that there’s still a secret extremist fraternity dedicated to the purity of the Four True Fields who go around amputating the Moon-Ka branches from Nephilim. A PC could take that as a past life's burden at character creation.  Or something. I'll need to work on it more...