My Nephilim Occult RPing Blog

The  Emerald Tablet  is actual text in real world occultism. There was reputed to be an original Emerald Tablet from which may extracts were copied. But it has special significance in the Nephilim's secret history. As explained on Major Arcana p13, the priests of Thoth preserved imperfect copies of Akhenaton's 22 Golden Tablets in the form of 22 Emerald Tablets. The knowledge contained was transcribed on papyrus and collected as the Book of Thoth , of which many copies were made. The original tablets and most of the transcriptions were later lost or destroyed.  One tablet called the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus was found beneath the Sphinx by Alexander the Great and became the basis of the Corpus Hermeticum , but later vanished with his corpse in 323 BC. Many Nephilim who know of it believe it was the Emerald Tablet of The Magician. According to the history chapter of the unpublished draft for  Slaying the Dragon  (the planned alchemy supplement before...

In the third edition Gamemaster's Screen , the Quest for the Cycle of Destiny is introduced. (The fanzine  Vision-Ka  #3  specifies on p41 that this Quest is one and the same as the Arcane Quest of The Magician.) The goal of this quest is to acquire and study the Minor Tablets, crafted by Akhenaton as supplements to the 22 Major Arcana Trumps. The purpose of these Minor Tablets is to help mortals reach Agartha. There are four Minor Arcana  in total: The Wand (Fire), The Cup (Water), The Sword (Air) and The Coin (Earth). Keen-eyed readers may notice that the symbolism of the suits correspond loosely to the traditional magical tools (see Liber Ka p52). By pursuing this quest, the Nephilim is better able to understand their Simulacrum's Solar-Ka: they can boost their chances of Critical Success based on their Solar-Ka, retain player control during Shouit seizures rather than handing control to the GM, and develop Solar Resistance through initiation into a Minor Arcanum...

The World Arcanum was never detailed in the US version, but the French version has some things to say about it. This information comes from multi-book campaign  Chronicles of the Apocalypse  and the third edition Gamemaster's Book . Why does this Arcanum exist anyway? Why would Agarthans need their own Tablet to reach Agartha? Well, the Adepts ( Adoptés in French) of the World are basically Bodhisattvas. They reached Agartha and had the choice to transcend and cease to care for worldly affairs, but instead chose to remain on Earth. Now they’re going on an eternal pilgrimage to help others reach Agartha, keeping the dream alive in the memories of the Immortals. Once they have helped the whole world achieve Agartha, then they will reunite with it themselves. Agarthans have access to  La Résille  ("the net"), which isn't a new Ka but rather an excitation of the magic fields that connects all Agarthans. This grants magical powers unique to them, such as concealment...

I watched the 2000 Hallmark version of The Argonauts recently and it inspired me to think about the Golden Fleece. In the US version In the US version, the nature of the Golden Fleece was never explored due to the line being cancelled. What was mentioned (see Gamemaster's Companion ) is that a mortal Jason and the Nephilim Hercules traveled to the lost Atlantean colony Colchis—nevermind that at this point in the timeline that Atlantis has been extinct for 100,000 years!—where they entered the so-called Tomb of Prometheus and acquired the Golden Fleece. Jason was unable to decipher it before he was killed by an unknown assailant and the Fleece was lost. Its true nature remains unknown... until the PCs happen to rediscover it, anyway. The Knights of the Golden Fleece (see Secret Societies ) are trying to recover it by investing in scientific research and development—although I have no idea how this helps them find the Fleece. In the French version The Quest for the Golden Fleece was...

Initially the lore assumed only the Unnamed Arcanum accepted Selenim, and vice versa. However, the third edition Gamemaster's Book notes that it is possible for (at least some of) the other Arcana to "adopt" a minority of Selenim. The majority of members remain Nephilim, however. Although some Arcane Quests are reserved for Nephilim, like those of The Magician (see Gamemaster's Screen ) and The High Priestess (see Vision-Ka #3 ), others like those of The Moon (see Vision-Ka #5 ) have paths available to Selenim. The  Al-Mugawir  campaign supplement notes that Selenim adopted by Judgment have integrated their Simulacrum's Solar-Ka and may learn to cast the solar Occult Science of Qiyas. The reverse is not true. The 13th Arcane Quest, the Bronzen Sublimation (see Gamemaster's Book ), is reserved for Selenim. Death is a haven for all magical beings who carry the Black Moon within them: Selenim, Serpentaries, 666's Rejects...  I still need to research how the...

First codified in the third edition of the French version, a Quest is a type of Occult Skill that measures the PC's progress along a Quest that ultimately culminates in Agartha. There are many different Quests, such as the Quest for the Golden Fleece, the Treasure of the Templars, the Golem, etc. The lost Tablets of the Major Arcana each provided their own instructions for a different " Arcane Quest ", but there are more " Esoteric Quests " beyond those 22. Esoteric Quests may be associated with particular Occult Sciences, Artifacts, Past Lives, Secret Societies, Secret Places, Akashic Realms, and so on. The secret revealed by third edition was this: PCs don't need to achieve max level in their Dominant Ka, Metamorphosis, Third Circle or Lore Skills in order to achieve Agartha. They need only complete their chosen Quest. So even a relatively young and inexperienced Immortal may achieve Agartha if they play their cards right. (Otherwise you'd go into the ...

Chaosium's adaptation of Nephilim was based on the 1st edition of the French, which was crude and unrefined compared to subsequent supplements. Case in point, the US version recaps the Olamot as the four summoning worlds: Assia, Yetzirah, Briah and Atziluth. In the French, these worlds would be discarded and replaced with Aresh, Meborack, Pachad, Sohar and Zakaï.  A brief summary comes from this rpg.net post by a reviewer translating the French: Kabbalah Kabbalah as a science knew many false starts whether the studies of King Salomon or the wanderings of Helen in mythic Greece. However it is Jesus the Son of Ether that drew the fundamentals of the Occult Science used today. The Messiahs posited that worlds exist around us in the magical fields. He could call the creatures of these worlds and draw Wisdom from their teachings. Kabbalah was the legacy he left to his Fallen creators hoping they would find solace in Sohar the world he had more often walked. Five worlds are studied...

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, ...

To keep this stuff straight, I’m putting it all in once place for reference. The Occult Sciences As explained on  Nephilim  rulebook p44, each occult science only becomes available after a certain date. Sorcery Sorcery is prehistoric and all three circles may be learned in any incarnation period. This is the only Third Circle technique that may be learned at character creation. Summoning For Summoning, the first two circles of the Kabbalist Tradition may be learned from circa 350 B.C. onward (rulebook p63, Chronicle of the Awakenings p13). The Third Circle technique, Keys, cannot be learned at character creation [this isn’t explicitly stated but is implied by the lack of eras offering it]. It is only practiced by advanced initiates among the Major Arcana (rulebook p170). With the GM’s permission, a different Tradition of Summoning may be taken instead and potentially earlier. I’ll explore Traditions of Summoning in future posts. Alchemy The First Circle technique, Black Stone...