ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Well, I wrote the following on a whim. I think the Celestial Chorus is fairly important in the Mage universe, and it will be a while before White Wolf gets around to detailing them. I'm also afraid they will hesitate to make their Christian connection too explicit. So, here I humbly present my unofficial rendition of the Tradition. I have to admit that I am not Christian, and have taken a fairly historical perspective on that religion (and others). I've tried my best to be evenhanded, and I hope I have offended no one.

Legal stuff: Celestial Chorus, the other Tradition and Sphere magic names are all copyrights of White Wolf and none of this is intended to infringe on those rights.

A History of the Celestial Chorus

The Minoans

Like all Traditions, the Celestial Chorus claims an ancestry dating back to prehistory. However, the first culture they claim association with is the Minoans. Based on Crete, the Minoans dates back to perhaps 3000 BC. On this isolated island, the Chorus claims they built a peaceful civilization, worshiping the Goddess, in her manifestation as the life-giving sun, and her sacred beast, the Bull.

The Minoans were ruled by Priestess-Queens and with the magical aid of the Chorus, achieved an advanced level of technology. The Minoans were a trading race, ruling the seas around their island home. Their culture spread to mainland Greece as well. Their cities were populous and unwalled, for under the shining shield of the One Goddess, there was no war.

This peace was not to last. Successive waves of Greek invaders pushed the Minoans off the mainland and eventually reached Crete as well. Though more technologically and magically advanced than the Greeks, the peaceful Goddess worshippers were unable to deal with their warlike ways and were slowly overcome. By 1400 BC, the Minoans were completely conquered by the Greeks and the One Goddess was replaced by Greek deities. Some of the Minoan mages assimilated but most fled in search of another home.

Akhenaton

One large group of Minoan mages reached Egypt and there tried to spread the word of the One. The Egyptians believed in a multiplicity of Gods but the hopeful idea of the One found sympathetic ears, especially amongst the Semetic slaves. One pharaoh listened as well and he was to institute a brief reign of the One in the Land of the Nile.

Amenhotep IV ascended the throne of Egypt around 1380 BC. Some of the Celestial Chorus had earned his trust and faith. Much to the surprise of the priesthood of Egypt, he forbade the worship of all gods but the One, whom he named Aton, the solar disc. In deference for the One, he changed his name to Akhenaton, meaning "Useful to Aton".

Worship of Aton did not spread amongst the Egyptian people, however. They found the conception of a single God bizarre and were unwilling to give up some of their other, more popular, deities. The supernatural forces in Egypt, caught off guard by Akhenaton, were quick to rally. Vampires, mages and Garou, all quite numerous, worked together to drive out the foreign Celestial Chorus.

By 1360 BC, Akhenaton was murdered by his own guards. His son, still a child, was made pharaoh and the Priesthood forced him to change his name from Tut-Ankh-Aton to Tut-Ankh-Amen. Using him as a puppet, the orthodox Egyptians reestablished the worship of their old gods. Young Tut-Ankh-Amen did not live past the age of 20 and with him died the last hope of establishing worship of the One in Egypt.

The Exodus and the First Schism

The Celestials were still welcomed amongst the Semetic slaves of Egypt, especially one tribe, the Hebrew. With all of Egypt against them, they were unable to protect their converts. A charismatic leader, Moses, chose to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. With the help of the Celestial Chorus, he managed to deflect the attacks of the Egyptians and lead his people safely out of slavery.

The Hebrews and the Chorus wandered through the deserts of the Middle East, looking for a home. There began the first of the many schisms that plagued the Chorus. In Egypt, the One's gender had become vague, being referred to as a neuter sun. The conservatives amongst the Chorus continued to view the One as the Goddess, desiring to reestablish the peace of Minoan Crete.

Moses, along with younger, Hebrew Celestials, felt the Hebrews needed a more warlike, male God in order to survive in a dangerous world. They argued against the conservatives, claiming their goals were unrealistic. Moses retreated into the mountains to commune with the One, in the hopes of receiving some revelation. When he returned, he and his followers attacked and disrupted a service of Goddess worshippers before her sacred image, the bull. With this coup, and Moses' reputation as a savior, the Male God's advocates won the day.

The Rise and Fall of Israel

With a new, warrior image of the One, Moses rallied his people and allied himself with other Semitic tribes in the wilderness. When he felt he was ready, he led his people to Canaan, and the "promised land". Moses himself was never to reach it, as he perished from age on its very borders. With the strength of the Celestial Chorus behind them, the Hebrews swept through Canaan, driving out Egyptians and Babylonian influence and establishing the rule of Semitic people, in the nation of Israel.

Once established, however, the schism began to rise again. Some of the Hebrews began to worship the older Goddess. The ruling Hebrews called this blasphemy and did their best to stamp it out. The Goddess worshiping Celestials, for their part, claimed the Hebrew had become as violent and corrupt as their enemies of the past. The kingdom was plagued with internal disputes, and was unable to defend itself.

Piece by piece, Israel was taken apart, until the last of it fell and the Hebrews were taken as slaves into Babylon, around 600 BC. Their faith in the One kept them from being assimilated, however and they even won further converts amongst other dispossessed Semitic peoples. In Babylon, the Hebrews collected together their sacred writings and set down an account of their history using a uniformly male image of the One. The Goddess worshiping Celestials again acquiesced, some of them going elsewhere, others biding their time.

Zoroastrianism

Not all of the Celestial Chorus went to Egypt. When the Hebrews came to Babylon the Choristers among them met members of a lost sect of their Tradition. A group of Celestials in Sumeria, following theit greatest prophet Zarathustra, had developed a complex dualist theology. They called the One Ahura Mazda, still identified with the sun. They also claimed there was another, infernal power, Ahrimane, source of all evil. Ahrimane was doomed to lose to Ahura Mazda at the end of time but in many other ways was the equal to the One.

The Zoroastrians were in direct competition with the magi and kindred of the fertile crescent and thus were always in a precarious position. The Zoroastrians and the Hebrews synchronized, borrowing many ideas from one another. Once the Zoroastrain-backed Persians conquered Babylon, the Zoroastrian Celestials helped the Hebrews return home. The Zoroastrians continued for many centuries thereafter but eventually were overwhelmed by more recent religious movements.

The Redeemer

When Babylon fell to the Persians, the Hebrew were allowed to return home but they never again established themselves as a fully independent kingdom. Under the thumb of a succession of empires, the Hebrews looked to ancient prophesies of a redeemer, one who would release them from suffering and reestablish the kingdom of God. Many of the Chorus had similar expectations but believed that the redeemer would instead reveal the One to the entire world.

Finally, when the Hebrew were under the rule of the Roman empire, such a redeemer arrived. A man from Nazareth came to Jerusalem, preaching a new revelation of God and his teaching took hold like fire. Some believed him to be the king of the Hebrews, here to lead them to victory over the Romans. His closest followers, though, recorded that he taught of the universal love of the One and redemption for all of mankind.

The powers in control of Jerusalem could not tolerate his subversive teachings. The Romans, with the collusion of the Hebrew government, had him captured and crucified to prevent revolt in the Hebrew kingdom. His disciples survived him, however, and as they did not advocate immediate revolution, were allowed to escape.

In the modern Celestial Chorus, there is nearly as much debate about the nature of Jesus of Nazareth as there is about the One. Most believe he was some sort of emissary of the One. Some believed he was merely a prophet, not the redeemer and continued to follow the Jewish faith. It is unclear how much, if any, influence the Chorus had on Jesus, or his disciples. Only the most hubris-filled claim that Jesus was a member of the order but it is a common belief that some of his disciples were of the Celestial Chorus (which ones is a matter of dispute).

The Sects of the Early Church

Many of the ancient Chorus embraced the teachings of Jesus as the long-awaited redemption of mankind and began to spread word of the One amongst the entire Roman empire. When his teachings reached Greece, a fascinating expansion of beliefs began. Perhaps remembering their ancient Minoan roots, many Greek philosophers and mages embraced the new religion and added a level of debate to the growing Christian church.

From this time forward, an incredible diversity appeared in the once uniform teachings of Christ. A multitude of sects arose, some bearing only passing resemblance to the original teachings of Jesus. Many sects intermingled and were influenced by other, non-Christian ecstatic cults that were popular in the empire at the time. Though many in number, the Christian sects could be divided into two basic camps: the Gnostics and the Orthodox.

The Gnostics were the most diverse of the two camps. The Gnostics emphasized the more mystical aspects of the teachings of Christ. They believed that by pursuing the same path as Jesus, they too could reach an enlightened state. They held that personal religious experience was more important than the teachings passed down from the disciples. Their groups were loosely organized; no hierarchy could be established when a pupil's revelations might someday exceed their teacher. The Gnostics thought the Orthodox had misunderstood the fundamental teachings of Christ and were too obsessed with worldly things at the expense of the spiritual.

The Orthodox held that strictly following the teachings of Jesus was the path to salvation. They worked to establish a unified organization and were very active politically. They justified their organization by claiming a succession of leaders going back to the original apostles. They sought converts amongst the Roman slaves and willingly martyred themselves for the glory of Christ. The Orthodox thought the Gnostics were, at best, cowards unwilling to test their faith in the crucible of the world. At worst, the Gnostics were heretics, distorting the teachings of Jesus. One further problem was that some of the Gnostics were once again teaching of a female divinity, hidden but superior to the male Hebrew God.

The Roman Church

It is a testimony to the potency of Christ's teachings that, despite the sometimes vehement disputes of the early church, his following grew rapidly. The powers behind the Roman empire, especially its secret vampiric rulers, grew alarmed. They began to persecute the new religion as subversive, most often attacking the more outspoken Orthodox. A war began for control of the empire.

The Romans began with what they considered to be very reasonable demands. They asked the Christians to simply burn an offering to genius of the emperor, as proof of their loyalty. When the (mostly Orthodox) Christians refused, they were thrown into jail. Rather than recanting, many Christians swarmed forward, admitting their guilt as a testimony to their faith. Swamped, the Romans became more severe, executing and eventually torturing to death the Christians, including death in the arena. Rumors were spread about the secret, malevolent activities of the Christians in the hope of turning the people against them.

For their part, the Chorus supported early Christians in their faith and began to fight for their freedom. Again, mostly the Orthodox Celestials worked toward this goal. They steadily converted several important Roman officials and began to trace the persecutions to its source, the vampires of Rome. The tide began to turn and at last the Chorus won a decisive victory in the conversion of Constantine, the current Roman emperor, in AD 313.

With Constantine's conversion the persecutions ended and a movement began to make Christianity the official religion of the empire. With this at hand, many felt that some sort of doctrinal unity was needed. With Constantine's support, the Council at Nicaea was held in AD 325, determining which Christian writings were canonical and which were not. The Council was largely attended by Orthodox Christians, who felt responsible for the victory of Christianity. They proceeded to label most Gnostic writings as heretical, making Orthodox Christianity the most powerful religion of the empire.

Over the next century, the Orthodox Christians rapidly gained ground, becoming the state religion in AD 381. The Orthodox worked hard to root out Gnostic heresies and the Chorus was again distracted by internal disputes. It was long before they realized how easily manipulated they had been. When the Chorus paused in its internal battles, they realized that everything the empire had found threatening had been excised from Orthodox Christianity. Some advances had been made, such as the elimination of the arena. Yet slavery and sexual inequality persisted and the Church was being used to prop up the State.

The Orthodox Celestials began to examine these recent developments. To their horror, they discovered the controlling hands of vampires everywhere. The vampires, rather than be defeated, had stepped around the problem and were now doing their best to subvert Christianity as they had done with so many other religions in the past. The vampires desperately needed the burning faith of Christianity to inspire its forces, for the Empire was beset on all sides by encroaching barbarian enemies.

Enraged, the Orthodox called a truce with the Gnostics. Though they would not reinstate Gnostic teachings, they agreed to allow some of the more mystical elements of Gnosticism to reenter mainstream Christianity and to encourage Monasticism as a safe outlet for Gnostic urges. The now unified Chorus worked quietly to pull down the vampire's empire. They worked to undermine the military of Rome. When the barbarians came, rather than rallying the armies of Rome under the banner of Christianity, they were silent.

The Early Medieval Church & the Divine Paradigm

After the western half of the Roman Empire fell, the Chorus chose to establish their headquarters in Rome, now largely free of vampiric influence. Though they kept a hand in the Eastern empire, the Byzantine lands still had far too many kindred in it. From Rome, they began to convert the invading barbarians to Christianity and spread their teachings over all of Europe. Though much had been lost with the fall of the empire, the Chorus helped establish Monastic orders to preserve knowledge, until such time as man was able to use it once more.

With the growth of the Church, the Chorus was able, for the first time, to establish its paradigm over a large region. This divine paradigm was known as the Dominion. The essential tenant of the Dominion is that all good flowed from the One. Faith in the One gave the worshipper access to divine miracles but only for pious requests. Relics and sites related to the One were filled with divine power. All of Christendom awaited the return of the Savior, the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth and the universal redemption of mankind. The Chorus saw this as the Ascension, which they called the Reconciliation and tentatively established the year 1000 as the time they would work to bring it about.

All magic that did not come from the One was, by definition, evil. In order to explain other sources of power, the church acknowledged the existence of an Adversary to the One. The Adversary was the source of evil in the world and all magic not of the One must come from the Adversary. The Adversary sought to undermine the faith of the pious, stealing them away from the grace of the One. The exact strength of the Adversary was a source of conflict amongst the Chorus. Those claiming too much strength for the Adversary were called dualistic and heretics. The official policy of the Orthodox church was that the Adversary could only work through deception and illusion and could not match divine power with miracles of his own.

Though the Dominion spread over Europe, it was by no means universal. In many areas, secret hold-overs of older, pagan worship continued, especially under the guidance of the Verbena. Despite the fact that the Verbena and their druidic followers had also been persecuted by Rome, the Chorus saw no similarity between the two Traditions. The Church's tendency to identify pagan gods with the Adversary did nothing to win them popularity in Verbena circles either.

The Challenge of Islam & the Failure of the Reconciliation

Christianity was more or less unopposed as the major religion of the West until the growth of Islam in the eighth century. The sweep of the Moslem armies took the Christian world completely by surprise. Before they realized what happened, all the world south of the Mediterranean, up through Spain and to the very borders of the Byzantine empire had fallen to Islam. Most distressing, the holy land fell into their hands.

The Chorus was especially confused by Islam. The Moslems obviously worshipped what was another manifestation of the One but in many ways Islam was radically different from the Christian faith. Denying the divinity of Christ, they chose instead to follow the word of their prophet, Mohammed. The Chorus was uncertain how to react to the new religion.

Some Celestials, especially those with ties to the Jewish faith, advocated taking the Moslems under the wing of the Chorus. Lacking further information, the more Orthodox Celestials agreed to explore the possibility. Emissaries were secretly sent amongst the Moslems, only to be quietly rebuffed. After a time, it became clear that Islam was under the influence of yet another, secretive Tradition but the Chorus could learn little of these mysterious Ahl-i-Batin.

The matter was temporarily shelved, as the end of the first millenium was rapidly approaching. The Chorus worked frantically to unite the fragmented Christian world and prepare the path for the returning Redeemer and the Reconciliation. Yet when the appointed day arrived, nothing happened. Appalled, the Chorus spent the next several centuries trying to determine why the Reconciliation had failed.

They first turned their attention to the Middle East. Some Celestial scholars concluded that it was the loss of the holy land that led to the failure of the Reconciliation. With the backing of the Chorus, the Church launched the first of several crusades in the eleventh century to try to reclaim Jerusalem. The crusades had mixed success. The holy lands changed hands several times over the next two centuries. The crusading knights were more interested in pillage than piety. The Church was forced to make several compromises back in Europe in order to win the necessary support for the continuing crusades.

At last the Chorus was able to contact the mysterious Ahl-i-Batin and work out a compromise. The Batini proposed an ambitious plan of magical networking and holy pilgrimages that would link many of the holy sites of the Middle East in a powerful web of faith. The Chorus, no longer certain that Islam was responsible for the failed Reconciliation, agreed. Reenergized by their share of this potent network of nodes, the Celestials once more turned their attention to Europe.

The Inquisition

In Europe, the Church was suffering from numerous problems. Bloated with bureaucracy and rife with corruption, the Church was losing the faith of the common people. Secular rulers were challenging the power of the church, often successfully. The Church was in such a state of disarray that it was unable to stop a pointless schism, with two and sometimes three different individuals all claiming the papacy, for nearly a century.

To make matters worse, the Chorus learned that an entirely new paradigm had been created beneath their very nose. The Order of Hermes, a wide-spread and powerful group of mages, had successfully spread a new paradigm of magic, which they called the Mythic Age, over many places in Europe. Celestial scholars pointed to the Hermetic paradigm as opposing the Dominion and the true cause of the failed Reconciliation.

The Chorus found the smug arrogance of the Hermetics insufferable. The Order had spread its influence widely amongst the courts of Europe. The majority of the Hermetics ridiculed the Church as needless superstition. The Celestials uncovered evidence that some of them even had regular commerce with spiritual beings that could only be the servants of the Adversary. The wrath of the Church was not long in coming.

The office of the Inquisition had long been a part of the Church, to regulate the spread of heresy. Now this office was given new power. The church reversed its earlier doctrine that the Adversary could only work through the power of illusion and directly attributed all non-divine magic to the Foe. The Inquisition went on a rampage against the enemies of the church, including heretics, the infernal and other traditions of magic.

The Hermetics were unprepared for the onslaught and their paradigm crumbled. The Inquisition got out of hand, though, as it uncovered more and more supernatural presences to combat. Discovering vampires and werewolves, as well as other practitioners of magic, the Inquisition went on a frenzy of killing, in which even innocent Sleeper were not safe. The Chorus struggled in vain to rein in its wayward tool and even a few Celestials were caught in its vice. After the Church ended its support, the Inquisition continued in the form of a witch-hunting craze that didn't subside until the 17th century.

The Protestant Reformation & the Fall of the Church

The Chorus was deeply divided by the violence of the Inquisition and the corruption that still ran deep through the church. Some of them, feeling that sweeping reform was necessary, found a leader in Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk and professor of theology at Wittenburg. He published a list of "Ninety-Five Theses", delineating what he saw as problems with the Church. The Church's refutations fell flat and Luther gained in popularity. Luther gained political backing in the form of the powerful German noble Frederick and his heresies withstood the counterattack of the Church. For the first time, the supremacy of the Catholic church had been successfully challenged.

The breakup of the Church did not end there. Other, alternate Christian views began to crop up, such as Calvinism, and the Anglican heresies. Unlike the past, these heresies were widespread and had the support of kings rather than a few outcasts from society. Soon Europe was embroiled in a series of violent religious wars, seeking to establish the dominance of one version of Christianity or another. A few Celestials saw the futility of these wars but most were blind.

At the same time, a new secularism was rising in Europe, with a growth of ideas with which the Church was unable to reckon. The Italian renaissance resulted in art, music and culture separate from the Church. An obscure astronomer, Copernicus, challenged the view that Earth was the center of the universe. The Church, caught up in its own wars, battled these new ideas sporadically. Even though they would crush the authors, the concepts themselves still spread.

As the wars ended, the Chorus blamed most of their losses to a counterattack on the part of the Hermetics. They believed that the Hermetics wished to destroy the Dominion in the same way the Church destroyed the Mythic Age. Modern Celestials, however, believe this was one of the first acts of the new-born Technocracy, including recently converted Hermetics. The early Technocrats helped spread Luther's ideas and exacerbated the problems with the newly invented printing press. Much of the scientific advances are easily attributed to them.

The Grand Exploration

Even as Europe was embroiled in internal religious wars, it was rapidly colonizing the entire globe. Many Celestials, disgusted by the infighting of the European Chorus, chose instead to spread the Word of the One around the world.

Celestials traveled to the Americas, Africa India and the Orient. These mages were an individualistic lot and took both the best and the worst of the Church with it. In some instances, they tried to protect the native population from exploitation by the Europeans. In others, they tried to force the natives to convert to an alien religion.

The Chorus took the Divine Paradigm with them wherever they went and this gave some Celestials a vision of global Ascension. Many realized, however, that with the Christian community so drastically divided, and with their magical resources spread so thin, there was little hope of that. Indeed, though the Dominion was established in a few areas, most of the European exploration served instead to expand a new paradigm, one only recently created — that of the Technocracy.

The Seventh Council of Nicaea

There is some dispute as to the order in which the next two events took place. Both occurred at roughly the same time and the full effects of both were slow to take hold. As both meetings were secret, exact dates are difficult to fix. Both radically altered the course of the Celestial Chorus.

The first event was a great meeting of important leaders of the various factions of the now splintered Church, held once more at the site of the ancient city of Nicaea. Catholic and Protestant were there, as well as a Jewish and Islamic representatives and even a few Gnostic Christians and old Goddess worshipers, long thought destroyed. The meeting was held in secret, for the followers of each faction would not have approved.

The exact content of the meeting, called the Seventh Council of Nicaea, is unknown. It is known that the various Celestials were in agreement that the Church was teetering and the world was changing in a way that was increasingly hostile to magic, Holy or otherwise. The groups tried to hammer out some sort of compromise that would satisfy very diverse religious viewpoints.

The only compromise they could settle on was a radical one. Up to this point, it was the doctrine of the Chorus that, just as there is only the One, there can be only one path to salvation. All the internal conflict of the Chorus had been driven by the need to have one and only one faith. The council broke this doctrine. It was agreed, rather tentatively, that they may well be a multiplicity of paths to the One, that there may be some validity in all of the various faiths. This was called the Doctrine of Tolerance.

This doctrine is not fully accepted, even to this day. Jewish Celestials point to the Tradition's lack of decisive action during the Holocaust as proof that the new doctrine has a long way to go. Some groups only grudging tolerate other ideologies. Others claim the multiplicity of paths still only include Christian faith. Nearly all would agree that the only true paths are those that acknowledge that there is one, and only one, Divinity.

Regardless, the Doctrine of Tolerance did put an end to the violent religious wars that rocked Europe. The various members of the Chorus learned to coexist, if not cooperate. There was even a resurgence of some of the "lost" groups and symbols as Gnostics, Goddess and Sun worshippers became increasingly more open.

The Tribunal & the Horizon Wars

The second momentous event was the Tribunal, that either inspired or was inspired by the Seventh Council. Representatives of the Chorus met with the Tradition's two greatest enemies, the Verbena and the Order of Hermes, to try and hammer out a truce. All three groups were wary of each other but they were coming to realize that the world was changing in a way that was hostile to all of them and something had to be done.

Though it took a great deal of debate, the Tribunal at last set aside their basic differences for at least as long as it took to crush this new threat. The Tribunal felt that, with the combined might of three Traditions, the problem would soon be dealt with. The Traditions drastically underestimated their enemy. They had no idea how entrenched the new Technocracy had become.

All of the Tribunal's attacks were bitter failures. The Church's condemnation of scientific advances was ridiculed, rather than being solemnly accepted as it once was. The Hermetic surge in mysticism was rapidly marginalized and crushed. The Verbena succeeded only in causing a brief resurgence of the witch-hunting craze.

Off balance from their lack of success, the Tribunal was completely unprepared for the Technocracy's counterattack. Chantries were razed, nodes raided and countless mages slain. The Traditions were amazed at the number and power of their enemies, who had been hidden for so long. The war was nearly lost then.

The losses did help cement the temporary alliance, however, and the Tribunal reconvened. They also expanded their outreach, contacting other mages who now suffered under the onslaught of the Technocracy. The Tribunal was expanded to the Council of Nine and with the pooled resource of all the Traditions, they managed to create a great Horizon realm, known simply as the Horizon, where they could regroup. This allegiance has lasted until today.

The Celestial Chorus Now

The next century was a desperate one for the Chorus. Church functions once thought sacrosanct were now denounced. Whole nations, including all of the communist block, fell away completely. Even in the nations where the Chorus still had influence, barriers were set up separating the functions of church and state, leaving the governing of many nations under the hands of a soulless bureaucracy. The Chorus found themselves increasingly marginalized in the less technologically advanced countries.

The Chorus shifted their tactics however, becoming less political and more humanitarian. The Celestials have increasingly concentrated on winning back the hearts of the people and have worked to improve the lot of the average man, especially those in desperate need. The Chorus sees itself as the champion and salvation of the Sleepers. Despite effort on the part of the Technocracy to secularize such aid, the church is still the primary source of charity in this world.

The Chorus has not limited its attention to the Technocracy alone. The Celestials continue to fight against its more traditional demonic enemies, servants of the Adversary, including the Nephandi. There are those that say the Chorus secretly continues its Inquisition against the vampires of this world.

The other Traditions are wary of the Chorus, for they still remember the Inquisition. There are those that believe the Celestials would happily replace the world-wide Technological paradigm with a world-wide Dominion and those beliefs are not entirely unfounded. The Chorus has never shirked its duty in the Horizon wars, however, and has been amongst the fiercest opponents of the Technocracy and the greatest defenders of man. This, if nothing else, earns them the respect of their allies.

Sub Traditions

The Celestial Chorus has always been rife with internal disputes. Even with the new doctrine of religious acceptance, the Chorus has many subgroups within it. Not all member of the Chorus belong to these sub traditions and some belong to several.

Missionaries

The Missionaries believe the primary task of the Chorus is to help and protect the Sleepers. Missionaries spend most of their time "in the field", doing their best to stave off the crises of modern times. They work constantly to free people from drugs, hunger, poverty and despair. They sometimes come into conflict with the Technocracy but often work against ordinary Sleepers, including criminals and corrupt governments. The Missionaries are not exclusive and accept members from other groups within the Chorus.

Followers of the Universal Path

Celestials that subscribe to the Universal Path, or Universalists as they are sometimes called, believe that there can be only one church and one faith. This is in conflict with the Doctrine of Tolerance, so Followers of the Path tend to be circumspect about their view. They are widely viewed with suspicion and their detractors link them to the Inquisition, something they vehemently deny.

Most of the Universalists point to Catholicism as the one true Faith. Even they are not in total agreement, however. There are a fair number of Universalists that subscribe to Eastern Orthodoxy as the true path. The Eastern Church has been badly battered over the centuries, however, and this is the weaker half of the Followers of the Path. Both factions of the Universalists are amongst the most conservative Celestials.

Gnostics

Gnostic Celestials trace their origins back the early Christians. As they did then, they feel that an individual's personal experience with the One outweighs any doctrine. They seek through various means, often ecstatic, to receive revelations of the One. Modern Gnostics criticize many of the limitations the Church has put on its members, including celibacy, and other forms of personal denial. Some even seek through the use of drugs to gain visions of the One. Other Celestials believe the group has been too deeply influenced by the Cult of Ecstasy.

Bene Gesserit

This group claims it is the oldest faction of the Chorus but in other ways it is the newest. The Gesserit exclusively use female imagery for the One and have fought to make an equal place for woman in both the church and the world. The rest of the Chorus, having accepted Crete as the origin of the Tradition, do not object to their feminine Divinity but some of the more conservative Celestials are definitely uncomfortable with it. There are links between the Daughters and the Dianic witches of the Verbena, perhaps the strongest common ground between the two Traditions.

Other than their use of female imagery and a tendency to matriarchy, this subtradition is surprisingly conservative. They harken back to the days of the Minoan Goddess worship but lacking better information, tend to be otherwise orthodox in their religious practices. They can be very militant, perhaps to overcome the stereotype of feminity. Some of them go so far as to advocate female supremacism including, perhaps, the inner circle of the Gesserit. Not all of the its members are female, nor are all Goddess worshipping Celestials in this group.

Servants of the Sun

This is another group of both recent and ancient origin. The Servants point to the Sun as the house of the One. They hailed the shift away from the Geocentric universe as an advance in the philosophy of man. The rites of the Servants aren't well known, for they are never held publicly, but most believe they are descended from the secret worship of Mithras in the ancient Roman empire, and Zoroastrianism. Much of the rest of the Chorus is uncomfortable with the group's secrecy but the use of solar imagery is becoming increasingly common, especially amongst those that wish to avoid questions of gender.

Millenialists

This group draws believers from everywhere in the Chorus. They believe that around the turn of the Millenium will be (or can be made to be) the time of the returning Redeemer. It is widely believed that the Redeemer, having once come as a man, will return as a woman. The Millenialists seek signs of her impending arrival, as well as working to prepare her way. They hope to find her shortly after she is born, to protect her from harm and to learn as much as they can from her guidance. After she has reached maturity, the Redeemer will bring about the Reconciliation, and save mankind.

A few of the Millenialists subscribe to a darker belief. They feel that the second coming of the Redeemer may (or will) fail and the world will be plunged into a thousand years of darkness, ruled completely by the Adversary. Only at the end of the third millenium will the Redeemer return for a final time to save mankind.

The Inquisition

The existence of this group is a guilty secret of the Chorus and something they will not discuss with outsiders. Its membership is secret and the widespread belief that its members are all Followers of the Universal Path is wrong. The Inquisitors seek out evil supernatural influences in the world and crush them where they find them. The Nephandi are their greatest enemies amongst mages. It is said they have links to a group of vampire hunters known as the Society of Leopold. There are rumors that the Inquisitors will not hesitate to root out what they see as evil in the Traditions as well, or even amongst the Chorus.

Cabalists

Many of the Jewish members of the Celestial Chorus believe in the Cabala (or Qabala), an ancient Jewish mystical tradition. The Cabala centers on the study of the Sephirothic Tree, otherwise known as the tree of life. The tens spheres of the Tree are related to the nine spheres of magic, plus a tenth "Divine" sphere, representing the One. The Cabalists are not active politically, preferring quiet contemplation of the One in solitude. They have been withdrawn since the Holocaust and have yet to forgive the rest of the Chorus for the atrocity.

The Cabalists have many links to the Order of Hermes and a fair percentage, or even the majority, are actually Hermetic. Cabalists often use Hermetic foci and they are the strongest link between the Chorus and the Order. Some of Cabalists have actually formed a hybrid tradition, with two spheres as their specialty, both Forces and Prime. These Cabalists find that their ordered view of the universe and their abhorrence of evil make it impossible for them to use Entropy, however.

Disciples of Mohammed

This small segment of the Chorus subscribes to the Islamic faith as the true manifestation of the One. The longtime conflict between Islam and Christianity has heightened tensions between this group and the rest of the Chorus. Some Celestials, finding the term "Disciple"to be egotistical, refer to this group by the insulting term, Mohammedans. The links between this group and the Ahl-i-Batin are unclear.

Organization

The Celestial Chorus is tightly organized in a hierarchy resembling that of the Catholic Church. The highest members of the organization are the Council of Twelve in Rome who direct the activities of the Tradition as a whole. These individuals are known as the Princeps, after Roman tradition. The proper form of address used when speaking to a Princep is "Your Eminence".

Immediately under the Twelve are the Archepiscopus, who oversee large regions of the globe known as Archdiocese. Under them lie the Episcopus, who oversee local areas, Diocese, no larger than a nation, and more commonly only a part of a nation. Episcopus are invariably the head of a Chantry and often have a few other Chantries under their jurisdiction, including Chantries of mixed traditions. The proper term of address for Episcopus and Archepiscopus is "Your Grace" and "Your Holy Grace", respectively.

There is a separate scholastic and educational arm of the Chorus, which has a great deal of influence. Major figures, either the head of a school or in control of a major library, are called Prefects. Though technically answerable to the local Episcopus, they are often powerful enough to have access to the ear of an Archepiscopus and sometimes even a Princep. Less members of the order are called Praeceptors.

Other Celestials generally rank themselves by their knowledge of Prime. When there is a dispute in leadership, Celestials will defer to the Celestial with the highest rating in Prime or, failing that, Arete. Superiors are addressed as "Father" or "Mother", peers as "Brother" or "Sister", and relatively inexperienced Celestials as "My Son" or "My Daughter".

Early advancement is measured solely by one's progress with the Sphere of Prime. This is still important to holding positions in the hierarchy as well. Only Adepts can be Prefects or Episcopus and only Masters can be Archepiscopus and Princeps. When a position needs to be filled, the Celestials under the authority of the position have a conference to give recommendations to the tier immediately above it. The superior will generally select amongst the recommended individuals, though this is not necessary. The selection process is often one of intense politics, with those above and below the position.

Since the Doctrine of Tolerance, the Chorus has tried to integrate members of all faiths into its hierarchy. This task is somewhat eased by the Edict of Westphalia, declaring in 1427 that no member of the Celestial Chorus could hold a rank above Priest or Abbot in the Church. Doctrinal differences can still be a major hindrance to advancement, however, and many subtraditions accuse conservatives and Universalists of excessive control of the hierarchy.

This rigid organization is both a help and a hindrance to the Chorus. It has helped the Tradition withstand the often brutal attacks they have faced from the Technocracy and coordinate counter thrusts. They have more efficient channels of communication than any other Tradition and other mages sometimes get references from the Celestials when traveling from one region to another. However, the problems with advancement can breed ambition, pride and rivalry. Some of the more liberal members, while recognizing the importance of unity, chafe at the restrictions imposed by the hierarchy.

Status amongst the Chorus is gained through the Three Virtues: Word, Faith and Deed. The Word is revelations of the One and insights into the nature of the world and magick. Scholarly treatises on magic and theology are carefully recorded and stored in ancient libraries. Faith is a measure of devotion to the One. The most common measure of faith is through denial, voluntarily giving up something of the world as proof of one's devotion. Faith is generally deemed greatest when it is chosen without knowledge of reward. The final virtue, Deed, is acting to improve the world and help mankind, including charity and fighting evil.

Members of the Chorus usually try to meet at least once per week, generally on Saturday, called the Sabbath. These meetings are a time when Celestials can renew their faith and celebrate the glory of the One. The meetings are punctuated with song and readings from the holy scriptures. It is in very poor taste to bring up matters of the world during the Sabbath, so impending business is usually discussed after worship.

Initiates of the Celestial Chorus are generally selected on the basis of faith (though this need not be faith in God). Initiates are watched carefully and are secretly "tempted" away from the righteous path by the Chorus. These temptations are more to educate and illuminate rather than truly test the Initiate. When the Chorus feels the Initiate is ready, they reveal themselves and in a great ritual of worship, awaken the Initiate's Avatar. Afterwards, the Initiate is assigned a mentor and undergoes four years of schooling in the history and power of the Tradition. At the end of this time, the Initiate vows to obey the Hierarchy and be true to their faith. They are then accepted as full members of the Tradition.

The most powerful Chantry house of the Tradition is in Rome, hidden within the Vatican, as it has been for nearly two thousand years. Within its Horizon realm, the Dominion still holds sway. This has always been a sticking point amongst the non-Orthodox members of the Tradition and there have been numerous attempts to have the Chantry moved, most likely to Jerusalem. Given the amount of power invested in the Roman Chantry, this is unlikely.

Metaphysic

The basic tenant of the Celestial Chorus is: as above, so below. All power and good flows from the One. Accepting, through faith, the grace of the One is the path to happiness. The Celestials seek to understand the One and become vessels of its will, doing its work on earth. They seek to spread the word, so that others can share in the bounty.

The Chorus has a two-fold view of Ascension. The smaller path is of personal Ascension. Personal Ascension can be achieved only through faith. The closer you are to the One, subsuming yourself to its will, the greater your enlightenment and well being. The larger path is of the Universal redemption of man. The Celestials believe the One will return in a grand event they call the Reconciliation. All humanity will be lifted up in grace. There is only so much mere mortals can do to bring this about but the Chorus does their humble best to prepare the path for the One.

An issue in great dispute amongst the modern Chorus is the Adversary. They have recanted their position that all non-holy magic comes from the Foe but a few Celestials believe that this is not enough. Having spoken to other mages about the metaphysic of magic, and how belief structures reality, these Celestials feel that the focus the Chorus puts on the Adversary is dangerous. It may serve to strengthen the belief of the masses and thereby strengthen their Foe. These Celestials point to the recent spate of movies centering on Demonic power, some with creatures of darkness portrayed in a sympathetic light. Their critics ask how one can deny the reality of the demons they fight on a nearly daily basis. It is an issue with no easy resolution.

The Chorus believes that the appearance of Paradox is caused by a lack of faith. Those that are faithful, and true to their action, need fear nothing. Those with the seeds of doubt within them can fail and be punished for their pride. Celestials acknowledge that Paradox does sometimes affect even advanced mages, perhaps as a test of their faith.

Celestials believe that a mage's Avatar is a guardian spirit, or angel. This angel chooses you at birth, watches over your development and tries to protect and guide you. For the most part, the Avatar will remain hidden. Upon your death, your Avatar will choose another individual to protect. The Celestials do not believe the Avatar is part of a mage's own soul, for the Avatar returns, and the soul goes on to its eternal rest.

The existence of True Faith is an important and complex issue for the Celestial Chorus. Though more common in this Tradition than any other, nowhere near a majority of its members possess this power. Those with True Faith are exalted as blessed, though it plays no role in the hierarchy of the Chorus. It is generally believed that Celestials, possessing greater knowledge, find it more difficult to access faith, which must always be at least somewhat blind. Editor's Note: This contradicts Christian theology.

Be that as it may, the Celestials believe that all magick flows in some way from faith. Like many Traditions, they have myths of the tenth sphere of magick, which they believe is faith. While there is a great desire for those Celestials with True Faith to explore this possibility, there is always the fear that greater knowledge will result in the loss of that faith.

Correspondence

"The One is omnipresent, being everywhere at once. By opening your mind to this aspect of the One, you can supersede normal space. Being everywhere at once, you can choose to perceive, or travel, anywhere."

Entropy

"This is a dangerous power, used by the servants of the Adversary. The power of death is a dangerous one and, ultimately, illusory. We know of the immortality of the soul and while the body and mind may decay, the soul is eternal."

Forces

"Light is the hammer of the One. It is the primary manifestation of Its wrath. Do not abuse the power It grants."

Life

"All life was created in the image of the One. As the universe is the house for the soul of the One, the body is the house for the soul of creatures and plants. As we work to heal the universe, we learn also to heal our own bodies and others. Do not engage in the false creation of life, however. This is the domain of the One. Such poor creatures are at best soulless and at worst a house for malignant spirits."

Mind

"Just as we bend ourselves to the will of the One, we may bend the will of others. Only by surrender to Divine Will can one increase this power, for it is truly the will of the One to which they surrender. Do not abuse this power, however. Choice is the gift given to all the One's creatures, for only by choice may one come into grace. It is not our right to take it away."

Prime

"This is the true manifestation of the One and this is why we study it above all else. Without it, magick is but illusion and phantasm, for nothing real may be created. As prime is the essence of the One, it is the essence of all things. Thus, the essence of the One permeates all of creation. By Its will, we may use the pure essence of the One to smite enemies."

Spirit

"The world of spirits is a dangerous and powerful one. The spirit world is constructed of several overlapping spheres, ascending and descending, to the One and to the Adversary. The boundaries may be difficult to discern by the unknowledgeable, so tread with care in the spirit lands. Do not seek to ascend by power alone to the place of the One, for not only is this impossible, it is an act of heedless pride."

"Take care when you have congress with spirits. The Servants of the Adversary are many, seeking to seduce the unwary. Destroy them whenever you can. Our allies in the spirit world are the angelic host, servants of the One. With study, one can learn how to call for their aid. We recognize now that there are spirits not aligned with either the One or the Adversary but they do not concern us. They are unimportant in the scheme of things."

The angels the Chorus deals with resemble the benevolent spirits of the various faiths to which the Celestials subscribe. The Chorus will only bargain with such angels, never compel them. For their part, the angels are predisposed to aid the Chorus but only in righteous tasks. The angels, like most spirits, are extremely reticent when it comes to discussing the structure of the spirit world, often saying "It is not for us to speak of such things."

Recently, there has been some indication that the spirits working with the Chorus are the lesser part of a greater host. Apparently, they have come to the lower realms as part of an act of penance, whereby they are able to removed some sort of taint. The angels themselves will not speak of the matter. While the Chorus can sympathize with the quest for redemption, the idea of even slightly fallen angels makes most of the Chorus distinctly uncomfortable.

Time

"The One is all-knowing, and all that has happened, both past and present, lay open before it. In times of need, It can grant us visions of the future. Do not think that this invalidates our free will, for though the One knows us so well that It knows all that may come to pass, the choice is still ours."

Stereotypes

Akashic Brotherhood

Our Eastern brothers share many of our beliefs but they obsess on the internal mind. They must contact to that which is outside of themselves, including the all-present One, to find true salvation.

Cult of Ecstasy

These fools pursue endless pleasures and the degradations of the flesh. They know nothing of the dangers facing them, lost as they are in their own decadence.

Dreamspeakers

The shamans have great peace of mind and an inner wisdom one must envy. Yet their view of the One is too simple. It is more than just the world, It is all. Their lack of unity will be their downfall.

Euthanatos

These mages deal in a darkness best left alone. Though not servants of the Adversary, their doctrine of reincarnation is false, their memories of past lives delusions. Once they realize this, they will see the evil in what they do.

Hollow Ones

The children are living proof of the failure of faith in the modern world. They believe in nothing and it leaves a hole in their soul. They must reach out, and find something to live for.

Order of Hermes

We have settled many of our differences with these mages and have even accepted some of their views on magick. We must never forget their arrogance, for they have brought us failure in the past. Their blind, mechanical magick is too much like the Technocracy we fight to be to our taste.

Sons of Ether

These petty fools are little different from the Technocracy, having founded the organization. There godlessness is a constant affront. Why they are allowed membership on the Council of Nine is beyond us.

Verbena

We know now that the powers most of them worship are not the Adversary but the spirit of nature. Nature is subservient to the One, however, and they need to set their sights higher. Watch them carefully, for a few of them do indeed stray down the dark path.

Virtual Adepts

They have truly broken their allegiance from the Technocracy. Now all they need do is free themselves from the Technocrat's misbegotten ideas.

Orphans

These lost souls are a sign of the darkness of today. Take them in where you find them and guide them to the light. Such poor individuals are often targets for the Adversary.

The Technocracy

These vile fiends are responsible for much of the evil in the modern world. They have no respect for the One. Fight them at every turn. Even if they are not servants of the Adversary, they unknowingly do his work.

Marauders

Poor confused souls, trapped in their madness. Aid them where you can. Avoid them otherwise.

Nephandi

These fiends are irredeemable, having willingly sold their souls to the Adversary. Show them no mercy.

Vampires

These damned creatures should have been destroyed ages ago. Were we not so beset by other enemies, we would continue our war against them.

Werewolves

They are an anachronistic throwback, that once preyed on mankind. They are a dying breed, not worthy of our attention.

Wraiths

Do not meddle with the spirits of the dead. It is forbidden. If you are able, help them on to their final reward.

Faeries

There is a tale that in the first war, some angels did not take sides with either the One or the Adversary. They were also cast out, but fell only to Earth. Perhaps this is the origin of the Fey. Treat them as such: halfway between the Divine and the Infernal. Do not give them your trust.