ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

1.1 The Universe

There are a number of myths regarding the composition of the Universe. The first, and most popular, is that the Universe is an infinite yet constantly expanding realm of Space-Time that contains all matter and energy. The second, only slightly less popular, is that the Universe operates on fixed, knowable, discernible laws that, once discovered, can be used to control aspects of the Universe. The last, now losing much favor, is that the outcome of any event in the Universe may be accurately predicted, manipulated or recreated if all variables are accounted for. Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle and, ultimately, Chaos Theory dispelled this final myth, the magi are responsible for countering, although not completely disproving, the second and the Sons of Ether have taken it upon themselves to destroy the first.

The Universe is, in fact, an infinite realm of nothing. It has no direction, dimension or size. In short, it is the Void. This Void is composed entirely of Ether, or is filled completely by such; conclusive experiments have not been successful. This implies that Ether is the Prime Material or First Element from which all things are created.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
— Genesis 1:1-2

Ether behaves much like a fluid through the Void. It flows continuously throughout the Void, forming currents, high and low pressure areas and other similar phenomena common to fluid dynamics. In certain places it eddies into spherical crosscurrents. Numerous realities can be said to exist throughout the Universe, occurring accidentally, although this is not the case for Man.

1.2 Reality

Reality is a matter of perception. This is made obvious by the Traditions, the Technocracy and Sleeper society; each of their realities differs according to their beliefs. The reality of the inhabitants of the Universe is defined by their innate perceptions of said Universe. However, the inhabitants of this particular region of the Universe exist only because another willed them into existence, a vastly more powerful being than themselves. This being, God, established certain rules and regulations for His Reality. Through His power and wisdom, He constructed a Dynamic Reality, possibly within a crosscurrent of the Universe, that would not be actively opposed by said Universe. He then granted every living thing, all of which He created, with an immutable spark of life, a subconscious reinforcement of Reality, thereby ensuring that the Dynamic Reality He created would be self-perpetuating. For reasons not completely understood, He gave Man more, a fragment of Himself - a Soul.

All Man has the potential to alter the Dynamic Reality in which he exists. Most individuals continue through life with no knowledge of this fact, completely content to exercise their powers in complete ignorance of their existence. Others, magi, have become awakened to these powers and make active use of their ability.

For purposes of simplification, Man attempts to organize his God-given Dynamic Reality into a solid, definable Static Reality. This stems partly from Man's defiance of God and partly from his inability to fathom God's Dynamic Reality on his own. This Static Reality is inherently unstable, forcing organized patterns to form in an otherwise dynamic system. The Universe opposes this ordered change and would easily destroy the whole of Man's Reality if left undefended but the Will of God prevents this. Man's Static Reality exists inside the protective shell of God's Dynamic Reality. However, because he perceives it as such, Man's Static Reality appears infinite, containing all things. It is not so. Man's Static Reality forms a bubble of conformance within the Dynamic Reality, which, in turn, is a bubble within the Ethereal Void of the Universe. This is, of course, in theory. God may very well will His Dynamic Reality to be infinite, thus making it so. Since His Dynamic Reality experiences no objection from the Void, it is perfectly conceivable that His Reality encompasses the entire Universe. It is equally conceivable that any being capable of enforcing His will upon the Void might very well be capable of forming the Void Himself, thus being the Progenitor of All.

Horizon Realms exist as blisters on the bubble of Man's Reality, bounding the region between Static and Dynamic Reality. Sanctum operate in much the same way, although these exist as dimensionally defined areas of destabilized Reality within the bubble of Static Reality itself: a "plum" of Dynamic Reality within a Static Reality "pudding."

Man's Static Reality cannot continue as it is; God will not allow it. His Reality will undoubtedly override that of Man. He has foreseen Man's continued rebellion against the Dynamic Reality He has created and will tolerate only so much more insubordination. He has warned us of His coming:

"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondsman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
— Revelations 6:12-17

Likewise, He has told us of the new Reality that He will fashion for us:

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
— Revelations 21:1-4

His Dynamic Reality has not changed, nor will it, but he will destroy Man's petty invention and bring him to a higher sense of awareness. Those who oppose Him will be destroyed along with the Static Reality they helped to manufacture but those that accept Him will be granted wisdom and power and life everlasting within His perfect Reality. Until that day, we must choose our paths.

1.3 Magick

God foresaw all and granted some, the Awakened, the ability to actively oppose Static Reality. By granting the ability to make drastic changes in the Static Reality, God permits the inhabitants an opportunity to return to His Reality. Magick is the name given to the method of altering the Static Reality of Man. A mage is an individual who has been awakened to his ability to alter the Static Reality of Man and thus employs magick. Each tradition has its own particular method of doing so and no one method is correct or incorrect. Because of the method by which they alter Reality, the Sons of Ether, the Technocracy, and the Virtual Adepts experience the least amount of resistance when performing their magick. By playing upon and reinforcing the existing beliefs of the Sleepers, the Technocracy guides Man's Reality to ever more static state but one that they define. By defying this Static Reality, as they have done for centuries, the Sons of Ether seek to break down the assumed perceptions of Man's Reality on the technological level. By implying that his trusted machines may not operate the way they were intended, the Etherites break Man's confidence and bring his faith into question.

Many Etherites utilize the convention of Reality as a Model. For all intents and purposes, this is fairly accurate. Man exists in a Reality defined by himself, maintained by himself and explained by himself, fashioned from the Dynamic Reality created by God, in which all things not expressly forbidden by Him are possible. Man has built a Model of Reality that better suits his preferences than the unfathomable Dynamic Reality that was created for him. Therefore, magi, who have the ability to actively oppose the Static Reality, need only make changes to the Model. Since the Model actively opposes these changes and because they exist within the confines of Man's Static Reality, magi fall victim to Paradox, or Perceptual Reflux. This Reflux exists because Man perceives himself as existing in an assumed Static Reality, defined by an innumerable list of laws, theories and accepted facts that quantify, qualify and define his assumed Universe. Since the Model, itself, opposes the change, no witnesses are necessary for this Reflux to occur.

1.3.1 Spheres

The Nine Spheres of Magick represent aspects of Man's Static Reality and of the Dynamic Reality in which it exists. Since Man's Reality was fashioned from God's, the base elements of Man's Reality are the divine elements of God's. Because the Reality that God created is not in opposition to the Universe, the ether flows freely through His Dynamic Reality. Man's Reality, being a static form of Reality, restricts the flow of ether into certain fixed patterns. These patterns take on perceivable characteristics, known as dimensions. Man's Static Reality is composed of eight separate dimensions and the First Element - ether. God created all of these for Man and there is nothing that Man created. Instead, Man has quantified and measured all things given him. He has, in short, named a bit more than the beasts of the field, as was his original charge:

"And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof."
— Genesis 2:19

These are the nine Spheres of Magick, listed along with their proper name and description:

Prime — Ether

The Ether composes or is contained by the Void of the Universe. It flows continuously through everything within the Universe. It forms eddies, currents, varying pressures and innumerable other phenomena, similar to other fluid systems; thus, there is symmetry in creation. This is the base of existence. Without Ether and Will, there can be nothing. God formed the whole of Reality from the Void and gave the Ether shape.

Matter

Matter exists as a solidification of the Ether. It is divided into quanta and defined as the first dimension of Reality. It has magnitude, mass, but no direction. God has little need for matter in His Reality. It was created for Man, and it was the first that God created: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," Genesis 1:1.

Forces — Energy

Energy also exists as a solidification of the Ether. It differs from Matter in that it has direction in addition to magnitude. Energy defines the second dimension of Reality. Like Matter, God has little need for Energy in His Reality. It was created for Man and it was the second thing created: "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness," Genesis 1:3-4. Because of the nature of Matter and Energy, the two are virtually interchangeable. However, a great deal of Energy is required to form a single quanta of Matter. Energy is also divided into quanta.

Correspondence — Correlation

A plane may be defined by any three points, the intersection of any two lines or by a line and a point not included in the line. In much the same way is the third dimension defined. The interactions of any two aspects of the second dimension, any three aspects of the first or the interaction of an aspect of the first and second define a planar path: a singular possibility or Correlation between two elements. Effects from this realm involve the determination of such.

Entropy — Probability

While Correlation represents a singular possibility, the Probability of Any and All exists as the fourth dimension. All events that are possible exist within the fourth dimension, which explains the awesome power that students of this school wield. By exerting the force of Will on the aspects of this dimension, the actual course of events can be altered. The more adept one becomes, the more control one may exert over the Probabilities.

Time

If one was to build a graphical model of the dimensions at this point, it would behave in a circular pattern. Matter would represent a point, Energy a line, Correlation a plane and Probability a prism. Time returns to the point. It has no direction, merely magnitude. This magnitude does not represent the time of day, as Man perceives it, but its passage. Therefore, reverse travel through Time is impossible, as has been proved through experimentation. Forward travel through Time merely involves increasing the magnitude for a particular object. God has absolutely no need for Time. It is a purely Man-made construct. It sprang from necessity, when Man was given a material body.

Life — Biomechanics

When events, Time, are given direction, one encounters the dimension of Biomechanics. This is really a method of perceiving Time and its effects on the lower dimensions. To make his animate creations complete, God gave them Life so that they would move and react to their surroundings. This definition explains how Time appears to dilate during stressful situations, while actual dilation occurs only at extreme speeds. The connection between Time and Life is very similar to the connection between Matter and Energy in that the magnitude of Time directly affects the processes of Biomechanics.

Mind — Psychomechanics

The essence of Psychomechanics lies in Biomechanics. Here, the circular graphical analogy begins to break down. At this dimension, the lower dimensions should organize into a plane, which they do. However, increasing complexity arises in the structure of the diagram. All living beings are Biomechanical. When the Biomechanical functions become organized in a complex, two-dimensional pattern, similar to a fractal, they become Psychomechanical in nature. Rational thought, behavioral patterns and all other forms of mental algorithms can be attributed to this dimension of Reality. Mastery of this sphere indicates a comprehension of the delicate patterns of the Mind and how they are manipulated.

Spirit — Ectomechanics

This is the highest dimension of Reality that Man can hope to perceive. The essence of God's Reality, Ectomechanics represents the basis of the Dynamic Reality in which all things exist. God's greatest gift to Man was the Soul. No other creatures have the connection to God's Reality as does Man. Here exist the angels and the demons, along with numerous other spirits, many of human construct. Totem spirits of the Native Americans, Celtic nymphs and dryads and other familiar denizens of the Umbra were all conjured by Man in ancient times, when his Reality was more lenient towards the world of the Spirit. Just as God gave fragments of Himself to Man, so gave Man to birth the Spirits. The Umbra exists within the Static Reality of Man, a parallel to his own world. It was here, to the Umbra, that the demons, Lucifer and his followers, were banished.

Aptitude expressed in any of the nine Spheres indicates a rudimentary understanding of the operating forces of the associated dimension. The mage, indeed, may not be aware of the true nature of the dimension, merely the manipulation of such. A man may not understand the scientific theories that make his television possible but he needs only manipulate a small remote control to operate it. A mage of the Mind Sphere may not understand, nor even fathom, the complex mathematical formulae that define the planar geometry of Psychomechanical functions but he might easily understand the methods for altering those patterns to produce desired effects.

By combining his ability to affect Psychomechanics with his ability to alter Probabilities, a lower dimension on the spectrum, he may introduce eccentricities to a normally stable, patterned system, thus inducing psychosis. He could not do so merely by analyzing the Psychomechanical pattern of his intended victim but needed the insight of the myriad possibilities that could exist within those patterns to perform his magick. Mastery of one Sphere or dimension, regardless of its ordination, does not imply mastery of the lesser Spheres or lower dimensions. Each realm is independent, yet the aspects of each are interdependent, with the exception of Prime and Ectomechanics:

The Ether exists regardless of the other Spheres, for it was from the Ether that all other Elements were formed. The Ether cannot be created or destroyed, in theory; it merely exists in various phases.

The intricacies of Ectomechanics are the rules of God Himself. They exist regardless of Man's intervention, quantification or knowledge. The Realm of Spirit is the truest aspect of God's Reality that Man can ever know while confined within his own.