A soul or aspect of a person’s soul. When a mage Awakens their Avatar is said to also Awaken although mages acknowledge most Avatars guide the mage to Awakening. Every Avatar has an Essence that defines its character & approach. When mages attempt to advance their Arete they have a Seeking where they interact more clearly with their Avatar. Called Genius by Technocrats. First 2 editions of Mage assumed the Avatar is a part of the mage & wanted the mage to achieve Ascension. The Avatar was trustworthy & dedicated to the mage’s best interests unless twisted by Nephandi. Revised Edition & Mage20 assume the Avatar is a separate being that may or may not have the mage’s best interests at heart.
Stewart Wieck’s view was everyone has their own Avatar. When someone
becomes a mage their Avatar awakens, becomes active. Avatars awaken in
people who have the potential to be mages, not just anyone. It is part
of the person’s destiny. There will never be a lot of mages.
2nd Edition said anyone could Awaken. It was random chance. Revised
Edition said Avatars are separate entities from humans. When an Avatar
attaches to a person that person Awakens and becomes a mage. Avatars
can develop and “grow” when attached to humans. Avatars seek people to
connect with and don’t care who they find. People can “bump into”
Avatars and Awaken. Pg. 195 of Ascension discusses
this. Revised Edition keeps mentioning the Awakening of every human
being is a desirable and possible goal.
I like the 1st Edition view of things. Revised Edition (predictably)
strips away all notions of destiny, transcendent truths, higher
meaning. There are no higher truths, just the ability to increase one’s
power. Pg. 112 Sorcerers Crusade “In game terms,
however, the Daemon is an aspect of the mage - both”characters” are
one.” In Mage Classic the Avatar is a part of the mage.
Pg. 22 of 1st Ed core: “The underlying premise of magick is that the human soul, or Avatar, lets a person use his or her force of will to alter reality.”
Bitter Road pg. 90 “The ‘default’ setting for Mage assumes that Avatars are chunks of Primal energy, not really self-aware, that hold memories of past lives & act as an interface between consciousness & magic.” Without context this passage has no value. Who said this? Is this default for only Revised Edition or all editions?
Pg. 139 Revised ed core: “As they do about most issues, mages disagree about whether it is the Avatar that allows one to wield magic or whether it is one’s own innate magic that allows one to sense the presence of the Avatar.”
Mage Storytellers Handbook revised pg. 100 “The Avatar has its own consciousness and its own agendas, and those goals may or may not coincide neatly with the mage’s own plans for her life.” Pg. 101 sums up a new question that started in Revised Edition: “is it part of the soul, or a separate entity?” This section suggests using the Avatar Background as an indication of how well the Avatar can communicate with the mage. Pg. 108 a new take on things: “mages who retreat into mundane existence tend to lose their powers as their Avatars become dormant - perhaps next time they will incarnate in someone worthy of their attention.”
Pg. 196 of Ascension gives a summary history of how psychopomps influenced mage history. It doesn’t appeal to me and doesn’t explain the psychopomps’ motivation or character. Were they trying to do good? Did they have their own agenda?
Pg. 32 Book of Madness Revised has 4 Nephandic anti-Essences:
Is struggling against one’s Avatar a cause of Quiet in mages? IDEA: Avatars manifest more fully during Seekings. Other times, they appear faintly in dreams to offer advice or warnings.