Ars Magica 5e - The Mysteries (Revised).pdf - Ars Magicka - artofantonius

The Mysteries

Credits

W riting : Neil Taylor and Christian Jensen Romer

D esign C ontributions : Erik Dahl

e Diting anD P rojeCt M anageMent : David Chart

b aseD on ConCePts by Adam Bank and Jeremiah Genest

C over i llustration : Grey Thornberry

i nterior a rt : Ross Bonilla, Alexander Bradley, Brad McDevitt,

Jeff A. Menges

a rs M agiCa F iFth e Dition t raDe D ress : J. Scott Reeves

a rt D ireCtion : John Nephew

l ayout : John Nephew, Jeff Tidball

P rooFreaDing : Spike Y Jones, Michelle Nephew, Jeff Tidball

P laytesters : Andrew Gronosky, Vesna Gronosky, Andrew

Mitchell, Todd Posey; Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow,

Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Richard Alan Brentar, Skip

Engle, Joseph Freistuhler, Gary N. Mengle, Sean Mitchell;

Matthew L. Seidl; Paul Tevis, Bob Portnell, Ryan P. Macklin,

Mark Turnage; Phil Masters, Sheila Thomas; Andrea C.

Cofalik, Olaf Mahl, Ulrich Willmünder; Alexander Bader,

Tanja Bader, Stefan Ehret, MaPhi Werner; Matthew Law,

Mark Philp, Alexander White

s PeCial t hanks : Jerry Corrick and the gang at the Source

About the Authors

n eil t aylor is a Computer Scientist in Cambridge (UK),

running the Saxum Caribet Ars Magica saga since 1997. He’d

like to dedicate this book to his wife Angela, who had to sit by

and watch while the book was hammered into being; and to

thank CJ for his wildly entertaining excuses.

Cj r oMer is a ield parapsychologist in the UK, investi-

gating purported ghosts and hauntings and making dreadful

paranormal TV. He dedicates this to his wife Lisa, as their

honeymoon was illed with this book, and to Summer, Crowley,

and Marmalade. He would like to thank Neil for being so

understanding about the lying rabbit hutch, burning noose,

and seance table inlicted injuries that delayed his writing.

Ars Magica players participate in a thriving fan community by subscribing to email discussion

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taining fan-created web sites, and running demos through Atlas Games’ Special Ops program.

To learn more, visit www.atlas-games.com/ArM5. You can also participate in discussion of Ars

Magica at the oficial Atlas Games forums located at www.atlas-games.com/forum.

by any means without written permission from the publisher, except short excerpts for the pur-

pose of reviews, is expressly prohibited.

Ars Magica , Mythic Europe, The Mysteries, Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, Covenants,

Guardians of the Forests, Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, Realms of Power: The Divine,

The Broken Covenant of Calebais, and Charting New Realms of Imagination are trademarks of

Trident, Inc. Order of Hermes, Tremere, and Doissetep are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. and

are used with permission.

Digital Edition Version 1.0

The Mysteries

Table of Contents

1. The Mysteries

6. Hermetic Astrology

10. The Great Talisman

Lexicon of the Mysteries................... 7

Periapt ........................................... 48

Celestial Magic .............................. 48

Magical Armillary Sphere................ 51

The Magoi of the Star .................... 54

Astrological Correspondences......... 56

Great Talisman............................... 89

Consummate Talisman .................... 90

. Entering the Mysteries 8

Secrecy and the Mysteries ................ 8

Entering a Mystery Cult ................... 9

Quests, Ordeals, and Sacriices....... 12

The Mechanics of Initiation ............ 13

Inventing Your Own Cult ............... 18

The Initiated Apprentice

and Beyond................................... 19

11. Arithmetic Magic 91

Hermetic Numerology .................... 91

Hermetic Geometry........................ 93

Hermetic Architecture .................... 97

7. Divination & Augury 58

Divination & Augury....................... 58

Hermetic Dream Interpreter ........... 62

1. The Mysteries of

Dreams 10

Dream Magic ............................... 102

The Greater Dream Grimoire ....... 107

The Dream Landscape.................. 110

The Volshebnii Mechtateli............ 111

3. Storyguides & the

Mysteries

4. Curious Common Magics 5

The Art of Memory ........................ 25

Spell Binding.................................. 27

Performance Magic......................... 29

Planetary Magic ............................. 30

Potent Magic ................................. 31

Vulgar Alchemy.............................. 32

Withstand Casting.......................... 36

Astrological Magical Focus

and Potent Magic ........................... 36

Astrological Cyclic Magic .............. 37

(Astrological) Mutable Virtue

or Flaw .......................................... 37

Vulnerable Casting ......................... 38

New Mastery Ability:

Ceremonial Casting ........................ 38

13. Mercurian Magic 114

Mercurian Groups in the Order.... 114

The Neo-Mercurians .................... 114

Hermetic Sacriice ........................ 117

8. Hermetic Spirit Magic 64

Hermetic Empowerment ................. 64

Spirit Familiar ................................ 66

Inscription on the Soul ................... 69

Living Ghost .................................. 70

14. Mystery Cults 118

The Legion of Mithras.................. 118

The Philosophers of Rome............ 122

The Children of Hermes............... 124

The Mystic Fraternity of Samos .... 126

The Disciples of the Worm........... 129

The Knights of the Green Stone ... 131

9. Hermetic Theurgy 75

Names of Power ............................. 76

Invocation Magic............................ 78

Hermetic Theurgy.......................... 78

Theurgic Spirit Familiar.................. 81

Ascendancy to the Hall of Heroes... 82

Hermetic Synthemata ..................... 86

Synthemata Magia .......................... 87

Appendices

A. Immortal Magi ......................... 133

B. Conversion .............................. 136

C. Daimons.................................. 137

5. Hermetic Alchemy 39

Hermetic Alchemy.......................... 39

Philosophic Alchemy ...................... 40

The Lesser Elixir ............................ 42

The Great Elixir ............................. 43

The Order of the Green Cockerel .. 44

Chapter One

The Mysteries

Welcome to The Mysteries Revised

Edition!

Within this book lie many secrets

known by the magi of the Order of

Hermes. Some of these secrets are held

in common, known by all magi. Others,

however, are whispered only to chosen

Initiates in dark caverns and moonlit

shrines. Herein are revealed new Virtues

and Flaws, new spells, and new paths

to arcane wisdom for those magi brave

enough to undertake the quest for hidden

knowledge. Also detailed in these pages

are the magical societies that lourish

within the Order of Hermes, providing

knowledge and power (and story opportu-

nities) to those who join them or oppose

their plans. Read on to learn of their

secret magics, peculiar powers, unusual

rites, secret devices, and powerful spells

— some of which surpass the known lim-

its of Hermetic magic!

Bonisagus’s great theoretical framework

very well. Many of these are vestiges of

older magical traditions that were never

fully incorporated into the framework

of Hermetic magic. Others are newer

ideas, such as Hermetic Alchemy, which

was developed from alchemical knowl-

edge irst available in Latin translation as

recently as 1134, and which comes from

the Islamic world. These “exceptions” to

Hermetic theory form the basis of many

Mysteries.

this book, they do not receive full treat-

ment here.

Important as they are, afiliations

of House are not the only associations

of magi. Houses themselves have fac-

tions and groups within them. Some magi

look to their parentes, and their parentes’

parentes, above fellow members of their

Houses. Magi also gather to live and work

in covenants, where loyalty to those they

live with often overcomes other loyalties.

Further, there are political factions and

groups who gather at Tribunals and seek

power by agreeing to vote together on

matters of common interest.

Finally, however, there are those who

gather in secret to share private knowl-

edge, hidden from outsiders. The activi-

ties and goals of these groups of magi are

many and various. Perhaps all they share

is that each group counts members across

House boundaries, and each has secrets

from which they exclude others. These

groups are the Esoteric Mysteries , also

called Mystery Cults , and are the subject

of this book.

From this point on, references to the

Mysteries, Mystery Cults, or Mystery

magic always refer to Esoteric Mysteries,

rather than Exoteric House Mysteries

unless speciically stated otherwise.

What are the Mysteries?

A Mystery — very simply put — is

a secret. It is a term used to describe

both a cult that teaches secrets, and the

secrets themselves. The latter meaning,

when used in this book, usually describes

strange forms of magic that have been

adapted to the Hermetic system but are

not widely known among Hermetic magi.

Indeed, these secrets are taught only to

Initiates, those who have proven their

worth and joined a Mystery Cult.

Hermetic magic is a powerful and

successful system, yet there are some

magics, such as the heartbeasts of House

Bjornaer and the well-known Ritual

Wizard’s Communion, which do not it into

The Order of Hermes is divided

into 12 Houses, which are familiar to all.

Four are True Lineages: Houses Bonisagus,

Guernicus, Mercere, and Termere. Four

— Houses Flambeau, Jerbiton, Tytalus,

and Ex Miscellanea — are Societates. The

remaining four are Mystery Houses: the

followers of Criamon, Bjornaer, Merinita,

and Verditius.

The four Mystery Houses are some-

times known as the Exoteric Mysteries .

Every apprentice in the Order has heard

of them, and can tell you a little about

their traditions and beliefs. Although

they share some similarities with the

secretive groups that are the subject of

What Do the Mystery

Cults Believe?

Each Mystery Cult has its own unique

view of the world. While not all agree or

uphold the same views, each teaches a

particular mythic history by which it

claims descent from the Mystery Cults

of antiquity. In truth, however, there is

The Mysteries Revised Edition

little direct connection between the 13th-

century Mystery Cults and the ancient

cults — even the modern Cult of Mercury

is only indirectly descended from the

Roman priesthood. Another common

thread across all Mystery Cults’ teach-

ings is the idea that magic has changed

since antiquity, and that the ancients were

more powerful and glorious than modern

magi. Even so, no one can actually prove

whether magic is getting weaker, growing

stronger, or staying the same; or whether

the magicians of old were actually more

potent, or simply different from those

of today. Even though the notion that

the world is degenerating is a powerful

mythic image, many have challenged the

idea that magic was more powerful in the

past, . The Knights of the Green Stone,

for example, are a Mystery Cult who con-

test this idea of the decline of magic; one

central concept of their mythos is the idea

of a quest meant to bring magic fully into

the world, resulting in a magical golden

age, the enchantment of Mythic Europe.

Mystery Cults are not religions,

and their truth claims are not mutually

exclusive. Even in antiquity this was the

case; their insights or paths of spiritual

advancement were merely ways of inter-

acting with pagan pantheons, much as

a medieval Christian might further his

spiritual growth by going on a pilgrimage

to the shrine of a saint, or to the Holy

Land. Some Mystery Cults are avowedly

pagan, while others are mystical or magi-

cal rather than religious. Many cults may

be seen as fully compatible with mono-

theistic belief and practice.

The Church, for its part, often looks

askance at practitioners of magic, for

reasons both theological and mundane.

Many unGifted people are terriied by

blatant magic, and the problems caused

by The Gift are well known. One of the

major reasons the ignorant masses fear

magicians, hedge wizards, and Hermetic

magi is the fact that many older rites

draw on the names of pagan gods, or

involve complex invocations to angels or

tutelary spirits, which the uneducated and

pious can mistake for appeals to demons.

(Indeed, infernal rites are not unknown,

and the Corruption of House Tytalus is

too recent a memory for anyone in the

Order of Hermes to forget how easy it is

to slip from practicing the true science of

Hermetic magic to the blackest of sorcer-

ies of the Infernal realm.)

Here Bonisagus made a great contri-

bution to the success of the Order: when

he created his system of Hermetic magic,

he dispensed with the necessity to invoke

spirits, call upon pagan deities, or recite

blasphemous names. Even pious prayer

was stripped from the workings of magic;

while some in the Order maintain a cau-

tious nine parts prayer to one part spell-

casting, Hermetic magic is truly a “her-

metic” (closed) system, with no need to

call upon external forces, instead directly

manipulating the very magical elements of

Creation. Although this “secular” method

of working magic is extremely potent,

some have found its refusal to deal with

other spiritual intelligences — whether

demons, angels, faeries, or spirits — to

be one of its greatest restrictions. All

that said, even standard Hermetic magic

sometimes contains names, abjurations,

and invocations best not uttered in front

of pious but ignorant folk. On the other

hand, holy magi (see The Divine , page 66)

relearn the standard ways of magic and

practice magic in a properly religious and

respectful form.

What The

Mysteries Revised

Edition is Not!

The Mysteries Revised Edition discuss-

es both “historical” medieval magic

and the ictional magic of the Order of

Hermes. Although much of Ars Magica

is based on what people thought in the

13th century, our chief aim has been

to keep the reader irmly grounded in

the Order of Hermes and the game

experience. The Mystery Cults in this

book, while based on legend and magi-

cal thought, are iction created to work

with your Ars Magica saga. If you seek

real occult power, or help with an aca-

demic assignment, look elsewhere.

While some Mysteries are just as secular as

Hermetic magic proper, others are adapta-

tions to Hermetic theory of older rites, and

contain religious elements that some ind

disconcerting. Pragmatism and discretion

therefore restrict these spells and magics to

those who have proven their loyalty, wise

counsel, and ability to hold their tongues.

Another notable aspect of Hermetic

magic is that it can be worked by any

Gifted individual who has mastered the

appropriate knowledge. Furthermore,

any Hermetic magus can recreate any

Hermetic effect given time and ability;

hence many young magi in Spring cove-

nants invent Ball of Abysmal Flame indepen-

dently, if their covenants’ grimoires prove

lacking. Yet this is not true of the magic

taught by Mystery Cults, whose secrets

require something greater, and cannot be

reproduced without the correct tuition

and often-harrowing Initiation rites.

It is not entirely established why the

magical Virtues of the Mysteries cannot

easily be taught to non-Initiates. In some

cases, it simply requires a peculiarity of

worldview, a strange and eccentric way of

looking at things not possessed by those

outside the cult. Other Mysteries actually

change Initiated magi in some subtle way;

they are rendered magical themselves

by the Initiation, or their Gift is altered

to accommodate new ways of working

magic. The traumatic rebirth of Initiation

itself may explain why some Mystery

Bonisagus and

the Mysteries

Bonisagus was an enthusiast of the

Mystery Cults of antiquity, and welcomed

the four Exoteric Mysteries — those of

Criamon, Verditius, Bjornaer, and Merinita

— into the Order despite their imperfect

match with Hermetic magic. Trianoma,

likewise, worked long and hard to bring

the Order together, and despite the exotic

nature of some of the Founders’ magic, all

of the Mystery House Founders taught

secrets that shaped Hermetic theory.

New magics have continued to enter

the Order as other magi have joined

after the Founders, and some of their

ways have been adopted and reworked to

mesh with Hermetic theory, leaving their

hedge magic origins far behind. Some of

these have emerged as common Virtues

and Flaws of magi in the Order; others

became associated with Mystery Cults.

Ars Magica 5e - The Mysteries (Revised).pdf

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