Ghosts, Spirits, and Demons! by Cybersnark

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Ghosts, Spirits, and Demons!

POSTED BY: CYBERSNARK
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 12:25
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VIEWED: 781
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Tuesday, October 31, 2006 11:48 AM

Been working on this as background for my fantasy universe, and thought I'd post it in honour of Hallowe'en. I find myself needing to define how magic and spirits work, so I cobbled together stuff from a hundred different fandoms. Enjoy, and unpleasant dreams.

The universe is made up of (at least) three different planes: the physical (where we live), the etheric (which coexists with the physical and is really just an extension of it), and the astral (which we can only reach through deep meditation --some shamans call this the Dreamtime). Contact between the physical and astral planes is very difficult, from both directions. A fourth plane, the virtual (or digital, to quote Digimon) is emergent, marked by information and energy, but not manifesting physical matter (as happens in the physical plane, controlled by the Matter/Energy Equation). Not yet, anyway.

(In short: Matter = Energy bound by Information [M=E/I]. Change the energy or the information, and the matter changes. This is how shapeshifting and transmutation work --people can "hack" the equation and rewrite the "information" variable.)

While humans (and animals, and plants) are native to the physical world, we resonate in the other two planes as well. The etheric plane holds our animating spirit or consciousness as well as the manifestation of our aura (what we call "physical" is actually just another kind of aura --one with a solid and opaque surface, like the AT fields in Evangelion). The astral plane is another extension of this aura, effectively the soul.

Visualise it like a snowman: the physical body as the largest element, on the bottom, with the spirit/consciousness above it and the soul above that.

A general rule of thumb when dealing with magic is that there's always more than one way to accomplish anything; this is why I talk about types of werewolves, types of zombies, etc. Knowing exactly how to deal with these beings depends on the exact type of creature, and should best be left to professional sorcerors, wizards, shamans, or Hunters (who are trained/experienced in noticing the tiny details that'll identify things like this). When in doubt, run!

We'll start from the physical plane and move upward:

I've already explained humans, and you should know that other animals and plants are the same way --yes, they have souls, despite what your catechism teachers might've told you. By extension, anything that can affect a human's soul or spirit can also affect theirs (if a vampire bites a cat and gives it some of his own blood, you get a vampire kitty).

Trolls/Ogres are a type of Halfling, made of mixed human and dragon blood. Of course, human and dragon genes don't match up exactly, so the offspring are often deformed (and may become more twisted [both physically and psychologically] from being shunned by both human and dragon society as they often were in ancient times). Trolls have great magical potential because of their mixed heritage, but few trolls ever receive the training they need to become mages.

Dragons are one of the three Great Races on Earth, and form one half of the magical symbiosis (humans are the other). (*) They are physical by nature, but their civilization is older by far than humanity. They have mastered spiritual control, and are able to shapeshift and make use of numerous powers and abilities. This is why no one sees them these days; they don't look like dragons.

(* Magic, like all energy, cannot be destroyed or created, it can only change form. There are two types (call them A and B). When humans use magic, we take A-type magic and turn it into B-type magic, which we can't use. Dragons can only use B-type magic and produce A-type magic. When humans started killing off dragons, they went underground [sometimes literally --anybody seen The Descent?] and stopped using magic. Eventually, most of the magic in the world ended up trapped in B-state. This is why most human mages these days can't manage anything beyond a few frail charms and rituals. It's not that magic doesn't work, it's that we have no fuel left. The Fair Folk, OTOH, can use both types of magic, so they're still as powerful as ever.)

Nephilim (or Hanyou) are human/faerie hybrids. They're physical, but their faerie blood gives them incredible reserves of energy. This energy either manifests through natural physical abilities (as in the case of Hercules' strength) or is channelled through mystical training (as in the case of Merlin). Yes, Hercules and Merlin (and InuYasha, for that matter) were the same type of being, just shaped by very different experiences.

("Nephilim," BTW, comes from the Bible. When the "sons of God" [angels] mated with "daughters of man," the Nephilim were produced, and were variously described as monsters or giants, depending on the translation.)

Elves are the third race of Halflings, formed from dragon and faerie parents. Elves are physical, but have great, almost instinctive control over their etheric structures, and an intuitive understanding of the Matter/Energy Equation. They have a great facility for shapeshifting and superhuman abilities.

The Faerie (or Youkai) are primarily etheric energy (and are effectively immortal), but manifested in physical form (though they can become disembodied almost at will). Once worshipped as gods (or feared as demons), they mimic humans, with a threefold form (body/spirit/soul), except that their physical bodies are manifestations of their spirit forms, and their souls are so integrated into their spirits that they are almost undetectable, even on the astral plane (unless they wish to be seen, though some are more adept at astral existence than others, like Coyote). They can change forms as easily as we change our minds, and need neither food nor sleep (like the Agents in The Matrix). Most Fay (but certainly not all) maintain three physical forms; a most comfortable "true form" (InuYasha's brother Sesshoumaru turned into a giant hound, as did their father), as well as an ornate ceremonial body (Sesshoumaru's "modified human" form, with claws, facial stripes, a crescent mark on his forehead, and silver-white hair, is a fine example), and a "common form," used to remain unrecognized. When incarnated, faerie are tied to their physical bodies, and can be killed. They are vulnerable to "cold" (i.e., pure) iron, which disrupts their etheric fields, burning their "flesh" like acid. Iron alloys are safe to touch (the iron ends up diluted), but can still bind them. For this reason, many faerie shun human civilization, withdrawing to the wild places, or alternatively "going native," effectively abandoning their heritage in order to survive in the shadow of human civilization.

(Angels, Olympians, Titans, Aesir, Vanir, Djinn, Annunakhi, Danaan, Drow, Sidhe, Leprechauns, Kitsune, and others are subclasses of faerie --less "races" than "affilliations." Fay have been known to belong to multiple groups throughout their lives. In fact, current Archangels Michael and Gabriel were themselves once worshipped as gods in ancient Mesopotamia.)

Ghosts are disembodied spirits, but not always of the dead. "Ghosts" are actually a wide range of phenomena, including "spirit flames" (small bundles of self-contained etheric energy), "repeaters" (unconscious etheric shadows, acting out the same actions over and over), "free-floaters" (semi- or fully-conscious etheric beings), "shades" (conscious astral presences with no physical or etheric manifestation), and "spectres" (ensouled etheric bodies, capable of interacting with the physical world). Remember that etheric bodies are composed of energy, and must draw on energy in order to sustain themselves --this is why ghosts are often accompanied by cold spots (the ghost is absorbing the latent heat) and dead batteries or inexplicable power drains (again, the ghost is feeding). Powerful spectres can function as other spirit beings, and may even be capable of developing into pixies, and thence to faeries.

Zombies are another example of several different things being lumped together. Voodoo-made zombies are not undead, they're just living people who have been drugged to be suggestible and compliant. There are ample cases of zombies being freed from a houngan's influence and returning to normal. When most people talk about "zombies," they mean Lichs, which are dead bodies animated by an etheric being (effectively a ghost with a rotting corpsey centre). The animating being may or may not be the original owner of the body.

Fairies (or Pixies) are sapient, self-aware spirits who lack a physical body. These are typically young faeries, working toward their Incarnation. These are only one of the things that can manifest as "orbs" or "rods," known to the fringe community.

Genii (singular Genius), are conscious spirits, often of living things, but occasionally free-floating. The genius is a function of the aura (effectively a ghost that's still alive), and only has form when perceived, seeming human-like to humans, reptillian to dragons, monstrous to trolls, etc. The faerie see them as they "are," formless and bare of self-image. Genii of other species can be used to communicate (on Angel, when Illyria talked to plants [the "Song of the Green"], this is what she was using). One can perceive one's own genius, often as a shadow or doppelganger (like Mirror-Nikki in Heroes), and some mages can sever their genii, using them as simple-minded duplicates (like the "astral drops" on W.I.T.C.H.). In times of stress, one's genius can sometimes act on its own; this is the basis of the concept of "guardian angels."

A Black Hag is like a genius, but malevolent. A conscious spirit parasite that feeds on the aura of its victims. The Hag uses sleep paralysis to disable its victim, then appears, evoking fear, pain, and hatred to evoke an instinctive etheric reaction (the more panicked the victim gets, the more energy they instinctively feed to their auras, and the more the Hag can feed). Hag attacks have been known to prove fatal --if the Hag devours too much of one's spirit, the body simply ceases to function. Since a Hag is etheric, it is possible to defend against it, though hunting it down on the etheric plane and destroying it must be a shaman's responsibility.

Imps are intelligent and typically mischeivous spirits, able to extrude semi-physical bodies. They are typically created artificially by spells gone wrong. Gremlins are one example of a type of imp.

Sub-units are autonomous spirits that have been partitioned from a host, to be used as servants or even offspring. Soul-gatherers are used by some vampires (Kikyo on InuYasha, for example), and Kodama (seen in Princess Mononoke) are examples of subunits produced by the spirits of particularly old trees.

Watchers are enigmatic beings, possibly either Genii, avatars, or etheric manifestations of astral beings. They are typically motionless and uncommunicative, and refuse any personal contact, vanishing when approached. Attempts to secure a specimen have met with failure.

Daemons are non-sentient spirits that arise from "wellsprings" --places where the astral and etheric planes converge. They can be easily captured, and are a common trade item among mages, used in many spells to impart motion and "life" to non-living things. In this fashion, they are capable of growing and evolving into imps or even genii. They also serve as the main food source of astral demons. More powerful demons require richer prey --larger spirits, only available by accessing the physical world as a vampire or soul-eater.

Astral Demons are nonhuman astral presences, intelligent and with their own agenda, but unable to interact with the physical world. They are predatory by nature, attacking astral forms and souls, and endeavouring to enter the physical world, where they can hunt and eat richer prey. These are the beings typically responsible for "demonic possession" and vampires. When possessing a body, they can affect physical changes in it, enhancing strength, stamina, and senses.
(This is where I run into trouble with the English language being overly influenced by monotheism and Christian dogma. A "demon" is a "demon" is a "demon" --English just has no way to distinguish between different types of demons, we just don't have the words for it [compare this to Japanese, which has "mononoke," "shikikami," "yasha," and "youkai," among others]. Astral demons are not to be confused with any of the other types of demons who occasionally escape from the nearest Hell-dimension, all of whom are physical, reptillian beings with minds not too dissimilar to humans.)

For those wondering, the difference between demonic possession and vampirism is the presence or absence of the original soul. If the soul is present, the astral demon tries to wrest control, which sends the body into paroxysms, convulsions, and cerebral arrest. The subject speaks in tongues, manifests bizarre wounds and marks, projectile vomits, and may become deformed. If the soul is not present (i.e., the body is dead, but fresh enough to still carry an etheric charge), the demon can replace it and control the body from inside. In this case, the demon repairs the body, boosts its abilities, and inherits all the memories of the victim (which serve as its introduction to the physical plane). The demon sustains the body through its own energy, and devours the etheric energy of its victims either through an etherically-conductive substance (like blood or flesh, as demonstrated amply by the Buffyverse vampires), or by forcibly removing a victim's aura (like Kikyo does in InuYasha). Vampires cannot learn any new magic, but they will retain any magical abilities the original body had (through the etheric equivalent of muscle-memory).

An Avatar is a presence, often encountered wearing the form of one who has died or acheived discorporation or nirvana. These beings are inviolable, seemingly more powerful then the strongest faerie, and able to perceive all realms simultaneously, and travel between them at will. It is speculated that these are aspects of the universal consciousness (i.e., "God"), manifesting as sub-units.

As for killing these things: organic matter, having once been alive, can carry an etheric charge, and can be used to disrupt coherent etheric fields (like a power surge killing a computer). Iron is meteoric, and disrupts faerie bodies, though it doesn't affect anyone else. Silver works against "night walkers," like vampires and some kinds of weres, because it resonates with the moon (unfortunately, silver is too soft to actually make good bullets, so you'll have to be very close to do any damage).

Etheric energy is a lot like light; crystals can refract and disrupt it. A few crystals will affect ghosts the way magnets affect computers, preventing the spirit from forming a coherent body. This is why the boys on Supernatural use rock salt (and why you toss a pinch of salt over your shoulder for luck); salt is made up of crystals.

Of course, there's always fighting fire with fire; magical weapons are best at disrupting magical beings. Things like relics of saints, things blessed by a priest or shaman, and holy water all carry their own etheric charge, which can cancel out or even destroy hostile spirits.

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Tuesday, October 31, 2006 12:25 PM

NVGHOSTRIDER

Lots of info. Got me thinkin' about a good fantasy 'verse fic thats been rollin' awhile. Thanks.

Happy Birthday PsychoBilly!

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