Paradigms

Paradigms (Beliefs, Practices and Tools) AKA: "Focus" in M20

Some of these write-ups are extensively long in the book, they are marked with a *. We've provided excerpts from the text to give you an idea of what the paradigm is about. We highly suggest you look up the reference and read it in its entirety.

The original set of write-ups in M20 Ann didn't list 'Associated Practices', as they did with those published in the BoS. You get to choose your own, as long as you can make it make sense.

A Mechanistic Cosmos

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A Mechanistic Cosmos

Creation is essentially a machine. By understanding it, we can elevate ourselves to a superior state. All things possess an intrinsic sense of order, and chaos is an illusion that conceals a deeper form of symmetry. Although it’s most obviously identified with the Technocracy, this paradigm goes back at least as far as Classical Greece. The “divine watchmaker” concept from Enlightenment Deism, certain forms of Gnosticism, and the postmodern concept of reality hacking all stem from this image of a systematic and comprehensible cosmos. To the mechanistic viewpoint, enlightenment includes a clear-eyed view of the cosmic machine. Through it might be perceived through lenses of godhead, those divinities are still part of the system. Magick, therefore, is an Enlightened Science through which a person tweaks the gears. Metaphysical practices are simply toolkits for the people who know how to tinker with reality. M20 Ann, pg 568

A World of Gods and Monsters

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In this view, Creation is fundamentally irrational, dangerous, and filled with powerful forces, most of which are hostile. Nothing makes sense for very long, and apparent safety can give way at any moment and plunge us into chaos. Magick, science, and faith are tools we use, like fire and steel, to keep the threats at bay; those tools give us a leg up on our ancestors, but in the end we’re all utterly fucked. Under this view, magick is a cosmic weapon, and using it makes you a monster too. Those gods and monsters hold the keys to magick, and if they like you (or if you kick their ass), they might share those powers with you… so long as your sanity holds out. The dark side of existential philosophy, this model insists that everything is meaningless. Paradoxically, it’s both a very primitive viewpoint and a completely modern one. In the World of Darkness, it’s literally true – there really are vampires and evil spirits all over the place. Human beings are prey for beings that are essentially gods, and mages frequently become those godly monsters themselves. Although it often comes across as the mordant creed of Hollow Ones and other orphans, this model finds its way into the supposedly refined beliefs of many Tradition, Technocracy, and Disparate mages… and, of course, into the delusions of Marauders and the malicious truths of the Nephandi, for whom its reality becomes one of their greatest philosophical weapons. After all, when the werewolf’s at your door, the world seems pretty fucking irrational – and very obviously monstrous. M20 Ann, pg 568

Aliens Make Us What We are*

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Aliens Make Us What We Are Ref: M20 BOS, p 188-189

According to this paradigm, Awakened Enlightenment is our perception of alien-inspired consciousness, and “magick” is an understanding of principles and technologies that unEnlightened humans cannot grasp. The Avatar /Genius, then, is either an alien in telepathic contact with the mage, or else is a reflection of the mage’s own alien self. To some folks who adhere to this belief, we are aliens too… descendants, perhaps, of some greater race (which may or may not have had our best interests at heart) or their servitors. The legends we think we know are actually stories about alien visitations, garbled by millennia of folklore and flawed, egotistical translations. The reputed Pure Ones were extraterrestrial voyagers or exiles, and they passed their knowledge down to us in a form we now consider to be magick. Those “magical treasures” uncovered amidst ruins and forgotten archives are technological devices and texts. Maybe Jesus or Lucifer were aliens. Or aliens parted the Red Sea for Moses, dictated the Quran, Analects, and Ramayana, or raised the pyramids with technologies humanity still cannot grasp. Those ideas may be blasphemy to most folks, but alien-intelligence experts consider them to be just the tip of an extraterrestrial (or maybe extradimensional) iceberg. From Atlantis to Area 51 and beyond, aliens guide us, direct us, perhaps feed on us, and may well destroy us. (All that “lizard-people” stuff seems pretty reasonable once you’ve had a glimpse behind the scenes at the World of Darkness, doesn’t it…?) As a paradigm, then, Aliens Make Us What We Are lays most, if not all, of the Awakened world and its mysteries into the oddly comforting embrace of advanced intelligences, with “ascension” as it were, being the final reconciliation between a human “mage” and the true masters of the human realm. Associated Practices: Chaos magick (which has plenty of weird ties to Lovecraft and UFOs), craftwork (replicating alien manufacture, of course!), crazy wisdom, cybernetics, faith (in godlike aliens and /or alien gods), god-bonding (likewise), hypertech, invigoration, maleficia (especially of the “secrets from the Void” variety), martial arts (alien fighting techniques), mediumship (channeling alien entities), psionics, reality hacking, weird science, and postmodern variations on yoga

All Power Comes From God(s)*

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All Power Comes From God(s) Ref: M20 BOS, p 188-189

“Awakening” is a lie. In reality, a mage’s power comes from God or His Adversary. A mage is merely the human conduit for Divine or infernal essence. All mages are thus pieces in a game of cosmic forces – favored pieces, to be sure, but still vessels of their patron’s will. A mage, then, must remain reverent of her maker, grateful for her powers, and open to the call of That Whom She Serves. By extension, though, a mage who does not serve the proper godhead probably serves a rival god… or worse, the rebel Adversary who opposes God and therefore becomes anathema to all good servants of the Lord. The obvious paradigm for deeply religious mages, this belief-system rejects the idea that magick comes from the mage herself. Under this assumption, Awakening, the Avatar, Seekings, the Spheres, and even the Willpower Trait all become manifestations of the mage’s divine patron. It’s the power of God, Goddess, or the Gods that flows through the mage; that human vessel can strengthen or weaken her devotion and belief, but the ebb and flow of power are beyond her. ... Obviously, a player who selects this paradigm must have a comprehensive concept of the mage’s godhead and its associated demands. Roleplaying that set of beliefs provides an essential part of this paradigm; it’s vital to all of them, really, but most especially to a belief-system that asserts a deity’s favor as the source of a mage’s power. If the mage stumbles from her Path, then she’ll be called to task by her god(s), if only because her own mind insists that it must be so. And because many gods can be rather bloodthirsty (even the supposedly “good ones”), a true believer in this paradigm has another name to folks who might not share her faith: fanatic, with all the potential excess that word implies. Associated Practices: Dominion, faith, god-bonding (obviously), gutter magick (those in the gutter are often those with the most faith in their divinity), High Ritual Magick (which often demands obedience to God as part of the ritual requirements), maleficia (soaboutthose bloody-minded gods…), martial arts (“I kick ass for the Lord!”), medicine-work (often tied to faith in the Creator), Voudoun (in which most power flows from your connection to the Loa), witchcraft (the Old Gods)

All the World’s a Stage*

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A peculiar take on Gnosticism, the world-stage paradigm assumes that magick comes either from a favored place in the production, a realization that this is all a big show, or both. A mage might see himself as a dude who got a glance at the stage directions… or who slept with the casting director… or who’s especially good at upstaging everyone else while improvising like mad. Associated Practices: The Art of Desire, bardism, crazy wisdom (once you’ve seen the truth, you’re crazy), dominion, gutter magick (this puts the senselessness of life into perspective), hypertech, invigoration (“act well your part – there all the honor lies!”), mediumship (in connection with the real audience), psionics, reality hacking (“because I’ve got the script, motherfuckers!”), weird science

Ancient Wisdom is the Key*

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Ancient Wisdom is the Key* Ref: M20 BOS, p 188-189

The ancients understood more about reality than we ever will. Guided by profound insights –possibly also by alien helpmates, divine helpmates, or divine helpmates who were actually aliens – the primordial civilizations (Mu, Meru, Atlantis, Hyperborea, or whatever names those ancient peoples used to define themselves) employed advanced arts and /or technologies that have since been lost to all but a handful of modern folk. The mages who’ve uncovered those secrets, though, can use them to advance their understanding of reality and unlock the doors to vast understanding. According to this paradigm – one that’s especially favored by certain Etherite factions, throwback technomancers, Theosophists, “ancient world” mystics, and, of course, the Akashayana – the decadent modern era has lost sight of true wisdom. Only by returning to the legacies of cultures that have been “lost” to the view of conventional history can a person achieve true enlightenment. Shortcuts exist, of course – otherwise all mages would pursue those ancient practices, which clearly isn’t true. Those shortcuts, though, contain the taint of corruption and the self-imposed limitations of decadence. Only the Revered Ancients possessed the purest sort of insight (see Bring Back the Golden Age), and so only the mages who grasp such concepts may truly Ascend. Associated Practices: Alchemy, animalism (“the Oldest Ways are best!”), bardism (Atlantean, Greek, and Chinese musicology), craftwork, crazy wisdom, dominion, elementalism, god-bonding, High Ritual Magick, invigoration, maleficia (those Old Gods could be pretty nasty…), medicine-work (“Your ‘modern medicine’ is lies and profits!”), mediumship, psionics (“ancient secrets of the mind”), shamanism, witchcraft, yoga.

Bring Back the Golden Age

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Bring Back the Golden Age

Once upon a time, goes this paradigm, everything was perfect. God or the Gods reigned in glory, and people held a valued, though submissive, place in this Earthly paradise. And then something broke it. Maybe that catastrophe involved disobedient human beings, rebellious gods or angels, an invasion of savage horse nomads, or some other upheaval that signaled an end to the Golden Age and the beginning of an era of misery. It’s an archetypal story that echoes from monotheistic scriptures to neopagan lore. We had a good thing once, it goes, and we lost it – so it’s up to us to win it back! Magick or Enlightenment, in this system, comes from your connection to that Golden Age, its ideals, its ancient wisdom, and the power it once had and will have again. This belief finds its way into the Tradition stories about life before Technocratic rule… and also into the ideals of New Avalon, which are held by certain Technocrats. It provides the foundation for the Akashic Arts, which recall a lost sense of human perfection. In a warped sort of way, it even shapes a Nephandic point of view, wherein Primal Chaos was usurped by Light and so everything must be returned to the Dark before the proper order is restored. M20 Ann, pg 568

Consciousness is the Only True Reality*

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Consciousness is the Only True Reality Ref: M20 BoS, pg 190-191

“Reality” is the construct of our perceptual experiences. Rather than an objective existence that appears more or less as we perceive it whether or not we’re there to observe it (the old “if a tree falls in the forest” argument), the universe is actually an interplay of energies whose perceived forms come from the interplay of consciousness, perception, and interpretation. In plain English, we exist within a hallucination whose form is dictated by what we think it is, because “thought” is the only true measure of what is and is not “real.” A scientific variation on the Everything’s an Illusion paradigm, this model of reality asserts that everything we experience as “real” comes from our perception of what’s going on. Because certain perceptions are commonly observed (rocks are hard, we walk on the ground, and so forth), our interactions within this mental construct are fairly constant, measurable, and communicable. Radical shifts in perception and experience, however, radically shift reality as well. I, for example, can say “I have a headache,” and yet “real” enough to cause physiological changes that are measurable. Such phenomena are all indisputably “real,” yet possess no material substance. Materialists assert that only the physical realm is “real,” but that clearly is not true. The existence of the Digital Web and its mundane shadow, the Internet, prove as much. Associated Practices: Alchemy (especially among all types of Solificati), Art of Desire /hypereconimics (“It’s all about what you think it’s worth…”), chaos magick, crazy wisdom (obviously), dominion (ditto that), High Ritual Magick (which is often all about changing one’s perceptions of “What is” into “What I want it to become”), hypertech, invigoration, martial arts, psionics, reality hacking (for which this paradigm is kind of a foundation), yoga (going back to the roots of the idea in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy)

Creation is Innately Divine and Alive

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Creation is Innately Divine and Alive

The world, perhaps even the universe, is a living entity. That entity is either part of Divinity or else is Divinity itself. Gods and monsters exist, as do pain, horror, and death; that’s cool, though, because in the end good things come from all the suffering. Death sustains life, life gives way to death, and the whole thing is a cycle that perpetrates itself in an ultimately beneficial way. Magick flows from an understanding of that cycle and your place in it as an agent of change. Everything, perhaps, has the potential of magick, but most beings never realize it. Best recognized as a common perspective among Verbena, Dreamspeakers, Euthanatoi, Ecstatics, and other grimly affirmative mages, this model stresses pragmatic acceptance mixed with wild joy. Certain takes on Kabbalism gravitate in this direction too, with Creation as the infinite embodiment of ineffable God. Minus the god part, this paradigm has a scientific analog in the Gaia hypothesis, which insists that Earth is a living, vaguely sentient biomass. Certain Progenitors embrace this idea, especially in the 21st century, when that biomass appears to be fighting its human infection. Unlike the Gods and Monsters paradigm, this belief system essentially says that there is a point to the madness if you look at the Big Picture and accept that what we perceive as pain and horror are merely ripples across a larger spectrum of life. M20 Ann, pg 569

Divine Order and Earthly Chaos

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Divine Order and Earthly Chaos

According to the most prevalent belief system on earth these days, the material world is an imperfect reflection or creation of sublime Celestial Order. This paradigm covers the world’s three dominant religious creeds (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) as well as many strains of Confucianism, Hinduism, and other philosophies. Some believers see a cosmic Adversary opposing the Divine Order’s God or Gods, and others consider our miserable slab of mortal muck to be a corruption of godly Will or abstract Platonic ideals. Magick, in this perspective, comes from observance of and obedience to heavenly perfection, or else from the forces of adversity that oppose the Will of Heaven. Some believers, who may view the gods as archetypes that represent that Order, view this heavenly plan as the interplay of impersonal cosmic forces that are perfect in their own right; most, however, see Earth and its surrounding Realms as a titanic chessboard, with mages playing the role of valuable but ultimately expendable pieces in the game. The obvious creed of monotheistic mages like the Celestial Chorus and the Ahl-i-Batin, this order and chaos model extends to polytheists (the Wu Lung), agnostic mystics (many Akashayana), and groups that straddle and blur the lines between mono- and poly-theism (the Bata’a, many Dreamspeakers). Even certain professed atheists, most notably among the Technocracy, accept a godless version of this idea, which merges the Order/ Chaos concept with the Tech Holds All Answers paradigm below. With or without divinities, the core of the paradigm is that perfection exists, and although Earthly life falls far short of it, such grace remains attainable. Ascension, in this case, involves transcending our vale of tears and joining, if only as a servant, the grand Celestial Order. M20 Ann, pg 569-570

It’s All Good – Have Faith

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It’s All Good – Have Faith

This New-Age Gnostic conceit insists that Creation is ultimately benevolent. We suffer because we believe we’ll suffer; if and when we adjust our attitude, the world spills out its blessings upon us. Magick comes from refusing to be bound by common expectations. Energy is essentially a positive force, and a positive attitude can literally do wonders with it. Although it’s easy to make fun of such a paradigm, such beliefs are remarkably effective in the World of Darkness. There really does appear to be a correlation between good fortune and an optimistic viewpoint. Maybe it’s simply the defiance involved – spitting in the face of hell, as it were. For whatever reason, this transcendent Pollyanna lends power to Ecstatics, Dreamspeakers, and other mystics (even the occasional technomancer!) who treat Creation more like a party than a funeral.

Everything is Chaos

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Everything is Chaos – You Only Think it Makes Sense

The core of existential philosophy, this paradigm insists that Creation is indifferent and possibly meaningless until and unless we choose to impose meaning on our small part of it. Magick comes from wrangling whatever cosmic mysteries or principles you believe in and realizing that your belief is the thing that gives them power. Ultimately, then, magick comes from within. The Universe is an Etch-a-Sketch, and mages learn how to twiddle the knobs. At its extreme, this view maintains that nothing means anything… and that, perhaps, everything exists only in a mage’s head. Who’s to say this view is wrong? After all, the Universe might simply be a game played out in some mad god’s mind… M20 Ann, pg 570

Everything is Data

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Everything is Data

It’s all code. That’s the theory, anyway. What we call reality is actually a simulation, a Matrix, a holographic projection that can be manipulated by anyone who knows the Reality Code. Variations on this idea include the concept of a God code that allows the Enlightened Elite to find cheats; a code interwoven into holy texts like the Bible, Qur’an, or Torah, or in divinatory systems like the I Ching or Tarot; a computerized take on the Mechanistic Cosmos paradigm; or the theory that everything is composed of waves and frequencies that can be adjusted with music or other methods. Regardless of the nature of that information, the paradigm remains the same: everything is data, and smart folks can work with that data. For those who embrace this paradigm, the Digital Web is the ultimate smoking gun. Composed of living (or at least adjustable) data, the Web embodies this belief. The material world, of course, is far more complex, with eons’ worth of bugs and twists of code. Even so, a reality hacker knows how to scan that code, rewrite it, and tweak physical, social, and mental realities through a sophisticated understanding of essential data and the methods that command it. M20 Ann, pg 570

Everything is an Illusion, Prison, or Mistake

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Everything is an Illusion, Prison, or Mistake

A dour yet prevalent view among mages is that Creation as we know it is a big fucking lie. It was created as a prison, a joke, or a project by malignant entities (Matrix-style Gnosticism); it’s a cosmic accident that only seems significant (a common view among Marauders, Virtual Adepts, and many Technocrats); or it’s an illusion obscuring a deeper Cosmic Truth that’s essentially benevolent or, at worst, indifferent (an idea often affiliated with strains of Buddhism, Hinduism, weird science, and existential philosophy). In this perspective, magick comes from transcending the illusion and learning how to work the strings that bind up everyone else. Knowledge and understanding provide the ultimate Ascension from this painful shadow of Cosmic Truth. The flipside, of course, involves making pacts with the powers behind the throne. Many Nephandi view their Path this way. The entire world is a grotesque joke, goes their reasoning, so you might as well enjoy some perks along the way. M20 Ann, pg 570

Might is Right

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Might is Right

The Law of the Jungle rules a dog-eat-dog world. As we’re hurled through an indifferent cosmos, nothing matters beyond an individual’s ability to impose his Will. The truly superior man or woman excels because that person will accept nothing less than excellence. Anyone who cannot meet exacting standards is essentially agreeing to be fodder for the elite. A ruthlessly popular paradigm, Might is Right takes its name and ethos from the book of that name by the pseudonymous author Ragnar Redbeard. Commonly called “social Darwinism,” it actually corrupts Darwin’s assertion that the most adaptable organisms survive. Ayn Rand and Anton LaVay cribbed this philosophy from a simplified version of Nietzsche’s übermensch ideal, and their adherents maintain that perspective through business, politics, and popular debate. Under this paradigm, truth is a useful illusion, fabricated and manipulated by society and those who govern or transcend it. “Right” refers less to a moral correctness (morality is for weaker beings!) than to the act of seizing your rights through superior might. For mages, this paradigm heralds the triumph of the Will, rewarding Awakened Ones with a superior state of existence. Ascension, therefore, is an individual goal, with social Ascension being the ability to get lots of people to accept your dominion. Some versions of this paradigm acknowledge implacable gods; others forsake any form of godhood other than personal perfection. Ultimately, Might is Right challenges a person to transcend the herd and achieve excellence at the expense of inferior beings. Reality, to this perspective, is just one more bitch to be slapped around when necessary. M20 Ann, pg 570

One-Way Trip to Oblivion (Banned Paradigm for PCs)

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One-Way Trip to Oblivion (Banned Paradigm for PCs)

A distressingly common belief attached to many of the other paradigms is that everything is doomed. Someday, probably soon, the whole house of cards will collapse, God will call us to account, and the heat-death of the universe will wipe away everything we ever valued, accomplished, or believed. For religious people, this End Times scenario means the extinction of this world and the beginning of a new one… preferably one where they’re in charge. Among agnostics and atheists, nothing fucking matters because it’s all dying anyhow. All that’s important is getting what you can, while you can, and enjoying the show before the lights go off for good. For obvious reasons, this is the ultimate Nephandic line. It encourages every sort of excess, from religious extremism to Randian selfishness. However, it also inspires the greatest acts of heroism. If Creation’s on a ticking clock, after all, then the greatest heroes may be the ones who can stop time, turn back the hands, or change the outcome when everything seems lost. M20 Ann, pg 571

Tech Holds All Answers

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Tech Holds All Answers

Technology is not a modern secular invention; really, it’s the other way around. The sciences we know of in the modern world are descendants of alchemy, sacred geometry, and other forms of refined knowledge with repeatable results. Most elements of modern science were once thought to be keys to God’s Creation, given to selected men (and occasionally to women) to enact God’s plans on Earth. Atheistic rationalism, therefore, comes out of inquiries made possible by knowledge once thought to come from the gods. According to the dominant paradigm in the industrialized world, the universe is innately rational and understandable. Every question has an answer, and technology provides the tools by which we can understand them. Magick is simply science that hasn’t yet been accepted by the average person and may always be too advanced for most folks to understand. Although this is the default Technocratic worldview, the Technocracy isn’t the only faction that embraces it. Most Etherites, Virtual Adepts, Children of Knowledge, and even many Hermetic mages accept this belief. High Ritual Magick, after all, is just another form of technology, even if ritual magicians hate to think of it that way. These paradigms aren’t exclusive, nor are they the only systems of belief among Awakened folks. Most of them cross over into one another, mingling End Times theology with Golden Age ideals and a Divine Order cosmology behind them both. When you decide what a mage believes, whatever she believes, you’ve got a good idea about what her faith, focus, affiliations, and goals will be. And considering how vital belief is in this magickal world, that’s a major – if often underrated – element of any Mage chronicle. M20 Ann, pg 571