Dream Magic: Awakenings (17 page)

"Overstanding is the outward motion of a net; charging out and projecting its reality into the world. It is the exclamation, the bursting of pipes, the change of simple into complex, the release of ratios and relations, the imprinting of existence upon the Void."

"What kind of net are you talking about? Like a fishing net?" Rose asked.

"A net is a semi-stable structure arising from the holographic principle, marked by the lines of broken symmetry. It is rudimentary self-awareness. Well, technically all awareness is self-awareness, but we reserve the term for the more shielded ego-structures with distinctive identities. In the case of humans, the net is the neural structure of the brain, anchoring and projecting the mind through a cloud of electromagnetic awareness."

A twitching facial muscle made a vein pop on Mr. Smith's face as he concentrated his thoughts into words and prepared to impart them.

"But, that's a topic for another day. What is important for us now is the direction of this motion: understanding moves the world inside and overstanding moves it outside."

"In the physical realm, the brain commands the limbs by sending electric impulses through the nerves, and overstanding occurs indirectly, in a higher order of abstraction - you imagine what you want, and achieve it through the use of your body. Overstanding directly requires fluidity of identity, and is rarely practiced by non-mages, but we all do it in the less heavy realms of dreams."

"Just as our bodies have heartbeats, so do our minds find the stability of existence in the pulsation between understanding and overstanding."

"Thus, we arrive at two of the most primal archetypes a symbol-weaver operates with:"

"That which only understands can only observe, and is called the Taker. That which only overstands can only act, and is called the Giver."

"These two archetypes form the philosophical basis of many religious beliefs as well as more practical approaches. Of course, these absolutes don't actually exist in separation, and you must cover all your base when constructing deities."

Eric noticed a hissing sound. Kyle and Lyle were pulling a large, metallic thing, and the sound came from the object sliding through the grass, occasionally hitting a small stone or a lump of earth.

"We got the robot!" Lyle yelled. He and Kyle brought the hunk of metal near the group and dropped it with a clank.

Mr. Smith grabbed the stick again and strategically poked the thing a few times. "Hmm, this might actually be useful..."

"Yay!" Kyle high-fived Lyle. "It was trying to climb a tree."

The thing was composed of metallic plates, with parts of it missing. It had a head, a torso, and one leg - but the arms and the other leg were gone. The undamaged parts had a metallic shine of orange and yellow. It still tried to move - without much success. A large, round symbol on its forehead emitted a faint blue light.

"This is a golem, albeit severely damaged. Maybe you saw the few guarding the portal."

"It's not a robot?" Lyle asked.

"No."

"Aw..." Kyle and Lyle's enthusiasm faded. Sulking, they wandered away.

Mr. Smith continued. "Interest in golem animation among goblin tribes is a recent development. The human threat is one factor, but goblins are scavengers by nature and they also possess a fascination with monstrosities. However, I don't think you're interested in goblin psychology or history; what is of interest to us is this round, engraved symbol." He pointed to the golem's forehead.

"This symbol represents the awareness and influence of the one who put it there. It's not the symbol which animates that which is less animate - it is the clear mind of the mage, funneled through and reflected around the external symbol placed on the golem."

Mr. Smith lowered his arm.

"A golem with a single symbol is crude and difficult to control. Placing a symbol on each limb is more flexible, but also energy intensive. Technomages place many symbols, thus they gain precision and a wide variety of options."

"One solution to increased complexity is automation, in which case the symbolism may distance from the mage's mind. In earth-heavy planes, when the symbolism becomes so dense as to become completely interweaved with the imprinted material, we call it 'technology'."

"Generally, you can treat a symbol like a miniature ego-image, a mediator of your presence. Whereas with elemental spells you mostly externalize emotions, with symbol-weaving you externalize your thoughts. The external form of a symbol serves as reinforcement, be it written, spoken, painted, pushed directly into another mind, or otherwise."

Mr. Smith lifted the golem's head and traced the outline of the symbol with his forefinger.

"A golem's symbol is its central point and also a weak point. Removing the symbol disturbs the clarity of the caster's understanding, and dispels the symbol's power. Of course, removal is not always easy, as the caster's mind extends it a degree of protection."

"It's not uncommon for symbol-weavers to forget about some symbols they maintain. Since they keep operating on a subconscious level, such neglected symbols become a drain on the psyche. It requires self-discipline to keep such clutter at bay. By destroying this damaged golem, we're actually doing the shaman a favor."

Mr. Smith placed his hand on the golem's forehead for a few seconds. The golem stopped twitching, and when Mr. Smith removed his hand, the metal below it was spotless and shiny - no sign of engraving.

"Now that the golem is destroyed, let's clean up the remains."

The plates of metal rose up into the air. A thin layer of smoke enveloped the plates as they began glowing white. With a bright flash, the floating metal turned into putty and imploded shortly thereafter. It left only a faint metallic smell behind.

"Some symbols are sleek and simple, capturing the essence of related understanding. Other symbols are complex, with parts maintaining sub-associations of their own. Then there are symbol-sets, where the meaning is attached not to a single symbol, but an arranged collection of them. Do any of you know what these are? We all use them."

"Words?" Rose asked.

"Runes?" Eric asked.

"An alphabet?" Lucy asked.

"Correct. The sounds and markings of an alphabet form words, which are the carriers of meaning, and exist within the framework of a language. Linguistic magic is very powerful, but also insidiously dangerous. It boosts thinking, and as a bonus, provides a relatively objective baseline for communication. Word-symbols of social languages reach deep into the collective unconscious and find their meanings there."

"The pull of language on the psyche is very strong; a language is a framework of symbols so extensive it very much tints the experienced reality. If you're not careful, it can become a mindmap telling you the world is flat."

Mr. Smith cracked his fingers.

"One misconception among fledgling mages is the 'true name' myth; believing that everything has a 'true name', and by knowing that name, the mage can claim complete control over the thing named. Unfortunately for them, labeling and categorizing does not equate with understanding."

"The true name of a thing is the thing itself. To experience the reality of that thing, the mage has to tear down the veil of linguistic abstraction and one's own symbolic constructs. It's not easy, especially for adults, who are often stuck in their own 'fishing net', as you say. That's why namelessness is considered sacred in some cultures."

"Elementalists, too, may confuse the elements as standalone things of 'true reality', and not as constructs of their own understanding. Truth is always in motion."

Too... much... info. My head hurts...

"But, enough theory, how about some practice?" Mr. Smith flicked his hand, and a shining symbol appeared in the air; the lines within it growing like branches of a tree. "Stand up, raise your arms, and concentrate on..."

* * *

"...you use too much power. Shall we take a break? I'll tell you a story," Mr. Smith said.

The exercises weren't difficult, but they were mentally tiring, and Eric welcomed a short recess. The three of them sat down on the grass.

"I got addicted to power when I was younger. I craved it, I needed it. I worked for a major company at the time, and I climbed the corporate ladder quite fast. A born leader, they said. People jumped at my command. Increasingly, all my emotions got tied to the feeling of power, and my thoughts revolved around its reflection, a social construct: money."

This is not just a story, but
his
story!
Eric perked up.

"I quit my managerial job and made even more money sailing solo on the waters of international finance. Focusing on money as a measure of self-worth gave me focus, but such single-mindedness was taking its toll."

"I started having horrible nightmares at night and excruciating migraines at day. I ignored the nightmares, medicated heavily for the migraines, and drudged on. I had power in the world, but it was destroying me."

"Not long after, I was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Treatment didn't help; it threw my body in shambles and hastened my demise."

Eric bowed his head.
Terminal illness? That's...
This was one of those things that were so bad Eric didn't know what to think about, much less say.

"I met Master Joe during a particularly nasty nightmare episode. He made me stop and realize that death was imminent if I continued on this path. He offered me an out; it came with a heavy price, but considering the alternative it wasn't a difficult choice."

"With his help, I hacked away pieces of myself, keeping only the clearest parts of who I am. I died - but my body survived. Ironically, since only the clearest, strongest parts of me remained, I could handle even greater power than before."

Mr. Smith rolled up his left sleeve. He flexed his fingers a few times, and the skin on his arm turned transparent. A flow of red and black energies constituted the hand, reminding Eric of the violent energies of the bear-demon as it tried to break free.

"With most of my emotions gone, all I had was my mind, which I was forced to hone even more to contain the power flowing within. I turned my understanding into a benign prison for myself, and that allowed me to live the way you see me today."

Mr. Smith rolled up the other sleeve of his suit and let the skin on his hand turn transparent.

Eric saw a black swarm composing that hand.
Bugs?
He strained his eyes.
Symbols?!
He saw letters form words, numbers jump in and out of equations, and other symbols he knew not what they meant or how they were interacting. They flowed with a staggered motion in and out of Mr. Smith's body, forming the black hand shape that was visible.

"As you can see, symbol-weaving is very important to me, as it keeps me from losing control and bursting out in flames."

Mr. Smith rolled down his sleeves and clutched his hands. The violent energies meshed with the myriad symbols, and his skin rematerialized.

"The reason I shared my tale with you is because I see a similar hunger for power in the three of you. If you continue on paths of power, work on self-discipline, since only you can save you from yourself. Keep your ambition in check, and you won't fall into the same trap I did."

Mirroring is an advanced technique with a number of variations:

Mental mirroring simulates the flow of thought processes in order to root out miscommunications and establish a shared context.

Deep empath mirroring assumes and reflects back emotions in order to establish a deeper link. Use selectively, since this process also reinforces those feelings.

Soulhacking is an aggressive variant which can be used to great success against hostile or stubborn targets: fears are mirrored, mapped out, overcome and the subsequent back-and-forth is done from a place of power.

- Flows of Identity, Dreamer's Handbook

"Sure, we can sit on the grass. The goblin bugs are gone," Ohlson said.

Annie nodded.

"Here?" Eric asked.

"Yes." Annie raised her voice to address the rest of the class. "Everyone, sit! Class will begin shortly."

Eric caught a falling leaf and inspected it. It was yellowish-brown; some of its similarly tinted cousins already rested on the ground, and many were still on the branches of the tree, yet to fall.
Autumn has arrived. Whoever said there were no seasons here, lied.

The pupils who came for the telepathy class slowly gathered and sat down, forming an arc around Annie. The majestic corona of the tree was large enough to provide all with a pleasant shade. Since Annie wasn't too quick to begin the class, the idle chatter grew louder.

She's still talking to Ohlson. I bet she didn't prepare... Again.

"I'm sorry about the delay," Annie said while shuffling her notes around. "I'm afraid I should have prepared more for this class. You know how it is; you think you covered everything, only to realize there's ten times more of what you should have included."

Annie waited, hoping for a sign of understanding from her audience, but there was none. Blank faces stared back, waiting for her to continue.

Annie sighed. "Anyway, this is Ohlson, and he will assist me with today's class." She nudged Ohlson. "Introduce yourself."

"Okay. Hi, I'm Ohlson." He bowed slightly.

"Telepathy is a complex subject and there are many different kinds of telepathy," Annie said.

Ohlson strolled next to Eric and sat down. "Nice to see you guys again."

"Hi," Rose said.

Lucy waved.

"There's a distance between people, and not just people, but between everything else as well. If that distance becomes too big, we get the feeling of separation and loneliness. If it gets too small, which might happen when using telepathy, we may lose our sense of selfhood."

Eric caught a blurry shimmer with the corner of his eye. His instinct told him that Kyle and Lyle tried to sneak up on someone, again. He stared at that spot for a few seconds... but saw nothing other than open space, and his instinct abated.
It's just leaves dancing in the wind.