A ritual function associated with Path.
Mages who perform an oblation at a Hallow can gain Mana points. Doing so requires an hour of uninterrupted ceremony and a Gnosis + Composure roll. Each success provides one Mana. Mages cannot gain more Mana per day, however, than the Hallow’s rating. (See the “Hallow” Merit for information on Hallow ratings.) The ceremony should express the symbology of the Path, such as a ritual to recognize the solstices and equinoxes for Acanthus, or a rite of remembrance for the ancestors for Moros. See “Occult Correspondences,” below, for ideas on culturally specific myths or religions upon which
a mage could base his oblation.
Occult Correspondences
The Supernal sometimes seeps into the
dreams of Sleepers, fertilizing their imaginations
with images and metaphors from various
Supernal Realms. These icons are filtered into
religion, philosophy and occult systems the
world over. Mages can sometimes discern the
Supernal truth behind Fallen World symbols,
and they find that incorporating these Sleeper
occult systems into their rituals actually aids
their magic, strengthening sympathetic ties to
Watchtowers. Note that the relationship between
the Supernal Realms and mortal religions does
not demand a causal link whereby one creates
the other. Both phenomena — Supernal Realms
and mortal spirituality — seem to influence the
other reciprocally.
Below is a short list of some of these correspondences.
It’s by no means exhaustive, and
categories sometimes overlap. For example,
Haitian voodoo resonates with both the realms
of Pandemonium and Stygia. Mastigos and
Moros might incorporate voodoo into their
methods of casting, as a means of ensuring
Supernal sympathy.
The Aether (Obrimos)
Christian Gnostic and Cabalistic symbols, sky gods, Hermes/Thoth/Mercury, Norse Aesir, Zoroastrianism
Arcadia (Acanthus)
Faeries and elves, Celtic magical symbols, druids, European witchcraft,
Norse Vanir, the Eleusinian Mysteries
Pandemonium (Mastigos)
Goetia, Middle Eastern myths of demons, Zoroastrian devas,
Iblis and the nafs, Haitian voodoo
The Primal Wild (Thyrsus)
Shamanic customs, Australian aboriginal myth, Native American myth, Candomble, indigenous myth the world over, the Greek Orphic and Dionysian Mysteries
Stygia (Moros)
Egyptian and Etruscan religion, Hades, Greek eidola, Haitian voodoo, certain forms of Chinese ancestor worship
