Post by Timeon on Oct 31, 2014 10:33:28 GMT
Man and Daimon: A Treatise
With a forward by Aurelis del Sera:
This book was one of many disseminated amongst the revolutionary intelligentsia before the outbreak of the Shatterbridge War. It helped to fertilize the ground upon which the revolution could take root. It is believed to have been written by one of the many underground scholarly cults which were commonplace throughout the Dominion.
The Archonic Worldview
It is a fallacy of our civilization to believe that two millennia is a long time. This fallacy arises because the unenlightened mind judges all things in relation to the Archons, as they are the zenith of Dominion society. As a consequence of the Archonic ascendancy, Dominion culture is a mere reflection of the Archon's Spark. Because the Archonic calendar only takes us back two millennia, a dull mind will readily conclude that civilization itself only goes back so far, and that darkness reigned before.
It is a familiar narrative - the Archons came to us in our ignorance and uplifted us. They led us Falorans from the Old World on an exodus to enlighten the rest of mankind. We uplifted the barbarians and forged the Empire, and that Empire grew into the Dominion when man proved fickle and weak of mind. Mankind has accepted that it is unable to govern itself - or rather, that Archonic wisdom is superior to anything man can conjure for himself.
We judge time in relation to this story, and we judge ourselves in relation to the culture that the Archons have supposedly gifted us. The truth, of course, is very different, and any genuine scholarly foray will uncover as much. The Archons were not always Archons, and mankind built great civilizations without their help.
Though some delight in saying that the Archonic hegemony is a tyranny, the truth in this case is not quite so convenient. The Archons are by nature representations of aspects of ourselves. They are bound to us completely, and we to them. They are the emphasis of our culture, not the masters of it. Our relationship is a mutual exchange, and always has been. But because the Emperors of old are gone, the balance between man and daimon has been broken, shifting power into the hands of the daimon. It is clear that the Archons possess incredible levels of awareness, and therefore insight, into the world. It is by this right that they rule, claiming to know better than us. Their rule is by virtue of competence, and parental guidance.
Flaws of the Archonic Worldview
However, the great limitation of Archons is that they are not men, despite being shaped by mankind. Mankind possess Rationality. Man may set aside emotion and step outside of it, to see the world objectively, should he so choose. Rationality is beyond the scope of daimons, however. This has been proven time and time again. While one of the tenets of Magik is that there is an exception to every rule, there has never been a daimon of Rationality that is able to demonstrate genuine impartial judgement. Daimons are, by their very nature, reflections of the subjective part of the mind. They are interpretations given flesh. A daimon of Rationality would merely mirror any given culture's definition of what Rationality means.
Thus, while the Archons may lead mankind to relative prosperity, they also limit mankind. Mankind can never truly know its limits or its potential while being guided by the personifications of its irrational subconscious. Worse still, as reflections of the irrational subconscious of man, Archons have demonstrated the worst of mankind's emotions. Archons act out of wrath, envy and anger, even if few dare to label the Archonic choices motivated by such emotions as rightfully flawed.
Beyond the Archonic Worldview
Trelemane's treatise on daimon'cycles' is well known in some circles, and gives a satisfactory alternative to the Archonic calendar. According to Trelemane, ours is but one of many phases within which daimons are able to cross over from the spirit realm. Preceding such phases are times where Magik is unheard of, and man rules by merit of his own wisdom alone. Trelemane's proofs for such claims, are, however, dubious. He makes use of the accounts based on highly subjective Magik practices.
This society certainly has long been aware of secret methods of dealing with reality. We accept that Archons represent a limitation on the use of Magik as much as they represent a limitation on culture, progress and free-thought. We also accept that the rituals of the Dominion are not necessary to tap into a deeper understanding of reality (though they give a coherent and familiar means of doing so). Indeed, there exist meditations and methods which allow one to pierce reality's veil, to extract degrees of knowledge from it, without relying on the old restrictions. In this manner, it is possible to catch glimpses of the past - or at least, the past as it was perceived.
Such methods were used by Trelemane himself to come to his conclusions in his treatise.
Many argue that any knowledge gained from the spirit realm is ultimately worthless. Very little knowledge gained from the spirit realm has ever been testable or provable. The spirit realm is a source of wild tales and children's fantasies, but it is not a source of knowledge. Trelemane, however, relies heavily on the spirit realm to come to his conclusions, claiming it is impossible to write an account of reality without dealing with daimons.
Trelemane's critics are right in that it is hard if not impossible to get objective information from such practices, but for the purpose of this essay, Trelemane's work on the 'cycles' will be further cited, as it illuminates other key points.
According to Trelemane's work, there was once a civilization in a previous daimonic phase where a single man was able to gain absolute authority over his people using Magik. This man was able to extend his own life to an unnatural extent, reigning for a whole millennium, within which he shaped every aspect of his followers' minds, lives and cultures into a glorification of himself. According to Trelemane, the civilization itself bore its dictator's name. The language of the dictator's people degenerated until "I am He" was all they could say, and the Gshsarr had transformed his people into an imitation of himself. As a result, the civilization imploded, possibly breaking the daimonic phase itself.
This account reminds one of the Dominion. An ever more insular movement in which we become ever more like the Archons instead of the other way round. The inevitable end of this process is an implosion. Let us keep in mind that Malvern itself considers the Dominion an abomination, perhaps for this very reason.
An Alternative
While there are many societies that hunger for the rule of Malvern, the problem of the Archon is still present within that society. The Emperor of Malvern is meant as a check on the power of the Archons, but he is merely a symbol. The problems outlined in this treatise likely still apply to that society.
This society has long advocated something more radical. The daimon is a personification of man's dark and primitive self, and the daimon has been given reign over rationality. The Empire of old and Malvern after it both think they could reason and negotiate with this dark self, but the Dominion is proof that this does not work. This leads to tyranny of the dark self, of the shadow, over the human spirit.
If Trelemane is to be believed, then not even mastering the dark self is enough. The ancient Gshsarr empire ended in tyranny even with a mortal man at its helm. Magik corrupts, it would seem. No, the solution must be to destroy the daimon if it cannot be used for man's benefit. Previous cycles and ancient ruins warn us that the daimon cannot be mastered, and it can only be master. Thus we must find a way out, and the time to act is now, before the stagnancy of the Dominion can take us further along the road remembered by Trelemane so many times.
