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[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

空明兄弟会

Akashic Brotherhood

吾身致力寻回谐和
吾魂生前就已知晓

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Our bodies strive to recall the harmony
our souls knew before we were born.

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在疑问的洪流中能够觅得和谐。让自己屈服于这道洪流是如此轻易，以至于需要用一生的时间来掌握。也许，人的命运就是与这种流动对抗；当然，现代世界充满了对这种目标的纷扰。因此，空明修会，通常被称为空明兄弟会，要在一片混沌之世中寻求和谐。

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Harmony is found in the flow of What Is. To attune one’s self to that flow is so simple that it can take lifetimes to master. It is, perhaps, the lot of man to strive against that flow; certainly, the modern world is filled with distractions from such purposes. And so, the Akashayana, commonly known as the Akashic Brotherhood, seek harmony in a world filled with chaos.

空明僧团（Akashayana Sangha）的信徒在评议会内部被深刻地误解为了 "和平战士"，他们在追求和谐的过程中强化自己的身体，培养自己的心灵——以及魔法的心灵领域。然而，和谐往往需要冲突。就像乐器的弦必须被敲击才能和谐地振动一样，兄弟会也经受了数千年的战争。在这一过程中，空明修会提炼出了 "道"（Do），这是一种原初的武术，而所有其他的武术都源于此。

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Deeply misunderstood among the Council as “peaceful warriors,” devotees of the Akashayana Sangha (“Order of the Vehicle of Akasha”) strengthen their bodies to cultivate their minds – and, by extension, the Sphere of Mind – in their pursuit of harmony. And yet, harmony often demands conflict. Just as the strings of an instrument must be struck before they can vibrate harmoniously, so too has the Brotherhood endured millennia of war. In the process, the Akashayana refined Do (“the Way,” pronounced doe), the primal martial art from which all others descend.

然而，"道 "不仅仅是单纯的战争技巧。道涵盖了从茶道到密宗结合的一系列灵性技法，道集中了一个人的本质、形式和意图。通过不懈的训练，学生（即明师）会发展出他所需要的注意力，以辨别轮回（即存在的永久循环或流动）中存在的基础的不和谐。一名谐和的兄弟（此处是一种对于同袍法师的尊称，不论性别）致力于帮助所有众生实现三摩提这一状态（即“启蒙，升华”），并将每颗菩提心（即化身）从轮回中解放出来。

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Do, however, is more than mere war techniques. Encompassing a range of spiritual practices from tea ceremonies to Tantric union, Do focuses a person’s essence, form, and intentions. Through relentless training, the student (or Akashi) develops the concentration he needs in order to discern the essential dissatisfaction of Samsara, the perpetual cycle or flow of existence. A Harmonious Brother (an honorific used regardless of the mage’s gender) strives to help all beings realize samadhi (enlightenment, Ascension) and liberate each Bodhicitta (Avatar) from the cycle of rebirth.

尽管有一些误解，但空明修会并非起源于中国。在远古时，人类世界只有一座须弥山；在那里，须弥山民和谐地生活着。据传圣境的龙、虎与凤教会了须弥山民在后世称之为 "道 "的修炼方法。然而，最终，这个世界的不完美使梅鲁山脱离了它作为圣境的基本，使须弥山民分散到后来被称为吐蕃的山区。据称，他们从那里把自己的语言和行事之道带到了印度、尼泊尔、中国和更为遥远的东方地带。无论他们走到哪里，这一起源始终与他们形影不离。

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Despite some misperceptions, the Akashayana did not originate in China. In a Time Before Time, humanity’s world was a single Mount Meru; there, the Meru’ai people lived in harmony. It’s been said that the Celestines Dragon, Tiger, and Phoenix taught the Meru’ai the disciplines that would become Do. Eventually, however, the imperfections of this world sundered Mount Meru from its celestial foundations, scattering the Meru’ai throughout the mountainous region later called Tibet. From there, they supposedly brought their language and ways to India, Nepal, China, and points east. Those origins have followed them wherever they go.

几千年来，无数的指导者--特别是 "觉醒者"释迦牟尼--将道的元素融入佛教、道教、神道、哈达瑜伽和民俗医学。明师帮助建立了少林寺和吴哥窟；他们推翻了暴君，他们的寺院遍布亚洲，从尼泊尔到琉球群岛。在现代，他们教义的回响已经传播到世界各地。

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Over the millennia, countless teachers – notably Gautama Buddha, “the Awakened One” – have incorporated elements of Do into Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, hatha yoga, and folk medicine. Akashi helped build Shaolin Temple and Angkor Wat; they overthrew tyrants, and their monasteries reached across Asia from Nepal to the Ryukyu Islands. In modern times, echoes of their teachings have spread worldwide.

今天，任何有心的兄弟都可以重温这整段历史，以更好地理解不断重现的循环。构成万物基础的“空性”（Shunyata）持有过去所有思想和行为的业力痕迹。这个印记有着数个名称--须弥曼荼罗（Merumandala）、空明业（Akashakarma）、宇宙意识、共享记忆等等；不过，现代的兄弟们称它为空明记录（阿卡夏记录）。一具宁静的，摆脱了自我的束缚的精神，可以感觉到这个记录，在这个记录中，所有的意识都会汇入一条单一的河流中。一旦沉浸在空明的思维空间中，寻求者的意识会帮助他解析整个历史上空明修会的集体记忆。

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Today, any mindful Brother can relive this entire history to better understand the cycle of continual remanifestation. The shunyata (primal emptiness) that underlies all things holds karmic traces of all past thoughts and actions. This imprint has several names –Merumandala, Akashakarma, the Universal Consciousness, shared memory, and more; modern Brothers, though, call it the Akashic Record. A quiet mind, freed of ego, can sense the Record, in which all consciousness joins in a single stream. Once immersed in Akashic mindspace, a seeker’s awareness helps him parse the collective memories of Akashayana throughout history

这段历史也包括了可怖的时代：针对早期转轮之民发动的喜马拉雅战争；征服与革命；该教派与巫龙、筑龙尊师同敌对的空明团体进行的谋杀性质的竞争；义和团运动及鸦片贸易的开始；蒙古人的入侵和神风战；针对鬼魂的大清洗和大跃进。空明修士训练过武士，也为荣誉而开膛破肚；他们与拉杰普特人一起举起拳刃，也闯入过紫禁城，也在波尔布特的杀戮地带*上挨饿，并在广岛化为灰烬。空明的外在宁静掩盖了每个时代和每场冲突的深层痛苦和激情，那些时代的可怖轮回甚至现在还在持续。

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That history includes awful times: the Himalayan Wars against the early Chakravanti; conquests and revolutions; the sect’s murderous rivalries with the Wu Lung, Dalou-laoshi, and rival Akashic groups; the Boxer Rebellion and its opiumtrade beginnings; Mongol invasions and Kamikaze Wars; the Screaming Ghost Purge and Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward. Akashics have trained samurai and disemboweled themselves for honor; they’ve raised katars with the Rajput, stormed the Forbidden City, starved in Pol Pot’s Killing Fields, and turned to ash at Hiroshima. The outer calm of an Akashic masks deep pains and passions from every age and every conflict, and the dreadful karma from those times lingers even now.

杀戮地带：Killing Field，即一部有关柬埔寨共产党（红色高棉）执政期间对该国人民进行大屠杀的英国电影

不论其文化背景如何，始终有几个不变的要素将所有空明修士联系在一起：研究“道”所要求的纪律；通过与空明记录的联系所培养的同情心；通过追求“道”所磨练的体能；通过密集的学徒期所磨砺出的尊敬心；以及专注，没有专注就无法达到对“道”最有限的理解。在全球范围内，即使被分为不同的群体，他们也有相同的术语。武术文化的普及为空明之道带来了许多学徒；可悲的是，现代世界的各种干扰会令这条道途对所有人来说都很困难，只有最有志向的人能脱颖而出。

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Several constants link all Akashi, regardless of culture: discipline, which the study of Do demands; empathy, nurtured by connection with the Akashic Record; fitness, honed by the pursuit of Do; respect, sharpened by intense apprenticeships; and focus, without which one cannot attain even the most limited understanding of Do. Across the globe, they share the same terminology even when divided into different groups. The popularity of martial arts culture has brought many initiates to the Akashic Path; sadly, the modern world’s various distractions make this a difficult Path for all but the most dedicated aspirants.

今天，空明修会面临着一个奇怪的挑战：他们古老的敌人，巫龙，似乎选择了空明的道途。尽管兄弟会对这个联盟保持警惕，但传统的慈悲伦理鼓励空明修会给他们的老对手一个机会。不过，为了应对这一决定，有些人说今日的空明修士正需要他们的传统很少珍视也很少培养的东西：想象力。

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Today, the Akashayana face a bizarre challenge: their ancient enemies, the Wu Lung, seem to have chosen the Akashic way. Although the Brotherhood remains wary about this alliance, the Tradition’s compassionate ethic encourages the Akashayana to give their old rivals a chance. To cope with that decision, though, some folks say today’s Akashics will need what their Tradition has seldom prized and rarely cultivated: imagination.

组织形式：兄弟会基本上由凤袍派的僧侣苦修者坎纳加拉(Kannagara)领导。然而，今天，大部分权力都在士仁派的手中，这是一个由政治上活跃的传统主义者组成的派别，他们希望扩大空明在世界事务中的影响。西方的传统法师最常遇到的是来自金刚手派系的战士（也被嘲讽称作 "战争铁拳"）和利害派的折衷主义者，他们通过英雄的经历寻求启蒙。

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Organization: The Brotherhood is essentially led by the Kannagara, monastic ascetics of the Phoenix Robe sect. Today, however, lots of power resides with the Shi-Ren (“Benevolent Aristocracy”), a faction of politically active traditionalists who want to expand Akashic influence in world affairs. Tradition mages in the West most often encounter warriors of the Vajrapani (derisively called “Warring Fists”) and the eclectic iconoclasts of the Li-Hai, who seek enlightenment through heroic experience.

引荐方式：在世界各地的寺庙、修行院和道场，学徒未来的师父与师兄只会接受那些表现出开放思想和正经目标的弟子。每名师父通常一次只会教导一名学生。空明教义认为，人人都必须找到自己的开悟之路；因此，空明修会的弟子很少得到指导或鼓励。许多受挫的学生放弃了这条道路；然而，那些坚持的学生却培养了无懈可击的思想、心灵和强健的身体。

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Initiation: At temples, ashrams, and dojos across the world, Sifus (Masters) and Sihings (Adepts) accept disciples who display open minds and serious purpose. Each teacher typically teaches only one pupil at a time. Akashic doctrine maintains that every person must find his or her way to enlightenment; as a result, Akashayana receive very little guidance or encouragement. Many frustrated pupils give up on this Path; those who persist, however, cultivate impeccable fitness of mind, heart, and body.

专擅领域：心灵或是生命

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Affinity Spheres: Mind or Life

焦点："魔法"实际上是自我完善和普世的和谐。为了以正确的方式掌握这种秘艺（“道”），一个人必须扩展对所有事物的认知，澄清思想，集中身体，并制服情绪的混乱。亚洲的炼金术、工艺、信仰、瑜伽、统御学和武术训练使兄弟能够引导生命的能量（气），在体质、精神和能量方面取得令人震惊的成就。因此，常见的范式包括 "夺回黄金时代"、"万物皆虚"、"此即全善"，偶尔也会有 "强权即正义"。

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Focus: “Magick” is actually self-perfection and cosmic harmony. To master such Arts in the proper Way (Do), a person must expand awareness in all things, clarify thoughts, focus the body, and subdue emotional confusion. Asian alchemy, craftwork, faith, yoga, social dominion, and martial arts training allow a Brother to channel life energy (chi) toward astounding feats of physical, mental, and energetic achievement. As a result, common paradigms include Bring Back the Golden Age, Everything’s an Illusion, It’s All Good, and occasionally Might is Right.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	他们构建出的引人入胜的幻觉，扰乱了他们致力实现的升华。
科技联盟:	一具僵化盒子中的铁龙。
异类门派:	失散的孩子与已然破碎的关系......然而，他们的情况要比看起来更复杂。

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions: The engaging illusions they construct distract them from the transcendence they strive to achieve
The Technocracy: Metal dragons in a stifling box
The Disparates: Lost children and broken relations… yet there’s more to them than there might seem.

This post has been edited by 劳伦斯·塔利斯曼: 2023-03-14, 14:09

[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

天国颂歌

Celestial Chorus

失调并非和谐缺位，
仅是和声需要调节，
直至宏歌奏响真音。

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DISSONANCE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF HARMONY,
MERELY A HARMONY THAT NEEDS TO BE ADJUSTED UNTIL THE SONG RINGS TRUE.

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受困的天国歌者，世界上一神教信条的异教徒和理想主义者听从着神的声音。一切活物，都是由 "太一 "所创造和激发的——无论 "太一”名讳为何——都可以加入这首歌并为造物塑形。歌者们无视他们出身中不同宗教的正统观念，而是教导称这首歌有许多和声。一名心怀信仰的人能够听到它，并通过不同的信条接近“太一”。并且由于他们的宽容心，歌者承受了血淋淋的殉教历史。

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Heretics and idealists from the world’s monotheistic creeds, the embattled Celestial Chorus heeds the voice of the Divine. All living beings, conjured and animated by the One – by whatever name that One is known – can join that Song and shape Creation. Defying their varied orthodoxies, Choristers teach that the Song has many harmonies. A person of faith can hear it and approach the One through different creeds. And for their tolerance, the Singers have endured a bloodied history of martyrdom.

天籁颂者（Chorister）的礼拜曲讲述了团结和分裂，胜利与心碎。最古老的单声圣歌述说了第一纪元，即 "破碎纪元"，当“太一"纯粹的统一性被打破，而第一批歌者，具有无限信仰的凡人英雄，对抗并制服了存在缺陷的实体那破碎的精魂。从埃及第十八王朝复活的五声部圣歌让人想起盲人牧师孟图霍特普，他把法老阿蒙霍特普四世*引导向对太阳神”阿顿“的崇拜。法老的城市埃赫塔吞；他的新名字埃赫那吞；追随他的崇拜者，圣会会众，尽管出身不同，但却生活在和谐之中——颂者们唱颂出了这一切。然后，他们的歌声化作一首悲歌：心怀嫉妒的旧信仰的祭司们摧毁了埃赫那吞的城市，并试图将他从历史中抹去。会众也分散到中东各地。

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Chorister liturgies tell of unity and division, triumph and heartbreak. The oldest plainsongs recount the First Age, the Shattering, when the One’s pure unity was broken, and the First Singers, mortal heroes of boundless faith, who confronted and subdued the broken spirits of flawed entities. Pentatonic chants resurrected from Egypt’s 18th Dynasty recall the blind priest Mentuhetep, who brought Pharaoh Amenhotep IV to the worship of the Sun god, Aton. The Pharaoh’s city, Akhetaten; his new name, Ikhnaton; his fellow worshippers, the Sacred Congregation, of disparate lands yet living in harmony – of all these things and more the Chorus sings. Then their chant becomes a dirge: jealous priests of the old faith destroyed Ikhnaton’s city and tried to wipe him from history. The Congregation dispersed across the Middle East.

阿蒙霍特普四世：古埃及文明第十八王朝的法老，以宗教改革和推行名为“阿顿“的太阳神信仰著称。为改革，他的势力与当时的主流信仰——阿蒙信仰的祭司进行了斗争，并且为之从旧首都底比斯迁离，另立王都埃赫塔吞。

然后，是一段上升的旋律，但它的对位点低沉而黑暗。十六个世纪以来，各种不同的、纷争不断的圣徒团体的力量在不断增长。首先是密特拉教*的神秘密教徒们，由罗马人的盾牌护卫；后来，在基督升天之后，则是一个被称为弥赛亚之音（Messianic Voices）的教派。为了镇压新生罗马教会的腐败，弥赛亚派的法师克劳迪乌斯•德迪提西斯（Claudius Dediticius）建立了他的骑士团，大天使加百列骑士团（Knights of Archangel Gabriel），上帝的使者。他不可能想到加百列使徒最终会成为纯思社（Cabal of Pure Thought），即科技联盟的新世界秩序这一公约组织的先驱。

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And then, a rising melody, its counterpoint low and dark: For 16 centuries, diverse and fractious groups of Congregants grew in strength. First came Mithraic mystery cultists, guarded by Roman shields; later, after the Christ’s Ascension, a sect called the Messianic Voices. To suppress corruption in the nascent Roman Church, Messianic mage Claudius Dediticius founded his Knights of Archangel Gabriel, Messenger of God. He could not have imagined that the Gabrielites would eventually become the Cabal of Pure Thought, forerunners of the Technocracy’s New World Order.

密特拉教：为古代秘密宗教，在公元前一世纪到公元五世纪强盛。主要崇拜密特拉神该神明在教义中象征着太阳，神祇名称“密特拉”(Mithra)亦有契约之意。该密教自公元前一世纪起在罗马帝国传播。

不和谐的音符预示着战歌：通过贩卖圣职与放纵、扶持君主和暴行，纯思社一时积聚了实力。其僵化的行事方式和猖獗的滥用行为，例如野蛮的阿尔比十字军¹，赶走了"异端"的法师们。在西方分裂时期，这些唯信仰论者促进了新的运动。如瓦勒度派²、胡斯派³和自由之灵异端⁴。他们向伊斯兰教和拜克塔什教团⁵中志同道合的人伸出援手；向琐罗亚斯德教的大王伸出援手；甚至向印度教的民族主义学者与战士，“毗湿奴之剑"（" Vishnudharadhara "）伸出援手。这种普世主义是异端邪说，但唯信仰论者不会向任何世俗权威跪拜，无论是教会还是国家。为此，他们被追猎。宗教裁判所的火焰熊熊燃烧。与此同时，不论在他们之间的文字战争中，还是在对抗赫密法师和巫师的魔法战争中，圣会摇摇欲坠......但奉献始终与我们形影不离。

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Discordant notes herald the War Song: through simony and indulgences, king-making and cruelty, the Cabal amassed temporal power. Its rigid ways and rampant abuses, such as the barbarous Albigensian Crusade, drove away “heretical” magi. During the Western Schism, these Antinomians fostered new movements: Waldensians, Hussites, and the Heresy of the Free Spirit. They reached out to like-minded spirits in Isma’ili Islam and the Bektashi Order; to the Majestic Kings of the Zoroastrians; even to the Hindu nationalist scholar-warriors, the Vishnudharadhara (“Vishnu’s Sword”). Such ecumenism was heretical, but Antinomians knelt to no Earthly authority, whether Church or State. And for this, they were hunted. The flames of the Inquisition burned hot. Meanwhile, in wars of words among themselves and of magick against Hermetics and the witch-folk, the Congregants faltered… if never in devotion, then certainly in progress.

• 1. 阿尔比十字军：亦称卡特里派十字军（Cathar Crusade），是由当时教宗英诺森三世为铲除法兰西南部朗格多克的卡特里派所发动的长达二十年的军事讨伐。作为上帝信徒的卡特里派不相信基督受难的神话，并且他们的哲学观念属于二元论，与天主教的圣礼相冲突。而这促成了上文提到的军事行动，卡特里派信徒在这次讨伐中被残忍杀害。
• 2. 瓦勒度派：为12世纪起于法国的一种寻求以贫穷、单纯的生活方式师法基督之传福音运动。该派是因创始人瓦勒度而得名。由于以上帝的圣言为信仰和生活的唯一准则。它被当时的罗马天主教会视为异端，也因此受到大迫害；现在被新教视为宗教改革的先声。
• 3. 胡斯派：基督教改革者扬·胡斯发起的基督教运动，主张以圣经至上，否定教宗的权威性，更反对赎罪券。这一运动成为欧洲宗教改革的前驱。天主教会在1415年康士坦斯大公会议中，宣判这个教派为异端。
• 4. 自由之灵异端：亦称自由之灵兄弟会，为13-15世纪期间在德国、法国、波西米亚和意大利北部等地兴起的宗教社会现象。其并非单一的流派或是运动而是各种被天主教会视作异端的思想的集合，包括自神论、反教权情绪、反律主义思想等。
• 5.拜克塔什教团：于13世纪建立的伊斯兰教苏菲派组织，保留了突厥人古老的信仰传统并深受什叶派的侯鲁菲派和基督教的影响。它对阿里家族十分崇拜，故人们称之为什叶派教团。它相信十二伊玛目，视穆罕默德·阿里为安拉在大地上的代理人。在宗教仪式上，不完全遵守伊斯兰教法和礼拜仪式，妇女礼拜时不带面纱，有些信徒还抱独身主义。

一道新的和声，瓦洛兰（Valoran），一位躲避宗教裁判所的法国主教，将弥赛亚之音重新统一起来，并与异教徒达成和平。1461年，随着他们最严重的裂痕被治愈，来自各个一神教信仰的圣会成员以统一的面貌出现在秘学九宗，成为“天国颂歌”。

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A new harmony: Valoran, a French bishop hiding from the Inquisition, reunited the Messianic Voices and made peace with the Pagans. In 1461, with their gravest breaches healed, Congregants from every monotheistic faith presented a unified face to the Council of Nine as the Chœur Céleste.

缓慢下降的和弦：随着理性之子的崛起，新的颂歌在迫害、屠杀和偏执中衰落。为了分化和征服，纯思社——以及后世的新世界秩序与辛迪加——在西方信仰中推动了数世纪的文化战争。尽管原教旨主义强化了合唱团的范式（许多沉睡者仍然相信奇迹），但它也破坏了神性统一的福音。

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Slow descending chords: as the Order of Reason rose, the new Chorus declined through persecution, massacres, and intolerance. To divide and conquer, the Cabal – and later the NWO and Syndicate – fostered centuries of culture war among the western faiths. And though fundamentalism strengthens the Chorus’ paradigm (many Sleepers still believe in miracles), it also destroys the message of divine unity.

即便如此，天籁颂者们仍为这一福音布道。更重要的是，他们生来如此。在各种宗派中，天国颂歌也许是最有同情心的一个......而且作为一个整体，它必然会为群众的福利发出最为嘹亮的呼喊。虽然某些成员可能是狂热的，但即使是原始主义的歌者也并非沉睡者所理解的宗教原教旨主义者。为了听到圣歌中比最简单的音符更多的东西——然后在评议会内生存——一名天籁颂者必须超越教条，拥抱信仰。关于更棘手的神学概念上的细微差别（神的性别、宽容的限度、基督和先知在神圣计划中的角色，诸如此类），现代颂者故意避免采取官方立场。因此，尽管组织中存在着大量的紧张关系，但至少没有人再为此被活活烧死了！。

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Even so, Choristers still preach that message. More to the point, they live it. Among the Traditions, the Chorus is perhaps the most compassionate… and it certainly speaks loudest, as a whole, for the welfare of the Masses. Although certain members can be fanatical, not even the primitivist Singers are religious fundamentalists in the way Sleepers understand that term. To hear more than the simplest notes of the Song – and then survive within the Council – a Chorister must transcend dogma and embrace faith. With regards to stickier theological nuances (the gender of Divinity, the limits of tolerance, the roles of Christ and the Prophet in the Divine plan, that sort of thing), modern Choristers deliberately avoid taking an official stance. There’s plenty of tension in the ranks as a result, but at least no one’s getting burned alive over it anymore!

当然，这并不全是爱与和平。这个组织和它的同伴之间的旧伤未愈。出于需求和信仰，天国颂歌仍然与这个棘手的联盟争论不休，争论何时何地与实行可憎秘艺的 "朋友 "划清界限。尽管如此，宗派的远见者还是向评议会证明了团结的宽容可以带来什么。"我们在和谐中歌唱，"他们坚持，"我们所有人亦能如此。"

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It’s not all peace and love, of course. Old wounds linger between this group and its companions. Out of necessity and faith, the Chorus still wrangles with this tricky alliance, debating where and when to draw lines with “friends” who practice loathsome Arts. Still, the Tradition’s visionaries present the Council with proof of what united tolerance can bring. “We Sing in harmony,” they insist, “and so might we all.”

组织形式：自罗马共和国的君主制时代起，天国颂歌就由其教廷（Curia）所领导，一个由首席（Chancellor）和相关财务官员、护民官、公证人和礼仪专员组成的17人会议。最受尊敬的（或关系最好的）首席拥有名为最高祭司（Pontifex Maximus）的礼仪性职位。每位首席都指挥着一个由督主教（有时称为主教）组成的地域性工作团队。督主教则负责监督被称为司祭（牧师或长老）的地方领导人，他们展示了这一宗派的外在面貌。

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Organization: Hierarchical since the Roman Republic, the Chorus is led by its Curia, a 17-member synod of Chancellors and associated finance officers, tribunes, notaries, and liturgical commissioners. The most respected (or best connected) Chancellor holds the ceremonial position of Pontifex Maximus. Each Chancellor commands a territorial staff of Exarchs, sometimes called bishops. Exarchs supervise local leaders called Presbyters (priests or elders), who present this Tradition’s human face.

引荐形式：众司祭会通过教会组织的社交推广活动寻找新成员。一些信徒通过强烈的宗教体验，特别是涉及音乐的体验而自发觉醒。每个新学徒，或称慕道者（Catechumen），都要接受一位有经验的法师的严格指导，他被称为训导（Præcept）。像许多形式的宗教训练一样，这种指导涉及教义、个人纪律和——显而易见的——大量歌唱课程。

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Initiation: Presbyters seek recruits through social outreach in church organizations. Some worshippers spontaneously Awaken through powerful religious experiences, particularly those involving music. Each new apprentice, or Catechumen, undertakes rigorous instruction from an experienced mage called a Præcept. Like many forms of religious training, this instruction involves matters of doctrine, personal discipline, and – obviously – lots of singing lessons.

专擅领域：原质；力场或心灵。

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Affinity Spheres: Prime; Forces or Spirit.

焦点：秘艺并非源自个人的成就或意图，而是来自于信仰、团结以及与神圣意志的和谐。歌唱——尤其是加入这和声的众多声音——提供了该宗派最古老与重要的工具。天籁颂者的魔力往往体现在光芒、火焰、温暖、和谐的振动和崇高的音乐中。信仰和高阶仪式构成了天国颂歌技法的核心，因此该团体的范式包括"众生圣洁，生而鲜活"，“神圣秩序与尘世混沌”，还有，理所当然的，“此即全善——心怀信仰”。

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Focus: The Arts flow not from personal achievement or intent but from faith, unity, and harmony with the Divine Will. Singing – especially many voices joined in harmony – provides this Tradition’s oldest and most important instrument. Chorister magick tends to manifest in light, fire, warmth, harmonic vibrations, and sublime music. Faith and High Ritual form the core of Celestial Chorus practices, so the group’s paradigms include Creation is Divine and Alive, Divine Order and Earthly Chaos, and, of course, It’s All Good – Have Faith.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	“在我父的家里有许多住处。*” 虽然我可能没法理解他们全部......甚至可能，主原谅我，讨厌一部分......但我会选择铭记，我们都得到了神圣的指导恩典。
科技联盟:	以机械的嘈杂声囚禁世界的背叛恩典之人。
异类门派:	失落的灵魂，无论个体还是整体。

*原文出自《新约圣经》-《约翰福音》14: 2

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions: “My Father’s home hath many chambers.” Though I might not understand them all… might even, God forgive me, hate a few… I choose to remember that we all receive Divinely guided grace.
The Technocracy: Traitors to Grace who imprison the world with mechanical cacophony.
The Disparates: Lost souls, one and all.

This post has been edited by 劳伦斯·塔利斯曼: 2023-03-14, 14:09

[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

欢喜宗

Cult of Ecstasy

生命是一件礼物，但可怜的家伙们大多数永远也过不了包装纸那一关。

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Life’s a gift, but most poor bastards never get past the wrapping paper

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意识既是一处游乐场也是一个陷阱。人类的思想作为一切真实所在，在可能性上是无限的，但在必然性上是有限的......至少就人类而言是如此。因此，欢喜宗这一宗派通过扩张意识以扩张现实。他们坚信，如果你改写了你的感官，那么你的潜能亦会如此。

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Consciousness is both a playground and a trap. Infinite in possiblity yet limited by necessity, the human mind is the seat of everything real… at least as far as human beings are concerned, anyway. And so, the Ecstatic Tradition expands reality by expanding consciousness. If you rearrange perceptions, they believe, you also rearrange potential.

对这一”密教”的成员来说，魔法源自被改写的意识。一个不受约束的头脑能够从桎梏中脱身而出，因而得以无所不能。不过，由于意识依赖于桎梏才能发挥作用，法师必须能够在这种开放状态中出入自如。因此，欢喜徒们有着疯狂的眼神和古怪的举止，看起来引人注目却又令人畏惧。

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To members of this “cult,” magick flows from altered consciousness. A mind unfettered is a mind released from limitations and thus capable of anything. Because consciousness depends upon limitations in order to function, though, a mage must be able to slide in and out of an open state. Thus, Ecstatics have crazy eyes and eccentric manners that seem compelling yet frightening.

尽管他们的形象是互相依偎的嬉皮士熊孩子，但欢喜宗却可能是你身边最可怕的法师。首先，他们举止紧张并且难以预测。俗话说，许多人都不善于把握人际关系之间的边界，而他们这些法师常倾向于在言行上做出令人不适的行为，比如亲吻敌人还有嘲笑他人的痛苦。以常人的标准看来，他们十分莽撞，时常耍出一些连沉睡者也无法生存的绝招。激情是一项圣礼，他们沉溺于此以追求极端的刺激以及不适。事实上，"极端 "是总结这些法师的一个好方法。根据“极端“一词的定义，他们即是外在之物，超越者，前无古人也后来者。

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Despite their image as snuggly hippie-kids, Ecstatics can be the scariest mages around. For starters, they’re intense and unpredictable. Many are not, as the saying goes, good with boundaries, and they tend to say and do inappropriate things, like kissing enemies and laughing at pain. They’re reckless by normal standards and often pull stunts that unAwakened folks could not survive. Passion is a sacrament they indulge to exciting and often uncomfortable extremes. “Extreme,” in fact, is a good way to sum these mages up. They are, by definition, ex: outside, beyond, no longer a part of what has come before or after.

可能是由于这一组织的影响力在该历史时期达到顶点，他们的形象时常同1960年代联系在一起，但欢喜之道可能是尘世间最为古老的道途之一。根据密教的传说，原始人类吃下了致幻菌类，随后便开启了精魂，动物，以及智人之间的交汇点。即使是现在，欢喜徒们也把自己视为肉身、精魂与想象力之间的活体门户，与这三者互相联结并且超越它们；为了纪念他们的祖先，许多人会服用宗教致幻药——"开启内在神明"的药物，并非作为恶习，而是用于启蒙的神圣工具。

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Often linked with the 1960s – perhaps the high point of this group’s influence – ecstasy is among the oldest Paths on Earth. Primal humans, according to Cult lore, ate psychedelic mushrooms and thus opened the conflux between spirit, animal, and Homo sapiens. Even now, Ecstatics see themselves as living gateways between flesh, spirit, and imagination, bound to all three and transcending each; in honor of their ancestors, many employ entheogens – drugs that “open the god within” – not as vices but as tools of sacred illumination.

自这一起源开始，欢喜徒法师们便始终与“令人敬仰“无缘，他们是左道的信徒，以神圣的疯狂之名拥抱性爱、毒品、音乐、舞蹈、痛苦、快乐、风险，甚至死亡。预言家和巫师，花花公子还有先知，这些法师与那些无惧超越的沉睡者一同厮混。然而，得益于他们对极端性的依赖，属于评议会的欢喜徒有着强烈的道德观念。《阿难陀法典》——密教的诫律——严禁这些法师将他们的道途强加给那些并不情愿的伙伴。”激情，"法典如此宣称，"是自我的所在，若它们流血，灵魂亦会如此。"

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Since those origins, Ecstatic mages have lived beyond the bounds of respectability, devotees of a Left-Hand Path that embraces sex, drugs, music, dance, pain, pleasure, risk, and even death in the name of divine madness. Seers and shamans, rake-hells and prophets, these mages run with Sleepers who aren’t afraid to go beyond. And yet, largely thanks to their reliance on extremity, Council Ecstatics have powerful ethics. The Code of Ananda – the Cult’s commandments – forbids these mages from forcing their Path on unwilling partners. “Passions,” the Code declares, “are the seat of the Self, and if they bleed, so too does the Soul.”

比起他们的秘传同僚，欢喜徒们更享受于同沉睡者为伍。为挑战那些沉睡者从沉眠的状态中脱身，这些法师热衷于艺术、音乐、波西米亚风格以及新部族主义的亚文化—一种他们能以勇气作为奖赏并激发创造力的环境。有一段时间，特别是在其以致幻著称的全盛时期，这个传统以其"密教宗派"的名号为荣。但最近，许多欢喜徒开始感觉到被这一轻率的名讳所限制。在大众的想象中，密教有妄想、险恶的含义，所以随着新千年的到来，这个团体开始倾向于它的旧称，萨哈吉雅（即自然派）。

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More than their esoteric peers, Ecstatics enjoy the company of unAwakened folks. Challenging Sleepers to shake off that sleep, these mages favor art, music, and bohemian and neotribal subcultures – environments where they can reward courage and inspire creativity. For a while, especially during its psychedelic heyday, this Tradition wore its “cult” moniker with pride. Recently, though, many Ecstatics have begun to feel limited by that flippant name. Cults have deluded, sinister implications in the popular imagination, so the group starts to favor its old title, Sahajiya (saHA-jee-AH, or “the Naturals”), as the new millennium dawns.

组织形式：不拘小节并且四处浪游，该宗派松散的结构反映了它对个人升华的关注。它有数个分支组织，但很少会有领袖。密教徒们倾向于在节日、狂欢、音乐会和其他部落集会上聚集，与 "沉睡行者"，在沉睡者文化和完全觉醒之间徘徊的人们一同厮混。在大多数情况下，这个群体倾向于影响而非组织。只要这条道路不违反其他人的神圣本性，每个欢喜徒都被鼓励遵循他或她自己的道路。自然道途中唯一教条的要素是《阿难陀法典》以及它对慈悲尊重的重视。其他一切都可以协商。

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Organization: Informal and nomadic, this Tradition’s loose structure reflects its focus on individual transcendence. It has several subsects but few leaders as such. Cultists tend to congregate at festivals, raves, concerts, and other tribal gatherings, mingling with “sleepwalkers” who tread the line between Sleeper culture and full Awakening. For the most part, this group favors influence over organization. Each Ecstatic is encouraged to follow his or her own Path, so long as that Path doesn’t violate the sacred nature of other people. The only rigid element in the Sahajiya Path is the Code of Ananda and its emphasis on compassionate respect. Everything else is negotiable.

引荐方式：通向欢喜的五步：1.抛弃你的恐惧；2.集中你的注意力；3.敞开你的心扉；4.调谐自身；5.重复步骤1。为了帮助一名新的欢喜徒进入第一步，导师会挑战这个人，让他从恐惧脱身，然后以他的意图来飞翔，而非坠落。传法协约（Diksham）——即导师与学生的协约——会为学徒提供用于学习以及控制魔法的安全空间。通常，导师与学生会成为恋人，开启一种超越单纯性爱的，属于亲密和信任关系的通道。但这并非规则，而强制他人则被视为欢喜徒可能犯下的最为严重的罪行。

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Initiation: Five Steps to Ecstasy: 1: Surrender your fear; 2: Focus your intentions; 3. Open yourself; 4. Attune yourself; 5: Repeat Step 1. To help a new Ecstatic into Step 1, a mentor challenges that person to leap beyond his fears and then use his intentions to fly instead of fall. Diksham – the mentor/ student covenant – provides a safe space for the initiate to learn magick and control. Often, mentors and students become lovers, opening a channel of intimacy and trust that goes beyond mere sex. That’s not a rule, though, and compulsion is considered the worst sin an Ecstatic can commit.

在引荐和初步培训之后，导师往往会远离她的学生，相信学徒能找到他自己的道途。她会提供建议或辅助帮助，但她拒绝成为这条道途上的一根拐杖。为了沿着这条道途成长，法师不论胜败，都必须由自己亲手塑造。

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After initiation and initial training, a mentor often pulls away from her student, trusting him to find his own way. She’ll provide advice or secondary helpers, but she refuses to become a crutch. In order to grow along this Path, a mage must shape his own triumphs and mistakes.

专擅领域：时间；生命或是心灵领域。

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Affinity Spheres: Time; Life or Mind.

焦点：“走出你自己的道”概括了欢喜宗的范式。要想触及吉祥天的神圣脉动，一个人首先就需要敞开他约束与恐惧的门扉。魔法是专注的心灵与拉卡希姆之间的交流——由“狂智”引导的可能性之舞。为了施展它，一名欢喜徒会以有意识但灵活的意图引导生命力的能量。理想情况下，法师在一种流动的状态下施展能力，在这种状态下，时间和约束都不会阻挡生命力——她会意识到她在做什么，但又足够开放，随心所欲。

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Focus: “Get out of your own way” sums up the Ecstatic paradigm. To touch the Lakashim (“Divine Pulse”), a person must blow open the doors of inhibition and fear. Magick is the communion between a focused mind and the Lakashim – a dance of possibilities directed by crazy wisdom. To perform it, an Ecstatic guides Ojas (life force) energy with conscious but flexible intentions. Ideally, a mage operates in a flux state in which neither time nor inhibitions block the life force – aware of what she’s doing and yet open enough to do anything.

密教恶名昭彰的物质还有刺激都是为了轰开精神的门扉，炸毁启蒙的障碍。不管怎样，这是他们的理论。但在现实中，这些工具本身也会成为障碍。因此，聪明的欢喜徒会不断变换他们的工具，以避免思想固化和对 "老一套 "的依赖。狂智是这一组织众多技法的核心，其中包括从下流法术、瑜伽、武术到控制论超科技的一切。因此，他们的范式包括了“众生圣洁，生而鲜活”，“万物皆混沌”，“此即全善”，而且时常会有“万物皆虚”。

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The Cult’s infamous substances and stimulations are meant to blow open mental doors and blast away obstacles to Enlightenment. That’s the theory, anyway. In reality, those same tools can become obstacles in their own right. Smart Ecstatics, then, keep shifting their tools around to avoid stagnation and dependence on “the same old shit.” Crazy wisdom is the core of this group’s many practices, which include everything from gutter magick, yoga, and martial arts to cybernetic hypertech. And so, paradigms include Creation’s Divine and Alive, Everything is Chaos, It’s All Good, and quite often Everything’s an Illusion.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	一群紧张兮兮的学者，他们总是畏惧于超越其学科那显而易见的限制，害怕去拥抱他们在这些期望的另一面可能成为的一切。
科技联盟:	人类现状的可憎之处，也是今日几乎所有错误的根源。
异类门派:	我不会责怪他们对自由的渴望。只是为此付出几乎一切也太糟糕了。

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions: A bunch of tight-assed academics who’re often scared to push beyond the obvious limits of their disciplines and embrace everything they could be on the other side of those expectations.
The Technocracy: Abominations of the human condition, and the source of almost everything wrong today.
The Disparates: I don’t blame them for wanting their freedom. Too bad it’s cost them almost everything else…

This post has been edited by 劳伦斯·塔利斯曼: 2023-03-14, 14:26

[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

梦语者

Dreamspeaker

吾正同沉默之终结言语。汝等可曾闻见那雷鸣？

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I’m speaking to the end of silence. Can you hear the thunder yet?

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尘世有一道声音。没有多少人还能听到它。很久以前，所有人都在倾听这道声音——生命的节奏和精魂之歌。然而，骄傲在我们的世界和精魂的界域之间制造了隔阂。即便摆脱现代生活的种种干扰，坚持这种原始的联系仍需要力量和远见......而当现代世界想尽一切办法来破坏你的时候更是如此。然而，这一宗派与它的子民拒绝接受被破坏的现状。

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Earth has a voice. Not many folks can still hear it. Long ago, all people listened to that voice – the beat of Life and the song of Spirit. Pride, however, has driven wedges between our world and the spirit realm. It takes strength and vision to hold on to that primal connection in spite of all the distractions of modern life… even more so when that modern world has tried everything in its power to break you. And yet, this Tradition and its people refuse to be broken.

“忍耐“也许是概括梦之结社的最佳词汇。它的愿景经久不衰。它的子民经受考验。宗派本身已忍受了无知、奴役、分裂、压迫、背叛、边缘化、刻板印象，以及来自外人的简化观点，同样也忍受了长久以来所有合理的期望。除了该团体在圣叶和欢喜宗中的坚定盟友（并且也经常包括他们），评议会对梦语者的看法在五百多年以来一直是家长式的、袒护式的。然而，他们仍在坚持忍耐。

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Endurance is perhaps the best word to summarize the Society of Dreams. Its vision has endured. Its people have endured. The Tradition itself has endured ignorance, slavery, division, oppression, betrayal, marginalization, stereotyping, and a simplistic view from outsiders that has likewise endured long past all reasonable expectations. Aside from the group’s staunch allies in the Verbena and Ecstatic Traditions (and often including them as well), the Council’s view of the Dreamers has remained paternalistic and patronizing for over 500 years. And yet, they endure.

这一传统的创始人并非一名，而是两位，这很合理。奈欧巴（Naioba）和鹰之星（Star-of-Eagles）在截然不同的地方都听到了来自他们精魂的召唤，而他们超越了彼此的差异，爱上了对方。这对男女信徒之间的神圣婚姻激发了非洲、美洲原住民和亚洲有识之士的多元联盟，因为虽然这种婚姻是一种仪式，但其中的爱情是真实的。虽然他们的爱情随着奈奥巴被愿景的嘲弄者暗杀而结束，但这种爱，连同其许多象征性的联系，仍然将这个团体凝聚在一起。

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It’s appropriate that this Tradition had not one founder but two. Naioba and Star-of-Eagles both heard the call of their spirits in very different lands, yet they transcended their differences to fall in love with one another. The sacred marriage between these female and male devotees inspired a diverse confederation of African, Native American, and Asian visionaries, for while that marriage was a ritual, the love involved was real. Although their romance ended with Naioba’s assassination by a Vision-Mocker, that love, with its many symbolic ties, still holds the group together.

除了少数例外，哈瓦迪（指“以视野塑造世界的人"）来自本土文化或其技术上的后裔。一些人接受现代时尚和技术，而另一些人则更偏好他们的祖传方式。虽然该传统拥有少数欧洲、大洋洲和亚洲的精魂业者，但该团体的绝大多数人来自非洲或美洲。他们经常以西伯利亚语被称作萨满，但他们更应该被视为医者：使用自然的治疗天赋而非自私魔法的人。哈瓦迪并非按照自己的意愿弯曲现实，而是与现实合作......不是科联世界的扭曲现实，而是世界精魂那以多种形式存在的，更深层的现实。

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With few exceptions, the Kha’vadi (“those whose vision shapes the world”) come from indigenous cultures or their technological descendants. Some embrace modern fashions and technologies, whereas others favor their ancestral ways. Though the Tradition holds a handful of European, Oceanic, and Asiatic spirit-workers, the vast majority of the group hails from Africa or the Americas. Often referred to by the Siberian word shaman, they’re more properly thought of as medicine-people: folks who use natural healing gifts rather than selfish magick. Instead of bending reality to their will, the Kha’vadi work with reality… not the twisted reality of the Technocratic world but the deeper reality of the World Spirit in its many forms.

得益于他们的医者天性，这一宗派曾被冠以的“邦戈鼓手”的刻板印象已被抛弃。这种印象是荒谬可笑的。哈瓦迪是为拯救一个病态世界而战斗的精魂斗士。特别是在最近几年，梦者们变得比几个世纪以来都更加激进。像 "赤矛“（Red Spear）与 "鬼轮社" （Ghost Wheel Society）这样的组织藐视传统的 "坚忍的野蛮人 "形象，一个较新的派别”无毁“（Akinkanju）甚至游说要抛弃评议会的 "奴隶名称"，从而用一个自定的头衔来取代它。这个时代，说到底是一个 "白皮噩梦*"，并且扬言者们已经受够了它。有些伤口需要用火才能清理。

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Thanks in part to its healer nature, this Tradition gets stereotyped as a bunch of bongo-beating throwbacks. That impression is absurd. Kha’vadi are spirit warriors fighting to save a sick world from itself. Especially in recent years, the Dreamers have become more militant than they’ve been for centuries. Groups like the Red Spear and the Ghost Wheel Society defy the Tradition’s “stoic savage” image, with a newer faction, the Akinkanju (“Unbroken”) even lobbying to toss out the Council’s “slave-name” and replace it with a self-determined title. This age, after all, is a “White-mare,” and the ’Speakers have had enough of it. Some wounds need to be cleansed with fire.

*白皮噩梦：原文为"White-mare"，即“White”（白种人）与“Nightmare”（噩梦）的组合词，用于形容“白人文化刻板印象堆积而成的，噩梦般的恶劣情形。”

近日，一个新的前景提供了崭新的希望：互联网——一个具有自身精神层面的全球连接网络。具有计算机思维的哈瓦迪意识到，数位网络是有意识的......进而可说是有灵魂的。社交媒体的实用工具使来自世界各地的梦语者能够会面并且重塑其根源，而数位网络的精神层面孕育了一个不断增长的科技萨满主义运动，其可能性和反响比任何人，甚至扬言者们自己所能想象的更为深远。

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These days, a new vista offers fresh hope: the Internet – a global connection network with its own spiritual aspect. Computer-minded Kha’vadi realize that the Digital Web has a consciousness… and by extension, a soul. The practical tools of social media allow Dreamspeakers from across the world to meet up and reconstruct their roots, and the spiritual side of the Digital Web nurtures a growing technoshamanic movement whose possibilities and repercussions reach further than anyone, even the ’Speakers themselves, can imagine…

组织形式：虽然萨满的道途往往是孤独的，但医者却可以是相当社会化的。因此，这一宗派结合了对独立自主的尊重和部落的援助性质的社交网络。几个世纪以来，许多梦语者喜欢在自己的道路上徘徊；然而，近年来，这个群体又回到了许多前帝国主义时代文化中以社区为中心的焦点。分离，说到底，是一种负担。随着他们之间的联系更加紧密，"梦语者"们共同的声音也更为响亮。

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Organization: Although the shamanic Path tends to be solitary, medicine-people can be quite social. And so, this Tradition combines a respect for autonomy with the supportive network of a tribe. For centuries, many Dreamspeakers preferred to wander their own roads; in recent years, however, the group has returned to the community-centered focus of many pre-imperial cultures. Separation, after all, has been a liability. With stronger bonds between them, the ’Speakers share a greater voice.

在以前的时代，梦语者们在精神世界的遥远角落聚会——甚至形成了古道也始终未曾触及的界域。然而，最近，“无毁”的成员们已经将他们的注意力转向了物质世界，在农村和城市环境中聚会，经常聚集在俳舞（Powwow）、嘻哈表演、街区聚会和新部族主义节日上。社会媒体团体也为新一代的梦语者提供了聚会场所。在任何时候，先前的独行者都已经转型成了更为社交性的焦点。

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In previous ages, Dreamspeakers met in distant corners of the spirit world – even forming Realms where the Old Ways remained untouched. Recently, however, the Unbroken Folk have turned their focus to the material world, meeting in both rural and urban settings, often gathering at powwows, hip-hop shows, block parties, and neotribal festivals. Social media groups, too, provide meeting grounds for the new breed of Dreamspeakers. In all cases, the previous solitude has shifted toward a more social focus.

即便如此，哈瓦迪仍然抱持着不拘小节的特性。长者受到年轻同僚的尊重，但年轻的活力孕育着未来，并且会赢得属于自己的尊重。对于普通的扬言者来说，"白皮评议会"所喜欢的那种长篇大论的称号听起来很愚蠢。事迹和智慧要比法则更有说服力。

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Even so, Kha’vadi remain distinctly informal. Elders are respected by their younger peers, but youthful vigor feeds the future and earns its own sort of respect. The longwinded titles favored by “the White Council” sound stupid to the average ’Speaker. Deeds and wisdom speak louder than laws.

引荐方式：正如他的宗派那样，一名梦语者要从明确的死亡中幸存下来。他引荐的一部分涉及到仪式性的（有时是字面意义上的）死亡；这种死亡将萨满带入精魂的界域，在那里他会面临考验和挑战。假设他能在这一考验中存活下来，凯弥（kaimi）（"入门者"）就会成为索恰（so-cha）（"弟子"），并以新的洞察力和更为广阔的视野回到凡俗世界。

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Initiation: Like his Tradition, a Dreamspeaker survives apparent death. Part of his initiation involves ritual (sometimes literal) demise; that passing brings the shaman into the spirit realm, where he faces trials and challenges. Assuming he survives that ordeal, the kaimi (“initiate”) becomes a so-cha (“disciple”) and returns to the mortal world with fresh insight and greater vision.

专擅领域：精魂；力场，生命，或是物质。

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Affinity Spheres: Spirit; Force, Life, or Matter.

焦点：梦语者秘艺的精髓在于医术而非魔法。化身是霍瓦坎：即是只会对那些心怀准备之人言语的神秘声音。而术法（Sorcery）是一种自负的、最终具有毁灭性质的道途，它会将人们带离与世界精魂和谐相处的美好道路。为了超越凡人生活的幻觉，人们必须倾听创造的心跳，面对死亡，并对所有生命言语的声音保持开放。

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Focus: Medicine, not magick, is the essence of Dreamspeaker Arts. An avatar is Howahkan: the mysterious voice that speaks to those who are ready to hear it. Sorcery is an egotistical and ultimately destructive Path that leads people away from the Good Road of harmony with the World Spirit. To reach past the illusions of mortal life, one must listen to Creation’s heartbeat, face death, and remain open to the voice through which all life speaks.

从技法上看，扬言者们更倾向于医术、工艺、萨满教、狂智和信仰。少数人追求控制论、瑜伽、巫毒和巫术，但他们的同伴常常回避它们。常见的范式包括 "神明与怪物的世界"、"众生圣洁，生而鲜活"、"夺回黄金时代"，有时也包括了 "强权即正义"。

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Practice-wise, ’Speakers favor medicine-work, craftwork, shamanism, crazy wisdom, and faith. A few pursue cybernetics, yoga, Voudoun, and witchcraft, but their companions often shun them. Common paradigms include A World of Gods and Monsters, Creation’s Divine and Alive, Bring Back the Golden Age, and sometimes Might is Right.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	尽管他们都有令人钦佩的品质，但我还是只会信任我必须信任的人，把他们中极少数人当作我的朋友，并且始终注意着，等待下一次不可避免的失败。
科技联盟:	“白皮噩梦”的活体精华。
异类门派:	我感觉到了一丝诡计的味道，而且我喜欢…

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions: Despite all their admirable qualities, I trust the ones I must, consider a rare few of them my friends, and keep eyes in the back of my head open for the next inevitable failure.
The Technocracy: The living essence of the White-mare.
The Disparates: I sense a trick here, and I think I like it…

This post has been edited by 劳伦斯·塔利斯曼: 2023-03-14, 14:25

[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

善终者

Euthanatos

死亡于我而言不只是词汇——
它是万物之根源。

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DEATH ISN’T JUST A WORD TO ME –
IT’S GENESIS.

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死亡并非结束，而只是一个更广大的循环的一部分。生命于死亡离去之处拣选，并且由生命开始的将由死亡终结，将其带回以开启另一段循环。有时，一个生命对附近的一切事物都变得有害。在这一点上，死亡成为一种祝福……一种善终者宗派已经准备好给予的祝福。

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Death is not an end but simply part of a larger cycle. Life picks up where death leaves off, and death finishes what life begins, bringing it back around for another go at things. Sometimes, a life becomes toxic to everything nearby. At that point, death becomes a blessing… a blessing the Euthanatos Tradition is ready to bestow.

善终者，或者更准确地说，善终者们…将他们自身视作“转轮”的守护者。这是一项受到争议的职责，恐惧和腐化永远如影随形。生存的意愿是强烈的，因此“降下善终的“法师们经常发现自己被置于谋杀者的角色中。即使是他们中最善良的人--那些成为医疗专家、牧师、心理咨询师，等等的人——也会把大部分时间用在死亡及对其复杂的热忱上。这个团体的每个成员自身都已经死亡并获得重生。从字面上看，善终者不论走到哪里都带着一点死亡的气息。

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The Euthanatos… or, more correctly, Euthanatoi… see themselves as keepers of the Wheel. That’s a problematic duty, with fear and corruption its perpetual companions. The will to live is strong, and so the “good death” mages often find themselves cast in the murderer’s role. Even the kindest of them – the ones who become medical professionals, priests, grief counselors, and so forth – spend most of their time around death and its complex passions. Each member of the group has himself died and been reborn. In a literal sense, the Euthanatoi carry a bit of death everywhere they go.

这一团体的名字曾受到争议。除开在常用形式中的希腊语错误以外，“善终”这一头衔也以谋杀的形式定义了这一宗派。许多崇死者（Thanatoics）更中意旧称，转轮者（Chackravanti），也称“转轮之民”。一如秘学九宗步向新的形式，压力也随之而来，是选择旧称——或选择另一个抛去旧称带来的包袱的名称，“守则者”（Niyamavanti），“吾等法则之民”。毕竟，如果个人可以转世，为什么基于转世理念的宗派不能同样如此？

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The group’s name itself has been problematic. Aside from the mangled Greek in its common form, that “good death” title has defined the Tradition in murderous terms. Many Thanatoics prefer the old name, Chakravanti, or “people of the Wheel.” As the Council moves toward its new form, the pressure to return to that name – or to choose another, Niyamavanti, “people of our Rule,” that lacks the baggage of those old names – increases. After all, if individuals can reincarnate themselves, why shouldn’t the Tradition based around reincarnation do the same?

轮回是这个宗派的重要组成部分。这些法师不只是信仰它——他们从个人经验中知道轮回的存在。根植于来自印度、希腊、非洲、西藏和其他地方的轮回主义信条的融合，该团体使大轮回不断旋转。在过去，这很容易。人们活着，他们死去，他们加入转轮的轮回，然后回归度过新的一生。但随着“人活一世”这类信条，唯物主义无神论，复苏技术的传播，宏大战争及其死伤与存活数目的不断增加，大轮回已被阻塞。像吸血鬼和其他不死生物这样的污秽已经成倍增加。物质与精魂界域挤满了各种各样的鬼魂，虽然 “化身风暴” 可能提供了某种形式的清扫，但巨轮仍然需要…我们可以称为…更为直接的维护方式。因此，轮回主义者经常被迫成为杀手。即便如此，生命，而非死亡，才是这一宗派的真正核心。最重要的是，轮回必须得到维护。

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Reincarnation forms a vital part of this Tradition. These mages don’t just believe in it – they know from personal experience that reincarnation exists. Rooted in a fusion of reincarnationist creeds from India, Greece, Africa, Tibet, and elsewhere, the group keeps the Great Wheel spinning. In the old days, this was easier. People lived, they died, they joined the Wheel and returned to live new lives. But between the spread of one-life creeds, materialist atheism, resuscitation techniques, titanic wars, and the sheer number of living and dying people, the Great Cycle has been jammed. Abominations like vampires and other undead things have multiplied. The material and spiritual realms have been packed with ghosts of many kinds, and although the Avatar Storm might have offered a housecleaning of sorts, the Wheel has required… shall we say, more direct forms of maintenance. And so, reincarnationists have, all too often, been forced to become killers. Even so, life, not death, is the true heart of this Tradition. Above all things, the Wheel must be maintained.

组织形式：正如他们的圣叶与欢喜宗盟友那样，转轮者们追寻着一条时而险恶的道途，以至于其他法师极少理解并为之畏惧。然而在宗派内部，这个组织也许是最有道德的。他们可怕的责任有着不低的要求。这一组织的严苛誓约——法轮，也称作“法轮的八轮辐”——强调了轮回本身（依业轮回）；一切事物的统一性（不二论）；对死亡的接纳（死亡）肩负责任的保护（守护）；自我控制（自律）；同情之心（同情）；避免诱惑（苦行）；还有个人经历的死亡与重生（轮回复生）。虽然这个团体本身缺乏严格的等级制度，但这一宗派的所有成员都应该知晓并遵守这一誓约，否则就会迎来最终死亡并从轮回中剔除。

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Organization: Like their Verbena and Ecstatic allies, the Chakravanti pursue a sometimes sinister Path that other mages often fear and rarely understand. Yet among the Traditions, this group is perhaps the most ethical. Their awful responsibility demands no less. The group’s strict code – the Dharmachakra, or “Eight-Spoked Wheel of the Law” – emphasizes the Cycle (Samsara); unity of all things (Advaita); acceptance of mortality (Kala); responsible guardianship (Pravitra); self-control (Dama); compassion (Daya); avoidance of temptation (Tapas); and the personal experience of death and rebirth (Punarjanman). Although the group itself lacks rigid hierarchies, all members of this Tradition are expected to know and follow this code, on pain of final death and removal from the Wheel.

这种严格的准则要求导师和学徒之间建立牢固的联系。因此，尽管死亡宗派包含许多不同的派系，但老师（阿阇黎）和她的学生（弟子）之间的关系是至关重要的。弟子对他的导师和整个传统都发过生命誓言（禁誓）。违背这一誓言不仅使学生蒙羞，也使老师蒙羞......并迫使阿阇黎追捕她的弟子进行惩罚。

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This strict code requires strong bonds between mentors and initiates. As a result, although the death-Tradition contains many different sects, the relationship between a teacher (Acarya) and her student (Chatra) is essential. The Chatra swears a Vrata (“life-oath”) to both his mentor and to the Tradition as a whole. Breaking that oath disgraces not only the student but the teacher as well… and compels the Acarya to hunt her student down for punishment.

引荐方式：每一名崇死法师都需要经历点化仪式：一种仪式化的生理死亡。随着从幽土回归，此人会经历漫长的学徒生涯，包括记忆正道以及学习治愈，命运，以及谋杀相关的许多秘艺。这样的学徒生涯会持续数年并且通常涉及多项任务，测试以及挑战，在这些过程中，学生要直面他道途带来的可怕影响。如果没有这种意识的话，说到底，"死亡法师 "正如人们认为的那样：一个怪物，更是这一宗派发誓要摧毁的一切。

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Initiation: Each Thanatoic mage undergoes the Diksha: a ritualized physical death. Returning from the Shadowlands, that person undergoes a long apprenticeship that includes memorizing the Niyama and learning the many arts of healing, fate, and murder. Such apprenticeships can last for years and typically involve quests, tests, and challenges in which the student confronts the awful implications of his Path. Without that awareness, after all, a “death-mage” is exactly what people think he is: a monster who’s everything this Tradition has sworn to destroy.

专擅领域：熵，生命或是精魂。

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Affinity Spheres: Entropy; Life or Spirit.

焦点：作为生命、死亡、命运的主宰者，善终者们将魔法视为循环的延伸。通过转动转轮，这些法师得以控制概率以及死亡的力量。这种转动侧重于存在的周期特性，因此一名转轮者会使用诸如狂智，信念，高等仪式，医术，现实骇入，巫术，萨满教，有时还包括巫毒之类的技法与法器以引导这些能量迎向期望的终结。在这一宗派的秘艺中，瑜伽有着至关重要的地位。神圣秩序与尘世混沌可能是这一团体最为常用的范式，其他范式也包括了“万事皆虚”，“众生圣洁，生而鲜活”，甚至，不论你信不信，也包括了“此即全善——心怀信念！”

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Focus: As masters of life, death, Fate, and Fortune, the Euthanatoi view magick as an extension of the Cycle. By turning the Wheel, these mages control probability as well as the forces of mortality. That turning focuses on the cyclical nature of existence, and so a Chakravat uses practices and instruments like crazy wisdom, faith, High Ritual, medicine-work, reality hacking, martial arts, shamanism, and occasionally Voudoun to direct those energies toward the desired end. Yoga has an essential place in this Tradition’s Arts. Divine Order and Earthly Chaos might be the group’s most common paradigm; others include Everything’s an Illusion, Creation’s Divine and Alive, and even, believe it or not, It’s All Good – Have Faith.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	有史以来最出色的远见者、误入歧途者、混蛋和英雄组成的游行队伍，他们在尘世中前行，并在经历中长期生存。
科技联盟:	狡猾的自尊心使他们在大转轮上拉了一泡铁粪。
异类门派:	传统的智慧说他们已经死去……但死物总有自己的方法回归。

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions: The most fascinating parade of visionaries, misfits, bastards, and heroes ever to walk the Earth and survive the experience for long.
The Technocracy: Slick pride-monsters taking a metallic dump on the Great Wheel.
The Disparates: Conventional wisdom says they’re dead… but dead things have a way of coming back around.

This post has been edited by 劳伦斯·塔利斯曼: 2023-03-14, 14:50

[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

赫尔墨斯秘会

Order of Hermes

吾非生变——吾化万变。

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I do not “manifest” change – I BECOME Change.

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就如所罗门王将精魂束缚在他的命令之下，就如梅林将一个马厩的男孩扶持为王，就如约翰·迪伊*将伊丽莎白的领土命名做“帝国”并将其锚定于格林威治的时间与空间中那样，赫尔墨斯秘会的诸多学派同样转动着世界的隐秘之轮。他们的秘艺最为精妙，他们的知识最为详尽，而他们的意志也最为卓越。在许多人看来（尤其是秘会自己），赫尔墨斯秘会定义了“法师”这一名词。

*约翰·迪伊（John Dee）：英国著名数学家、天文学家、占星学家、地理学家、神秘学家及伊丽莎白一世顾问。也是“大英帝国”一词的创造者。“以诺语”这一神秘学概念也同样出自他的传说。

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Just as Solomon bound spirits to his bidding, as Merlin raised a stable boy to kingship, as John Dee named Elizabeth’s realm an Empire and then anchored it in time and space at Greenwich, so too do the Houses of Hermes turn the hidden wheels of the world. Their Arts are the most refined, their knowledge the most exhaustive, their Wills the most dedicated to excellence. In many minds (most especially their own), the Order of Hermes defines the word mage.

作为最为庞大也最具组织性的宗派，赫尔墨斯秘会影响了——他们会称之为“定义了”西方文明对于魔法的看法。赫密法师们掌握着大量的秘密和防护措施。他们的财富浩如烟海，奇物攻无不克，图书馆更是叹为观止。秘会拥有数量最多的秘所，大师，以及大法师。它的成就包括首次编纂魔法研究，构建领域这一概念，以及，事实上，建立了秘学九宗自身。

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As the largest and most organized Tradition, the Order of Hermes has influenced – they would say “defined” – the Western experience of magick. Hermetics command a huge range of secrets and wards. Their wealth is vast, their Wonders potent, their libraries breathtaking. The Order boasts the greatest number of Chantries, Masters, and Archmages. Its achievements include the first codification of magickal study, the formulation of the Spheres, and, indeed, the formation of the Traditions themselves.

尽管如此，秘会却面临着挫折与浩劫：失去了它最为伟大的秘所，多塞梯堡，以及其重要的主人，波尔托斯·菲兹-安普瑞斯；秘会最为强大的要员被消灭（有些人会说这是“自毁”）；无价的档案库遭到毁灭。而其他宗派的反应则是一种集体性的宽慰。为何如此？

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Still, the Order has faced setbacks and catastrophes: the loss of both its greatest Chantry, Doissetep, and its leading Master, Porthos Fitz-Empress; the extermination (some say “self destruction”) of its most powerful luminaries; the devastation of priceless archives. Yet the reaction from other Traditions appears to be a collective sigh of relief. Why?

因为赫密法师们，在正面（抑或负面）意义上，都拘泥细节，卖弄学究，不可一世，且妄自尊大。受人敬重的入门书——一部会赠予每位新晋学徒的厚重著作的序言——其中心思想可以总结为一段话：“在任何作为我等对手的宗派中有什么法师在技艺上能在我等哪怕最末尾的修士所拥有的广泛知识前夸耀？还有什么法师能提供任何哪怕微不足道的理论来支撑他的魔法？土著萨满用鼓和摇铃把他的身躯交给一只他对之一无所知的精魂。牧师用他的歌声如孩童般乞求神祇的青睐。恶习缠身的欢喜徒如流星般转瞬即逝。施展鲜血仪式的女巫们只求生育繁衍。哪怕知晓如何冥想与修习的空明修士也只是在虚假的信仰中寻求消极的满足。与此同时，有着坚定意志的赫密法师只是下令'成事！'而事就已成了。"

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Because Hermetic wizards are, to a one (and to a fault), meticulous, pedantic, majestic, and haughty. The Preface to the venerable Hornbook – a thick volume presented to each new apprentice – captures this attitude in one paragraph: “What mage in any rival Tradition, of whatever skill, can boast the comprehensive knowledge of our least Adept? What other mage can offer any shred of theory to support his magick? The aboriginal shaman with his drums and rattle gives over his body to a spirit he knows not. The cleric with his song begs like a child for the favor of deities. The Ecstatic with his vice burns like a meteor and vanishes, and the witch with her blood-rites aspires only to procreate. Even the Akashic with his meditation and exercise seeks passive contentment in false belief. Meanwhile, the Hermetic with firm Will commands, ‘Do!’ And it is done.”

这种狂轰滥炸揭示了秘会招人嫌恶的自信心；最为普通的赫密法师也能支持这种说法。在宗派中只有圣叶与梦语者与饱受憎恨的科技联盟有着相同暴烈的历史。无怪乎石匠兄弟会（他们自身也是由一个反叛的赫密派系建立的）选择以轰炸一尊赫密堡垒并且在另一尊堡垒中举行白塔公约来宣告这份敌意。而巴尔德里克·拉塞列大师选择在初次袭击的废墟之上举办迷雾峰裁决席会——通向至尊议会的第一步也并非偶然。一名欢喜徒可能提供了灵感，而圣叶或许有了可靠的新盟友，但赫尔墨斯秘会为秘学九宗的建立奠定了基础。

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This bombast reveals the Order’s obnoxious confidence; the average Hermetic can back it up, too. Among the Traditions, only the Verbena and Dreamspeakers have as violent a history with the hated Technocracy. It’s no accident that the Craftmasons (themselves formed from a renegade Hermetic sect) chose to initiate hostilities by blowing up one Hermetic citadel and to stage the Convention of the White Tower in another. Nor is it an accident that Master Baldric LaSalle chose to host the Mistridge Tribunal – the first step toward the Grand Convocation – in the ruins of that first attack. An Ecstatic might have provided the inspiration, and the Verbena might have secured new allies, but the Order of Hermes forged the foundation upon which the Traditions have been built.

哪怕身为对手的宗派也接纳了秘会那广袤而壮观的历史。在古埃及时代，两名吉运随身的先驱发明了字母表。大法师所罗门束缚了许多至今仍侍奉着秘会的精魂。毕达哥拉斯于希腊建立了赫尔墨斯密教。归功于赫尔墨斯·特里斯墨吉斯忒斯（即三圣的赫尔墨斯）的《玄秘大典》（Corpus Hermeticum），现代宗派的基础得以形成。就连沉睡者也能从那些传奇年代中回想起一部分赫密法师：梅林，帕拉塞尔苏斯，圣日耳曼伯爵，卡里奥斯特罗。从甘道夫到克劳利再到波特，群众对于魔法的广泛接受源自赫尔墨斯的范式。在新的千年，这一组织比以往都要更为广泛地被他人所认同。群众或许不会去寻求赫尔墨斯秘艺，但在一种潜意识的信仰中，他们会认同秘会之道即是西方巫术的代表。

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Even rival Traditions accept the Order’s vast and spectacular history. In ancient Egypt, two auspicious precursors invented the alphabet. Archmagus Solomon bound many spirits that still serve the Order today. Pythagoras founded the cult of Hermes in Greece. The Corpus Hermeticum, attributed to Hermes Trismegistus (“Thrice-Great Hermes”), forms the basis of the modern Tradition. Even Sleepers recall a few Hermetics from those storied times: Merlin. Paracelsus. Saint Germain. Cagliostro. From Gandalf to Crowley to Potter, the popular acceptance of magick has arisen from Hermetic archetypes. In the new millennium, the group enjoys more popular acceptance than ever before. The Masses might not pursue the Hermetic Arts, but in a subconscious sort of belief, they accept the Order’s ways as the face of Western wizardry.

因此，尽管他们的各种挫折让秘会付出了沉重的代价，但赫密法师们以崭新活力迎接这个时代的到来。大法师的损失，多塞梯堡的毁灭，对吸血鬼发动战争，对腐败的禁军学派进行肃清......它们都像塔罗牌上倒塌的高塔一样：束缚的破碎迫使人们转变。这个时代的赫密法师正挽起袖口准备行动，从基础上重塑秘会，同时保持这些初心—自信心、知识、卓越以及意志——的完整性。在牧者之城这一愿景的指引下——在神秘意志下的全球升华的理想—赫密法师仍然致力于完美无缺。考虑到他们的崇高目标，他们无法接受任何瑕疵。

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And so, though their various setbacks have cost the Order dearly, Hermetic mages greet this age with renewed vitality. The loss of the Archmages, the destruction of Doissetep, the war against vampires, the purge of corrupt House Janissary… they’re all like the collapsing Tarot Tower: the shattering of bondage that compels transformation. This age’s Hermetics are rolling up their sleeves and remaking the Order from its foundations while keeping those foundations – confidence, knowledge, excellence, and Will – intact. Guided by a vision of the City of Pymander – the ideal of global Ascension under Mystic Will – Hermetics remain committed to perfection. Given their high purpose, they can accept no less.

组织形式：秘会具有严格的等级制度、纪律性和规范性。《赫尔墨斯誓约》以及辅约规定了举止、礼节、斗法的挑战规则，以及秘所入口铭文的正当形式。在秘会无休止的残酷内斗中，有13个学派仍然作为派别存在。其中有些学派早于诺曼征服时期（博尼萨古斯学派，炽炎学派，判官学派，泰塔鲁斯学派，维迪图斯学派，以及统合学派），其他的则更为年轻，甚至是最近成立的（福尔图娜学派，轰雷学派，恩戈马学派，希雅学派，目的学派，智冕学派，以及混沌学派）。

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Organization: The Order is rigidly hierarchical, disciplinarian, and regulated. The Code of Hermes and its Peripheral Corrigenda dictate behavior, protocol, rules for certámen challenges, and the proper inscriptions for Chantry doorways. Thirteen Houses still exist as factions in the Order’s endless, brutal infighting. Some Houses predate the Norman Conquest (Bonisagus, Flambeau, Quaesitor, Tytalus, Verditius, and the catch-all Ex Miscellanea); others are newer, even quite recent (Fortunae, Hong Lei, Ngoma, Shaea, Skopos, Solificati, and Xaos).

引荐方式：从学术界、具有秘传性质的宗教团体、科学界或军队中招募，必须在一名无情的导师（父亲或母亲*）手下度过惩罚性的学徒期。秘会承认的秘法进阶划分为九个位阶：新手（Neophyte），信者（Zelator），习徒（Practicus），学徒（Initiate），受赦学徒（Initiate Exemptus），硕学（Adept），大硕学（Adept Major），学宫贤者（Magister Scholae），以及寰宇贤者（Magister Mundi）。训练旨在于第三位阶结束时，激发起一种渐进的觉醒，更类似于一个过程，而非单一的震撼时刻。

*此处的父亲与母亲为Pater与Mater，在赫尔墨斯秘会的传统中特指男性与女性导师。

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Initiation: Recruited from academia, esoteric religious orders, science, or the military, a student must survive a punishing apprenticeship under an unforgiving mentor (a mater or pater). The Order recognizes nine Degrees of mystic advancement: Neophyte, Zelator, Practicus, Initiate, Initiate Exemptus, Adept, Adept Major, Magister Scholae, and Magister Mundi. The training aims to provoke, by the conclusion of the Third Degree, a gradual Awakening more akin to a process than to a single jolting moment.

专擅领域：力场是赫密训练的核心。特定的学派钟情于生命，物质，心灵以及精魂领域作为次要追求，但力场领域始终是必不可少的。

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Affinity Sphere: Forces provides the core of Hermetic training. Certain Houses favor Life, Matter, Mind, and Spirit as secondary pursuits, but Forces is always essential.

焦点：一名赫尔墨斯法师所掌控的无异于宇宙奥秘的钥匙。因此，这些完美的学者通过不断的研究和密集的练习掌握了古老而神秘的仪式。通过祷告、标志、印记、随身用品和秘密语言来利用元素的流动，赫密法师——出于必要——是隐秘且多疑的。毕竟，他们掌握着巨大的力量，而他们的对手会埋伏在任何地方。

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Focus: A Hermetic mage commands nothing less than the keys to the universe. And so, these consummate scholars master ancient and arcane rituals through constant study and intense practice. Tapping elemental currents through incantations, signs, seals, paraphernalia, and secret languages, the Hermetics are – by necessity – secretive and suspicious. They command tremendous power, after all, and their rivals lurk everywhere.

炼金术，统御学，以及高等仪式构成了秘会阶级内部的核心技法。没有赫密法师会在这些训练上有所匮乏。特定的赫密法师还会往这核心加入混沌魔法，欲望之艺，超科技，工艺，奇诡科学，瑜伽以及零星邪术，他们追求的范式包括"宇宙机械论"，"神圣秩序与尘世混沌"，"强权即正义"，"技术能解答一切"，以及理所当然的，"夺回黄金时代"。

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Alchemy, dominion, and High Ritual form core practices within the Order’s ranks. No Hermetic mage lacks such training. Certain Hermetics add chaos magick, the Art of Desire, hypertech, craftwork, weird science, yoga, and occasional malficia to that core, pursuing such paradigms as A Mechanistic Cosmos, Divine Order and Earthly Chaos, Might is Right, Tech Holds All Answers and, naturally, Bring Back the Golden Age.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	尽管有可敬的实践和偶尔的洞察力，但我们的盟友缺乏实现持久权力或控制的纪律。即便如此，他们已经和我们并肩合作了数个世纪，所以他们仍然是值得信赖的伙伴。
科技联盟:	到头来，咱们俩只能有一个活下来。
异类门派:	才华横溢的业余人士，因他们自身的分裂而失散。

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions:
Despite venerable practices and occasional insights, our allies lack the discipline to achieve lasting power or control. Even so, they have stood with us for centuries, so they remain worthy companions.
The Technocracy: In the end, only one of us will survive.
The Disparates: Talented amateurs, lost to their own separation.

This post has been edited by 劳伦斯·塔利斯曼: 2023-03-14, 14:50

[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

以太之子（学会）

The Sons (or Society) of Ether

步步高升——非全即无！

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Onwards and Upwards – All or None!

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令人类社会从达成理想——即乌托邦的追求中退缩的唯一事物，便是其想象力的局限性。只要个体仍允许社会以及其统治者掌控他们梦想的形态与规模，凡俗的无趣念头以及随之而来的一切苦难都将持续下去。哪怕是秘学九宗中的绝大多数，他们在魔法上的想象力也被因为某种力量而在过往被允许的行为所阻碍，不论这些力量曾是萨满，法老，还是神职人员。唯有未来不会被这些锁链所束缚，不会安于现状，更无从想象。唯有真正勇敢无畏之人能在当下令未来成真，而以太子嗣们无疑气逾霄汉。

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The only thing holding humanity back from achieving its yearned-for Utopia is the smallness of its imagination. So long as individuals allow society and its rulers to dictate the size and extent of their dreams, mundane boredom and all its attendant suffering shall persist. Even the magickal imaginations of most of the Nine Traditions are hampered by what was allowed them in times past by the Powers That Be, whether those powers were shamans, pharaohs, or priests. Only the future is free of these chains, unset and as yet undreamt of. Only the truly bold can make the future real in the present, and the Etherites are nothing if not bold!

作为一处由激进的技术逐梦者们组成的学会，事实证明，最初的以太之子并不适合科技联盟那处处受限，令人窒息的范式。尽管他们于20世纪末采用了现在的名称，但这些启蒙科学家都是他们那团结一致的理论：即是以太，那隐匿在宇宙一切现象背后的精妙介质的子嗣，不论男女。由于其维多利亚时代早期的传统，组织长期以来被批评为“爷们圈子”，而以太子嗣们已随时代进步。尽管强硬派仍然坚持着旧时代的礼法，但“以太学会”这一词汇已经去除了不少组织原名中带有的那陈腐的男子气概。

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A society of radical technomantic dreamers, the original Sons of Ether proved unfit for the confined and suffocating paradigm of the Technocracy. Although they adopted their current name at the turn of the 20th century, these Enlightened Scientists are both sons and daughters of their rallying theory: that of Ether, that subtle substance that lies behind the guise of all phenomena in the universe. Long criticized as a boys’ club due to its early Victorian customs, the Etherites have progressed over the years. Although hardliners still insist upon propriety, the term Society of Ether has largely replaced the shopworn masculinity of the group’s original name.

以太子嗣们将他们的源头追溯至古特洛伊时代，但除宗派以外几乎无人认可这一说法。他们的自然哲学理念基础据说源自出身希腊与地中海的前苏格拉底时代思想家，这些都被记录在一本名为（由著作的伊斯兰译者提供）《Kitab-al Alacir》或被称为《以太之书》的著作中。 作为首个经受启迪者（即觉醒者）在系统性的自然哲学上的尝试，《以太之书》受到以太子嗣们的推崇，其中许多人在阅读这一著作时觉醒。

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The Etherites trace their lineage back to ancient Troy, although few outside the Tradition accept this claim. Their foundation of natural philosophy was reputedly established among the pre-Socratic thinkers of Greece and the Mediterranean, recorded in a book titled (by its Islamic translators) the Kitab-alAlacir, or Book of Ether. As the first Inspired (that is, Awakened) attempt at a systemic natural philosophy, the Kitab is revered by Etherites, many of whom Awakened when reading it.

这一组织从一项由不同学者施行的，松散的智识传统，最终在中世纪时通过在意大利建立了属于赫尔墨斯秘会的歌罗学派（House Golo）从而获得了社会基础。这最终成为了自然哲学家行会，并且之后，在维多利亚时代演变为电力工程师们，他们着迷于电力那有望将凡俗人类从形而下以及形而上的黑暗之中解放的崭新力量。这样的理想主义始终是这一宗派的核心。科技联盟无法击垮它。世界大战亦无法根除它。不论怀疑主义，失败，还是那些宣称以太子嗣都是鲁莽疯子的家伙们都不能阻止这些先驱将他们那宏伟的科学思想引入这个世界。

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From a loose intellectual tradition practiced by disparate individuals, the group finally gained a societal foundation with the establishment of Hermetic House Golo in Medieval Italy. This eventually became the Natural Philosophers Guild, and then, in the Victorian Era, the Electrodyne Engineers, whose fascination with the novel power of electricity promised to liberate the common man from physical and metaphysical darkness. Such idealism remains the heart of this Tradition. The Technocracy could not crush it. World wars could not purge it. Neither skepticism nor failure nor claims that Etherites are all mad and reckless can prevent these luminaries from bringing their magnificent Science to the world.

确实，以大多数人的标准看来（甚至包括那些与他们一同共事的神经病们），绝大多数的以太子嗣都是怪人。古怪。甚至还有些疯狂。但这种疯狂是一颗被人性化的外壳包裹着的新星耀斑。在一个注定要人们默默无闻的世界里，以太学会培育着英雄。如果这些英雄偶尔摧毁实验室、同伴，甚至......呃，城市的话......这种伤亡都是真正启蒙的代价。而世界也因此得到了改善。现今的时代不就证明了这一点吗？飞行机械! 录音技术!人们不再因瘟疫或饥饿而成千上万地死去！（好吧，也许在那些没有多少科学的土地上并没有......很遗憾。）因此，尽管有成本和障碍，以太子嗣们仍然致力于推进奇妙的科学！

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Yes, by the standards of most people (even those lunatics with whom they share company), most Etherites are eccentric. Bizarre. Perhaps even mad. But such madness is the flare of a nova encased by an all too human shell.In a world determined to be small, the Society of Ether breeds heroes. If those heroes demolish labs, companions, even… um, cities… upon occasion, such casualties are the cost of true Enlightenment. And the world is improved thereby. Is not the current age proof of this? Flying machines! Recording technology! People no longer die by the thousands from plagues or starvation! (Well, perhaps except in those lands without much Science… a pity, that.) And so, despite its costs and obstacles, the Sons and Daughters of Ether remain dedicated to the advancement of wondrous Science!

在21世纪，这一宗派已迎来了自己的时代。科幻小说——尤其是它的以太分支，蒸汽朋克——在流行文化中的影响使他们能够自豪地站在人类事业的最前沿。在所有宗派中，只有虚拟行者（有时是空明修士）享有来自矛盾的类似“补贴”。现代的现实有利于这种奇诡的科学，尽管以太子嗣们偶尔会因为自不量力而遭受矛盾效应的影响，但以太协会还是设法以谋……（呃，”谋杀”一词用在此处是何等不雅。我们不妨以“壮举”取而代之。）壮举逃脱这种影响。在他们的同道宗派们看来，绝大多数的以太子嗣都是自私的利己主义者，推崇那些让个体可以脱颖而出的范式，却把群众抛在后面。

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In the 21st century, this Tradition has come into its own. The influence of science fiction – especially its Etherian offshoot, steampunk – in popular culture allows them to stand proudly at the forefront of human endeavors. Among all Traditions, only the Virtual Adepts (and sometimes the Akashayana) enjoy similar allowances from Paradox. Modern reality favors this weird Science, and although Etherites occasionally overreach themselves and suffer the Paradox Effect anyway, the Society of Ether manages to get away with… well, “murder” is such an ugly term. Let us say, instead, magnificence.As far as their fellow Traditions are concerned, most Etherites seem like selfish egotists, pushing paradigms wherein individuals can excel while leaving the Masses behind.

然而，以太子嗣致力于将觉醒科学的益处带给所有人。"非全即无！"是他们的信条。因此，他们努力寻求认可--不仅是来自他们那经受启蒙的同行，而且也来自最广大的群众。他们知道，这种接受反映了人类的奋斗精神--一种着眼于未来和令许多奇妙事物得以成真的精神。

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The Etherites, however, strive to give the benefits of Awakened Science to everyone. “All, or none!” is their creed. As a result, they strive for recognition – not only from their Enlightened peers but from the Masses most of all. Such acceptance, they know, reflects the striving human spirit – a spirit that looks toward Tomorrow and the many marvelous Things to Come.

组织形式：以太子嗣们，除开他们沸沸扬扬地对社会发表的看法，经常是派系林立且争强好胜的。友谊的存在是寻求赞美的一种途径；而批评只是促使你回到实验室，下次做得更好。尽管许多以太子嗣连续数周埋头研究，几乎没有同伴，但他们最终还是会寻找同僚的陪伴，无论他们的工作变得多么令人着迷。

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Organization: Etherites, despite their boisterous talk about society, are often fractious and competitive. Fellowship exists as an avenue for seeking praise; criticism merely prods you to go back to the lab and do better next time. Although many Etherites bury themselves in research for weeks on end with very little companionship, they eventually seek the company of their peers, no matter how obsessive their work becomes.

引荐方式：未来的以太子嗣通常是由真正的科学家基于一些迹象或潜在的才能而挑选出的。这些未来的新人会接受一项旨在迫使他们直面因他们思想造成的影响的测试。大多数情况下，这名潜在的科学家会被留下以寻找一份《以太之书》的副本，其理念往往有助于觉醒导向更为宏大、更为光明的成就的思维火花。

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Initiation: Prospective Etherites tend to be selected by true Scientists, based on some sign or evidence of latent genius. These prospective initiates receive a test designed to force them to confront the implications of their ideas. Most often, the would-be Scientist is left to discover a copy of the Kitab-al-Alacir, whose concepts often serve to Awaken the spark of bigger, brighter accomplishments to come.

专擅领域：物质，力场或是原质。

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Affinity Spheres: Matter; Forces or Prime.

焦点：科学！或者，更准确地说，是通过既定的物理和能量科技从而富含想象力地掌握自然原理。与他们的虚拟行者同僚相比，这些科技法师更喜欢采用即使是在傻瓜的眼中也可以目视、持有、演示并且确信的科学思想。为此，以太科学是炫耀的、浪漫的、优雅又未来主义的，即使这个未来看起来更像经典的科幻小说，而非凡俗的科学事实。以太子嗣可以使用任何看起来能够运作的事物作为技法。然而，大多数科学家偏爱以下技法华丽的秘传变体：炼金术、工艺、控制论、超科技、现实骇入，当然还有奇诡科学。范式在很大程度上围绕着宇宙机械论、万物皆为数据、强权即正义、万物皆虚等概念，但他们通常将这些归结为"技术能解答一切"。

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Focus: Science! Or, more accurately, an imaginative grasp of natural principles channeled through established physical and energetic technologies. Earthier than their Virtual Adept colleagues, these technomancers prefer to employ Science that can be seen, held, demonstrated, and confirmed even by the eyes of fools. To that end, Etherite Science is showy, romantic, and gracefully futuristic, even if that future looks more like classic science fiction than like mundane science fact. As a practice, an Etherite may use anything that seems to work. Most Scientists, however, favor gloriously esoteric variations on alchemy, craftwork, cybernetics, hypertech, reality hacking, and, of course, weird science. Paradigms focus largely around concepts like A Mechanistic Cosmos, Everything is Data, Might is Right, and Everything’s an Illusion, but they usually boil down to Tech Holds All the Answers.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	我觉得他们是…出色的盟友。但他们却把我们称作疯子？
科技联盟:	对科学之名的玷污，为求控制而歪曲奇物。
异类门派:	拖后腿的家伙，但也是神秘的家伙。值得进一步的研究。

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions: Fascinating allies, I suppose… but they call us mad?
The Technocracy: Obscenities to the name of Science, perverting wonder into control.
The Disparates: Footdraggers. Mysterious footdraggers, though. Certainly worthy of further study

[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

圣叶

Verbana

万物彼此交织。
领悟了你的伤痕，也就领悟了苍穹。

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Everything is intertwined.
To understand your tears is to understand the sky

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生命即是便溺与鲜血。痛苦与欢愉与生俱来，也在所难免。我们的精神并非某种超然的独立事物，而是生命自身的原始活力。圣叶宗派从最古老的神秘学见解中汲取智慧，将生命视作一种奇妙的，生生不息的循环——一种由法师呼唤旋律，但法师自身亦无法脱身于此的元素组成的舞蹈。这种观点对大多数人无异于砒霜，而这于圣叶而言却如蜜糖。在他们看来，如果你不能接纳真理，不如他妈的滚蛋！

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Life is shit and piss and blood. Pain and pleasure are inevitable birthrights. Our spirits are not some transcendent separate thing but are instead the raw vitality of Life itself. Drawing from among the oldest mystic understandings, the Verbena Tradition views life as a wondrous, implacable cycle – a dance of elements in which a mage calls tunes but cannot herself resist the dance. This view scares the living hell out of most folks, and that’s just how many Verbena like it. If you can’t hang with the truth, they figure, just get the fuck out of the way!

正如他们名称中的草药那样，圣叶（或者更正确地说，马鞭草）擅于治疗、占卜和净化。没有其他宗派能以他们的方式去理解生命魔法。作为化形，动物亲和，植物工艺以及操纵气候的大师，圣叶以她最为真实的形态贴近自然…并且其中一些形态也无疑是血腥的。虽然这很罕见，但圣叶也曾因动物献祭与人祭而为人所知。更常见的情况是，他们在自己的皮肤上雕刻符文，忍耐可怖的折磨，使自己遭受痛苦的剥夺，并施展其他自我牺牲的行为以避免伤害其他生命。在每一处圣叶的丛林中都有一棵世界树，它是造物整体的鲜活象征。这些树木被丛林中举行的仪式染上了红色；这份红色越是深沉，丛林就拥有越强大的力量。

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Like the herb for which they’re named, the Verbena (or, more correctly, Verbenae) excel at healing, divination, and purgation. No other Tradition understands Life magicks the way they do. Masters of shape-changing, animal affinities, plant craft, and weather work, Verbenae stay close to Nature in her truest forms… and some of those forms can be bloody indeed. Although it’s rare, the Verbenae have been known to practice animal and human sacrifice. More often, they carve runes in their own skins, endure hideous ordeals, subject themselves to painful deprivations, and perform other acts of self-sacrifice in order to avoid harming other beings. Every Verbena grove has a World Tree, the living symbol of Creation as a whole. These trees have been stained red by the rituals performed in those groves; the darker the red, the more powerful the grove.

虽然这一宗派本身形成于14世纪，但圣叶的根基要远比这更为深厚。这些法师就如许多神秘学社群一样将他们的起源追溯到原始人类的开端...... 而在他们的说法中，他们或许是正确的。他们认为，原初的古巫（Wyck）体现了精神、思想和肉体的首次融合。这从本质上与神祇无异，他们很快便引导最初的人类踏上智慧与魔法之道。这些传统主义者认为古道（The Old Ways）即是这些存在留下的遗产，而圣叶——可能还有梦语者——则是其真正的继承者。

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Although the Tradition itself formed in the 1400s, Verbena roots run far deeper. Like many mystic societies, these mages trace their origins to primal humanity’s beginnings… and in their case, they’re probably correct. The primordial Wyck, they say, embodied the first fusions of spirit, mind, and flesh. Essentially gods, they soon guided the first human beings toward wisdom and magick. The Old Ways, say these traditionalists, are the inheritance left by those entities, and the Verbenae – and perhaps the Dreamspeakers – are its truest heirs.

以大多数的标准看待，这些古道无疑是严酷苛刻的。鲜血、性爱、以最原始的形式存在的激情——这些都是大多数圣叶偏爱的工具。冷铁，手工木艺，徒手生火，原始服装，有机食物…工具越简单，效果越强大。虽然有些圣叶成员对现代世界做出了让步——汽车、枪支，也许还有一两个喜欢的电视节目——但这一宗派总的来说，仍然古板到了顽固不化的地步。尽管他们可以以他们的方式来展现慈悲，但圣叶没有时间也没有耐心留给弱者。对他们来说，科技世界的舒适滋生了病态与怠惰。他们会告诉你："除非你能只带一件衣服…或者更好些，衣不蔽体地在野外活上一个月…否则你就等于对现实一无所知。"

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These Old Ways are, by most standards, harsh. Blood, sex, passion in its rawest forms – these are the tools most Verbenae prefer. Cold iron, worked wood, fires kindled with your bare hands, natural clothing, organic foods… the simpler it is, the more powerful its effects. Although some Verbenae make concessions to the modern world – cars, guns, perhaps a favorite TV show or two – this Tradition, by and large, remains stubbornly archaic. And though they can be compassionate in their way, Verbenae have no time or patience for weakness. To them, the comforts of a technological world breed sickness and laziness. “Until you spend a month,” they’ll tell you, “in the wild with nothing but the clothes on your back… or better yet, without them… you don’t know jack shit about reality.”

组织形式：组织以盟会为主，作为基础单位的人数通常为13，9，7，以及3人。独行的圣叶成员同样存在，但这一宗派的绝大多数成员更偏好以团体方式行事。女性成员的人数可能超过男性，而且她们在这里能获得相比其他大多数组织更多的尊重。许多女性法师因此而倾向于加入这一宗派。两名领导者（分别担任祭司与女祭司的角色，但他们的性别并无限制）负责管理较大的盟会，由一名女巫负责管理三人的团体。盟会往往偏向于年长而非年轻的成员，而且老派盟会可能相当专制。虽然争端经常通过投票解决，但这些投票可能涉及考验、测试，或是战斗。

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Organization: Covens – often numbering 13, nine, seven, or three – make up this group’s foundation. Solitary Verbenae exist, but most members of this Tradition prefer to work in groups. Women probably outnumber men overall, and they’re granted more respect here than in most other groups. Many female mages gravitate toward this Tradition for that reason. Two leaders (taking priest and priestess roles although both might be male, female, or transgender) govern the larger covens, with a single witch in charge of three-person groups. Covens tend to favor older members over younger ones, and old-school covens can be quite autocratic. Although disputes often get resolved through votes, those votes might involve ordeals, tests, or combat.

这一宗派尊崇强大的血脉。因此，圣叶盟会都尽可能地遵循家族的血系。每一盟会都拥有一处丛林，尽管这处丛林也可能是领导者后院的一处花园。大型集会每年举办八次，分别在两次分点，两次至点，以及圣烛节（2月2日），贝尔丹火焰节（5月1日），收获节（8月1日），以及夏末节（10月31日）举行。许多圣叶成员也会在圣诞节（12月25日）与7月1日聚集在一起，在气候与文化的变化模糊了自然季节周期之间的区别时尤为如此。

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This Tradition respects strong bloodlines. And so, whenever possible, Verbena covens follow family lineage. Each coven has a grove, though that grove might be a garden in the leader’s back yard. Large meetings occur eight times a year, during the two equinoxes, the two solstices, and on Imbolc (Feb. 2), Beltane (May 1), Lammas (Aug. 1), and Samhain (Oct. 31). Plenty of Verbenae also gather at Christmas (Dec. 25) and on July 1, especially as shifts of climate and culture blur the distinction between Nature’s seasonal cycles.

引荐方式：圣叶的新人会经历一场仪式性的死亡与重生。经过一段紧张的学习、测验和冥想，在痛苦的考验中达到高潮——有时是幻象，通常是真实。如果盟会成员满意于新人的信誉与献祭，他们会将其称为见证者（witnesses）。正如他们在猎巫时代，大多圣叶成员仍旧忠诚至死。

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Initiation: Verbena newcomers undergo a ritual death and rebirth. An intense period of study, testing, and meditation climaxes in a distressing ordeal – sometimes illusionary, often real. If and when the coven members are satisfied with the initiate’s trustworthiness and dedication, they call the elements as witnesses. As they were during the Burning Times, most Verbenae remain loyal unto death.

专擅领域：生命，力场

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Affinity Spheres: Life; Forces.

焦点：圣叶秘艺专注于以极少的工具完成许多事物。他们的工具兼具象征与实用意义，其用途可以追溯至远古时期。作为各种层面上的“异教”，这些魔法同自然有着深切的联系。化形，变化，治愈与伤害，占卜，净化，生长与凋零。自然循环以及操弄命运的巧妙手段都是民间女巫们的专长。

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Focus: Verbena Arts concentrate on doing a lot with very little. Their tools are practical as well as symbolic, with uses that reach back to antiquity. “Pagan” in every sense of that word, these magicks hold deep ties to Nature. Shape-changing, transformation, healing and injury, divination, purification, growth and withering, natural cycles, and the tricky ways of Fate are witch-folk specialties.

对于所有圣叶成员来说，“众生圣洁，生而鲜活”。但由于作为造物的众生，生命与也会同“圣洁“一词相性不佳，因此其他常见的圣叶范式也包括了“神明与怪物的世界”，“强权即正义”，“夺回黄金时代”，以及“万物皆混沌”。巫术是这一组织的核心技法，而其中某些人也偏爱巫毒，统御学，奇诡科学，混沌魔法，瑜伽，武术，高等仪式，控制论，欲望之艺，工艺，医术，甚至有机的超科技。

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To all Verbenae, Creation’s Divine and Alive. Because Creation, life, and divinity aren’t particularly nice, other common Verbena paradigms include A World of Gods and Monsters, Might is Right, Bring Back the Golden Age, and Everything is Chaos. Witchcraft is the group’s core practice, with certain individuals favoring Voudoun, dominion, weird science, chaos magick, yoga, martial arts, High Ritual, cybernetics, the Art of Desire, craftwork, medicine-work, and even organic hypertech.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	我们情同手足——我们也会争吵，陷入混乱，常常恨对方恨得牙痒痒......但如果别人惹了我们，我们就会把他痛揍一顿。一荣俱荣，一损俱损。
科技联盟:	简单粗暴地说，他们就是一种疾病。
异类门派:	在这新的“猎巫时代”*，他们怕是已经被吞噬殆尽了。

*原文为Burning Times，疑似为90年代的一部以女性主义视角讲述了早期欧洲“猎巫时代”的纪录片。

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions: We’re siblings of the blood – quarreling, dysfunctional, often hating one another’s guts… but we’ll kick anyone else’s ass if they mess with us. One for all, for better and worse.
The Technocracy: Plain and simple, they’re a disease.
The Disparates: In the new Burning Times, I’m afraid they’ve been consumed.

This post has been edited by 劳伦斯·塔利斯曼: 2024-04-04, 13:45

[劳伦斯·塔利斯曼]

虚拟行者

Virtual Adepts

一切皆在代码之中：
不论你我，抑或世间万物。

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IT’S ALL IN THE CODE:
YOU, ME, THE WORLD, EVERYTHING.

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何为真实？当你目见某物，触及某物，知晓某物时，它是真实的吗？或者它只是在意识中聚集起来的信号的集合，比特的信息，数据的碎片，从而令你认为“这是真实的“？对于虚拟行者而言，一切事物——建筑，工具，植物，动物，人类——都可以表示为信息。行者们宣称，只要解明某种事物背后的代码，你就能够明白如何去操纵，改变，改善，或是删除这一事物。由于信息是抽象的，你甚至不需要接触你想要改变的事物。你只要了解，就可以通过改写代码来调整它。并且你可以从任何地方改写代码。

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What is real? When you see something, touch something, know something, is it real, or is it simply a collection of signals, bits of information, pieces of data that come together in your mind and make you think “This is real”? To the Virtual Adepts, everything – buildings, tools, plants, animals, people – can be represented as information. Figure out the code behind something, the Adepts claim, and you can figure out how to manipulate that thing, how to change it, improve it, or delete it. Since information is abstract, you don’t even need to touch the thing you want to change. If you know it, you can adjust it just by changing the code. And you can change the code from anywhere.

这一最年轻的宗派始于一个被其前盟友疏远的科联公约组织。对他们的同僚来说，这些差分工程师们太过激进，他们的质疑过多，追求过于超前。他们由于狂妄而遭受惩罚；精英数学家，密码学家阿兰·图灵（Alan Turing）惨遭羞辱并且被害。他的死造就了一名殉道者，而这名殉道者——再加上其他迫害——导致了工程师们的叛变和他们作为虚拟行者的重生。

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The youngest Tradition began as a Technocratic Convention that was alienated by its former allies. Too radical for their peers, these Difference Engineers questioned too much and aspired too far. And for their presumption, they were punished; Alan Turing, an elite mathematician and cryptographer, was disgraced and destroyed. His death created a martyr, and that martyrdom – combined with other persecutions – led to the Engineers’ defection and their rebirth as the Virtual Adepts.

这一曾属于科技联盟的过去留下了许多法师仍不愿忽视的伤痕。作为回应，大多数的虚拟行者蔑视其他宗派的原始手段。行者们相信，人类不应被诸如宗教，政府或是自然之类，有局限性的哲学思想所束缚。相对的，行者们致力于实现一种技术奇点，这种技术奇点能够扬弃人性中的限制，从而让人们能将他们自身改造为某种更为完善，聪慧，以及后人类的存在。毕竟，当你可以改变世界——与你自身——以至于你不再需要自然，并成为一尊神明时，为什么要专注于回归自然或向缺席的神明祈祷？

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That Technocratic past left a stigma that many mages remain unwilling to ignore. In return, most Adepts scorn the primitive methods of the other Traditions. Humanity, the Adepts believe, should not be subjected to limiting philosophies like religion, government, or nature. Instead, the Adepts strive toward a technological singularity in which humanity’s limitations get dumped as people remake themselves into something better, brighter, and post-human. Why focus on getting back to nature or praying to absentee gods, after all, when you can change the world – and yourself – so that you no longer need nature and can become a god?

正如他们的名称所暗示的那样，虚拟行者在虚拟的世界中花费了许多时间。如果你通过自己的在线远程投影就能与其他人互动，甚至可以控制现实世界的物体，那么为什么还要为一处漏水的公寓楼和一具有限的凡人肉身所组成的令人沮丧的现实而烦恼？然而，即使在这平庸的肉界，虚拟专家们也用计算机、显示器、平板电脑、智能手机和所有最新潮的科技玩具包围着自己。不过，他们中最为杰出者已经学会了在没有科技的情况下操纵现实......这一壮举凸显了这一群体对造物内在的神之代码的掌控。

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As their moniker implies, Virtual Adepts spend lots of time in a virtual world. If you can interact with other people or even control objects of the real world from your online telepresence, then why bother with the dismal reality of a leaky apartment building and a body made of limited, mortal meat? Even in this banal Meatspace, however, Virtual Adepts surround themselves with computers, monitors, digital notepads, smart phones, and all the latest technological toys. The most elite among them, though, have learned to manipulate reality without tech… a feat that highlights the group’s command of the God Code inside Creation.

尽管他们具有未来主义的敏锐性，但这些行者仍认为自己是传统意义上的法师。他们的秘艺通过视觉、科技和意志重塑现实。一名现代行者或许不会将她做的事情称作魔法（尽管也有许多人会这么称呼），但她将自身视作机械中的诡计/信使之神，墨丘利的子嗣。就如虚拟行者那样，墨丘利无处不在，以他秘艺之中的胆识摧毁假设。特别是在这个时代，当技术既是通往自由之道又是实施压迫的工具时，世界需要无畏的诡术师。也因此，21世纪的行者们的虚拟成分越来越少，并且越发真实。

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For all their futuristic acumen, these Adepts still consider themselves mages in the classic sense. Their Arts remake reality through vision, technique, and Will. A modern Adept might not call what she does magick (though many of them do), but she regards herself as a child of Mercury, the Trickster/ Messenger God in the Machine. Like the Adepts, Mercury is everywhere at once, undermining assumptions with the audacity of his Arts. Especially in this era, when technology is both a road to freedom and an instrument of oppression, the world needs audacious tricksters. And so, the Adepts of the 21st century are growing far less virtual and far more real.

组织形式：作为尊重功绩的安那其主义者，行者们避免标准的组织形式并且厌恶传统的等级制度。在90年代，他们把尊重建立在精英的基础上：一种通过态度和成就赢得的，来自同僚的认可。尽管从那时起，这一宗派已然成熟并且变得多样化，但虚拟行者的个人成就——而非头衔或资历——在这个群体的敬意中仍然意味着一切。聪慧，才智，科技创造力，以及对社会学改革的敏锐感知力，比时髦的手柄或讨喜的头像要更有意义。行者们会对那些打倒压迫性社会体制的人有一种特别的崇敬......而对那些在肉界或网络世界中支持这种体制的人则会带有辱骂性质的憎恨。

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Organization: Merit-respecting anarchists, Adepts avoid standard organization and loathe conventional hierarchies. In the ‘90s, they based respect on eliteness: a form of peer recognition won through attitude and accomplishment. Though the tradition has matured and diversified since then, an Adept’s personal achievements – rather than titles or seniority – still mean everything in this group’s esteem. Cleverness, wit, technological creativity, and an astute sense of sociological reform mean more than a snappy handle or a keen online icon. There’s a special reverence for Adepts who tear down oppressive social structures… and a vituperative loathing for ones who support such structures in Meatspace or the online world.

引荐方式：虚拟行者们有着一套在社交意义上可说是凶残的引荐手段。生理剥削、师徒挑战或是冥想的精神追求之类的理念在他们看来滑稽可笑。取而代之的是，行者们通常给追随他们的有志之士和新人提供神秘的任务，这些任务包括了破坏专制体制，窃取机密数据，并创造有趣的恶作剧，妨碍那些腐败的人渣，曝光浮夸的风流人物。在某些关键时刻，新人会被留在那里自生自灭；一个适当且富有想象力地（最好还要新潮地）解决问题的方法会赢得同行的赞誉，并在行者中获得一席之地。简而言之，大多数虚拟行者们都是通过伟大的互联网传统——"恶搞”进入这一组织的。

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Initiation: Virtual Adepts have a socially brutal initiation process. The idea of physical deprivation, master-apprentice challenges, or meditative spirit quests strikes them as absurd. Instead, Adepts typically give their aspirants and initiates cryptic missions to sabotage authoritarian structures, steal classified data, and create amusing pranks that undermine corrupt bastards and expose pompous windbags. At some critical juncture, the initiate gets left to fend for herself; a suitably imaginative (and hopefully stylish) resolution to the problem earns the accolades of peers and a place among the Adepts. In short, then, most Adepts enter the group through the grand Internet tradition of trolling.

专擅领域：空间/数据；力场

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Affinity Spheres: Correspondence/ Data; Forces

焦点："万物皆数据"。因此在这"宇宙机械论"的理论下，一名行者所使用的每种工具或是技法都注重于塑造，改写，操纵，收集，存储，整理，干涉，或是破坏信息。从显而易见的电脑设备（较传统技术领先数世代），云端，全息投影，植入物，纳米科技，能量饮料以及改写感官的刺激物到低调的暗色连帽衫，受漫画影响的发型，时尚的双性体质还有充满挑衅意味的面具都是他们的工具。然而，所有的虚拟行者都会随身携带他们的科技工具。对许多虚拟行者来说，电脑在一个人的身份中要比任何服装或配件都更重要。一名行者的个人设备几乎总是包含了该行者的装备中最多的定制以及风格化元素。

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Focus: Everything is Data. Thus, in this Mechanistic Cosmos, every tool or practice an Adept employs focuses on shaping, altering, manipulating, gathering, storing, collating, influencing, or destroying information. Such tools range from the obvious computer gear (generations ahead of conventionally available tech), clouds, holograms, implants, nanotech, energy drinks, and sense-altering stimuli to the understated chic of dark hoodies, manga-influenced haircuts, fashionable androgyny, and provocative masks. All Adepts, however, keep the implements of their technomagick handy. For many Adepts, computers are a more important part of one’s identity than any attire or accessory. An Adept’s personal devices are almost always the most heavily customized and stylized elements of that Adept’s ensemble.

可能是现存最为优秀的现实骇客，虚拟行者作为墨丘利的精锐同样也施展各种形式的控制论，超科技，奇诡科学，武术，混沌魔法，下流魔法，有时也包括了萨满教，巫毒，狂智或是包裹在科技外壳下的巫术。

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Perhaps the most accomplished reality hackers alive, this Mercurial Elite also employs various forms of cybernetics, hypertech, weird science, martial arts, chaos magick, gutter magick, and sometimes shamanism, Voudoun, crazy wisdom, or witchcraft with a technological flair.

刻板印象 Stereotypes
同道宗派:	如同机械中的鬼魂——嘈杂、暴躁、老得要命，但还是令人魂牵梦绕。他们有很多东西需要指导，还有更多东西要去学习。
科技联盟:	我们在为这个世界的关键…还有未来而战。因此，尊重盟友，但别让他们成了阶下囚。
异类门派:	*歌唱般的语调* 我有一个小秘~密…

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Stereotypes
Fellow Traditions: Ghosts in the machine – noisy, cranky, old as fuck, but haunting nevertheless. There’s so much they have to teach, and so much more they have to learn.
The Technocracy: We’re at war for the heart of this world… and the next. So respect the allies but take no prisoners.
The Disparates: *singsong* I know a see-cret…

[泥瓦匠]

这段历史也包括了可怖的时代：针对早期转轮之民发动的喜马拉雅战争；征服与革命；该教派与巫龙、筑龙尊师同敌对的空明团体进行的谋杀性质的竞争；义和团运动及鸦片贸易的开始；蒙古人的入侵和神风战；针对鬼魂的大清洗和大跃进。空明修士训练过武士，也为荣誉而开膛破肚；他们与拉杰普特人一起举起拳刃，也闯入过紫禁城，也在波尔布特的杀戮地带*上挨饿，并在广岛化为灰烬。空明的外在宁静掩盖了每个时代和每场冲突的深层痛苦和激情，那些时代的可怖轮回甚至现在还在持续。

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That history includes awful times: the Himalayan Wars against the early Chakravanti; conquests and revolutions; the sect’s murderous rivalries with the Wu Lung, Dalou-laoshi, and rival Akashic groups; the Boxer Rebellion and its opiumtrade beginnings; Mongol invasions and Kamikaze Wars; the Screaming Ghost Purge and Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward. Akashics have trained samurai and disemboweled themselves for honor; they’ve raised katars with the Rajput, stormed the Forbidden City, starved in Pol Pot’s Killing Fields, and turned to ash at Hiroshima. The outer calm of an Akashic masks deep pains and passions from every age and every conflict, and the dreadful karma from those times lingers even now.

那个，佬，参考修订版空明宗派书第一章蛮族一节，the Screaming Ghost Purge指的可能应是巫龙与大司工由于空明宗协助蒙古萨满处理瘟疫而发动的报复行为，而非针对鬼魂的大清洗

This post has been edited by 泥瓦匠: 2023-08-17, 06:53