巴塔 Bata’a
只要世间仍有信念和热情，自由就能找到出路
在路易斯安那州和密西西比河的深处,精魂发出了饥饿的脉动，如同万千心跳发出的鼓声，它们回荡着古代土著灵魂的叹息和被屠戮奴隶的哀鸣，这声音在回荡之中越来越响亮，它们穿过了加勒比岛，进入了中美和南美——这代表了狂喜和潮湿、红色的痛苦和复仇的征兆.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
From deep within the bayous of Louisiana and the Mississippi backwaters, spirit drums sound the pulse of hungry life. Pounding like thousands of racing hearts, they echo with the ghosts of ancient natives and murdered slaves. Louder and louder, they shout out one to another, resounding across the islands of the Caribbean and down into Central and South America – harbingers of wild, blessed ecstasy and the wet, red work of bitterness and revenge.
巴塔（Bata'a）这一名字源自加勒比文化中的神圣鼓声，它们有着独特的力量，可以把凡人的感情提升到爱和敬畏的高度，也能让他人陷入可怕的痛苦和低潮.这些巫毒教、坎东布雷教甚至是西班牙天主教的修行者，在很大程度上承受了外界的误会和曲解，结社的由来可以追溯到七个被奴役贩卖到新世界种植园的非洲部落，如同旧日的鬼魂所说，这些奴隶带来了他们自己的精魂和文化传统，同时与当地的加勒比以及阿拉瓦克岛民俗文化进行了融合，随着时间的推移，这些文化不断演化，并将天主教信仰一并纳入了他们的法术体系之中，这诞生了一种崭新的社会文化:它既讲究世俗又推崇魔法，很多巴巴多斯、百慕大以及海地的奴隶从这一文化中汲取力量，以此来推翻他们的奴隶主，为那些死去的亲人报仇雪恨.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Named for the spirit drums held sacred by Caribbean cultures, the mages who call themselves Bata’a possess the unique power to simultaneously stir the souls of men to the heights of love and grateful awe and to plunge them into depths of horrified agony. Largely misunderstood or misrepresented by outsiders,these practitioners of Voudoun, Candomblé, and even Spanish Catholicism trace their descent back to seven African tribes enslaved to work the farms and plantations of the New World. As the old ghosts tell it, these slaves brought their own spirits and traditions with them, only to find common interest and customs with the native Carib and Arawak islanders. Over time, these cultures blended, incorporating Catholicism into their own magical spiritualism. The result produced a new society, both mundane and magickal, that empowered the slaves in certain places like Barbados, Bermuda, and Haiti to overthrow their false masters and exact revenge for those murdered in the struggle.
尽管结社的家园被外来征服者、奴隶制、海盗、兵祸、腐败、天灾和贫困蹂躏，巴塔Bata'a仍然对无形之物Les Invisibles维持着信心：这是根治于土地和人民的强大精魂，而这些尊崇、服务无形之物的人，也被称作魔法师，他们将自己的法术和力量归功于这些精魂——而且只属于它们.这些法师的法术大多以交换生效——此乃伟大权柄和祭品的公平置换，而对他们来说，你必须相信这些神圣的仪式，否则只是一个蔑视精魂和技艺的傻瓜.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Though their homelands have been ravaged by conquest, slavery, piracy, war, corruption, disaster, and poverty, the Bata’a still keep faith with in Les Invisibles: the powerful spirits who permeate the land and its people. These folk revere, worship, and serve Les Mysteres – also called the Loa or orishas – and attribute their magickal abilities and powers to them… and only them. “Magick” comes through communion – a respectful exchange of powers and offerings. For the Bata’a, either you believe in the holy rites or you can count yourself amongst les idiots, the fools who dismiss or trivialize the spirits and their Arts.
巴塔摈弃了“巫毒教派”这一刻板印象，他们推崇实用至上的原则，把手头的一切都发挥到了极致——结社融合了法国圣徒、非洲神明、日耳曼的魔咒、西班牙的上帝信仰、原住民的精魂崇拜，以及在鼓声之中回荡的万民心跳，并将这所有融为一体，这将是世间任何力量都无法阻止的脉动，而正是这种心跳阐述了结社的名字，也正是这种鼓声给了结社独立性，巴塔可能和圣叶或者梦语者结成联盟，和虚无党展开合作，甚至容忍顽固的老派十字军，但这些秘术修行者的出发点始终是他们自己的人民，即便是借助Loa（附体降灵）的力量，也是基于互相尊重而非简单的奴役.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Beyond the silly stereotypes of “voodoo” lies a survivor’s creed of reverent assimilation. Bata’a make the best of whatever they have to work with: French saints, African gods, Germanic hexes, Spanish goods, Native spirits, and the heartbeat of the people, mirrored in the drums, a pulse that cannot be stilled by any force on Earth. It’s this heartbeat that gives the sect its name, and it’s that defiance that gives the Bata’a their independence. For though they might strike alliances with the Verbena and Dreamspeaker Traditions, bond with Hollow Ones, and even tolerate the presence of crusty old Crusaders, these mystics are ultimately their own people. Even their ties the Loa are based
on mutual respect, not abject servitude.
巴塔Bata’a是一个刻意摒弃官方组织结构的结社，小的团队大多以社区为划分，除了mae-de-santos（圣徒妈妈）和pae-de-santos（圣徒爸爸）之外没有任何头衔存在，所有成员没有高低贵贱之分，巴塔Bata‘a对施展下位法术的术士和真正的觉醒者一视同仁，它的成员来自五湖四海，内部信仰也是龙蛇混杂,通过Ronde des Ames“灵魂之链”，各个地方的派系联合成为了一个精神网络，通过话语、精魂信使以及当下的电话和互联网，这连结将信息、仪式和新闻及时传递到各地，而在21世纪初，这连结还推动了一个日益壮大的政治活动.虽然巴塔Bata’a曾推崇维持七个Rangi（颜色，或者家庭）的数目，以及地区化的Marassas（男女伙伴关系，代表特定群体的父母形象），但现在结社开始追求统一的全球合作，特别是自技官联盟的可怕清洗以及Tempéte(化身风暴）之后，法师们清晰地认知到，分裂意味着灭亡——或者如同历史证明的那样，比死更糟.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Organization: A deliberately informal sect, the Bata’a work mostly on a local level, with few titles beyond mae-de-santos (momma saint) and pae-de-santos (papa saint), both given to respected members. Because Bata’a don’t discriminate between hedge wizards and true mages, the group enjoys an incredibly large membership drawn from related faiths throughout the world. Ronde des Ames – the “Chain of Souls” – unites all localized links into a spiritual network; tied together by gossip, spirit messengers, and – these days – phone calls and the Internet, these links circulate information,
rituals, and news. In the early 21st century, the Chain sustains a growing political activism. Though the Bata’a once focused on the seven Rangi (“colors,” or families) and localized Marassas (male-female partnerships, representing the father and mother figures of a given group), the sect now pursues a more unified global agenda. Especially since the Technocratic purge and the dreadful Tempéte – the Avatar Storm – Bata’a now recognize that division means extinction… or, as history has shown, even worse.
要成为一名正式成员，你必须虔诚地献身于Loa，大部分候选者必须找到巴塔Bata’a的一位知名成员，向他请求指点，对大部分的白人学徒来说，这个请求会直接被拒绝，除非他拥有特定的推荐或者得到了结社里卓有声望之人的认可.一旦被接受，学徒必须在一年内献出自己所有的时间和财富，为他的师长和结社服务，当一年结束后，如果他展现出了天赋、虔诚或博学的特质，他将成为一名hounsis（入门者），并开始学习无形之物Les Invisibles的知识，直到他进行第一次附体修行，在漫长的祈祷、斋戒和净身后，入门者会得到酒精和致幻草药制成的强力混合物，然后任由无形之物摆布，如果他能在这次附体中存活下来，他将成为结社的一员.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Initiation: In order to be considered for membership, a person must be truly devoted to the Loa. This candidate must seek out a known member of the Bata’a and petition him for instruction. Very often, especially for white students, this request isn’t granted unless the would-be initiate has connections or introductions through reputable sources. Once accepted, the candidate pledges to sacrifice all her time and money for a year in service to her teacher and the Craft. At the end of that time, if she shows talent, devotion, and common sense, she becomes a hounsis (initiate) and begins to learn about Les Invisibles, leading up to her first possession. Following a lengthy seclusion of prayers, fasts, and purification, the initiate receives a potent mixture of alcohol and hallucinogenic herbs and left to the mercy of Les Mysteres. If she survives, she becomes Bata’a.
精魂和生命
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Affinity Spheres: Spirit or Life.
基于肉体和精魂之间的崇高结合，巴塔Bata’a的技艺需求两项事物：一为召唤Legba的仪式，既十字路口的守护者，此外是进入恍惚状态并启迪思想、身体、和精魂之间联系的仪式.在某些情况下，修行者会制造一件gris-gris：一个被Loa能量所祝福和灌注的物品，这类法器只在形式紧急和时间匮乏的状况下使用.信仰是这个无形家族的核心，他们的共同范式认为，造物有灵，万物混沌，在这个神魔混居的世界上，你需要朋友和善意的盟友.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Focus: Based in the sublime union between flesh and spirit, Bata’a Arts require two things: a ritual calling upon Legba, the guardian of crossroads; and a rite designed to induce a trance state and open channels between minds, bodies, and spirits. In certain cases, a practitioner may choose to create a gris-gris: an item blessed by and infused with the energy of a Loa. Such items are used only in cases of dire urgency and limited time. Faith is the heart of this invisible family, with common paradigms insisting that Creation’s Alive, Everything is Chaos, and this World of Gods and Monsters
demands good friends and willing allies.
巫毒、信仰、医疗手段、工艺、高级仪式和狂人的智慧共同构筑了巴塔Bata‘a的核心施法手段，一些成员偏好使用下位法术或者使用萨满教、诡异的科学理论、驭人术以及各类武术修行，实际上这些法师使用一切可行的手段来施展法术，只要虔诚地侍奉精魂，修行者就可以获取它们的帮助.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Voudoun, faith, medicine-work, craftwork, High Ritual, and crazy wisdom form the core practices within the Bata’a. Some members also favor gutter magick, shamanism, weird science, dominion, maleficia, and various martial arts. One works with whatever’s available. So long as the spirits are served respectfully, a practitioner can rely upon them to aid her.
QUOTE
偏见印象 Stereotype传统宗派：有用的盟友，但他们过于专注自己的利益，无法成为可靠的朋友.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
The Traditions: Useful allies, but too devoted to their own interests to be reliable friends for ours.
全新的枷锁，老套的奴役.
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
The Technocracy: Pretty new chains, same old slavers.
我们的盟友知晓被人用靴子踩住脖颈的痛楚，不过有可能的话，他们中的大多人会选择成为新的奴役者——甚至其中不少人过去就是奴役者的一员.虽然同盟现下还十分牢固，但我并不认为它会持久。
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
The Disparate Alliance: Our allies understand the weight of someone’s boot on your neck. Still, too many of them would become conquerors if they could… and some of them have been conquerors before. A useful alliance for now, but not one I think will last.
This post has been edited by sosgame67: 2022-12-12, 00:39
【M:tAs 20th】第二卷-第五章-异类门派-巴塔 Bata'a (P204-205), 非刻板印象的巫毒教法师结社
321
96