The Mysteries: Revised Edition Chapter Eight: Hermetic Spirit Magic

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Hermetic Spirit Magic

The summoning and binding of spirits is one of the most ancient of all magical practices, and is widely practiced within Mythic Europe. The basic principle of this school is spell binding, which allows the magus to extend spells by binding spirits into the very fabric of a magical working. The term “necromancy,” used originally to mean the practice of conversing with the dead, was by the 13th century being used to describe both the evocation of spirits and rituals to call up demons, so Hermetic magi interested in this field tend to prefer to use the term “spirit magic.”

Belief in magical spirits and in the spirits of the dead haunting the living, and knowledge of rites to conjure them up or banish them, form an important part of all medieval magical traditions. John of Salisbury describes staring into his fingernails as a pupil as part of a crystal-gazing experiment to see spirits bound by his teacher and William of Auvergne claims that he saw manuals of necromancy, detailing the rites for the conjuration of spirits, when he was a student at Paris. In the 13th century, the archbishop of Paris condemned “books, rolls, or booklets containing necromancy or experiments of sorcery, invocations of demons, or conjurations hazardous for souls.”

The use of necromancy to cause actual corporeal harm is rare, although it can be used to cause severe, damaging discomfort. For example, a 12th-century manuscript from Reims has a spell for causing spirits to prevent someone from sleeping, eating, drinking, or doing anything else.

Necromancy was also believed to be linked to astral magic. According to Michael Scot, astrological images conjure not only the powers ruling the astral orbits and the spirits associated with the moon, but also the damned souls present in the wind.

The necromancers invoked God, Christ, the saints, and sometimes the angels to conjure up spirits, although Arnold of Villanova and John of Frankfurt stated that spirits could not be coerced, and came voluntarily, although they claimed they had been forced to comply.

Necromancy and the summoning of spirits is clearly denounced by the Church, yet remains a ubiquitous magical practice in the 13th century, and ghost stories are universally popular. The Church is not particularly harsh in punishing those who dabble in magic; during the pontificate of Alexander III (1159-81), a priest in the diocese of Aquileia was suspended for two years for calling up a demon.

The Church and the Order look with some distrust upon those who would call on spirits. A 13th-century instruction manual for inquisitors catalogs the types of magical practices for which a person could be tried. Forbidden practices include scrying with reflecting surfaces, invocation of demons, use of magic circles, sacrifices to demons, use of human heads or other body parts to obtain love or hatred, observation of the inauspicious Egyptian days, use of charms over herbs, baptism of images, and the use of the Eucharistic host or oil in magical operations.

Dealing with demons is explicitly banned by the Code of Hermes, and those who practice spirit magic must at all times be careful to be seen not to transgress the boundaries between dealing with Magic spirits and infernalism. Hermetic spirit magic therefore often seems oddly impersonal when compared with other spiritrelated magical traditions, and for good reason: Those who would make deals with named spirits and powerful Daimons usually practice Hermetic theurgy (see Chapter 10) instead.

Hermetic Empowerment — Minor Mystery Virtue

There are those who see the invisible, who say they hear spirits cry in torment.

Hermetic Empowerment allows a device to be powered by draining a spirit bound into it, thus enabling a device to create effects requiring vis, such as certain Ritual spells. There are many tales of enchanted devices with spirits bound into them, which reflect this magic (and perhaps similar magics in other traditions).

This Virtue requires the Virtue Spell Binding (see Chapter 4) as a prerequisite and builds upon the theoretical underpinnings of that Virtue. (Spell Binding is a requirement, but is not replaced by Hermetic Empowerment, and provides no Initiation benefits.)

The maga can invest effects requiring Ritual casting and vis use, subject to the following limitations:

• If the effect is a Ritual because of complexity or the use of nonor preHermetic rites then the caster cannot use Empowerment to bypass those restrictions.
• If the casting of a spell to create the magical effect requires special actions beyond those of an instant-triggered device — e.g., “marching the bounds,” as in The Bountiful Feast — then the caster cannot use Empowerment to bypass that restriction, and cannot empower the effect.
• If an effect is a Ritual because it has Year duration or Boundary target (or similar special RDT granted by other Virtues), then the maga can use Empowerment to permit that Range or Duration.
• If an effect would be a Ritual to provide vis for a Momentary Creo spell, then the caster can use Empowerment to supply that vis and create spell results made real.
• If as a Formulaic spell the level exceeds 50, and the spell would be a Ritual only because of this, then in fact no Ritual Magic is needed to place the effect in a device (and the caster do not need Empowerment).

Invoking a spirit-powered vis-using effect takes no more time or effort on the part of the person triggering the device than any other device invested effect. This is because the spirit is performing the magic as a spirit power, not as an actual Ritual.

Enchanting the Device

Instilling Ritual effects into a device is identical to instilling normal, nonRitual effects, except that the design should note that the Mystery of Hermetic Empowerment was used to instill them. Just like a Ritual spell, the minimum level of a Ritual effect is 20, even if the final effect level calculation would make it lower (see Ritual Spells, ArM5, page 114). Using a Lab Text for a Ritual effect requires the worker to have the Virtue Hermetic Empowerment.

Once instilled, the effect remains powerless and ineffective until further steps are complete. However, once the device is powered, any normal triggering event may be used to create the Ritual effect; just as if a normal effect were invoked, apart from the greater power.

Example: Ignavus wishes to destroy a powerful magical shield protecting a treasure belonging to rival cultists. He could cast a Disenchant Ritual to destroy the protecting shield if he could touch it and remain long enough to cast the Ritual spell, but the shield has many fierce guards, and Ignavus is not brave. He decides to prepare a wand enchanted to invoke a Disenchant Ritual effect, and to send it into the rival cult’s fortress carried by a brave grog who will fight through the guards and touch the wand to the shield.

Powering Ritual Effects

The Virtue enables a magus to enchant Ritual effects into a device, but effects remain inactive and unusable unless there is also some spirit bound in the same device with enough Might Score remaining to power the effect.

The vis cost of the Ritual is provided by draining Might Score points equal to the vis cost of the powered effect each time the Ritual effect used. Loss of Might Score is permanent, unlike the normal use of (temporary) Might Points that a spirit uses to fuel its own powers. (If the spirit is somehow freed, it may find ways to slowly recover.)

Might Score Drained

(Ritual level/5) (round up)

Note that this means the spirit is drained and permanently reduced by having its Might tapped, and hence spirits generally are extremely hostile to those who would perform this operation upon them. Any spirit aware of itself is tormented by loss of Might Score, and deeply resents the process; however, in the normal course of events, there is nothing a bound spirit can do about this, unless the device is broken.

The level of the Ritual effect to be powered cannot exceed twice the spirit’s Might Score. If it has too little Might remaining, it cannot power this effect. Any suitable spirit in the device can power the Ritual effect — powerful devices may have several spirits bound within them.

(Might Score x 2) Must equal or exceed Ritual level

Since the spirit’s Might must exceed the effect powered, the spirit’s diminishing Might will fail eventually, leaving a device with a permanently bound spirit unable to act upon it. If other, lesser Ritual effects were invested in the device, the weakened spirit may be able to power some effects but not others.

Example: Medica’s Staff of Healing has Momentary healing Rituals to Heal a Medium Wound (CrCo 25) and to Heal an Incapacitating Wound (CrCo 35). The staff has a Might 27 spirit bound into it: healing a Medium Wound drains 5 Might Points, while healing an Incapacitating Wound drains 7 Might Points. After a battle, Medica is forced to heal two critically wounded companions, using up 14 Might: the spirit now has a Might Score of 13. The spirit can no longer power the level 35 Ritual, but can still power one use of Heal a Medium Wound, which will drain 5 Might, reducing it to Might Score 8, when it will be unable to power either Ritual.

Suitable Spirits for a Magus’ Magic In general, if a magus seeks to forge a close link to, or to draw special advantage from, a spirit, then the realm of the spirit must in some way match the magus’s magic. Close links include taking a spirit as a familiar; special advantages include draining Might to power Ritual Magic. For most magi this requires a spirit of the Magic realm, although magi with Faerie Magic can also use Faerie spirits. Those who succumb to the foul cause of diabolism may bind Infernal spirits. Perhaps magi who have links to the Divine could forge links to a Divine spirit (see Realms of Power: The Divine), although they may quail at the thought of draining Might from a Divine being!

If the device is broken (or the binding enchantment disenchanted), any spirits bound into it are released. The released spirits are typically enraged, both by their confinement and the torment of having Might drained from them. If a magus takes advantage of the unlimited enchantment spaces in a talisman, and then should ever break his talisman, all the spirits bound into the device are released together, and the breaker of the talisman had better beware.

To contain the spirits the magus also instills one or more enchantments of Empowering Prison of the Declining Spirit, and then coerces a spirit into each Empowering Prison. Any spirit command spell can be used, or the spirit may be tricked into entering (see Spell Binding in Chapter 4). The spirit must be a disembodied spirit (for example, a magus cannot bind a living magical beast, although he can bind a ghost). Most magi must locate a spirit with Magic Might, unless they have a Virtue such as Faerie Magic that lets them tie effects to spirits of another realm.

Empowering Prison of the Declining Spirit is a special Mystery general enchantment that both traps a spirit and drains its Might Score to power Ritual effects in the same device. The level of the enchantment must equal or exceed twice the Might Score of any spirit to be bound into it, and the enchantment requires Form requisites for the Forms of any Ritual effects it is to power. It is possible to enchant a Prison that can only power some of the Ritual effects in a device, and to have other Prisons that can power the other Rituals.

Once a spirit is bound to an Empowering Prison it is trapped as long as the enchantment remains, even if its Might falls below a useful level. The spirit may be destroyed with Perdo Vim spells, however even this does not “empty” the Empowering Prison for re-use.

The spirit is limited in what it can do: It cannot resist the Empowering Prison, it cannot use its Might for any purpose other than to resist spells cast on it, and it cannot leave the Prison. Many spirits can perceive the world around them, and may be able to converse with passers-by, and attempt to bargain for their freedom. The spirit is freed if its Empowering Prison is disenchanted, or if the device is shattered.

Empowering Prison of The Declining Spirit Re(Mu)Vi(Forms), Gen, Mystery enchantment Pen +0, uses per day as enchanted R: Per, D: Mom, T: Ind This Mystery enchantment can only be instilled by those with the Virtue Hermetic Empowerment. The enchantment has requisites of all the Forms of effects that are to be powered by this enchantment. The base level of the enchantment must equal or exceed half the Might of the spirit that will be bound to it. Uses per day limits the number of times per day that the Empowering Prison can power other effects. An Empowering Prison drains Might Score from the bound spirit, and can power Ritual effects in the device provided that the Prison has requisites of the Form and any Form requisites of the Ritual effect. If a Ritual effect uses a Form that was not instilled as a requisite in the Empowering Prison, that Ritual effect cannot be powered by this Prison. When the Empowering Prison effect is used, the current Might Score of the bound spirit must equal or exceed half the level of the Ritual effect to be powered, or both effects fail and no Might is drained. (General level Mystery effect, based on twice spirit’s Might) Example: Empowering Prison of the Declining Spirit of Corpus and Mentem, Rego (Muto) Vim (Corpus, Mentem) 50, three uses per day. The base effect is level 48, with +2 levels of Effect frequency. A spirit with a Might score no more than 24 may be commanded into the device and trapped in this enchantment. Thereafter, the enchantment can drain Might from the spirit to power Ritual effects of Corpus, Mentem, or Vim.

Spirit Familiar — Minor Mystery Virtue

This Virtue lets the magus ally himself with a ghost or other incorporeal spirit as a spirit familiar, using rules similar to those for binding an animal familiar. A magus may only have one familiar, be it animal or spirit — he cannot ally with a spirit if he has a familiar already. If he had, but lost, a familiar, he can later ally with a spirit as his spirit familiar.

Spirit familiar is also known as genius umbrae (shadowy guardian spirit) or (by those with knowledge of ancient traditions) the Greek name parhedros.

The Lab Total for binding a spirit familiar is the same as an animal familiar: any appropriate Technique and any appropriate Form. As with animal familiars, a Technique or Form is appropriate if it corresponds with the spirit desired as spirit familiar. The Technique of a spirit matches the Hermetic Technique of their best powers. The Form of spirits is usually obvious, as most spirits have powers with effects similar to Hermetic Forms: almost any spirit corresponds to Vim; ghosts may correspond to Mentem or Imaginem, or even Corpus; elementals correspond to their elemental Form; plant and animal spirits are often tied to living bodies, but there are some that are incorporeal, perhaps inhabiting a sacred grove.

Finding a Suitable Spirit

The maga needs to visit places inhabited by spirits, as, unlike animals, they are not normally found in the places of man (summoning, with its innate compulsion, is not a good way to start a relationship — the maga should go to the prospective ally and offer herself). A maga setting out on a quest to find a spirit familiar would do well to research spirits and such places before setting out.

On locating a suitable place and finding a spirit, the maga’s next step is to persuade the spirit that she is a welcome ally, and not a rival or enemy, and that she has something to offer. Unintelligent spirits respond like animal candidates for familiars, and are generally positive if they are in sympathy with her magic. Intelligent, free-willed spirits are harder to ally with and may desire to retain their freedom (just as an intelligent, free-willed beast may) — they must be bargained with. Elemental spirits may welcome the freedom to move beyond their appointed place and prove willing allies; the ghosts of departed relatives are often willing to assist their descendants.

If the maga has the Faerie Magic Virtue, she might ally with a Faerie spirit. If she does, then the type of faerie also provides a correspondence — faeries of the woods, of the sky, etc.

A tiny minority of magi might consider a demon as spirit familiar, but since this immediately afflicts them with an Infernal taint, others are likely to notice this. For those Infernally inclined, a demonic pact is usually a more certain route to power (and both routes lead to damnation). Demons can correspond to any Technique or Form. Infernalism and its realm will be deal with in a future Ars Magica supplement.

Some magi claim to have allied themselves with angelic spirits. Whether they are indeed both pious and impious to have so bound one of God’s servants, or whether they are deluded fools taken in by fallen angels, is not certain, nor dealt with in this book.

Eventually the maga should be able to find a spirit whose nature (Technique and Form) corresponds to her best Arts, and such a spirit will automatically be in sympathy with her magic.

Bonding the Ally As Spirit Familiar

The spirit should accompany the magus back to the laboratory, and will need an Aegis Token, which can be held by the magus, and an invitation to enter. He should trust his ally; however he may need to persuade his sodales in the covenant.

The following rules are similar to those for bonding with an (animal) familiar, which can be found in ArM5, page 104.

The magus now determines the spirit familiar bonding lab total:

Bonding Lab Total

Any Technique + Any Form + Intelligence + Magic Theory + Aura Modifier

The aura modifier is the worse of the magus’s modifier and the spirit’s. The spirit familiar bonding level is:

Spirit Familiar Bonding Total

Spirit’s Might + 25

Spirits do not have Size. The spirit familiar bonding cost is:

Familiar Bonding Cost

1 Pawn of Vis Per 5 Levels Or Fraction; Which Must Match the Technique Or Form

Becoming Immortal with a Spirit Familiar Mysteries elsewhere in this book show how, with great effort, a magus may become an immortal being of magic. Normally the magus risks losing his familiar in this transformation unless he includes additional raw vis in his final rites. However, a spirit familiar is already an immortal being, and will accompany its magus through the transformation with no further effort.

The Three Cords

The three cords are formed, using the same rules as for animal familiars, (ArM5, page104) although Hermetic magi using spirit magic give the three cords of the spirit familiar different names, as they have additional powers:

The Hermes Cord corresponds to the golden cord, but also adds to any rolls involving Enigmatic Wisdom (even if the magus lacks Enigmatic Wisdom).

The Isis Cord corresponds to the silver cord, but also adds to Lab Totals and Casting Score involving spirits.

The Hekate Cord corresponds to the bronze cord, but in addition, the magus can apply his Hekate Cord score to any Stamina roll (including Fatigue rolls) if his spirit familiar spends 1 point of Might. The bonuses are cumulative, so by spending 3 Might points he gains a bonus of (Hekate score) x 3. Up to 5 Might points may be spent on one roll. Likewise, he can give his spirit familiar a number of Temporary Might points equal to his bond score by spending 1 level of Fatigue (once spent, Temporary Might points do not naturally regenerate). Might points gained this way but left unused disappear once he recovers the Fatigue level spent.

The Bonded Spirit Familiar

As with a familiar, the magus and spirit familiar both gain the Minor Virtue True Friend, relating to the other half of the partnership, and the Personality Trait Loyal (partner) +3.

The magus and spirit familiar are magically linked — each serves as an Arcane Connection to the other, and neither needs to overcome the other’s Magic Resistance.

The spirit uses the better of its Magic Resistance or the magus’s Form resistance, but neither stacks with Parma Magica; alternatively the magus may choose to use the spirit familiar’s Magic Resistance but this does not stack with Parma Magica.

The spirit familiar gains a score equal to the magus in any language he knows (unless the spirit knew the language better before), and can understand any language understood by its ally. It cannot learn Hermetic magic, although it can learn Magic Theory and assist in the laboratory if it has magical assistance or powers to enable it to manipulate objects in the laboratory.

The spirit retains any powers it had before the bonding.

You must determine the characteristics of the spirit: it has the three Characteristics Intelligence, Perception, and Communication. If the spirit was not intelligent before the ritual of bonding, then it is made intelligent by the bond.

In game terms, you may determine its three Characteristics as if it were a character, using the pyramid scale to purchase positive and negative scores. You have (Might/5) pyramid points to start with, rather than the 7 points of a normal character.

The initial bond grants the magus the power to understand the silent speech of his familiar, but the familiar relies on the magus’s spoken words. Silent communication by the magus and giving the spirit the ability to speak to others require empowering the bond with magical effects. Those who can understand the silent speech of spirits (such as those with Second Sight) may “overhear” the basic silent speech of this spirit — enchanted bond effects permit the spirit to place words directly in the mind of the magus without being overheard.

Sample Powers Mental Communication As in the example in ArM5. Shared Senses As in the example in ArM5. Location As in the example in ArM5, except it is Intellego Mentem to find the spirit familiar (the magus may be able to substitute a different Form if it is appropriate to the spirit.) Speech Allow the spirit to make audible sounds requires Creo Imaginem, base level 1 + 2 magnitudes to make clear sounds as directed, +1 for Touch. The duration needs to be Concentration, with the bond maintaining concentration, for a final level of 10. The maga needs to maintain the ability at sunrise and sunset, but can reactivate it once per day if she forgets. Phantom Making a spirit visible is Muto Mentem (Imaginem requisite), base level 15, +1 for Touch. The duration needs to be Concentration, with the bond maintaining concentration. Since it is useful to end the effect and become invisible again, it is worth increasing the uses per day: 24 uses per day adds 5 levels, for a final level of 35. Apparition Allowing the spirit familiar to manifest itself in a variety of ways requires Creo Imaginem. The spirit familiar itself is affected, so cannot use a visual Apparition at the same time as a Phantom power. Choose a base level for the number of senses, and the complexity of appearance, and whether the image moves or not. A simple Apparition power at the base guidelines provides a single narrow category (“a horse,” “a man,” “a boulder” — as in the examples in ArM5 Imaginem spells). By adding 1 or 2 magnitudes to the base level, the maga gains a degree of flexibility as to the apparition image. Concentration duration with the bond maintaining concentration is useful, as are a number of uses per day. (+1 magnitude, +5 levels to maintain concentration, +5 levels for 24 uses per day) Examples include: Illusory object — base 1 (simple, static), +1 for flexibility to cover any household item: level 13 for 24 uses per day. Illusory chill — base 2 (simple, moves with spirit), makes anyone within the man-sized volume occupied by the spirit feel a “chill” — level 13 for 24 uses per day. (The power does not actually lower temperature.) Corporeality Making a spirit solid is Muto Mentem with a Form requisite. This is usually Corpus, but may be Animal or Herbam for nature spirits. Elemental spirits can appear as a portion of their native Element, or in an appropriate human or animal shape. The bond effect is then: MuMe(Form) level 25, +1 for Touch. The duration needs to be Concentration, with the bond maintaining concentration. Since it is useful to end the effect and become incorporeal again, it is worth increasing the uses per day: 24 uses per day adds 5 levels, for a final level of 45. Many spirits value this power, and may gain an initial bias toward a maga who promises to enchant this power for them. Incorporeality Allowing the magus to take ghostly form requires Muto Corpus with an Auram requisite: level 30, +1 for Touch. The duration needs to be Concentration, with the bond maintaining concentration. Since it is useful to end the effect and become corporeal again, it is worth increasing the uses per day: 24 uses per day adds 5 levels, for a final level of 50.

Empowering the Bond

The normal familiar rules apply directly to empowering the bond with a spirit familiar, including the limit that the bond powers must target the magus, spirit familiar or both.

Inscription on the Soul — Minor Mystery Virtue

Inscription on the Soul is a vainglorious title for an ability that encompasses the spirit only, for the immortal soul is of the Divine and beyond any influence of Magic: this is naught but a spirit talisman.

This Virtue lets the magus enchant his spirit or body as his talisman. A magus may only have one talisman at any given time, so any previous talisman must be destroyed.

Mystery Cults teaching Inscription on the Soul often make the Sacrifice of the previous talisman a Major Sacrifice for the Initiation Ritual. If the magus did not have a talisman beforehand, he has to make one so as to have a Sacrifice to offer.

The magus’s spirit and body are opened initially with 15 pawns of vis (as if “bone and flesh” and “huge” Size in the Material and Size table), requiring a Magic Theory score of 8. The special abilities of the Verditius Mystery do not apply to Inscription on the Soul, which has its roots in other ancient mysteries.

The vis is consumed during the Initiation ritual, and the maga must then immediately spend an undisturbed season completing the attunement as a talisman, or the vis and opening is lost and must be tried again. Once attuned as a talisman, the maga may reopen the enchantment in another season, and invest more vis to create further enchantment spaces, with no limit other than available time and the vis he may manipulate each season.

Enchantment and Magical Attunements

A magus gains the usual talisman bonus of +5 to Lab Total for enchantments to his talisman, for his close connection to the talisman.

In addition, his body and spirit qualify for effect expiry as if they would expire in 70 years — the Biblical threescore-and-ten (although, in fact, they will not expire until the magus dies, and sometimes not even then). As such, the enchantment excess (Lab Total – modified effect level) is doubled, as per the table on ArM5, page 99.

One of the functions of a talisman is the attunement of Shape and Material Bonus effects for spellcasting. As with any other talisman, the magus may use Shape and Material Bonuses, and may use any item incorporated into his body. The human body and spirit only support a limited number of effects, derived directly from his own shape and substance; for example: human bone, human skull (as listed in ArM5, page 110).

Magi are rarely satisfied with such a restricted range, and so have devised means to incorporate other elements into their bodies.

Hermetic Empowerment and Inscription on the Soul The Mystery of Hermetic Empowerment permits spirits to be enchanted into a magical device (including a talisman), and for the device to have and trigger Ritual Magic effects. It is possible to combine Hermetic Empowerment with this Virtue: instilling the Empowering Prison Mystery enchantment and binding a spirit into a maga’s body or spirit is so intimate and unnatural that it inflicts a Warping Point; triggering a Ritual effect is sufficiently powerful that it too inflicts a Warping Point.

Spirit Vs. Body Enchantments

Normally it makes no difference whether spirit or body is enchanted: an enchantment of either affects the other, just like the enchantments shared with a familiar.

If the difference matters, then assume the enchantment is of the spirit, unless the magus uses any Shape and Material Bonuses deriving from his physical body. If the magus uses Blending With Substance, this is also an enchantment of the body.

The difference between enchanting body and spirit does matter to the special rituals of the Mystery of the Living Ghost, detailed below. Magi who plan to become a Living Ghost should avoid enchanting their bodies, and remain pure and spirit-only.

Blending With Substance

This is an enchantment effect that permits the magus to take a small item and embed it within his flesh so as to incorporate it within his substance. Such an item can later be attuned for talisman bonuses. Not all items can be plausibly incorporated, but crystals, small objects, and some animal body parts can be. Some substances are also toxic, and the magus cannot use magic to tame the substance without losing its effectiveness — he can alter himself, although that leads to longterm warping. (Blending with Substance is similar to the Virtue Great Talisman; see Chapter 10: The Great Talisman.)

Distorting the body by incorporating foreign substances always inflicts a Warping Point on the magus. The method used is:

• Determine the highest bonus the item offers, for example a sapphire has three bonuses: +2, +2, and +3; a snake tongue has a +6 and +3 bonus.
• Total the highest bonus, and half the sum of any other bonuses, and multiply by 5 to get an effect level. (Sapphire is 5 x (3+(2+2)/2) = 25; snake tongue is 5 x (6+3/2) = 40; round up when dividing by 2, and then multiply by 5.
• The magus must enchant a Rego Vim effect with Muto, Corpus, and (Form of item) requisites, of the level calculated above.
• If the level of the effect has level 30 or above (a “high-power” effect), then the caster suffers a second separate Warping Point. He cannot negate this penalty by “designing the effect for himself,” as the effect is for the item incorporated.

Once he has incorporated the item into his body, he may attune any of its bonuses. He may attune one bonus in the first season of incorporation. Blending with Substance ties the enchantment to his Body as well as his spirit.

Talisman Connection

Although the normal benefits of being connected at Range: Personal and via an Arcane Connection and sharing Magic Resistance might seem moot for body and spirit, there is a similar benefit: If the magus’s spirit leaves his body by some means, then body and spirit remain connected as if at Personal Range, and both share the magus’s full magic resistance.

Magic Resistance of separated body and spirit varies, but typically the active magic and active resistance (Parma Magica) leaves with the spirit, and the body is protected by Form scores only.

The body and spirit also remain Arcane Connections to one another while separated. The link to the magus’ spirit, once established, cannot be severed by any known means, other than by death or Final Twilight. The enchantments in his spirit can only be removed by Disenchantment Ritual Magic; enchantments in his Body are also destroyed if the body is physically destroyed. Removal or destruction of the effects bound into his talisman can result in Twilight, insanity, or death.

Vulgar Alchemy and Blending With Substance Vulgar Alchemy (see Chapter 5: Hermetic Alchemy, Vulgar Alchemy) allows the magus to discover new Shape and Material items. However when first discovered, they only apply to Vulgar Alchemy enchantments of charged and lesser enchanted devices. To use such an item in Blending With Substance requires the magus to experiment further until he has incorporated the new item fully into Hermetic theory. (That is, when he is able to write a tractatus about the bonus item, according to the Vulgar Alchemy rules.) The Great or Consummate Talisman The magus does not benefit from the Minor Virtue Great Talisman (Chapter 10), as Blending With Substance already permits him to abuse his body in this way. He does benefit from the Major Virtue Consummate Talisman and may then instill Muto Vim effects and Names of Power into himself. If a magus wishes to Initiate Consummate Talisman, he does not need Great Talisman as a prerequisite if he has Inscription on the Soul. Consummate Talisman does not replace Inscription On The Soul in the way that it replaces Great Talisman; the Initiate gains no Ordeal bonus from having Inscription on the Soul. The magus can accept the required Ordeal of Deleterious Circumstance, but in practice need not worry about loss of his talisman.

Living Ghost — Major Hermetic Mystery Virtue

This terrible and mysterious rite teaches the secret of binding a willing magus’s spirit to an area (the Haunt) before death, and then ritually murdering him so as to allow him to become a free-willed ghost. Suicide is, of course, a mortal sin, and this rite has been suppressed and is regarded with horror by many sane magi.

Unlike many true ghosts, the Living Ghost retains his consciousness, abilities, and the ability to learn; however, some personality traits are modified or eliminated by the lack of a body (see Ghosts in Ars Magica, in this chapter).

Note also that one’s protection under the Code of Hermes nominally ends at death; while he may retain sympathy and friendship with his sodales, all Hermetic status and legal protections are immediately lost. However Living Ghosts are very rare, and the issue has never been tested at Tribunal.

The binding and ritual murder is a form of Mystery Ordeal, discovered as part of the Initiated Virtue Living Ghost. The transformation requires a long preparation, expressed in game terms by the invention and casting of Mystery Ritual Magic spells.

Preparing for the Transformation

The magus must invent versions of the Mystery spells Bind the Living Ghost and Transformation of the Living Ghost. The rituals are described in terms of Hermetic spells, but this is just to describe the process of working in the laboratory to prepare them — they are really timeconsuming preparations for the coming Ordeal of death. Each magus requires his own unique versions of these spells, and only magi Initiated into the Mystery of the Living Ghost can invent or cast the spells.

Bind the Living Ghost Cr(Pe/Re)Me(Co) (30 + area Size) R: Per, D: Special, T: varies, Mystery Ritual The magus’s Bind the Living Ghost Ritual defines his Haunt, the area his ghost is bound to, which provides a place of safety within which the ghost is immune to the call of death. This is the culmination of the Mystery, in which the magus dies, and his body crumbles away not even leaving dust — there must be nothing left to tie the magus to life, only his Haunt. The magus must increase the design target of the spell to one of the area Targets: Circle, Room, Structure, or Boundary, and may increase the Size beyond the basic Size. (Circle Target appears to offer an easy design level, but is very risky due to the number of rolls needed to scribe a circle correctly (see ArM5, page 112: Ring) and the ease with which the scribed circle may be broken. Boundary is the favored Target.) Note the number of levels used to increase the target size, as it is used in the design of Transformation of the Living Ghost. (Base 30, + magnitudes to increase area from Individual)

Example: Graculus is preparing to become a Living Ghost, and chooses a generous Haunt, an area about 1,000 paces across (Boundary +2 magnitudes). His Bind The Living Ghost Ritual will be level 60 (base 30 +30 to increase Size). The Haunt includes his laboratory and the tower in which he has lived and worked, and the area around it, limited by a low wall that the grogs build to his instruction.

Transformation of the Living Ghost= (Te)(Fo) Gen R: Per, D: Special, T: Ind, Mystery Ritual This is a unique transformation, specific to the individual magus. The spell uses his best Arts, and defines his power as a ghost. There is a transformation limit to the Might Score he may achieve, equal to his best Technique and Form combination, including Puissant Arts, and any applicable Magical Focus; e.g., self-transformation, death, or ghosts and corpses. Transformation Limit Best Technique And Form Combination The magus must also include levels in the spell design for the size of Haunt in his Bind the Living Ghost Ritual Size Levels Levels Added To Increase Target of Bind the Living Ghost

Example: Graculus’ best combination is Rego (28) Mentem (26). He has a Major Magical Focus in Necromancy (ghosts and corpses), so his maximum transformation limit is 28+(2 x 26) or 80. He chose a 1,000-pace area (Boundary +2 magnitudes) as his Haunt, which increases Bind the Living Ghost by 30 levels. He must dedicate 30 levels of his transformation limit to match the size of Haunt.

The base level of the Ritual (before additions for Size) determines the Living Ghost’s Might Score after transformation, but Might Score cannot exceed his transformation limit. In addition, the final level of the Ritual must be at least equal to the transformation limit.

Might Score

Ritual Spell Level – Size Levels

The Might Score is limited by the transformation limit. The Ritual spell level must equal or exceed the transformation limit.

Example: Graculus’ transformation limit is 80 so the final spell level must be at least 80: he plans a spell of exactly that level. (His ultimate limit is whatever he can devise with his Lab Total.) His Haunt requires 30 levels, so his Might Score will be (80 – 30) = 50.

His ritual is thus The Living Ghost, Rego Mentem 80, Pers, Mom, Boundary +2, and provides him with a Might of 50. He can expect an immortal existence as an extremely powerful spirit. Without the Magical Focus, he would have been much more limited and forced to trade Might for the size of Haunt.

A Living Ghost

To invoke the transformation, the magus casts Transformation of the Living Ghost to prepare the spirit to accept a Might Score, and then Bind The Living Ghost, which destroys the body and binds the spirit to the Haunt.

The magus only gets one chance to perform this Ordeal, as he dies whatever the result. If he succeeds, he gains Magic Might and becomes a ghost: an immortal, unaging spirit. (See Appendix A: Immortal Magi for descriptions and rules for immortals and immortal magi.)

Becoming a Living Ghost transforms the magus’s spirit into something more powerful and more flexible than the ghost of a dead person. Living Ghosts, as the name implies, are akin to the free spirits that roam Mythic Europe: They are fully aware of themselves and their situation, retain full memory and form new memories normally, and may learn and change (although their immortal nature makes this difficult). A Living Ghost has no more or less reason to continue its existence than a living being and cannot be laid to rest simply by completing a task, like a many simple, dead, ghost, as it has chosen immortality by these means and retains its will and purpose. It is, however, dependent on the continued link to its Haunt.

As detailed below (Ghosts in Ars Magica), ghosts retain all their characteristics except solidity. They are insubstantial to the real world but appear solid to other ghosts and insubstantial spirits.

The magus retains a link to his talisman, and may continue to enchant and improve it. If he used Inscription on the Soul to enchantment his spirit, then those enchantments continue, and he may continue to enchant the spirit directly. Otherwise he must protect and care for the physical talisman, and hide it carefully within the Haunt.

Ghosts in Ars Magica The following first appeared in Calebais: The Broken Covenant, but is repeated here as it is important to define ghosts properly. Many ghosts are dark, sinister souls, living tormented existences in the physical world without being able to affect it in any real way. They are often confused, sometimes violently insane, and may hate and fear the living or take pleasure in sharing their suffering. Others may be of good heart and only seek to put right what their passing made wrong, or have become ghosts because they lived too long in a magical aura. Ghosts are as individual as living beings, and each has its own distinct personality. The appearance of ghosts can vary, from seeming completely substantial, so real that they even feel solid, to simply a luminous haze in the air with only vague similarities to the human form. Most ghosts can become invisible at will, hidden except to those possessed of Second Sight or similar abilities, but only a few can come close to a state resembling solidity; most remain translucent and rippled, like a reflection in deep water. As they spend their Might Pool, they also lose their clarity, fading away completely when exhausted. Apart from coming to terms with their noncorporeal nature, ghosts cannot learn or change; they are trapped with the mindset and skills they when they died. They may be able to teach others some of what they knew, but the distance of the grave combined with the difficulty of maintaining their existence means that they tend to forget what they are doing very easily. Characters studying from a ghost must start over each day of study, reintroducing themselves every time. This is frustrating for the character and for the ghost, and should be more trouble than it is worth. Many ghosts do not realize they are dead, and refuse to believe those who say that they are. Only ghosts who accept their nature and have become used to their incorporeal forms can move through solid walls, ignore Fatigue penalties or wounds, or in any way act as if they were not living, breathing humans. For most ghosts, the physical world is as real as ever, except that people seem to play tricks on them or do not always see them. Ghosts are solid to one another, of course, and interact in all ways as if they were flesh and blood. For most ghosts, the physical world is as real as ever, except that people seem to play tricks on them or do not always see them. Ghostly magi can also cast spells, just as they did in life. These spells are not physical and cannot affect the physical world, but they are realistic illusions. A Perdo Corpus spell might cause a flash of pain, while a Creo Aquam spell might cause a powerful chill as ghostly waters rush past. However, Imaginem, Mentem, and Vim magics still affect the living normally, as can some Animal (animal minds) and Ignem (light) effects. Most ghosts have some sort of magical power to affect the physical world, even if it is only a mundane activity appropriate to their duties and desires in life. Ghostly magi typically have the power to make their spells “real,” affecting the living as if their spells were cast in flesh. These powers usually cost them some of their Might to activate, but they gain this back over time, and a day is typically sufficient to bring them back to full strength. If they lose all their Temporary Might Points, or are injured or killed by magic or other ghosts, they return after a day or so, as whole as before, with no memory of what happened. Permanently destroying a ghost is extremely difficult. However, every ghost has fetters that binds it to life. When the ghost deals with the tasks it left unfinished, or address whatever circumstances prevent it from passing on, it fades away forever. This should be a very rare occurrence, worthy of more than a simple declaration; the storyguide should describe the process in detail, portraying a vivid event. A ghost leaving the confines of the mortal world is an awe-inspiring event. Treat this scene with the reverence it deserves, and make it memorable. When they pass on, ghosts can leave raw vis behind. This vis is often as ghostly as they were, tied to a memento of the haunting, although there are magical ways to harvest this. A Muto Mentem spell with a physical requisite can make the item and the vis temporarily solid, and the vis will change with it. Rego Mentem can transport the ghostly objects, and Rego Vim can siphon the vis into some other container. Finally, even if they cannot move it, magi can always use ghostly vis simply by touching it.

Hazards of Becoming a Living Ghost If the magus enchanted his body, the enchantments are broken when his body is destroyed. If he had the Virtue Inscription on the Soul, and became his own talisman, he had the option to restrict himself to enchanting his spirit only. If he kept to this restriction, there is no problem in becoming a Living Ghost. If, however, he succumbed to the temptation to enchant his body as part of his talisman, then when he destroys his body the physical part of his talisman is shattered and those intimate enchantments and attunements broken; he gains 1 Warping Point for every bodyor item-linked attunement that is broken. This is one single Warping event so he must check for Twilight if he gains 2 or more points. Entering Twilight during the process of dying means that the Moment of the rituals will have already expired when he emerges, so when (if) he leaves Twilight, he will be dead but unbound, having failed the Ritual. If he avoids entering Twilight, then the Ritual bindings of the Mystery transform his spirit as it leaves the body and he becomes a Living Ghost. (See also Inscription on the Soul earlier in this chapter.)

Learning and the Immortal Spirit

As an immortal and unaging spirit, the spirit is now resistant to change, and so also resists attempts to study and learn. As the Living Ghost of a magus, he may circumvent this limit by enchanting his talisman as in Appendix A: Immortal Magi.

Familiars and the Living Ghost

If a magus have a spirit familiar, then it automatically stays with him, and requires no extra vis to do so, as it is already a free spirit.

Otherwise, his familiar faces a choice when he chooses the path of death: it may remain in life and lose the magus, or join him in living death by sharing the Ritual ordeal, provided the magus expends additional pawns of raw vis equal to the Familiar Bond Score/5 (round up). (The Mystery allows for this — see also Appendix A: Immortal Magi, Becoming Immortal with a Familiar.)

The Haunt

A Living Ghost depends on the continued existence of its Haunt; if the Haunt ceases to exist, the spirit is unbound and loses its integrity, becoming a normal ghost and eventually fading away. It is unwise therefore to use a Circle target unless the caster is very certain of its permanence — any break destroys its effectiveness.

A Room or Structure can be damaged and even fall into ruin, and yet remain as a Haunt; but if it is demolished and the site cleared, it ceases to exist. This is the reason why ghosts are so often seen during renovation and especially demolition work on old buildings; any changes made threaten their continued existence. It is also why one does not hear of ghosts apparently “walking in the air” on the upper stories of no–longer-existing buildings; when the building goes, so does the spirit. Ghosts do however often regard the environment as it was in their time, and show a fondness for walking through doors or gazing out of windows that have been subsequently bricked up! Despite this they are fully aware of the changes; it’s just that old habits die hard.

A Boundary is the most stable and long-lasting choice of Target. If the boundary of the place changes, the place may change but does not cease to exist; it may shift, contract, expand, or even merge with other places, but in most cases it takes extreme destruction to make a bounded area cease to exist. The ghost conventionally follows the floor level and environment of the new boundary, although it can, of course, pass insubstantially through walls.

Magic and the Living Ghost

Once the magus becomes a Living Ghost he has a Magic Might score as determined by the Ritual spell. He can spend and regain Might points like a normal ghost, including:

• Ghostly Body, 0 points, constant, Mentem: a Living Ghost is aware that he is a ghost, and can turn invisible at will, pass through walls, ignore physical attacks and fatigue or wound penalties, and otherwise take advantage of the spirit form.
• Ghostly Magic, 1 or more points, by Initiative, by spell: a Living Ghost can make a spell he casts affect the physical world, by spending 1 point of Temporary Might per magnitude of the effect.
• Ghostly Vis, 1 or more points (special), by Initiative, by spell: the Living Ghost can permanently expend points of Might Score, with each point equivalent to one pawn of raw vis.

As ghosts, they still have Fatigue levels even though they may ignore Fatigue penalties. Spellcasting, and spellcasting Virtues may still require expenditure of Fatigue and inflict Wounds, and Living Ghosts may be rendered unconscious (which causes the ghost to fade away until consciousness returns). Loss of all Might points also makes the ghost fade away temporarily.

Manipulating the World As a Ghost

Insubstantial beings cannot directly handle substantial objects, which hinders work in the laboratory and elsewhere. Magi preparing to become Living Ghosts typically prepare with spells and enchantments that help a ghost affect the world. Ghosts can use magic such as Rego Terram to move objects, or Rego Corpus to animate a body as a vehicle for the spirit. If the Living Ghost uses a Rego spell that allows willed control over a body, he may possess the body and use its senses too while the spell lasts.

They may also prepare enchanted devices that function at mental command (and so can be triggered without expenditure of Might).

The ghost can leave his Haunt if possessing a body. However, if the possession spell ends, or the ghost is otherwise forced from the body while outside the Haunt, he “dies” and becomes a non-living ghost. It may be difficult for outsiders to tell a non-living ghost from a Living Ghost, but he is now fixed and can no longer learn, and has a rigid, locked personality. (See above for descriptions of ghosts.)

The Living Ghost can work in a laboratory, provided he can manipulate objects in the lab (via spells or devices), and can use vis normally if in contact with it. In particular, he can invest further enchantments into his talisman.

Some magi are content to live out the years in their laboratory, discouraging any intervention from the outside world. Others find the urge to move around from their confines to be too much, and succumb to the temptation to bind their spirit into various corpses, and have been perhaps the source of various tales of “living dead” monsters.

Magi are also advised that Church exorcism of a possessed body can be frighteningly effective.

Possess the Living Host ReCo 30 R: Touch, D: Moon, T: Ind Allows a ghost to enter and take complete control of a body. While in control of the body, the possessing spirit may use the body’s senses. The spell does not control the mind of the possessed body, nor provide access to the skills or memories of the host, and if the possessing spirit is distracted and fails to direct the body, the living mind may attempt to control the body. The possessing spirit may use Mentem magics to read the host’s memories. When the spell ends, the host will remember all that has happened, unless Perdo Mentem magics are used to erase memories. A very similar spell, Possess the Deceased Host, allows the ghostly magus to possess a corpse and animate that. Charm Against Putrefaction, CrCo 10, is also recommended.

Re-enchanting the Spirit

The expenditure of Might Score to take the place of vis is powerful and useful, but leaves the ghost reduced in strength. However, it is possible to restore (or even increase) Might Score. To do so, the Living Ghost opens additional spaces in her talisman, but leaves them unused. Then she recasts her Transformation of the Living Ghost Ritual spell, and the unused spaces are used up, and converted to Might Score (capped by the Transformation ritual design).

Example: Graculus Defunctus found himself in a sticky situation, and used 15 points of Might Score as vis, reducing his Might Score from 50 to 35. His Haunt is a Boundary+2 magnitudes (1,000 paces across), so his Transformation of the Living Ghost Ritual provides him with a maximum Might Score of (level – 30) points. Fortunately, he prepared a powerful level 80 ritual before he died, so he can restore his Might to a maximum of 50.

He has a store of vis in the laboratory: he spends a season and opens another 12 spaces (12 pawns of vis) in his talisman (his spirit, as he has Inscription on the Soul), and then repeats his Transformation of the Living Ghost ritual, spending another 16 pawns of vis. His Might is restored to 35+12 = 47, still less than his maximum Might of 50. The 12 spaces in his talisman should be noted as used — they cannot now be instilled with effects (although Graculus can still open more spaces).

The magus can also create an improved Transformation of the Living Ghost ritual, if he can devise one and remember it — although it will take a considerable effort to keep such a powerful Ritual using the methods of binding it into his talisman.

The magus may then open more spaces and cast the improved Ritual to increase his Might Score above the original level. His Might Score is still limited by his best Technique and Form combination.

Editor's Note: This text includes errata.

Attribution

Attribution Based on the material for Ars Magica, ©1993-2024, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0"). Ars Magica Open License Logo ©2024 Trident, Inc. The Ars Magica Open License Logo, Ars Magica, and Mythic Europe are trademarks of Trident, Inc., and are used with permission. Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission.