Sublime Gates

The **Sublime Gates** philosophy was the existing school of thought predating the Three Estates of the Universe to describe the animus and the physics of magic. The Botiac Clerics believed that magic came from a deeper understanding of the world, achieved through vivid introspection and learning—specifically, learning according to the divine paths of Alomus. They believed that all men were from birth infused with magical ability, and through individual examination (with sacred intent in mind) could unlock their talents and refine them.

The Clerics believed that mana was centered and generated in core locations (called *gates*) throughout their physical bodies, connected by meridians, and errors in spellcasting were explained as imbalances in the soul.

There are seven gates, each located in a part of the body and corresponding to a set of opposing emotions.

## Beholder [Paul]

After the Stoning of Solemn, [Paul], one of the Eight Beholders and a former Botiac Cleric who had converted to Solemn's faith and joined in the Oracle's Vigil, renovated his Batian education to explain Stephedist morality.

In the context of their philosophy, the Batians explained their Promatlean counterparts as being corrupted by the their inhibitions (the essence of black magic: illusion, lies, grief, shame, fear) and thus inclined to the corresponding sins.

* **Gate** – our nature.
* **Inhibition** – our nature confronted with reality, the world around us. The reality spoken of by [Paul] is Mortality, the inevitability that we will die. Death in Esshianism is a result of Mankind's exile to the Temporal Lands, the living plane, and that only in death can one's soul return to Destiny.
* **Sin** – our nature succumbing to corruption, the instinctual response of extremism when overwhelmed by inhibition.
* **Virtue** – the ideal to which our natures should aspire to if we are to resist corruption and be true to our natures.

Below is the list of [Paul]'s connections explained.

1. Gluttony is the uncontrolled consumption of worldly pleasures; decadence of all things to avoid the inevitable detachment from life. Thought is neglected, and the soul is hushed. In void, seek temperance, and understanding will absolve you.
2. We are brilliant, driven beings with the power of reason. In life, we are confronted by deceptions made by our own misunderstanding. At our cores, we are inhibited by ignorance and corrupted by pride. In hubris, seek humility, and understanding will absolve you.
3. Reason obligates our consciences to observe the truth. It is our resistance to truth that drives us to deny it and corrupt it, and only in our spite and our envy do we conspire against others and manipulate the most sacred of God's gifts: Truth. Respect the dignity of your neighbor and be honest, for in seeking kindness, understanding will absolve you.
4. At our center is the Heart, which is hollow when corrupted. Grief is a wasting plague that empties from the inside out, and we compensate this void by accumulating and amassing. But it is in giving, not greed, that restores wholeness, for it honors our heart at its truest nature. When we seek charity, understanding will absolve you.
5. We are inspired and creative beings, powerful and conscious to create. But when our experiments fail, we are corrupted by embarrassment and shame, and indolence discourages the wanton mind from acting on itself. It is only in industry that we are whole, and when we seek diligence, understanding will absolve you.
6. PLEASURE / LUST
7. Survival, our most basic instinct, is substantiated by Fear, which comes from our confrontations with the dangers of the world and its mystery. When we are our most afraid, our most primal instinct can become corrupt and extreme so that we resort to destruction so that we ourselves are not destroyed. Our fury climbs from our base like a hungry fire, enkindling all other senses of reason and consuming the whole in wrath, which is the complete rejection of self. In fear, seek patience, and understanding will absolve you.

## Modern usage

Today, the Sublime Gates have been renamed to foci, junctions of meridian lines in the animus.

## Trivia

* Inspired by Indian chakras and chakra pathways in Hindu spirituality.