Post by frankthetriviaman on Jul 16, 2018 12:47:57 GMT -5
Following the publication of the Eight Laws of Magic, inquiring minds asked Blake about something which seemed to counteract the fifth law of Magic: stories were told of souls that occasionally escaped from the afterlife, and came back to the land of the living. A small sect of critics argued that this flew in the face of the Fifth Law, but in Blake's subsequent manuscript, published in 1213, he explained how souls that escape do not truly come back to life.
......
(The following are selected excerpts from his manuscript On Souls, Ghosts, Immortality and Death)
When we talk about the human condition, it is often said that we have three parts: the mind, body and soul. All three are connected to one another and dependent on each other to maintain existence in life. So what happens when one dies? In death, the body ceases to function, and thus its bonds to the mind and soul are forever broken. The mind and soul, which are both expressions of and different aspects of the individual in life, become one as a spirit, though colloquially said spirit can also be referred to as a "soul" or "lost soul" because the term is technically, not inaccurate. Upon death, the spirit is unable to return to its body, for the body is now in a state of disrepair and incapable of function. The spirit is, therefore, forced to move on. Although some faiths argue reincarnation is possible, to date this has never been observed; no individuals have shown retention of memories of past lives, and by extension retention of skills, personalities, desires or wants from previous lives. So what becomes of the soul then? It moves on to the next life, which we call heaven, purgatory or hell. Hell is, of course, where the souls of the wicked go and are tortured for eternity for their sins, while heaven is where the souls of the good move on for everlasting peace. Purgatory is harder to describe, but it is known that souls which showed neither true evil or good nature go here before proceeding elsewhere... what happens remains a mystery.
But what of when the spirit fails to move on? It is at this point where the spirit becomes a ghost... a specter, a haunt, the terms are many, but we shall stick with ghost. The ghost is, for all intents and purposes, a soul that has become lost or something is holding it back, preventing it from moving on to the next life.
Many are afraid of ghosts, but in truth there is little to fear. Without a physical body they are incapable of interacting with the physical world around them. Which brings us to the issue at hand... possession. If a ghost possesses a human, has it returned to life?
In the simplest of terms, no. A soul cannot return to life in a body which is not its own. During a possession, the mind and soul of the host body become suppressed, but their bonds to the body are not broken. The possessing spirit is able to make new bonds to this new body, but they are weak and often incapable of real control in the sense of acting as if they are alive.
The common symptoms associated with possession... the pale skin, change in eye color, convulsions, etc. are a side effect of the foreign soul trying to maintain control over the host body. But because its bonds are weak compared to the bonds to the body when it was alive, the spirit in question needs to put in effort to maintain some level of control over the host.
Some spirits have shown some... improved control, to a point where they were capable of basic actions and controlling a body normally, but these conditions often deteriorated in a matter of days, due, again, to the weak bonds the possessing spirit has to the body.
Exorcism of the foreign spirit is the most effective means of removal, though it should also be noted that, after a prolonged period of time, the spirit will weaken and leave the body of its own accord, because it has reached a point where it has become so weak, it can no longer maintain its bonds to the host body.
The Spirit type colormen are unique among magic users, being the only ones capable of practicing spells that are able to assist spirits in moving onto the afterlife. Since our establishing, they have had great success in helping lost souls move on.
So what is "death" itself then? It is the combination of the following: the body stops functioning, the soul and mind become one as a spirit, and the spirit moves on to the afterlife.
Because magic is incapable of repairing the bonds between soul and body, magic cannot bring the dead back to life. Hence, the Fifth Law of Magic remains valid, even in the case of ghosts and possessions.
......
But then what of immortality? The ability to live indefinitely is desired among some, and fewer still find ways to achieve it... but is it worth the cost?
When one becomes immortal, the bonds between body and soul are strengthened 1000 fold. The person in question stops aging at that point, and can no longer die of old age or "natural causes" that plague everyone else. However... the cost of immortality is quite great.
Recall the bonds between body, mind and soul that were mentioned in the prior chapters. Whereas death is the weakening of these bonds, immortality is the strengthening of these bonds, where the soul and body become one.
Immortality, it should be noted, does not mean "incapable of dying" though. While it is true, that death by old age, death by the natural causes and death by most diseases are prevented, immortality does not prevent death by the blade or arrow.
Immortality is dependent on the body maintaining a state of good health; meaning that it must remain intact and functional. Tales are told of sorcerers who did figure out immortality, and lived substantially longer than the normal human. However, they did end up dying anyway; being slain by weapons of war, or diseases that not even immortality can prevent.
Immortality is not the "cure to death" but rather, it prevents most forms of death. Although some healing magic can repair a great deal of trauma to a human body, there are some places where not even magic can help. Decapitations, removal of the heart, or even total destruction of the body by burning... none of these immortality protects against.
So then, what is the cost of immortality? Put simply, unlike the mortal, whose souls move onto the afterlife, when the immortal die, it is the end. For you see, by binding the soul to the body, the death of the body also guarantees the death of the mind and soul. There is no afterlife for the immortal, for in trying to obtain eternal life, they have denied themselves it.
It is believed that this is the reason, based on our encounters with immortal beings, we have noticed a trend where, when they know they are defeated or realize they are about to die, they plea for mercy or try to escape. When they are cornered, they do what they can to escape death... because they know death is the end for them, in more ways than one.
In principle, removing one's immortality could relax the bonds between body and soul to their natural state and allow the user's spirit to move onto the next life. However, since this is yet to be observed, for now it is pure speculation.
......
(The following are selected excerpts from his manuscript On Souls, Ghosts, Immortality and Death)
When we talk about the human condition, it is often said that we have three parts: the mind, body and soul. All three are connected to one another and dependent on each other to maintain existence in life. So what happens when one dies? In death, the body ceases to function, and thus its bonds to the mind and soul are forever broken. The mind and soul, which are both expressions of and different aspects of the individual in life, become one as a spirit, though colloquially said spirit can also be referred to as a "soul" or "lost soul" because the term is technically, not inaccurate. Upon death, the spirit is unable to return to its body, for the body is now in a state of disrepair and incapable of function. The spirit is, therefore, forced to move on. Although some faiths argue reincarnation is possible, to date this has never been observed; no individuals have shown retention of memories of past lives, and by extension retention of skills, personalities, desires or wants from previous lives. So what becomes of the soul then? It moves on to the next life, which we call heaven, purgatory or hell. Hell is, of course, where the souls of the wicked go and are tortured for eternity for their sins, while heaven is where the souls of the good move on for everlasting peace. Purgatory is harder to describe, but it is known that souls which showed neither true evil or good nature go here before proceeding elsewhere... what happens remains a mystery.
But what of when the spirit fails to move on? It is at this point where the spirit becomes a ghost... a specter, a haunt, the terms are many, but we shall stick with ghost. The ghost is, for all intents and purposes, a soul that has become lost or something is holding it back, preventing it from moving on to the next life.
Many are afraid of ghosts, but in truth there is little to fear. Without a physical body they are incapable of interacting with the physical world around them. Which brings us to the issue at hand... possession. If a ghost possesses a human, has it returned to life?
In the simplest of terms, no. A soul cannot return to life in a body which is not its own. During a possession, the mind and soul of the host body become suppressed, but their bonds to the body are not broken. The possessing spirit is able to make new bonds to this new body, but they are weak and often incapable of real control in the sense of acting as if they are alive.
The common symptoms associated with possession... the pale skin, change in eye color, convulsions, etc. are a side effect of the foreign soul trying to maintain control over the host body. But because its bonds are weak compared to the bonds to the body when it was alive, the spirit in question needs to put in effort to maintain some level of control over the host.
Some spirits have shown some... improved control, to a point where they were capable of basic actions and controlling a body normally, but these conditions often deteriorated in a matter of days, due, again, to the weak bonds the possessing spirit has to the body.
Exorcism of the foreign spirit is the most effective means of removal, though it should also be noted that, after a prolonged period of time, the spirit will weaken and leave the body of its own accord, because it has reached a point where it has become so weak, it can no longer maintain its bonds to the host body.
The Spirit type colormen are unique among magic users, being the only ones capable of practicing spells that are able to assist spirits in moving onto the afterlife. Since our establishing, they have had great success in helping lost souls move on.
So what is "death" itself then? It is the combination of the following: the body stops functioning, the soul and mind become one as a spirit, and the spirit moves on to the afterlife.
Because magic is incapable of repairing the bonds between soul and body, magic cannot bring the dead back to life. Hence, the Fifth Law of Magic remains valid, even in the case of ghosts and possessions.
......
But then what of immortality? The ability to live indefinitely is desired among some, and fewer still find ways to achieve it... but is it worth the cost?
When one becomes immortal, the bonds between body and soul are strengthened 1000 fold. The person in question stops aging at that point, and can no longer die of old age or "natural causes" that plague everyone else. However... the cost of immortality is quite great.
Recall the bonds between body, mind and soul that were mentioned in the prior chapters. Whereas death is the weakening of these bonds, immortality is the strengthening of these bonds, where the soul and body become one.
Immortality, it should be noted, does not mean "incapable of dying" though. While it is true, that death by old age, death by the natural causes and death by most diseases are prevented, immortality does not prevent death by the blade or arrow.
Immortality is dependent on the body maintaining a state of good health; meaning that it must remain intact and functional. Tales are told of sorcerers who did figure out immortality, and lived substantially longer than the normal human. However, they did end up dying anyway; being slain by weapons of war, or diseases that not even immortality can prevent.
Immortality is not the "cure to death" but rather, it prevents most forms of death. Although some healing magic can repair a great deal of trauma to a human body, there are some places where not even magic can help. Decapitations, removal of the heart, or even total destruction of the body by burning... none of these immortality protects against.
So then, what is the cost of immortality? Put simply, unlike the mortal, whose souls move onto the afterlife, when the immortal die, it is the end. For you see, by binding the soul to the body, the death of the body also guarantees the death of the mind and soul. There is no afterlife for the immortal, for in trying to obtain eternal life, they have denied themselves it.
It is believed that this is the reason, based on our encounters with immortal beings, we have noticed a trend where, when they know they are defeated or realize they are about to die, they plea for mercy or try to escape. When they are cornered, they do what they can to escape death... because they know death is the end for them, in more ways than one.
In principle, removing one's immortality could relax the bonds between body and soul to their natural state and allow the user's spirit to move onto the next life. However, since this is yet to be observed, for now it is pure speculation.