Research and thoughts
I've been putting a lot of research into the Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Canaanite cultures, partly to keep my mind active, partly because this is the cradle of the world, all religion began there. It's where a lot of the Christian mythos, as well as every other major mythos, got its beginnings...to understand somethings history gives you a better understanding of that thing.
So what better way to start to fully research high magic than to research who these entities were before they became who they are identified as now? I've come up with a whole lot of interesting theories and a whole lot more questions. (And for those of you that are interested in this aspect, a much better understanding of the whole world of darkness...)
What I've come up with so far is: Almost everything that was ever worshiped as a God was once a man. Take Marduk for example, one of the first kings of Babylon, eventually elevated to status as a major God, mainly of Justice, destroyer of Chaos, and Storms. While what is known of the king aspect is really little more than rumor and speculation, I'd have to guess that he was a fair (if bloody) ruler, and either was born during a storm or had a stormy temperament (or perhaps both).
Then there's the Greek Medusa. Who, by the way, wasn't actually Greek in origin, but rather African. Specifically she was at one point a Libyan Amazon queen, now elevated to the status of a demi God, along with Perseus who is now thought to have gone to end her tyrannical rule. Then of course, look at Jesu...I really don't think I need to go any further than that.
So what? Well, it seems that all Gods (and angels, and demons) were once men (or women if you'd prefer) that did something to become legend. Which goes a long way to explain why they behave as they do. So what does that have to do with high magic? Well, in researching these things, I've noticed that the formula for Invoking/Evoking the 'demons' that mainly harken back to that place and time period, the formula for Invoking/Evoking 'angelics' (who also mostly seem to stem back to that place and time) seem to be pretty close, with a few minor adjustments, mostly to how their symbols are inscribed, the specific calls to produce a specific entity. Following that logic, they're essentially the same thing (which supports the whole 'used to be human' theory).
The only thing I can't get past is the whole, what came first, the chicken or the egg (people or Gods). For some reason I keep coming back to is "and the world rested on the back of an elephant, which stood on a turtle, which stood on another turtle...ect.
Perhaps I should step away from it for a while and concentrate on learning more about the culture to see why certain entities evolved and stayed around to implant themselves into the newer religions while others seemed to fade away. Perhaps that may offer a clue.
So what better way to start to fully research high magic than to research who these entities were before they became who they are identified as now? I've come up with a whole lot of interesting theories and a whole lot more questions. (And for those of you that are interested in this aspect, a much better understanding of the whole world of darkness...)
What I've come up with so far is: Almost everything that was ever worshiped as a God was once a man. Take Marduk for example, one of the first kings of Babylon, eventually elevated to status as a major God, mainly of Justice, destroyer of Chaos, and Storms. While what is known of the king aspect is really little more than rumor and speculation, I'd have to guess that he was a fair (if bloody) ruler, and either was born during a storm or had a stormy temperament (or perhaps both).
Then there's the Greek Medusa. Who, by the way, wasn't actually Greek in origin, but rather African. Specifically she was at one point a Libyan Amazon queen, now elevated to the status of a demi God, along with Perseus who is now thought to have gone to end her tyrannical rule. Then of course, look at Jesu...I really don't think I need to go any further than that.
So what? Well, it seems that all Gods (and angels, and demons) were once men (or women if you'd prefer) that did something to become legend. Which goes a long way to explain why they behave as they do. So what does that have to do with high magic? Well, in researching these things, I've noticed that the formula for Invoking/Evoking the 'demons' that mainly harken back to that place and time period, the formula for Invoking/Evoking 'angelics' (who also mostly seem to stem back to that place and time) seem to be pretty close, with a few minor adjustments, mostly to how their symbols are inscribed, the specific calls to produce a specific entity. Following that logic, they're essentially the same thing (which supports the whole 'used to be human' theory).
The only thing I can't get past is the whole, what came first, the chicken or the egg (people or Gods). For some reason I keep coming back to is "and the world rested on the back of an elephant, which stood on a turtle, which stood on another turtle...ect.
Perhaps I should step away from it for a while and concentrate on learning more about the culture to see why certain entities evolved and stayed around to implant themselves into the newer religions while others seemed to fade away. Perhaps that may offer a clue.