[UA] UA Queries

[Epoch]

On Wed, 14 Mar 2001, Gareth Hanrahan wrote:

> > - Is the reason that the CotNG are pornomancers and not WECHBY Avatars the
> fact
> > that they don't model themselves on the NG, emulate her archetype, etc.?
> Pity,
> > because "Create Desire" would be a nice way to create that frustrated
> envy. Has
> > a writeup of the WECHBY appeared anywhere? What about other schools of
> magick
> > based on archetype worship through channels other than avatarhood?
> 
> Pornomancy is...odd. I'm beginning to think that it's a short-term fad,
> powered mainly by the residual magickal energy of the NG's ascension.

Feh.  Sex magic, a short term fad?  Nonsense and other comments.

Here's my take on it, and I, of course, am always right.  ;P

Remember that while the WECHBY and the NG are often thought of as being
interchangeable, they aren't.  The WECHBY is the archetype, the NG is the
first person to fill that archetype.  Like anyone who Ascends into the
Invisible Clergy, the NG put her own "spin" on the archetype (the fact
that the archetype didn't exist before the NG tends to obscure the fact
that she's /not/ purely and only the WECHBY -- she does have individual
personality and "spin.").  In particular, the spin that the NG put on the
WECHBY was the whole pornographic films angle.  Porno films are perhaps
the most ritualized form of sex-for-power in the modern day -- they're
the perfect juncture for modern sex magic to manage to get its fingers
into reality.  The NG's ascension, oncamera, onset, inextricably tied her
to those porno films, which is why modern sex magic is so inextricably
tied to the NG.

But it's /not/ inextricably tied to the WECHBY, and that's the basis for
both the difference between pornomancy and WECHBY avatarism and why
pornomancy could survive (albeit in an latered form) without the NG.

Let's take a hypothetical case in which someone kicked the NG out of the
Clergy and put their own spin on the WECHBY, say a more subtle one that
didn't involve such explicit sexuality.

At that point, the tie between the NG and Pornomancy, which was cemented
by her status as an Clergymember, falls apart.  Pornomancy devolves into a
more generic form of sex magic, that doesn't involve mimicking the NG, but
doesn't go away.  (The charge creation might involve, I dunno, making your
partner orgasm without, yourself, orgasming, or something).

Obviously, at this point, there's some major similarities between WECHBY
avatarism and Pornomancy, such that we've been told that many Pornomancers
are WECHBY avatars.  My feeling on this is that it's great for the NG,
because a pornomancy Avatar can never kick her out of the slot.  Kicking
someone out of a clergy slot involves having a personal spin on the slot
that's more in line with the modern Zeitgeist than the previous
occupant.  If you're busily recreating the life of the NG, participating
in the kind of magic that She created, I would claim that you /can't/
unseat her, you can only imitate her.

The more conspiracy-minded might point to this as evidence that the NG's
Ascension was planned or stage-managed by a very occult-savy person.

Oh, and finally, I point out the difference between Pornomancy and WECHBY
avatarism:  Avatarism is a way of life.  You've got to be in it every
day.  You do not, however, have to mimic particular actions of the
Clergymember.  Pornomancy is worship.  You perform ritual actions of
devotion, but you don't have to try to act like the NG during your
off-time.  While the two things are similar enough that there can be a lot
of crossover, they're distinct enough that a Pornomancer doesn't /have/ to
be a WECHBY avatar.

At least, I hope there are a couple of good ideas in there.

Mike


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