Difference between revisions of "Sorcery"

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===Natural materials===
 
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Materials used in rituals are for example mercury-salt{{Fn|1c}} or crystalline antimony-powder{{Fn|24b}}. The [[Inquisiton]] uses silver mined on [[Terra]] to forge weapons against servants of Chaos.{{Fn|29a}} It is cast by blind silversmiths and kissed by blind psykers which are then sacrificed to the Golden Throne.{{Fn|51a}} If splinters of this silver enter the body of a servant of Chaos, he is as good as dead: They cannot be removed, neither by surgery nor psychically, because any psychic influence just slips off of them. And any time you try to remove them, they slip closer to the heart of the victim. Only scarification of the surrounding tissue can even slow them down.{{Fn|33b}} [[Pyraline]] and [[Epidotrichite]] are tele-empathic crystals that are used in the [[Imperium]] for the construction of [[Force Weapons]], however they are not resilient enough for a permanent use. Iron, iron-alloys and [[Electrum]] are also used in Force Weapons.{{Fn|43c}} [[Serebite]] is in itself an inactive mineral{{Fn|52}} but it has been used for such outstanding constructs as [[Tenebrae 9-50]]{{Fn|52}} and a copy of a cadian pylon{{Fn|43d}}. [[Psicurium]] is used in the construction of imperial prisons for [[psyker]]s.{{Fn|23c}}
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Materials used in rituals are for example mercury-salt{{Fn|1c}} or crystalline antimony-powder{{Fn|24b}}. The [[Inquisition]] uses silver mined on [[Terra]] to forge weapons against servants of Chaos.{{Fn|29a}} It is cast by blind silversmiths and kissed by blind psykers which are then sacrificed to the Golden Throne.{{Fn|51a}} If splinters of this silver enter the body of a servant of Chaos, he is as good as dead: They cannot be removed, neither by surgery nor psychically, because any psychic influence just slips off of them. And any time you try to remove them, they slip closer to the heart of the victim. Only scarification of the surrounding tissue can even slow them down.{{Fn|33b}} [[Pyraline]] and [[Epidotrichite]] are tele-empathic crystals that are used in the [[Imperium]] for the construction of [[Force Weapons]], however they are not resilient enough for a permanent use. Iron, iron-alloys and [[Electrum]] are also used in Force Weapons.{{Fn|43c}} [[Serebite]] is in itself an inactive mineral{{Fn|52}} but it has been used for such outstanding constructs as [[Tenebrae 9-50]]{{Fn|52}} and a copy of a cadian pylon{{Fn|43d}}. [[Psicurium]] is used in the construction of imperial prisons for [[psyker]]s.{{Fn|23c}}
  
 
The core of an imperial [[Warp]]-drive is a large black rock, covered in multiple protective layers into which runes of the [[Mechanicum]] are etched and inlaid with metal, enmeshing the rock in layers of shapes and lines.{{Fn|2a}}<br>
 
The core of an imperial [[Warp]]-drive is a large black rock, covered in multiple protective layers into which runes of the [[Mechanicum]] are etched and inlaid with metal, enmeshing the rock in layers of shapes and lines.{{Fn|2a}}<br>

Revision as of 16:42, 7 September 2025

This article is an overview on the topic of Sorcery and its basic principles and mechanisms.

For related articles, see: Psyker, Chaos Sorcerer, Warp, List of psychic powers

Introduction

In the Imperium, Sorcerer is a catch-all term for unregistered Psykers, especially for Mutants with psychic abilities.[1a] For followers of Chaos, a Sorcerer is simply someone who uses the powers of the Warp, be it by psychic powers, rituals or occult knowledge.[1b]

There is no hard distinction between the psychic powers of a Psyker and sorcery by other means.[1c] Similarly, there seems to be no hard distinction between sorcery and technological applications of the Warp. For example, the schematics of imperial Warp-drives and imperial Gellar Field-generators have eerie similarities to arcane constructs used in sorcery.[2a][3]

Indeed it seems that controlling the warp via the use of seals and runes is deeply ingrained into human warp-technology, yet this connection to sorcery is deliberately denied and ignored as superstition.30a

Some claim that Sorcery is nothing more than a difficult and barely understood science.[1b] And indeed it can be learned and honed through practice and advice.[4a] However, this is ultimately a dangerous self-delusion: Sorcery is based on the Warp and the Warp is unreliable and malicious.[1b] The most basic and crude applications of Sorcery, e.g. telekinesis, require only relatively little practice and teaching. Powerful and precise applications require the use of rituals or the combination of several disciplines.[4a]

Warp and Realspace are connected: One is the reflection of the other and vice versa. What happens in one, influences the other.[5a] A living being consists of two components: A material body, but also an immaterial essence, which some call soul, residing in the Immaterium, the Warp.[6a]

In some local cultures, the use of certain materials and practices associated with Sorcery is nothing more than tradition and superstition. The Imperium regards these people as Heretics anyways.[7a]

Sanctioned psykers of the Imperium are trained with the teachings of the Scholastica Psykana, though this is no homogeneous institution but consists of several schools of training and particular teachings can vary from school to school.[8a][9a]

Divination is a very difficult discipline. It requires subtlety, patience, an intelligent mind, and a belief in oneself as well into what is being divined. It is far too easy to jump to obvious interpretations of a portent. Instead there are multiple layers of meaning and they need to be unearthed one by one to arrive at the true answer.[10a] There seems to be two categories of divination: One kind of methods reveals practical information on real-life events, isolated snippets of facts of sometimes shocking accuracy, yet without a context that would put these snippets into perspective.[10a]11a The other kind of methods, which includes for example cartomancy like the Imperial Tarot, works opposite: It uses overarching archetypes and metaphors to reveal an abstract story that tells the big picture and the deeper meaning, yet without hard facts as to whom or to what or to where this story precisely refers to.[10a][10b]

Terminology

  • The Body of Light is a Sorcerer's consciousness as it travels separated from the body through the Warp.[5a]
  • The expression "Inner Eye" refers to psychic perception. It is used by the Thousand Sons.[5b][5c]
  • imagines is the term for images, pictures and patterns with symbolic meaning and power that resonate in the Warp.[12a]
  • imago is the term for a life-like projection of the sorcerer to a location. However this projection shows an idealized version and does e.g. not include stains and dirt on the person and cannot touch or be touched.[62a]

List of Sorcerous Tomes

Name Affiliation Number of copies Contents Source
Book of Empty Promises Chaos (Pilgrims of Hayte multiple used by the cult Pilgrims of Hayte, sometimes styled to look like an imperial prayer-book; contains valuable information on daemonology and the Pilgrims of Hayte, as well as several rituals for the summoning and binding of daemons; has a strong psychic corrupting influence on the mind of the reader [1d]
Book of Lorgar Chaos (Word Bearers) multiple contains knowledge on the nature of the universe, as dictated to Lorgar by the Chaos-Gods; the Book of Lorgar has at least 9752 volumes and is continually being expanded and copied [13a]
Book of Magnus Chaos (Thousand Sons) contains every single thought and deed of Magnus during the Great Crusade [5d][5e]
Codex Atrox Imperium (Inquisition?) esoteric topics, including a woodcut-image and a description of a Propylaeum Tripartite; access to this book is restricted [14a]
Eris Transform Imperium (Heretics) multiple describes the ritual of the imperial philosophy of Ateanism to unveil an artwork's inner beauty, in truth the ritual is a dangerous ritual of Slaanesh [1e]
Folio Diabolicus Chaos multiple on the summoning of and dealing with daemons, procedures for creating a daemonhost, many sorcerous spells; has a strong psychic corrupting influence on the mind of the reader [15a]
Grimoire of True Names Imperium (Ordo Malleus) multiple accounts of the true names and activities of daemons in the Calixis-Sector; the text is convoluted and the reports are hard to decipher [16a]
Hurian's Third Text Chaos?, Inquisition? detailed description of a ritual to summon a Flamer of Tzeentch [17a]
Libellus Appello Chaos (various Cults) unique on the concept of the true name of daemons as well as how to find these names via astrology; written in an obscure tongue and difficult to translate; as of 815.M41 confiscated by the Inquisition [15b]
Liber Pestilentia Chaos on the topic of Nurgle and his daemons [17b]
Malus Codicium Chaos unique, destroyed in 385.M41 contains several spells and rituals, images of powerful runes, how to summon a daemon, how to create a daemonhost; has a strong but subtle psychic corrupting influence on the mind of the reader [7b][7c][7d][7e]
Necroteuch Chaos two copies, both destroyed in 240.M41 rumor has it that the content is incredibly powerful knowledge; the book has an extremely strong corrupting aura, affecting everything around it [18a][18b][18c]
Occultus ad Oculos Chaos multiple detailed description on the nature of the warp, warp-creatures and mutation; detailed procedures how to create a daemonhost; has a strong psychic corrupting influence on the mind of the reader [15a]
On the Confinement of Aetheric Forces Imperium (Inquisition) how to imprison daemons [15c]
The Ochre Book Imperium (Inquisition?) esoteric topics, including a description of a Propylaeum Tripartite; access to this book is restricted [14a]
Tome of Ammicus Tole Chaos (Hereteks) multiple, though most owners possess only fragments; complete copies are extremely rare contains mostly heretical ramblings, though hidden in the text are instructions for sorcerous rituals and schematics for several heretic tech-devices [17c]
Ur-Saker Imperium (Heretics, Cults) multiple explains how to enhance your mind via methodical use of psychotropic drugs, e.g. the drug Yellode; the book is proscribed by the inquisition [19]

Sorcery via mind

Belief

Ask me not to define faith, for faith is that which defies definition. It is that which, when everything around you collapses and is proven a lie, remains, pure, intact, pristine.
+++ Confessor Millay +++ [20a]

From religious belief, psychic phenomena can manifest.[21a] The Warp reacts to emotions, both positive and negative. It reacts to panic, fear and confusion, but it also reacts to hope and focus of mind.[22a] For example, prayers and symbols of the Emperor can be weapons against creatures of the Warp and Psykers.[21a][21b][21c]

These abilities cannot be forced or searched out. You can only find them by purity of heart and spirit, by total devotion, for example to the God-Emperor.[21a] With the Gods of Chaos, it is the knowledge of their existence and the belief in them being gods that gives them substance and power. This is why the Emperor tried to keep Chaos away from mankind by keeping their existence a secret.[23a]

Not all magical talismans have a sorcerous effect. Some are no more than mundane objects. However, a person's belief in their power can unleash potent psychic effects anyways.[5f] For example, the fenrisian fetishes and talismans of the Space Wolves are not psychically active by themselves, but the belief of the Space Wolves in their warding power creates a protective psychic shield against effects of the Warp.[5f] For example, her belief and an Aquila-medaillon protected Euphrati Keeler against a Daemon.[24a] Likewise, the insane priest Hershel Dronicus sent a Daemon into retreat armed with nothing more than his belief, an aquila-icon, and litanies of devotion to the Emperor.[7b]

With Orks, there is the phenomenon that Ork-technology only works when used by an Ork. And red paint does indeed make Ork-vehicles faster.[25a]

There are instances known, when religious belief brought broken devices back into function. For example when Abrehem Locke shot an Eldar with a defective Plasmapistol.[26a] Or when the energy-field of the Crozius of Chaplain Elysius suddenly started working again despite the battery being dead.[27a][27b]

Mental patterns

Spells similar to psychic powers can be produced via the Sorcerer creating certain mental patterns in his mind.[5g] For example, these can be geometric patterns.[5g] On a fundamental level, the mind creates a pattern of willpower, belief, emotion and symbolism and this allows access to the powers of the Warp.[28a]
With sufficient practice, it is possible the prepare these patterns and formulas in your mind and to store them there for an upcoming fight[29a], or to use them to pump psychic energy into a ritual[29b] or to use them as a component of a ritual in itself[29c].

The mere existence of certain knowledge in your mind can already be a psychic signal in the Warp. There is knowledge, stories and mental constructs whose simple presence in a mind already attracts Daemons from the Warp and allows them to enter. Examples are the Dreaming Dead[17e] and the Conceit[17f].

Some rituals of Chaos are based on using Drugs and ritual chanting to create a mental state of trance, to allow the forces of Chaos to enter from the Warp through these minds into Realspace.[1c] The chanting of astropathic choirs serves the same purpose: The words themselves are meaningless but they provide a mantra to help Astropaths focus their minds.[10c]

Sorcery via Symbology

Metaphysical concepts

When attempting to influence the Warp, symbolism is absolutely crucial.[4b]

When fighting Daemons, archaic, primitive weapons are more effective than technologically modern weapons. Weapons such as fists, spears and blades symbolize violence and they can kill a Daemon where modern weapons merely wound it.[30b] Chainswords and Chainaxes are more effective in battle against Daemons than Boltguns.[31a]

Rituals of Chaos need to depict the aspect of the Chaos-God they call upon.[1c] The number Eight also has great significance in rituals of Chaos.[14b]

The Warp reacts to pain and suffering: Most rituals of Chaos involve suffering, because this creates the necessary psychic energy.[1c] For example, the Book of Lorgar contains a ritual of Chaos for intercepting astropathic messages. In this ritual, an Astropath is mutilated and possessed by a daemon. After several tries, it turned out that suffering is the crucial fuel of this ritual: Servants of Chaos who volunteered for this role to be mutilated and possessed burned out much faster than unwilling victims.[32a]

The Warp reacts to an act of sacrifice: The more the loss of the sacrifice pains the one sacrificing, the better. For example, this can be the loss of a powerful and appreciated servant.[33a][34a]

The Warp reacts to betrayal: Betraying a person who trusted you completely is a very powerful ingredient in a ritual.[13b]

Sacrifice and betrayal can be combined: A sufficiently large betrayal, where you send your own army and your closest servants to their deaths, can be strong enough to trigger a warpstorm.[33a]

For example, for his ascension to Daemon Prince, Maloq Kartho first committed a mass-murder of civilians[35a][35b], then he engineered the destruction of an allied Word Bearers-army at the hands of the Ultramarines[35c], then he destroyed his own army of Word Bearers and Cultists from the inside[35d], and then he betrayed his fellow Word Bearer warlord who accompanied him, broke his mind and turned him into a Chaos Spawn[35e].

The Warp reacts to intelligence and consciousness: Aspects like sacrifice and suffering for example also work with animals, but the effect is profoundly stronger when intelligent beings are involved. It is the presence of intelligence that allows for true innocence, for true sacrifice, for true horror.[36a]

The concept of a deal with a daemon is rooted in the symbolic power of a contract. A contract with a daemon is not merely some document or promise: Declaring a deal with a daemon, the intention, the wish, creates a connection in the warp between the parties.[30c]

The Imperial Tarot is a deck of cards with symbols and images specifically designed by the Emperor. These symbols and images represent non-verbal concepts and cosmic archetypes, which allows for interaction with the Warp on a fundamental level. The Imperial Tarot is used for divination.[10b] The Warp influences the cards, the way they look and the sequence in which they are drawn and placed in patterns, and this allows for the divination.[10d] However there is a common misunderstanding to the interpretation of the Imperial Tarot: The images do not refer to real-life persons, places or events in an individual and literal fashion. Instead these symbols represent the entirety of a story, of an archetype or of a metaphor.[10b]
The Aeldari use a similar method, except they use small carved rune-stones of Wraithbone, with the rune symbolizing an archetype or metaphor. The rune-stones are telekinetically levitated and allowed to arrange into a pattern by themselves. The relationships between the metaphors are then a miniature-version of events in the macro-cosm. This set of archetypes and metaphors originated in mythological and philosophical concepts of the very earliest days of the Aeldari-race.[59a] They are different from the archetypes used in the Imperial Tarot. Some of these archetypes are: the rune of anarchy/disorder/entropy[59a], the rune of the weaver[59a] (which can represent Tzeentch[59c]), the rune of the Dark Ones[59a], the rune of the World Spirit[59a], the Soul-Drinker[59a], salvation[59a][60a], sun[59a], moon[59a], the scorpion[59a], the Warlock[59b], the Harlequin[59b], vengeance[59c], vision[60a], domination[60a], pleasure/pain[60a], generosity/stinginess[60a] ...
Even though any use of sorcerous or psychic tools or abilities is outlawed among the Dark Eldar on pain of severe punishments, some still dare dabble in these arts. However, sooner or later all of these find a gruesome end as these arts attract daemons when Dark Eldar use them. Among these Dark Eldar, the method of divination is to scatter these rune-stones on the ground and to interpret how they are oriented with respect to each other and as a whole. The ground on which the rune-stones are cast is divided into sections, with each having its own meaning, such as "desire", "enemy" and "bloodline" (which may represent an alliance), which adds to the interpretation depending on in which section a rune comes to rest. The meaning of a rune is inverted if it is upside-down.[60a]

Spells and Prayers

Music and spoken words carry power. For example, there are Aeldari melodies which, once heard by a human, cannot be forgotten and slowly but inevitably drive him insane.[37a]

Names carry a special kind of power in the Warp.[37a] Knowing the True Name of a person, gives you a certain psychic power over that person.[38a] The name Eloeholth Palidius carries power that you will forget it again if you merely hear it spoken.[37a] The name of Nurgle can cause nausea and insanity, and if written down, it sets paper on fire.[39a] Daemons are uncomfortable speaking the name of the Emperor, Emperor. That's why they refuse to refer to him that way and use other names.[40a]

However the concept of names is more complicated: It is not simply the words in itself that carry this power. By themselves they are ordinary and meaningless. It is the act of speaking them with meaning that gives them meaning und thus power in the warp. For example, the name of the Dark King in itself is merely these words. However when spoken with the intention and meaning to refer to the Chaos God The Dark King, the words suddenly take on a disturbing power.23b

Prayers to the God-Emperor can also be a potent weapon against Daemons. Daemons are repelled by prayers and if spoken with enough belief and fervour they can send lesser daemons into retreat.[41a] The Grey Knights use prayers whose psychic emanations, combined with the religious belief of the Grey Knights, are painful for Daemons and repel them. However, given enough time, Daemons can find a way through this psychic shield.[42a] Even the widely known and seemingly innocent prayer Emperor's Prayer of Abrogation Against the Warp can be a weapon against Chaos.[43a]

Written words also carry power in sorcery. The Inquisition sanctifies Boltgun-shells for battle against Chaos by engraving them with holy verses.[29a] The symbols and letters drawn on inquisitorial Seraph-Arco-Flagellants create a psychic warding for them to fend off psychic attacks.[29a]

The language Enuncia is capable of changing reality itself, via spoken word alone, allegedly by influencing the warp. Its origins are unknown and only the tiniest of fragments are known.[44b]

Shapes, Actions, Runes and Wards

There are also sorcerous runes to influence the warp that have nothing to do with Chaos.[37b]

The hexagram is a rune of warding.[4b] For example, it is possible to have hexagrammatic runes of protection tattooed into your scalp. They protect against telepathic attacks, however only for a few seconds to minutes. Afterwards the protection collapses, the tattoos catch fire and turn into bleeding wounds.[14c] Forming the gesture of a hexagram with your fingers can hold back a Daemon for a few seconds.[44a]

Librarians of the Raven Guard know how to use runes to insulate a room against the Warp and against psychic effects coming inside.[45a]
Iron Priests of the Space Wolves know protective runes how to preemptively protect a machine against Scrapcode-infection.[46a][46b]
The Stormseers of the White Scars know runes to ward off daemons as well as runes that enhance the power of their own weather-sorcery.[30d]

A blade covered in pentagrammatic runes can seriously wound a Daemon and contact is painful to a Daemon. However not simply any kind of blade is useful for this: The blade can still be destroyed in battle if it is simply of inferior quality.[43b]

There are several runes of banishment to banish Daemons. However they only work if used correctly in a ritual. Simply drawn on a piece of paper, they do not banish but have nevertheless a painful and repelling effect on Daemons.[7d]

A Chaos-ritual to have a Daemon possess a body may include the "rune of voiding". It is a complicated symbol that needs to be painted on the chest of the host-body. It removes the soul from the body, so the Daemon can slip inside.[7f]

When combining multiple runes, it is possible to create so-called "bind runes". They draw on the power of the Warp to infuse attributes like strength, health or resilience into an object or person.[5h] Rune Priests of the Space Wolves are known to use bind runes.[5h]
The daemonic creature Spear once used a combination of runes in a very particular fashion: It used runes to draw a message line by line, in such a way that the text when looked at as a whole looked like the eight-pointed star of Chaos. This arrangement of symbols in its entirety functioned like a psychic homing-signal for servants of Chaos.[47a]

Destroying engraved runes to remove their effect is no simple task. Sometimes it is not enough to simply destroy them, but they need to be ritually removed by hand with a blade while spells and litanies of defiling are recited.[22b]

Casting stones engraved with runes can be used to read the future.[5h]

Gestures are used in sorcery. The spell Symbol of Thothmes, a warding spell that insulates against technological and psychic espionage, is enacted with complicated gesture.[5i][5j] Superstition in imperial culture has it that there is a gesture to ward off witches and evil spirits: Laying your fist onto your chest and spreading off your index-finger and pinky-finger. It is unknown whether this actually works.[48a]

Inquisitor Thrax got himself possessed by a Daemon when he retraced with his finger a complicated pattern engraved into a desk that had been the personal desk of a servant of Chaos.[49a]

This use of spells and gestures is universal for all sorcerers: Weirdboyz have their own grunted spells and Librarians use certain gestures. It is by these marks of the trade that those dabbling in the Warp recognize each other via mere look.[50a]

Sorcery via materials

Natural materials

Materials used in rituals are for example mercury-salt[1c] or crystalline antimony-powder[24b]. The Inquisition uses silver mined on Terra to forge weapons against servants of Chaos.[29a] It is cast by blind silversmiths and kissed by blind psykers which are then sacrificed to the Golden Throne.[51a] If splinters of this silver enter the body of a servant of Chaos, he is as good as dead: They cannot be removed, neither by surgery nor psychically, because any psychic influence just slips off of them. And any time you try to remove them, they slip closer to the heart of the victim. Only scarification of the surrounding tissue can even slow them down.[33b] Pyraline and Epidotrichite are tele-empathic crystals that are used in the Imperium for the construction of Force Weapons, however they are not resilient enough for a permanent use. Iron, iron-alloys and Electrum are also used in Force Weapons.[43c] Serebite is in itself an inactive mineral[52] but it has been used for such outstanding constructs as Tenebrae 9-50[52] and a copy of a cadian pylon[43d]. Psicurium is used in the construction of imperial prisons for psykers.[23c]

The core of an imperial Warp-drive is a large black rock, covered in multiple protective layers into which runes of the Mechanicum are etched and inlaid with metal, enmeshing the rock in layers of shapes and lines.[2a]
An imperial Gellarfield-generator is a black pillar of Obsidian into which small patterns are carved. The pillar is wrapped in cables and Purity Seals.[3]

Artificial materials

Blood is a special substance, as it connects the sorcerer and the person sacrificed. This is the reason why very many spells and rituals contain the use of blood.[32b] Blood is for example used in rituals of Chaos.[32b] The loyalist Mortificators Space Marine Chapter use blood for their own kind of sorcery: Their Chaplains conduct rituals with their own blood to communicate with their deceased Chapter-brothers.[53a][53b]

What need I incantations or words? Word magic is poor man's sorcery; it is flesh magic that is strong. Flesh powers ye, blood sustains ye and I bind thee.[54]
+++ quote by: The Slaughterman[54] +++
The word of men is valueless. Blood is the only thing that speaks true. Come closer.[55a]
+++ quote by: Moriana[55a] +++

Other similar substances of relevance in sorcery are: children's blood[4b], blood from the umbilical cord [7a], tears of a virgin[4b], widow's tears[1c], hair from the head of an executed murderer[7a], human finger-bones[7a] ...

Priests of Khorne know how to read glimpses of the future from a dead body: From the way it is curled up, how its blood pools on the ground, from the angles of the blades, the loops of its entrails and the last expression on its face.[11a] Servants of Nurgle similarly know how to read the future from a deceased one's entrails.[6b] And this skill can also be found among Sorcerers of the Word Bearers.[56a] However this method has its limitations: These portents are very specific to individuals and places, but they lack a bigger picture[56a] and even if read correctly they can still be misinterpreted[11a][11b]. For example, the priests of Khorne on the Daemon-World Drakaasi rejoiced when they predicted a slaughter the likes this world had never seen before, and they thought that this refered to the upcoming gladiatorial festivities in the honour of Khorne.[11a] However, the portents actually refered to the civil war that erupted during the festivities: An apocalyptic planet-wide war of all followers of Khorne against each other.[11b]
There are many more methods of divination, for example involving fire, smoke, the lines on ones hand, minerals, the shapes of words...[10a]

The drugs Lacrymata[57], Farcosia[37b][37c] and Spook[8b] are known to enhance psychic abilities, though at a price to health.

For some applications, materials are required which have previously been touched by the Warp. For example, they can be manufactured via alchemistic transmutation from the bodies of daemons and psykers, which are dissolved in plasma and then passed through hexagrammaticaly protected filters.[4b] Another example is the rock of the Lith on Cinchare.[43c] Soulgrinders can only be produced from the metal of destroyed daemon engines or Chaos Titans.[58a]

Arcane Artifacts and Rituals

To manipulate the Warp in a profound and powerful manner requires the combination of various sorcerous disciplines, e.g. into a ritual.[4a] Ritual is a generic term for a wide variety of ceremonies, rites or occult formulae by which the warp can be manipulated.[15c] Some of these "rituals" to manipulate the warp are more akin to a technology.[15c]

For example, the binding geometry with which to imprison a daemon can be crafted from blood and bones, however the precise angles of the pattern as well as the symbolic meaning of the materials are of crucial importance. Due diligence here is a matter of live and death.[15c]

Psykers often use a so-called focus to help them focus their psychic powers. These are typically a small item and can be made from a variety of materials and take on a variety of shapes, such as a sacred bone, carved wood or a blessed icon.[8c]

There are some basic rules for rituals of Chaos: The more power is there to be gained, the more elaborate and the more difficult the ritual is. More sacrifices are required, more rare sacrifices are required, the ritual must happen at a specific time or place and the likes.[1c]

A Logos Daemonis is a construct of rods, spindles and similar metallic objects, arranged into a very specific and complicated geometric shape. The object is psychically completely inactive until the very last part is added, then it opens a portal to the warp.[17d]

A Propylaeum Tripartite is an arcane construct of divination. A question must be presented to the Propylaeum Tripartite in a ritual. It then sends the user on an odyssey through space and time to places that reveal glimpses of information.[14a]

The Prognosticaon is a heretek device used for divination, that requires a bloody ritual of Chaos to use. The schematics can be found in the Tome of Ammicus Tole.[15d]

The Hech'ell Deportation is a rite to banish a daemon. There are several but this one is considered one of the more reliable ones. However it still depends on conditions such as the right time and the right place. The Hech'ell Deportation is known among Heretics but seemingly not the Inquisition.[14c]

These things can also happen by coincidence. A Regia Occulta is a pathway or tunnel through the Warp that connects two locations. It forms by coincidence, when a certain combination of shapes, materials andsoforth happen to coincide. For example, on the planet Ignix there was a Regia Occulta that opened when a movable bridge was in a certain position during a specific local weather-phenomenon. There is no known method how to permanently undo a Regia Occulta, except preventing the circumstances that lead to it opening.[61]

Trivia

The depiction of sorcery and magic in Warhammer 40,000, several of the concepts as well as some of the vocabulary, is heavily inspired by the occult traditions of Renaissance-era Europe. For example, the concept of Warp and Realspace beeing mirrors of each other is similar to the hermetic concept "As above, so below", refering to a connection between our natural world and a hidden supernatural realm. The use of symbolic images ("imagines") for magic can be found in the works of Giulio Camillo and Marsilio Ficino, whereas the concept of doing magic by imagining geometric patterns in your mind is more reminescent of concepts developed by Ramon Llull or the famous heretic Giordano Bruno. Ahzek Ahriman's use of a memory-palace as a mental tool to enhance his memory is also a typical personal quirk/hobby that was in fashion among occult scholars during Renaissance-era Europe. For the interested reader, further information on occult topics can be found in literature e.g. "Spiritual and Demonic Magic: From Ficino to Campanella" by Daniel Pickering Walker and The Art of Memory by Dame Frances Amelia Yates.

Sources

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