Tag Archives: Book of the Dead

Book of the Dead: Catacombs

The Book of the Dead explains the nature of Church magic in the Enchanters of Sye world.

Sciomancers Perform Ritualistic Spells to Maintain the Ghosts in the Catacombs

catacombs [kat uh kohmz] noun, c.800, ME catacomb < OE catacumbe < L catacumbās < G katakýmbās, hollow, cup; also Under Church or ghost hall.

Physical: Underground stone-lined enclosures
Magic Type: Church/Piety
Spell Group: Incorporeal Matters
Restrictions on Physical and Magical Construction: Priest only construction, Sciomancer only maintenance; all other secular, Magic Guild, and Enchanter magicians disallowed. Only Sciomancer magic may bind a ghost to the corporeal world using a relic.
Ghost Magic: Secular magicians, Magic Guild, and Enchanters may summon a catacomb ghost provided the magic does not confine the spirit.

Sciomancers Light Candles to Warm the Ghosts

Catacombs are underground hallways, alcoves, and tunnels beneath Church buildings that house receptacles for ghost relics.

To build a catacomb, three Priests combine their magical power and draw on the pooled enchantments of an above ground Church building. The town’s Priest tends the structure spells afterwards.

Sciomancers furnish the catacomb hallways and alcoves with candle niches, metal name markers, and locked drawers to hold ghost relics. They support a favorable ghost environment by tending the upkeep of the catacombs, performing ritualistic spells, and lighting candles to warm the spirits.

Visitors Leave Dishes of Magic-rippling Water For the Ghosts

Church followers visit the catacombs, leave small remembrances in the niches, and recite spells to encourage the ghosts to stay in the corporeal realm instead of journeying to the Fields of Yalu.

The gifts are usually flowers or plants, dishes of magic-rippling water, or tiny wind chimes on a stand that have a small spell to make the bells sound.

Explore Sye ghost care and meet a valued catacomb ghost in these blog posts:

Read more about ghost amulets, the Book of the Dead, and how ghosts help a magical charms maker hide a dangerous spell book in these Enchanters of Sye stories:

Book of the Dead: Marriage Ring Spells

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The Book of the Dead explains the nature of Church magic in the Enchanters of Sye world.

Priests Weave Marriage Ring Binding Spells

marriage ring [mar ij ring] noun, c.1400; Anglo-Fr marier to marry < ME marriage; c.900; Ger ringen < ONor hringja < OE hringan < ME ringen; also love rings

Physical: Metal charm consisting of 4 finger rings, no stone settings
Magic Type: Church/Binding
Spell Group: Corporeal Matters
Restrictions on Physical and Magical Construction: Priest only; all other secular, Magic Guild, and Enchanter magicians disallowed

Marriage rings are magical jewelry worn by couples to show fidelity, to bind their magic, and create a Church-approved family unit. Only a Priest may create the rings and weave the binding spells on the couple’s marriage day.

Marriage Rings Bind Their Magic

Each partner wears two rings. The first ring accesses the wearer’s magic, and the second binds them to their partner’s magic. Marriage rings contain the following three spells: Abiding Love, Fidelity, and Wander.

Abiding Love is the first spell, and it is the fundamental enchantment a Church Priest puts on a couple’s rings on their marriage day. This spell magically joins the rings, and the couple, using their Life Echo threads. When a spouse dies and passes to the Fields of Yalu, the Abiding Love Spell returns the dead spouse’s rings to the survivor, and terminates the couple’s magical binding.

Abiding Love Spell Joins the Couple Using Their Life Echo Threads

The second enchantment on marriage rings is the Fidelity spell. It detects when spouses have been unfaithful. Disloyalty includes sharing physical intimacies and exchanging magical essence with a non-spouse. Unfaithfulness requires immediate magical intervention to correct the moral failure.

One caveat exists for the Fidelity spell. The Church allows a married petitioner to exchange essence kisses with an Enchanter during the Enchanter Consent test. If either spouse has an Enchanter-approved Consent ranking, the Magic Guild requires partners to sign waivers. This waiver allows the partners to continue taking magical essence from non-Church sources. The Enchanter Consent awardee must also wear a patch on their trades uniform tunic that shows their special magical status.

The third, called the Wander spell, senses when a spouse has lost love for their partner. Same as for unfaithfulness, waning love requires immediate magical intervention by a Church Priest to adjust the marriage rings’ enchantments.

Explore Sye’s history of Enchanter, Church, and secular magic in the Necronomicon Enchanter book:

Find out more about Sye’s Church magic in another entry from The Book of the Dead:

“Book of the Dead: Ghost Amulet“

Read how Lanith uses marriage ring spells to find her kidnapped husband in these Enchanters of Sye stories:

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Tredan’s Bane

Book of the Dead: Ghost Amulet

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The Book of the Dead explains the nature of Church magic in the Enchanters of Sye world.

A Spirit Inside of a Ghost Amulet

ghost amulet [gōst amyələt] noun, c.900, OE gāst < ME goost; c.1550 amalettys < L amuletum; also spirit fetish or periapt.

Physical: Charm, midsize
Magic: Church/Piety
Spell Group: Incorporeal Matters
Restrictions on Physical Construction: Secular, Magic Guild, and Enchanter magic allowed
Ghost Magic: Sciomancer or Priest summons only; Secular and Magic Guild disallowed due to safety; Enchanters disallowed per agreement

A ghost amulet is a charm no larger than a woman’s fist. Its purpose is to house willing incorporeal beings (“ghosts”) who wish to stay in the Sye physical realm under shelter of Church magic. Ghost amulets are portable magical items and can be worn if the carrier has specific spells for protection from the ghost. A typical ghost amulet has a gold metal casing etched with beautiful spells.

Last Year’s Winner in the Magic Guild’s Contest for Best Bubble World Inside of a Ghost Amulet

The inside of ghost amulets are much larger than the outside. Amulet interiors range from simple single rooms to intricately furnished multi-chamber homes. The best ghost amulet makers create small “bubble worlds” that include landscapes, sunlight, and weather.

Summoning and manipulating ghosts is a Church Sciomancer magical specialty. Secular magicians and Magic Guild are forbidden to manipulate ghosts because of the danger to the magician. According to agreed-upon magical segregation, Enchanters do not practice ghost manipulation. However, only Enchanter Grandmasters have enough magical power to send (and retrieve) living visitors to the Fields of Yalu.

Explore Sye ghost care and meet a celebrated Sciomancer ghost in these blog posts:

Read more about ghost amulets, the Book of the Dead, and how ghosts help a magical charms maker hide a dangerous spell book in these Enchanters of Sye stories:

Afterlife and Crypt Magic

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Tredan’s Bane explores the magical politics between two rival factions: the Enchanters and the Churchies.

In Sye, magical power has been formally split between the two camps. Enchanters create magical essence that all persons (and many creatures, such as dragonettes) need for survival. The Church magicians see to the matters of moral living, marriage magic, orphans, hospitals, ghosts, and the afterlife.

A Ghost’s Garden in the Fields of Yalu

The Fields of Yalu

In the fantasy world of Wrath and Tredan’s Bane, powerful wizards can visit the afterlife (called The Fields of Yalu), interact with the dead, and return intact to the living world of Sye. Marriage partners with a strong loving bond may unintentionally pull their willing spouse with them into the afterlife, especially if one of them dies traumatically.

The Fields of Yalu is a bright and beautiful city, but filled with perils for the living. The ghosts surround their homes with lush gardens, but no creatures inhabit the Fields of Yalu. A vast stony desert filled with puzzling gravel paths surround the city of the dead, and all paths lead to its borders. Tredan’s Bane describes one of the few ways to return.

Sciomancers Tend the Homes of the Dead in Sye’s Old Burial Yards

Ghosts and Sciomancers

The Church’s speciality magicians for crypt and ghost spells are Sciomancers. They can call ghosts at will and bind them to prepared niches in the catacombs, or hold them in bewitched amulets.

The Sciomancers, along with a town’s Priest, make sure that the deceased’s crypts are properly attended in the sprawling Burial Yards. Just like the gardens that surround the homes of the dead in the Fields of Yalu, lavish crypts huddle in the rich forests and manicured lawns of Sye’s Burial Yards. The oldest crypts fade from Sye and reappear in the Fields of Yalu. Enchanters returning from the city of the dead describe endless green hills filled with the dead’s relocated crypt homes.

Book of the Dead

Book of the Dead

Another Sciomancer magical talent is transcribing copies of the Book of the Dead–it is a tome containing poems, songs, and advice for the deceased in the Fields of Yalu. The book also has guidance for the living person on proper magical and moral conduct–this will keep their soul undammed for the Hall of Two Judgements.

Avoiding magical temptation is the biggest struggle. Enchanters, with their delicious-tasting magical essence that no one can survive without, are tempters and the greatest threat (according to the Church magicians) to a person’s soul.