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In Darkness Dreaming: A Brief History and Overview of Shadow Mag
ic
By: Caleb Norwill Date: May 24, 2015, 3:33 pm
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In Darkness Dreaming: A Brief History and Overview of Shadow
Magic
May XX
LUXUS: Journal of Religious Studies
Explorer’s League Publications
[hr]
Shadow magic has always been present in the Church of the Holy
Light and assuming otherwise is a mark of how stigmatized it is.
All holy magic has its equal in the Shadow, but the way Shadow
magic is used and perceived is completely different depending on
the culture from whence it comes. In this issue of Luxus, I am
aware that the brilliant Kal'dorei scholar Shan'do Aelyenna
Skywhisper has submitted her thesis on the shadow magic as a
closer way to Elune. Thus, I will not be addressing the shadow
magic in the religious practices of the Night Elves, for I am
less qualified than Skywhsiper by far. Nonetheless, I will
attempt to outline the basic history of Shadow magic within the
human church of the Holy Light, the uses of Shadow Magic, and
its role in modern day society.
History
There is an off-repeated quote; "with the shadow, there could be
no light. Without light, there could be no shadow," and it holds
true for the entirety of the Shadow's historical applications.
The Church of the Holy Light was founded sometime prior to the
First War, but it had not yet reached the militarized
conglomerate that it is today. It is unclear from the documents
we have whether or not the clerics - the lay priests of the
First War- were aware of the Shadow as either a tool or as an
oppositional force.
However, it is clear that there was an interest in the Shadow
after the crushing defeat of the Kingdom of Stormwind following
the sack of the capital. Exposure to the Orc forces, in
particular their necolytes and death Knights, resulted in an
awareness of the Shadow as a tool. It also seems possible that
because of the animosity of the First War, and the fact that
Shadow was wielded by the hated, triumphant, enemy ; shadow
magic was demonized because it was seen to be used extensively
by an enemy, an enemy that sacked Stormwind; the third greatest
human city in The Eastern Kingdoms at the time.
Nonetheless, we are lucky to have the documents of Bishop
Natalie Selin. Although she has been called the Black Bishop, or
the Black Bishop of Lordaeron- she was not the Archbishop of
Lordaeron and the title is misleading. In actuality, she was the
Bishop of the Wetlands area, with a large bishophood in the
towns around the as of yet unconstructed Menethil Harbor. Selin
preached extensively that balance must be preserved between
Light and shadow , and that in moderation, both Light and shadow
were responsible for maintaining order in the cosmology of the
universe. She believed that all acolytes of the growing Church
of the Holy Light should study the shadow - but her preaching
fell on deaf ears. She was excommunicated, and then executed by
the command of the Archbishop of Tirisfal.
Her books were locked away by the Kirin Tor, who saw them as
dangerous, given Selin's obsession.
This did not stop the study and use of the Shadow, however. The
Second War saw greater militarization of the Church of the Holy
Light and with it, less tolerance for the Shadow. Following
Selin's death, a precedence was set: "one should not suffer the
shadow to live". Alonsus Faol, who by this point was the
Archbishop of Tirisfal, historically called the Paladins to
their sacred duty, and established the Knights of the Silver
Hand. Their sacred mission, beyond simply defense and basic
military, also included the destruction of anything or anyone
allied with Shadow magic.
The Cult of the Damned made use of shadow magic extensively in
addition to arcane and fel magic; and is perhaps the first
non-Orc group to utilize the shadow. Led by the necromancer
Kel'thuzad, they enjoyed relative obscurity until the dawn of
the Third War. Although unlikely, there is a narrative tradition
in certain parts of the remaining Northern human settlements
that Prince Arthas Menethil was corrupted by shadow magic which
gives credence to his actions at Stratholme. Regardless of
whether Prince Arthas was corrupted by shadow from the beginning
or not, the growing Scourge owed much of its effectiveness to
the Shadow.
After the forsaken were freed from Arthas's control, they held,
and continue to hold, the Undercity of Lordaeron. Selin's
writings were uncovered : she had thrown the few writings that
had not been confiscated before her execution down the drain of
her prison cell. When the forsaken found them, they resonated
with the teachings, given that their beloved light had left them
behind. From this came the Cult of Forgotten Shadow-- which has
adherents even amongst the living.
Practices
The Cult of the Forgotten Shadow lists three virtues, similar to
the Cathedral of Light's three virtues, which are taught to
budding Paladins and priests. The tenets of Light are: Respect,
Tenacity, and Compassion- always taught in that order. The Cult
of Forgotten shadow alters them to form the following tenets:
Respect Tenacity and Power. Although there is a belief amongst
the uninitiated that this is somehow more inherent wicked than
the Light's virtues, a close examination of the virtue of Power
must proceed.
Power is not ambition. For the forsaken, understanding this
virtue was a way of self empowerment. They had to believe that
despite their former enslavement to Prince Arthas, they had
something in them that was a source of power. The Shadow have
hen the ability to believe that they had an agency that had
previously been robbed from them. If anything, this aspect of
divine humanism is an excellent explanation for all the other
aspects of the Shadow. Where the Light looks outward, and
attempts to show compassion to the outside world - Shadow looks
inward to find the power inside of them, and within others.
This brings our discussion of the shadow's practices to three
major uses of the shadow within human culture - elves have
distinct cultural practices that are very different. The three
major uses of the shadow are: healing, use as a weapon, and
illusion.
Healing
Healing with the shadow is different than healing with the
Light- namely because it does not effect the living positively.
Undead and other creatures of shadow benefit from having
shadow-specific healing effects. Historically healing with the
shadow was the domain exclusively of the Scourge and other
Necromancers taking care of their undead, and this largely
remains the use of Shadow. The Ebon Blade maintains a retinue of
Necromancers to take care of their Knights, but the number has
shrunk dramatically from where it was when The Ebon Blade was
part of the Scourge.
Unlike the Light, healing with shadow is generally very painful
and risky for the patient, as "over healing" - a common practice
amongst priests and Paladins - can prove to overload the
delicate balance of shadow magic in an undead's system and cause
structural instability over time. Nonetheless, it remains the
only energy efficient way to heal undead, as Druidic magic is
slow and unwieldy, and the Light does more harm than good. As
well, since shadow magic is so heavily individualized, the
healers' shadow magic can often interact badly with the patients
original magic (which, if undead, is what animated it). This an
result in increased structural problems or at best; reduces
healing.
As a Weapon
The shadow's most infamous use is as a weapon against the living
and dead alike. Fighting with shadow magic plays off of its
arcane properties, but like all Shadow magic, is based upon
heavily internalized principles. Thus, no too shadow casters
magic are the same. However, the harmful school of shadow magic
can be divided into two distinct types: Holy-influence and
Arcane- Influence.
Holy influenced shadow magic plays off of the traditional ways
that the light is used as a weapon. This involves the summoning
of guardians, striking things with "solid" shadow as per the
paladin-trained technique of summoning a spiritual hammer. This
also includes burst of shadow in waves, which hinder the enemy.
This is most commonly found in practitioners who found their way
to the shadow through the Church, and have had training with the
Light as well as the shadow. Members of the Cult of the
Forgotten shadow are likely to practice their craft in this way.
Arcane influenced shadow magic manifests more similarly to
traditional "magic": creating shadowy tendrils to trap or slow,
bolts of shadow magic that come in arcs, the ability to blur
ones form defensively. Most Mage techniques have a shadow
equivalent of some kind, and it is supposed that these teachings
were passed down through exiles of the Kirin Tor, or more
sinisterly, developed by warlock's who wished to use fel magic
without binding themselves to a demon. The Cult of the Damned,
in addition to their more traditional necromancer, practiced
this form of arcane magic: perfected by the lich Kel'thuzad.
Illusion
Illusion is the most difficult to understand aspect of the
shadow's properties. The best way to describe it is to explain
some principles that it accepts as truth, before discussing how
it alters those principles.
Firstly, there is a general belief that every person in their
unconscious mind has a place they dwell within. This is the
intermediary space between waking and dreaming, and serves as a
collection space for all of an individual's important memories.
This space is known popularly as a "mindscape", and usually
appears as an organized way for a person to store their
experiences; though how it is organized is dependent on the
person.
Secondly, the mindscape is mutable but not fluid. It takes a
great amount of effort to change the mindscape within somebody
as it represents the core of a person. Thus, the mindscape can
never be completely changed. But the principle of illusion works
because of alterations to the mindscape. It is about
intrinsically convincing a person that something is real, and
the easiest way to do that is to plant the seed in their
mindscape, where it can flourish and they'll believe the idea
was their own to begin with.
This can apply to things as simple as convincing a person that
an apple is actually a pear, or things far more complicated such
as removing a person's memory and replacing it with something
else. The only limit to an illusion's power is that it cannot
change the core of a person's identity, and a person will not
take overtly suicidal actions; unless that was part of who they
were prior to the illusion.
The mindscape can be fortified against illusions through the
skills of another shadow caster, or another mentalist, trained
in handling the esoteric principle of mindscapes. However,
people who have a strong sense of self identity and are very
certain in their beliefs are less susceptible to illusionary
influence. The people most at risk to illusionary suggestion are
the ones with a weak identity, and with confused principles.
Major illusionary changes "scar"'the mindscape and make it more
susceptible to further influences.
Conclusions
Ultimately, all aspects of the Shadow are considered
antithetical to the Church of the Holy Light, and are even
shunned in less judgemental, arcane environments. It is still
not unusual for a priest found to be using shadow magic to be
excommunicated from the Church, or even executed as a heathen.
However, that is not to say that the Church is not changing.
Certain branches of the Stormwind-centered Church of the Holy
Light are becoming more tolerant towards the shadow - whereas
others, in response have become increasingly paranoid about
Shadow casters within their ranks — both seem to be efforts to
consolidate the faithful following Benedictus’ break with he
church. Both have had varying effects and success within the
modern Church’s structure, but it remains to be seen what the
longterm effect will be. Although the Shadow has a variety of
applications, not all of which are harmful, its history and
somewhat repellent mentality-influencing capabilities have
resulted in a stigamatized power that is regarded as “evil” by
the Church, despite its growth out of shared religious
tradition.
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