A Turn of the Card (Part I)

Sample Material from Keys to the Supernal Tarot
Posted: 2008-11-13

The latest supplement for Mage: The Awakening hit the shelves just after Halloween and we wanted to give you a glimpse inside the pages, a new tool for adding artifacts, rotes, legacies and other elements to your ongoing chronicle.

Key X — The Wheel of Fortune
The Wheel of Fortune has changed form in the Tarot many times over the years, and its interpretation likewise varies. Common to most readings of the card, however, is the notion that fate can change on a dime, and that one’s luck is the province of factors quite beyond human understanding. Not surprisingly, the Wheel is often thought to mean that all of the vicissitudes of the human experience are ultimately meaningless, because the physical world must turn to dust and fall away eventually anyway (the follow-up lesson here, of course, is that only through God, or at least spiritual pursuits, can true happiness, salvation or self-actualization be found).

Another interpretation is that everything moves in cycles. What has been will be once again, and what is now shall be gone soon. This plays into the questions of destiny and reincarnation, of course, but another, more scientific viewpoint might be that everything in the universe is already present, and is in a constant state of changing forms. No “new life” is ever created, because the sperm and egg are alive when they come together. No matter or energy is ever created, they simply change forms. This is the Wheel of Fortune: not a grim caveat that everyone is just a wheel’s spin away from misery and death, but a solemn reminder that this, too, shall pass.

To a mage on the journey through the Tarot, the Wheel of Fortune can easily encompass both interpretations. Acanthus mages, especially, with their study of Fate, know that some events do seem to be predestined and that much of the world does run in cycles. They also know, though, that to call anything in life “random” is suspect, because every action must have a cause, which in turn was caused by something else. The lesson of the Wheel is one that needs to be acknowledged: Some things, by dint of destiny or just the immense complexity of the universe, are out of the mage’s control. Accept this, and move on.

Grimoire — The Book of Cycles The morality of magic has long been a point of contention among the Awakened. Some mages feel magic is a part of them, and has no more inherent moral complications than breathing. Some feel all magic is blasphemous, a crime against the natural order, and seek to murder those Awakened who would dare to use their gifts. Most mages are somewhere in the middle, and feel it is the application of magic that can require a moral distinction. Hubris is a problem for mages because they tend to overstep their boundaries, yes, but those “boundaries” are generally understood to reflect the limits of the power of Awakened magic in the Fallen World. For the boundaries to be literal ones — actual restrictions on what is and is not possible with magic — some reason would have to exist for those restrictions to be in place. If it is not possible, for instance, to teleport a man’s heart right out of his chest, why is that the case? Because Patterns are, on a certain level, impossible to disrupt? Perhaps, but why? Those questions are the true cornerstone of a mage’s journey into enlightenment, and to ignore them, to assume that one already has all the necessary answers, is the true hubris.

Mages have written volumes on the nature of magic, hubris and morality. Occasionally a faction uses such a book as its holy text, or at least its guiding principles. The Book of Cycles is a text that, on its face, is a long lecture about how using magic for any reason is dangerous and should be avoided. But buried within the book, some say, is a cipher that allows the mage that breaks it to read the cycles of fate, time and destiny on any level, from the personal to the universal. Those who believe the book exists, however, also say it is guarded by a faction of mages who, for the most part, abstain from magic — except to protect the book.

From The Ledger of the Awakened of Prague, 1842
Magus prob. of Italian origin, known among his people as Il Romano (“the Roman”), arrived yesterday. Requested information from Alae Draconis of Prague regarding “il libro di ciclos.” Local magi met in secret, voted to turn him out. Entered 28/2/1842, NM.

Il Romano arrived in Prague again today with his cabal. All Visus Draconis, all named for their cities of origin (?). Il Romano is leader. Demanded information about the book. Stated that great tragedy would befall Prague within 20 years if he was turned away again. Consilium voted to bar Prague to him. Entered 1/4/1842, NM.

Here in your Ledger I shall repeat myself. This city is doomed. The creature will walk again, rising up in a storm of thunder and lightning. All will be laid to waste, for its mark cannot be altered, not after it has completed its journey. It remembers and it hates, hates deeper than anything should. I can predict its path and prevent this, but only if I see the book, and I know your Mysterium knows something. You must provide me with what I seek, now, or suffer the consequences. I will not be refused again. Entered (no date), IR.

Il Romano left today after a closed meeting with Censor of Prague. Censor reports that Il Romano will not return to Prague, per the agreement, but that there is some merit to his warnings and information was provided commensurately. Entered 20/4/1842, NM.

Censor of Prague found dead today. Throat slit. Raped. No magic was involved. Petty thief and criminal, will soon be caught and brought to justice. Entered 21/4/1842, NM.

The Book of Cycles is, according to legend, a thick book with a blue binding. The paper and the binding set its creation at roughly 1810, but the type is more typical of the linotype press that didn’t come into use until the end of that century. Since the Ledger of Prague and other sources refer to the Book of Cycles as early as the 1840s, this casts some doubt on the blue-covered version being the original, since the typesetting machine used wasn’t invented until 20 years later. Then again, some mages feel that the grimoire might slowly change form in a cyclical fashion, moving from carvings on a wall to papyrus scroll to bamboo book to codex to bound book and so on. Following that line of thought, it might be a computer data file even now. Since the book hasn’t actually been seen by a living mage (with the possible exception of the book’s guardians; see below), it’s impossible to say for sure.

Mages who have studied the Book of Cycles, though, say that decorations on the book are always circular. Rings and whorls appear in the texture of the binding. If the text were viewed on a computer screen, all instances of a particular letter might be slightly offset, giving the impression that, for instance, the “e’s” were forming circles. If a mage views the book using Mage Sight from the Fate Arcanum, the book’s surroundings might seem to spin, as though everything in the immediate area were revolving around the book.