Tradition Book Dreamspeakers Revised Pdf Download _VERIFIED_
Lope Salapan
Though the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism and communism further degraded humanity's connection to the spirits and damaged the Earth, the second half of the Twentieth Century has seen the tide turning for the shamans. Renewed interest in the philosophies and practices of non-Western societies has made the traditional garb, ceremonies, and beliefs of Dreamspeakers culturally acceptable. Meditation, spirit guides, and shamanic healing have become more trendy. Perhaps most importantly, the Dreamspeakers have increasingly recognized that the modern spirits of electricity, information, plastic, and cities are just as legitimate and needing of mediums as those of the natural world. Urban and techno-shamans are on the rise, fighting to find a place in the Tradition.
Originating in Africa, the Baruti are wandering storytellers and performers. They memorize, preserve and teach the (often mutually contradictory) oral traditions of hundreds of different cultures, including those believed lost to history. When two Baruti meet, they often exchange tales. The Baruti also maintain old ties with the Eshu Kith. In more modern times, some Baruti have also turned to writing science fiction, horror, fantasy, comic books and even ethnographies. Their magic revolves around storytelling; legends of heroes can inspire the masses, while myths of creation tap into primal sources of power or rouse the spirits of the elements themselves.
Independents are Dreamspeakers who Awakened, often traumatically, without being trained by another mage. Some were taught entirely by inhuman totems, while a few are guided by disreputable spirits that want to use them as pawns. Some degree of madness has long been common among Independents, but they tend to be far stabler than Marauders. Because they often come from cultures without a tradition of shamanism, they tend to improvise their magic haphazardly using pain, drugs, and music to enter trance states. What separates them from Orphans is that Independents eventually seek out other Dreamspeakers, either on their own or at the urging of their spirit mentor.
One of the most visible Dreamspeaker factions, the Keepers focus on preserving as much of their cultural traditions as they can, even when the battle against invaders and foreign influences has already been lost. They accept that societies change, but believe there is wisdom in a people's history and stories. Keeper magic is highly traditional and well-defined, with most spending many years learning from an elder practitioner.
One of the largest Dreamspeaker factions in Africa, the Uzoma are the traditional priests and diviners of the Yoruba people. Each Uzoma follows a particular Orisha as their patron. As intermediaries between humans and the spirit world, the Uzoma serve their people as soothsayers, advisors and healers. They were invited to the Grand Convocation by Naioba, but returned to their homeland after her murder and avoided contact with non-African mages. Many forgot they were ever members. Only after the events of the Reckoning have they decided to return to the Traditions. In recent years, an increasing number of Uzoma have left Nigeria to live amongst immigrant communities in America and Europe.
Chapter 1. "Heaven and Earth" The first part of which delves into Akashic history, mostly through the narrators of the book going into meditation upon past lives. The history is vivid, and well done, giving the Brotherhood much-deserved depth, in compairson to the 2nd edition book, where they were largely portrayed as Mono-Asians with no national ties, and little history beyond being from Meru (the original, mountain village where all humanity originated, according to the Akashics), and founding the Shaolin temple. The next part of this chapter focuses on Geopolitics (how do you know it's a WW book? When they use big words!), this portion is short, but, meaty enough to let someone understand exactly how the Akashics fare around the world, and outside of Asia. Then comes an impressive section on Akashic philosophy, while I enjoy using my own resources to create comprehensive paradigms or philosophy for my own Mage games, this section has enough well-thought out, rich information that I may simply add a few things of my own design to it. There are several intresting sidebars here, one on Religion and the Akashic Brotherhood (Which I honestly do hope we see in other upcoming traditionbooks, Religion and the Dreamspeakers, Religion and the Euthanatos...etc...etc...) that covers the mileu from Jains, to Confucians, to even Christians. Other sidebars include looks at the philosophy from various factions, information on Akashic names, and a bit of the "Drahma Sutra." Finally, we reach the write up on the Brotherhood's relations with the other Traditions and Supernaturals. Since I'm not too intrested in Crossovers, the Supernatural part didn't quite catch my eye, but, I did enjoy the paradigm-centric view of the various night creatures, the information on the Brotherhood's view of the other Traditions is intresting, but nothing incredibly groundshaking or amazing. My only real qualm with this chapter is a lack of information on Zen Buddhism (my view of the Brotherhood is strongly influenced by my readings on Zen), but, it's only a small qualm.
To gain greater control over the Sleepers, the Technocracy worked to replace individual storytellers with controlled and uniform mass media. They started with radio and attained near-victory with television. In response, many Baruti relegated their traditional oral storytelling to a small sideline and began writing their tales down. Soon there were many dozen Baruti working as anthropologists, novelists, screen writers and authors of pulp magazines. Some even found work writing for comic books, a media that was so successful in the United States that the Syndicate had to arrange for the restrictive comics code to restrain it.
As time went on, these early Dreamspeakers began to look for others of their kind, especially people who have just Awakened or who have the potential to Awaken. Various lineages of training evolved out of this teaching, and in many regions these factions gradually replaced the Independents. Shamanism became something that was taught from mentor to student as well as being learned directly from the spirits. In most communities, Indepen- dent Dreamspeakers vanished or became a small minority. Most potential candidates were found and trained by existing Dreamspeakers. Today, this pattern remains true in most traditional communities. Independent Dreamspeakers are now found primarily among peoples that have no local tradition of shamanism.
support each other. Before the Avatar Storm exiled a number of the senior crafters, practitioners of the older crafts like blacksmithing and jewelry making were the largest group within the Spirit Smiths. The traditional- ists who practiced these crafts often worked together to discourage the popularity of newer crafts like electron- ics and automobile mechanics. Today, many of these older crafters are dead or exiled past the Gauntlet. As a result, there has been a vast explosion of interest in crafting and modifying advanced technologies.
man works. These may be small sculptures or paintings, massive totem poles carved from the best trees of the forest, or anything in between. Every culture has its traditions on this matter. Modem urban shamans and technoshamans are
developing their own traditions through a typically prag matic shamanic process - make a totem and see if it works, and if not, try something else, all the while consulting with the spirits to see what pleases them.
The shamanic world contains indefinite hierarchies, ris- ing from the lowliest mindless little beings up to the powers that other traditions call angels and gods. The great spirits them- selves seldom act directly in the material world, but they can lend their power to spirits closer to the skin of things, strength- ening or weakening the entities that more directly shape the world around the shaman. No shaman undertakes dealing with the totems and their superiors lightly, and many try to avoid it as much as possible. (Many Seekings for Dreamspeakers ap- proaching Arete 4 or 5 begin with the great spirits seeking out the shaman, whether she feels ready or not.)
While many traditional shamans scorn electronics, most technoshamans appreciate the power of the internet and other forms of electronic communications. Recognizing that information is power, a number of them have created Fetishes that allow them use monitor and affect such communica- tions. The Information spider is arecent effort created by Blue Phreak, a technoshaman hacker living in Los Angeles. It was so successful that within the last year it has been copied by a number of other technoshamans.
An eloquent speaker, she continues to tell her stories to all who will listen. Along with the traditional tales from the Siberian and Inuit peoples, she also creates her own stories, often cautionary tales derived from the darkest and most terrifying of her visions. When the Avatar Storms came, she suddenly found herself the leader of the Baruti and one of the most senior Dreamspeakers. She did not want this position, but knew that her aid was required. As her visions of the future grow ever darker and more threatening, she has become increasingly militant. She sometimes uses her magic to subtly attack Sleepers who threaten the health and safety of the world.
Image: Tasygan appears to be a Siberian women in her late 40s. Her long black hair is streaked with white, and she wears it up using a pair of mammoth ivory hair sticks. She prefers simple dresses adorned with large amounts of traditional Siberian jewelry, including wide bracelets and necklaces of large beads.
High Winds Educational Services draws on both traditions. For thirty years, its members have traveled together to places that lack good schools, from native American reservations in the United States to war-torn districts of Colombia and New Guinea. They set up a temporary installation built around their light-weight cargo planes and provide schooling, medical examina- tions and treatment, analysis of soil and water impurities
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