Dweomer (Deverry Cycle)
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Dweomer (pronounced "dway-oh-mer") is the fictional system of magic depicted in Katharine Kerr's novels of Deverry. This system is described by Kerr as being rooted primarily in nineteenth-century British Rosicrucianism. It also has some similarities to Theosophy.
While practitioners of dweomer, called dweomerworkers, do possess supernatural knowledge and abilities, the principal aim of dweomer is not acquisition of power, but personal enlightenment through harmony with the universe on all its planes. Dweomerworkers view themselves as servants of supernatural beings known as Great Ones, once-human spirits dedicated to the enlightenment of all beings. However, throughout the novels, numerous "dark" dweomerworkers have been encountered, who are chiefly concerned with acquiring personal power, and serve only themselves, not the Great Ones.
Kerr repeatedly (if subtly) emphasises throughout the Deverry novels that dweomer is not a replacement for science, and that dweomer knowledge does not provide the answers to a lot of questions about the world.
[edit] Cosmology
Dweomer teaches that the universe exists on many different levels, or planes. Most commonly visited or discussed are the physical, etheric, and astral planes.
Physical: The physical plane is what most people would call "the real world." It is the "lowest" or "outermost" plane.
Etheric: Directly "above" or "within" the physical plane is the etheric. The substance of this plane is extremely malleable, able to be shaped by mental effort. On the lowest levels of this plane, one can see into (and sometimes interact with) the physical world. There are "tides" of elemental force on this plane, which shift in a regular pattern several times a day. Certain dweomer-workings must be renewed each time the elemental tide changes. Certain regions of the etheric plane may be associated with specific elements, though the novels are not clear on this point. The etheric plane is also the true home of the Wildfolk.
Astral: Directly "above" or "within" the etheric is the astral plane. Like the etheric, the astral plane can also be shaped mental effort. Other systems of magic refer to it as the Akashic Records, a sort of cosmic record of everything that ever happened.
The novels have briefly mentioned numerous other planes, including: the Orange Lands, the Green Lands, the Wildlands, and the Land of Husks and Rinds.
[edit] Other Teachings
Dweomer teaches that each soul has a responsibility to live and learn in order to advance itself spiritually. This is accomplished by living multiple incarnations, both as a male and as a female, in order to learn more about the true self and eventually establish oneself as a Great One, a spirit that has evolved to a point where it no longer needs to incarnate and is one with the Light behind all gods.
The gods themselves are in fact representations of higher-planar forces, which have been imbued with some degree of sentience by being worshiped. Both dweomer-workers and priests are able to tap these forces, though the dweomer-workers seem more adept at it. Deverrian priests are seldom shown channeling god-force; the only effect they seem able to achieve with it is divination. (Bardekian priests, on the other hand, seem to have knowledge and skills comparable to secular dweomer-workers.)
[edit] Abilities
During the course of the Deverry Cyle, dweomerworkers have demonstrated, among others, the following paranormal abilities:
Secondsight: Dweomerworkers have the ability to see etheric forms and forces: manifested Wildfolk and other spirits such as haunts, a person's life-energy aura, or and constructs such as bodies of light and astral seals.
Dweomer-warning: Dweomerworkers often receive premonitions of danger, which is often described as a sensation of intense cold running down the back.
Command Wildfolk: The Wildfolk are the not-quite self-aware spirits representing the five elements: gnomes (earth), sylphs (air), salamanders (fire), undies (water), and sprites (aether or light). With the aid of these spirits, dweomerworkers can manipulate the elements, accomplishing such feats as instantly lighting a fire, creating light, and controlling the wind and weather.
Scrying: One of the simplest dweomer-workings is scrying--the practice of viewing distant people, places, or things by magic. While looking into a focus of some sort-- often a fire or a pool of water-- a dweomerworker concentrates on what he or she wishes to see, receives a vision of it. However, in order to scry for something, the dweomerworker must first have seen it in the flesh. Large amounts of water have been shown to interfere with scrying. By scrying each other out, two dweomerworkers can form a mental link and communicate by a form of psychic "speech."
Spirit Projection: Another basic dweomer technique is to create a "body of light" from etheric or astral substance, and use it as a vehicle for one's consciousness. This allows a dweomerworker to travel on the higher planes. The body of light is joined to the physical body by a silver cord, which passes energy back and forth. Should the cord break, the dweomerworker will die.
Ensorcellment: To ensorcel a person is to produce an effect similar to hypnosis by manipulating the person's aura. Ensorcellment is much less easily resisted than hypnosis, and can produce much more pronounced effects than hypnosis. Some effects that can be produced by ensorcellment include: stunning or dazing an individual, altering an person's emotional state, causing someone to forget (or remember) certain things, planting subconcious instructions to be carried out at a later time, or controlling the individual by totally subsumming their will. Only a dark dweomerworker will ensorcel an individual without his or her explicit consent. (For those wondering why anyone would consent to this, the Deverry novels feature one example of an ensorcellment being to the benefit of the target, when a prince is given a pronounced stammer to help him hide from his enemies.)
Ritual Workings: A number of different ritual workings have been shown throughout the novels. One is the invocation of powerful spirits such as the Elemental Kings or the Great Ones for aid or advice. Another is the creation of an "astral seal," a barrier which blocks attempts at scrying for things within it, and prevents dweomerworkers from entering the warded area in a body of light.
Enchantment: One of the least-often seen dweomer workings is that of placing an enchantment on an object. Such objects are very rare. Enchantments which have been discussed throughout the Deverry novels include a talisman of noble virtue known as the Great Stone of the West, an enchanted metal that glows when one of the Westfolk comes near it, and a silver ring which gave its wearer the ability to command the dragon Arzosah Sothy Lorezohaz.
Glamour: A glamour is a false seeming. It can make an object appear to be something else, or cause a person to appear more charismatic.
Binding of Spirits: Dark dweomerworkers have been shown binding Wildfolk in gemstones as a form of imprisonment, and to recently-dead corpses to create a sort of zombie servant. Dweomerworkers of the light will never bind one of the Wildfolk in this way.
Shapeshifting: The dweomerworkers among the Westfolk know a working which allows them to transform themselves into animals, usually a bird. The working is extremely dangerous; if not done properly, it can kill the practitioner. The technique is described as an extension of the more common spirit-projection ability. The dweomerworker begins with an animal-shaped body of light, which is used as a "mold" as the substance of the physical body. Dweomerworkers who use this technique sometimes exhibit animal instincts while in animal form. This ability originated with the Westfolk, but some human dweomerworkers have also learnt it. Whether human or Westfolk, the dweomerworker has no control over the form they take - it is instead a reflection of his or her true self. In some cases, the form may not even be one known to the Dweomerworker (for example, the Westfolk dweomerworker Dallandra takes the form of a small bird, similar to a linnet, but which she does not recognize).
