Message no. 1

From:	"Hackers 'R Us" <Flake@***.nl>
Subject:	Astral question again
Date:	Sun, 26 Nov 1995 11:39:29 +-100

Damion Wrote :

quote

> The thing gets a bit more tricky with personal objects, like clothing, =
a
> car that some one loves a lot, etc. That works a bit like that paint
> they've got nowadays, if you hold it under a light long enough it =
starts
> to shed light itself. If something has had a long enough exposure to =
any
> strong emotions (the stuff that aura's are made of) it loads itself =
and
> starts to produce energy of it's own.
>
> The more it's loaded, the more dense it becomes, and the harder it
> becomes to move through it. Most normal everyday objects will never
> become strong enough to be inpassable.
> A friend of mine who has a lot of experience in this field, also =
claims
> that some humans that lack real emotional intensity become kinda =
blurry
> and translucent on the astral. Comatose patients that are near =
braindead
> are an example of this.

I don't think this is correct. No matter how much background count you =
pump
into a wall, it will never be able to block astral movement. It might =
glow
like a fun park at night, but it will still be perfectly possible to =
move
through it. All that emotion/spiritual energy will do to a place is =
leave a
trace of itself on the astral nearby. An astral magician can still pass
through the Auschwitz barracks (if he can stomach it), even though this =
has
an extremely high background count due to the aforementioned emotional
energies. Of course this is SRII, not RL, so things may be slightly
different.

And unquote.

I never said impassable, I said more dense. Like swimming in oil in =
stead of water.
By the way, the real-life-rules say that two aura's can be in the same =
place at the same time. Your supposed to get some kick out of it too.

Quote again

However, just becuase it doesn't radiate light does not indicate that it
does not have a physical presence. Similarly on the astral, just =
because it
it does not radiate the astral equivalent of light does not mean it does =
not
have an astral presence (ie an aura). It in fact does. However, it is =
an
extremely weak one, so weak in fact that it radiates minimal or no =
astral
light, and is easily passed through by an astral being.

and unquote

Wrong in my opinion, the only relevent substance on the astral plane is =
energy, mainly because everything there is energy. Spells are energy, =
human aura's are energy, elements are energy, mother earth is energy, =
and ofcourse spirits are beings of pure energy. But this energy is dual =
in nature, because it is always linked to the physical plane, yes =
always. That's the reason you can't see through a wall in the astral. =
This emotional energy doesn't seem to pass through physical impedements =
(glass is weird, I admit that but there seems to be a connection between =
what's transparant on the astral and in the prime material, the sky for =
example is also transparant as is the element of water to a certain =
extent)
Anyway emotional energy bounces of these impedements and in all essence =
what you see is often referred to the astral echo. It has a lot to do =
with 4 dimensional universes and shadows of 4d object that translate in =
a 3d object, but I am not the expert on that so will leave it to rest =
now. But yes, there is somethere to cause the bouncing, but it's not =
correct to call it an aura. Etheric entity would be a more approriate =
name. An aura is ofcourse an ehteric entity, but not vice versa.

quote

I'm afraid that's wrong. Walls, like _everything_ else in SR, do have a
presence on the etheric plane, also known as an aura. In the case of =
walls
that presence is extremely minimal (similarly with other inanimate
objects). This is so logically, and it is also stated in the rules.
Logically all things must have an aura. For a spell to affect =
something,
the magician must synchronise his aura with the aura of the target (read =
the
section on spells and astral space in SRII). There is a spell known as
"Ram" in SR. This affects inanimate objects (specifically walls and
doors). Therefore, walls and doors _must_ have an aura, else the =
magician
could not synchronise his aura with the walls/doors and thus could not =
affect
the wall/door with a spell. Also, from page 87 of the Grimything II:

"Most things, living or non-living, have at least an etheric body,
an astral body present on the etheric plane. The more alive
something is, the more solid is its etheric body will be."

unquote

See above.
This is where the difference between physical spells and mana spells =
truly come in.
Mana spells focus on true aura's the's one spun from emotional energy. =
Physical spells target the more "physical" parts of an etheric body or =
entity. So it's size, it's structure, it's true shape become =
increasingly more important.


I feel we must understand the difference between a true aura and a mere =
etheric entity. (Geez, did I really say that, I hope no one I know heard =
that or they must think that I am now truly wacked out.)