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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Simon and Fiona sfuller@******.com.au
Subject: Wujen
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 15:30:26 +1000
Yesterday I was playing a rare-as-hen's-teeth Shadowrun game, and I found
out about Wujen. The character I was using was a Chinese magic person so it
was natural that he should be Wujen. All fine, except that the book does not
have a whole lot about them. I'd like to get some more info on Wujen, both
within the game and in real life, if someone can point out a site or two
that a layman with a short attention span can use. Within the game, the main
problem is the summoning of spirits. Exactly how does a Seattle-born troll
get his hands on an ancestor's burial goods? How long do the spirits hang
around? Exactly how does your great grandfather feel about being summoned
and bound?
Message no. 2
From: Phil Smith phil_urbanhell@*******.com
Subject: Wujen
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 17:24:14 GMT
>From: "Simon and Fiona" <sfuller@******.com.au>
>Yesterday I was playing a rare-as-hen's-teeth Shadowrun game, and I found
>out about Wujen. The character I was using was a Chinese magic person so it
>was natural that he should be Wujen.
<snip>
>Within the game, the main
>problem is the summoning of spirits. Exactly how does a Seattle-born troll
>get his hands on an ancestor's burial goods?

Its assumed that the player either owns the apropriate fetish - if they are
the only magically active kid in their family then when their grandad croaks
he'll probably pass his fetish on to them so that he can give them a hand
later in life. Of course, you can attempt it with only the kind of things
they liked for fewer services.

>How long do the spirits hang
>around?

I'm guessing for as long as there are services to be performed.

>Exactly how does your great grandfather feel about being summoned
>and bound?

I think he'd be pissed off; have you ever heard the Hitchikers Guide To The
Galaxy radio series? You know where Zaphod calls the spirit of his great
great grandfather? I would plagerise that to hell :)>

Phil

Let us assume we have a can opener.
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Message no. 3
From: Drew Curtis dcurtis@***.net
Subject: Wujen
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 14:13:19 -0400 (EDT)
On Tue, 10 Oct 2000, Simon and Fiona wrote:

> Yesterday I was playing a rare-as-hen's-teeth Shadowrun game, and I found
> out about Wujen. The character I was using was a Chinese magic person so it
> was natural that he should be Wujen. All fine, except that the book does not
> have a whole lot about them. I'd like to get some more info on Wujen, both
> within the game and in real life, if someone can point out a site or two
> that a layman with a short attention span can use.
>
Someone else will have to help you here. I'd recommend hooking up with a
Chinese guy on ICQ or something

> Within the game, the main problem is the summoning of spirits. Exactly
> how does a Seattle-born troll get his hands on an ancestor's burial
> goods?
>
You'd have to find out where your ancestral shrine is. If there's bad
feng shui there, there is a reburying ritual to move them elsewhere

> How long do the spirits hang around?
>
Should be in MITS somewhere, not sure offhand

> Exactly how does your great grandfather feel about being summoned and
> bound?
>
Probably depends on whether or not he wants to cooperate. It's likely
he'd like to help aid the family but possible he might not due to
circumstances. Your roleplaying mileage may differ

Drew Curtis President DCR.NET (502)226-3376 Toll Free: (866)4DCRNET
Local Internet access: Frankfort Lawrenceburg Shelbyville Owenton
Louisville Lexington Versailles Nicholasville Midway Georgetown

http://www.fark.com: If it's not news, it's fark.
Message no. 4
From: Jah Elf jah_elf@*****.com
Subject: Wujen
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 14:12:30 -0700 (PDT)
>Yesterday I was playing a rare-as-hen's-teeth Shadowrun game, and I
>found
>out about Wujen. The character I was using was a Chinese magic person
>so it
>was natural that he should be Wujen. All fine, except that the book
>does not
>have a whole lot about them. I'd like to get some more info on Wujen,
>both
>within the game and in real life, if someone can point out a site or
>two
>that a layman with a short attention span can use. Within the game,
>the main
>problem is the summoning of spirits. Exactly how does a Seattle-born
>troll
>get his hands on an ancestor's burial goods? How long do the spirits
>hang
>around? Exactly how does your great grandfather feel about being
>summoned
>and bound?

The Wujen and Eastern magic traditions presented in MitS only scrape
the surface, but they do provide a much needed addition beyond
Shamanism and Hermetic Magic.

The way of Wu is intimately linked with Buddhism, Taoism, and Japanese
Shinto. For the most effectively systematized synthesis of these
tradition, I'd suggest doing a search on "Shingon Mikkyo Buddhism." Of
the three traditions, that one is probably the most esoteric AND
documented in the way of ritual, iconography, and myth.

Regarding one's grandfather being summoned, I disagree with the prior
commentators. The Hitchhiker's Guide is hilarious, but it is also very
Western. The view of life and death is quite different in Eastern
Mystical ontologies, in that it is generally more cyclical and
connected.

One of the pre-eminent Japanese mystics/magicians (whom one of my
favorite characters is based on), was Kukai, the founder of the Shingon
Mikkyo. It was written that, "When Kukai died at the age of sixty-two
his followers declared that he had entered a state of eternal samadhi,
profound meditation. His body was interred into Mount Koya where today,
among the folk spirits of the mountain, he is said to reside awaiting
Maitreya, the next Buddha to come in the future." (R. Green,
UW-Madison) In game play, your character may be the one that he, or
others like him, is waiting for.

As a monk, he did not have children, but is a universal ancestor to any
follower of that tradition. Thus, being awakened to help the "cause"
would likely delight him. However, one best not summon such ancestors
for purposes that are counter to their own missions, or things could
get a bit sketchy....

-Jah Elf

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Further Reading

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These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!