Hyperborean Magic

I myself used to be even more cynical than you about such things, for I thought that there was no way they could happen, yet when I first saw the foreign visitor fly — he came from the Hyperborean people, as he said — I came to believe and I was overcome, despite having held out for so long. For what was I supposed to do when I saw him traveling through the air in the middle of the day, walking on water, and strolling through fire at a leisurely pace?

— Cleodemus, in Lucian's Philopseudes, 13–5

Hyperborea, the Land Beyond the North Wind, is a place of unparalleled magic and mystery. Only the greatest heroes have ever glimpsed the serene island, and only a few Hyperboreans have ever left their earthly paradise. Legends of the great and mysterious arcane abilities possessed by the Hyperboreans abound.

The Hyperboreans were known for their mysterious ways and their strange magic. Records from antiquity tell of their fabled ability of flight and instantaneous travel, their power to project their spirit, visit the spirit world, transform into birds, and perform powerful underworld magic. One tale tells of a Hyperborean who summoned powerful spirits and ghosts, reanimated corpses, and called down the moon, while others recount that the Hyperborean Aristeas returned to life after seven years of death and lived for hundreds of years. The Roman historian Aelian wrote that the Hyperborean priests regularly visited Northern Greece to worship Apollo, while Herodotus, in his Histories, states that the Hyperboreans were "possessed by Apollo."

Many magi in the Order of Hermes identify Hyperborea as the mythical Realm of Magic, akin to Arcadia; others claim it is a regio far to the north of the Novgorod Tribunal where Apollo Phoebus lies sleeping. Some Hermetic Seekers believe the Hyperboreans to be the Old Ones, a race of Nephilim, or a people spawned from the blood of the titans.

This chapter details the magic of the Hyperboreans, the secrets of their forgotten temple, and the secrets of the land of Hyperborea itself.