Introduction

Welcome to The Divine, the first of the Realms of Power books for Ars Magica™, dealing with the Divine realm and its earthly institutions and followers.

The Divine encompasses the highest and most sublime powers in Mythic Europe. It gives strength to the three great faiths of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and is the source of Mythic Europe's ubiquitous Dominion and countless miracles. It houses the Heavenly Host, gives sanctuary to the saints and other holy spirits, and rewards the virtuous with followers and True Faith.

Realms of Power: The Divine supplements, expands, and updates the section on the Divine realm and its human institutions in Ars Magica Fifth Edition.

Inside this book are details on the history, beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in Mythic Europe, as well as expanded information on the Dominion, True Faith, saints, angels and miracles. There is entirely new information on the powers of holy wizards and pious mages. It includes a complete system for divinely aligned magic and King Solomon's Ars Notoria. New character options are also available to give more detail and flavor to your characters.

This book is not a revision of Pax Dei, the third edition Divine supplement. It is not a revision of Kabbalah: Mythic Judaism, the Ars Magica sourcebook for Judaism. It is not a revision of Blood and Sand, the Fourth Edition Levant Tribunal book. This book was written to replace them completely. While some ideas and concepts may still remain, when they appear they have been completely revised for Fifth Edition.

Furthermore, Realms of Power: The Divine is not a religious text. The authors have tried to be respectful, accurate and unbiased in its depiction of real-world religions, but ultimately it is a supplement for a roleplaying game, not an introduction to the different faiths. Religion is a sensitive subject in games (as elsewhere); while Mythic Europe is in many respects a distorted mirror of thirteenth-century Europe, in reality they have nothing to do with each other. Ars Magica takes place in an entirely fictional world, no more real than any other fantasy game setting.

The authors of this book do not presume (and have not set out) to fully capture an entire religion in the following pages, let alone three. Although God is mentioned frequently, this book does not seek to give a definitive answer as to God's true nature or purpose. Instead, the history, beliefs and practices of Christianity, Islam and Judaism are briefly sketched, so as to provide a framework for players and storyguides to build upon. For those who want more, a detailed bibliography is included at the end of this book.

Ars Magica is a game of myth and magic, where legends and folk tales are real. Its focus is on wizards and their companions. How do the Divine, angels, saints and God fit into a game with this emphasis?

In Ars Magica, it is an in-game truth that God exists and resides in the Divine realm. Angels, saints, and miracles are all real. Through the Dominion, which is present for Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in equal measure, God protects and guides his faithful worshipers. This God is not necessarily the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim God, or the God of the Cathars, Gnostics, Platonists, Sabian Mandeans, Zoroastrians, or any other faith founded upon the worship of a single Universal Creator. Ultimately, although the religions of the world contradict each other, the conflict lies with mortals, not within the Heavenly Host.

Nevertheless, all of these groups possess certain insights and understandings of God, enough that they benefit from the Dominion, miracles, and divine aid, and that their holy men and women possess True Faith. No single religion in Ars Magica has a monopoly on the truth, and while no group is entirely (or even mostly) right, no group is entirely wrong in their understanding.

Fundamental to the Divine in Ars Magica is its transcendence: the Divine realm alone stands absolutely above and beyond all other Realms. Since it is omnipotent, if it wished the Divine could utterly vanquish the battalions of Hell, or the courts of Arcadia, or the assembled deities of the Magical realm. For reasons known only to God, the other realms are allowed to exist and even thrive, although Heaven and Hell are locked in bitter, ceaseless conflict. Because of its transcendence, the truth of the Divine realm can never be known, not even by the mightiest of angels.

The Divine seeks the betterment of humanity and the salvation of souls. Angels, saints, prophets, and holy creatures are employed to encourage mankind to seek the Divine of its own free will. On earth, a number of worldly structures exist that seek a similar purpose: the Holy Church, the Talmud, and the Islamic Caliphates. As human institutions, these organizations of the faithful are imperfect; they are pure and corrupt, sincere and hypocritical. Possessing power in society, they attract the impious and ambitious, but are also filled with the devout and holy.

There are many theories among Hermetic researchers as to the relationship between the Divine and the other realms. The four realms are a division recognized only by the Order of Hermes; Christian theologians, Muslim philosophers, and Jewish rabbis would consider the classifications laughable or offensive, while heretics and hedge mages could have other divisions or explanations. What is certain to Hermetic thinkers — a certainty that forms one of the foundations of Hermetic Theory — is that the Divine is the font, or the highest, of the realms (as discussed in Ars Magica 5th Edition, page 182).

MAGIC

If the erudite Hermetic researchers are correct, then the Magic realm is intimately connected to the power and goodness of the Divine. Certainly, some powerful magical beings resemble angels, and may have once even been Divine. Divine beings, such as angels, tend to have little to do with Magic; relationships are distant but not necessarily hostile. Due to their great power, the sovereigns of the Magic realm are often associated with the sin of Pride, and occasionally encourage sacrilegious worship of themselves or their auras. For these reasons, the Divine seeks to remind the Magic realm of humility, restricting its might while in holy areas.

FAERIE

Arcadia and its denizens are but a dim reflection of the light of heaven, or of the divine spark of humanity. For this reason, there is no essential antagonism between Divine and Faerie realms, although the fay tend to shy away from manifestations of the divine, as the dependent nature of faeries does not fare well against the radiant light of Heaven's truth. Some faeries crave worship and veneration, and the Divine opposes this practice.

More so than with the Magic realm, agents of the Divine are likely to come into conflict with aspects of Faerie, simply because many of their activities encourage people to commit sin. Some faeries have become inured to the Dominion and make their residence in churches and synagogues; these faeries walk a fine line between assisting the faithful and causing mischief so as not to raise the alarm of their angelic guardians.

INFERNAL

Conflict between Heaven and Hell is eternal and unrelenting. The diabolical forces of the Devil are the Divine's most implacable foes, forever seeking to overthrow the Throne of God and plunge the created world into eternal darkness.

Angels pitilessly patrol areas covered by the Dominion, seeking out demonic influence, while saints and holy sorcerers challenge the servants of Hell and unmake their devilish plots. It is the marauding forces of Satan that the Heavenly Host is most occupied with, beyond the salvation of souls.

Divine-Hermetic Relations

Wise Hermetic magi are completely aware that if the Divine wished, it could destroy the entire Order. For this reason, the Order of Hermes seeks to maintain cordial or even friendly relationships with the various earthly representatives of Heaven. This is mostly pursued by House Jerbiton and House Guernicus, whose members and covenants have regular dealings with senior church figures in both East and West. The Order has had less friendly contact with Islam, largely due to the Christian upbringing of most members of the Order, and of Flambeau and Tytalus crusaders.

Magi from Iberia and Provence are the only Hermetics to have any regular exchanges with Jewish sorcerers and kabbalists, and after a brief outbreak of hostilities (when the Order tried to force a cabal of kabbalist rabbis in Barcelona to join or die) there is now a treaty of non-aggression between the Order of Hermes and Mythic Europe's Jewish communities.

Most Hermetics have little understanding or knowledge of the abilities, powers, or goals of the Divine. Many are scornful of the Church and its priests. Why fear the Dominion when you can live for centuries, call down storms, and hurl lances of fire? The majority of them give the Divine Realm little thought, far distant as they are from the toll of church bells or the call to prayer.

Saints are rare enough that few magi will ever encounter one, and the majority of Hermetic activity takes place far from the Dominion. Only those mages who combat demons or spend a length of time in cities or near holy places are likely to encounter an angel or divine servant, in which case they may be grateful for divine assistance and advice.

Although the Divine realm is quite simply the most powerful force in Mythic Europe, you should avoid the temptation to use its agents to overwhelm the characters. After all, the Divine is subtle as well as grand.

God is not a capricious or impulsive deity in Ars Magica, but a being of unfathomable spiritual majesty and mysterious purpose. Every Divine act is done towards a specific end. To reduce the sacred mystery of the Divine realm to a series of mere dice rolls and formulas is to sap its essential nature from your stories.

Ultimately, God wants what is best for your saga. Do not feel constrained in your representation of the Divine by rigidly adhering to what is in this book. Let your instincts guide you toward making your stories fulfilling and enjoyable.

Saints and angels are excellent plot devices. As a mysterious and inscrutable force, the Divine can aid or hinder the players' covenant and characters in equal measure. An angel could appear to request aid in protecting a nearby holy site or noble from infernal or malicious Faerie tampering. In this way, the Divine can become involved in a story involving any theme and need not overwhelm a magical or faerie focus.

There are numerous story hooks scattered throughout this book on how to work the Divine into your saga. Remember that the Divine seeks to uplift and redeem humanity, and this can involve loving chastisement as well as direct material aid or requests for assistance against sin.

With the Divine as the focus of the saga, most of the characters should be aligned to the Divine realm somehow, whether all of the characters play holy mages or have a Divine virtue. Such a saga would most likely to revolve around Heaven's conflict with Hell, with diabolical forces being the main foils and opponents, and the other realms only rarely becoming involved. Since the Divine can be so much more powerful than other realms, Hermetic characters may be sidelined unless they too have a connection to the Divine realm, such as pursuing the goal of learning Holy Magic, or seeking the lost Notory Arts of Solomon.

Unless the covenant and its inhabitants are particularly sinful, most agents of the Divine will leave them to their own devices. The Divine stays firmly in its own lands — around cities, villages and holy sites — while faeries play in the woods and magi battle the elements on the edges of civilization. In this option, the Divine only enters the story when the characters seek it out; the war between Heaven and Hell is largely irrelevant and only comes into play when the characters directly act in its domain, such as proud magi casting spells in a cathedral or throwing a Ball of Abysmal Flame at a mosque's Imam. Even in this scenario, the Divine is not necessarily hostile to magic, but it is protective of its flock.

The Divine has been organized to make the most sense when read from cover to cover. Mechanics have been addressed first, and then background and setting follow. The material is divided into two parts, Lux Dei ("the Light of God") and Domus Dei ("the Houses of God"). The former concerns new rules and ideas designed to shed light upon the workings of the Divine in your Ars Magica saga, and the latter contains setting information to help you develop and participate in stories about the divine in Mythic Europe.

LUX DEI: THE LIGHT OF GOD

Chapter 2: Heaven and Earth develops the Dominion and other holy auras, and explores the secrets of divine regiones. It also describes the heavenly beings who serve the Godhead — angels — and other celestial creatures that inhabit the Empyrean realms.

Chapter 3: Blessed by God addresses holy characters, including their supernatural powers and spiritual influence. It includes new Virtues and Flaws, ideas for using True Faith and Faith Points, and a way for Hermetic magi to reconcile their power with the Dominion through the secret of Holy Magic.

DOMUS DEI: THE HOUSES OF GOD

Chapter 4: Mythic Christianity develops the Church and its representatives, monks and friars, heretics and heresies, and the divide between East and West. It includes ideas for involving Church rites in the game, including the sacraments, exorcism, and invoking saints, and two kinds of cloistered character with Christian powers. It ends with the ancient rites of King Solomon's Notory Art, a path to holy wisdom for Gifted characters.

Chapter 5: Mythic Islam explores the Muslim faith through its followers' history, beliefs, and practices. There are sections on Islamic Law and the holy beings who inhabit Muslim lands and legends. It includes variations on Islam, from the ecstatic meditation of the sufis and their divinely-inspired insight into God's realm, to the Zoroastrians and their battle against evil through ancient holy magic.

Chapter 6: Mythic Judaism presents information about the status of Jews in medieval times, about Jewish schools and synagogues, and explains how to interpret the laws of the scriptures in the context of the game setting. It also tells of a separated Jewish sect called the Karaites, the Baal Shem who master the names of God, and the great mysteries of Kabbalah that have begun to spread throughout the Jews of Mythic Europe.