OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Expand on the lore of the WItches of Dathomir.
- Image Credit: Ancient-origins.net
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Dathomir Magic
- Media Name: Standard Book of Spells
- Format: Book (standard edition), Holobook
- Distribution: Scattered
- Length: Medium
- Description: An educational text on the fundamentals of magic which all Witches should be familiar, authored in a neutral tone that avoided focus in either of the two sects of Dathomirian practice -- Allyan Magick (those who follow the Book of Law) or Shadow Magick (those who follow the Book of Shadows). It was divided into several chapters that provided, instead, the most common tenants of Dathomirian belief shared among all the Clans and Sects with a goal of improving upon the standard of witch education.
- Author: Witches of Dathomir
- Publisher: Mistwalker Clan
- Reception:
- Among the Witches of Dathomir, the progressives viewed the text as elevating the shared cultural identity of the Witches of Dathomir by celebrating their similarities. Among conservatives of the Clan, the book was criticized for borrowing from Jedi ideas of standard education. Conservatives among those who follow the Book of Law were further critical of the fact that the publisher was a Nightsister Clan, and thus viewed it as another example of Shadow Magick trickery.
- Among the Sith or Jedi, the book received negative treatment for its rejection of the Force and insistence upon magic. This was seen as furthering a primitive and backward belief system that replaced science with mysticism.
The book was published as a physical grimoire of indelible ink expressed on loub-paper, similar to other Dathomirian texts, and was composed in the pidgin of Paecian and Basic that formed the language of Dathomir. Younger, more progressive or tech-savvy Witches pushed for a holobook edition, which furthered division among the Clans on the role of technology in the culture of Dathomir.
CONTENT INFORMATION
The Standard Book of Spells was organized as a scholarly text on the subject of magic, being organized into several chapters with an introductory treatise providing context to the novice's approach to spellweaving, reiterating the Dathomirian belief in the spirit realm.
Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Spellweaving
The introductory chapter of the text guided the Witches through the rituals familiar to the summoning of the spirit ichor that were common to both Sects, as well as a basic outline of totem magic that would serve as a foundation for more advanced education within the Clans that was specific to the familiar and elementals common to them.
Chapter 2: Enhancing the Senses
The second chapter explored the practical application of magic to elevating the Witches perception, either of the physical or metaphysical. This was primarily done through the teaching of the spell of awareness, which aided in attuning the Witch to their immediate surroundings. With this as a building block, the spell of discovery could attune the Witch to the life around her. This progression led to the spell of environmental attunement, which attuned the Witch to the local weather patterns.
Chapter 3: Thought-Touch
This chapter explored the application of magic to the mind, opening the Third Eye of the Witch and enabling communication without words. At a basic level, this was done through the practice of the spell of creature understanding, which operated on a purely empathic basis. A more advanced skill was the spell of open mind, which provided basic instruction in mindspeak or defense against mental intrusion. Once this skill had been mastered, the spell of interpretation could allow for communication with those who did not speak Paecian or Basic.
Chapter 4: Introduction to Magical Healing
This chapter focused on the ability of the Witch to minimize her own pain or discomfort with the spell of comfort, before proceeding to detail the spell of assistance as a basic skill for healing minor injuries of another.
Chapter 5: Elemental Conjuring
The final chapter furthered the earlier introduction to totem magic through elaboration on the elemental spirits of earth, water, air, and fire. The spell of cinders was detailed in this chapter as a practical application useful for every Witch, whether for utility, defense, or for survival purposes
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Dathomirian diaspora as a result of the attempted genocide of Dathomir spread the culture of Dathomir to many worlds, such as covens established on Ryloth, Talay, and Kattada. Many of these refugees departed without full copies of their histories, while artifacts were stolen from their homeworld during the rise of the Galactic Republic. Some ex-patriots would return to their homeworld, reclaiming some of their ancestral lands while others would start new Clans, but the spread of Dathomirian culture left each Clan as an island unto itself. Ideological differences and past transgressions made cooperation among the surviving Witches a rarity, further entrenching the Witches' isolationist tendencies. This had a result of limiting the education of the Witch to only those spells which were either shared by the Clan or passed down through their families.
A thousand generations later, the Mistwalker Clan made contact with the Silver Jedi Concord while settling on Alaris Prime. The diplomatic exchanges between the two historical enemies gave the Mistwalkers not only the opportunity to observe the Jedi, but also insight on the Jedi approaches to education. When the Silver Jedi introduced the Mistwalkes to the Blue Coral Divers Clan, also residing in Concord space, the Nightsisters found the experience to be an opportunity to reflect on their own approaches to education. While there remained two fundamental differences in Dathomirian ideologies, the fact remained that the Jedi had an organized and standard approach to education that was vastly superior to that undertaken by most of the Witches of Dathomir, who usually specialized in a particular spell or type of spell.
Similarly, the Jedi had specializations but there seemed a concept of fundamentals -- spells or abilities which every Jedi was expected to know. With this concept in mind, the Mistwalkers set out to codify the same for the Witches of Dathomir.
Not the advanced spells or rituals kept secret or sacred by their Clans, but the basics of spellweaving and an assortment of fundamental spells which every witch should be educated in, whether casting Allyan Magick or Shadow Magick. The Standard Book of Spells was the product of this endeavor, being finally completed in 874 ABY, when the first copy was provided to
Brooke Waters
of the Blue Coral Divers Clan as a gift from the Mistwalker Clan -- a particularly symbolic gesture coming from a Nightsister Clan to an Allyan one.
Brooke Waters
of the Blue Coral Divers Clan as a gift from the Mistwalker Clan -- a particularly symbolic gesture coming from a Nightsister Clan to an Allyan one.
It is worth noting that the book contains more spells than the typical Witch knows or has memorized. A Witch could study this tome and master its basic spells, and be quite formidable by most standards of the Witches of Dathomir. The Mistwalkers believed that mastery of these spells, along with the more advanced spells and rituals of the Clans, would elevate the Witches to be on more equal footing with the skills of their Jedi and Sith counterparts -- making the Witches of Dathomir ever more capable allies.
...or even more dangerous enemies.
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