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Old 01-31-2011, 06:26 PM   #8
sir_pudding
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Default Re: [Thaumatology] Real world magical traditions

Quote:
Originally Posted by CousinX View Post
Most magical traditions have some form of Symbol Drawing (and other ritual preparations) that could give similar bonuses.
Not if you want (as the OP does) to give an advantage to Kabbalah over those other traditions. In which case you can make Symbol Drawing magically effective for the one and not the others.

Quote:
I don't know if it's something that orthodox Kabbalists do, but as sir_pudding pointed out, sacrifice is/has been a feature of exoteric Judaism, so it's not a stretch to suspect it might be a feature of esoteric practice as well.
That's exactly the opposite of what I said. Most Jewish traditions believe that there cannot be sacrifices since the loss of the Temple. There's a practice (Hasidic, I believe) of killing a chicken as a sort of sin offering, the people that practice this are very clear to draw a distinction that this practice isn't sacrifice, because sacrifices can only be made by priests at the Temple.

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I think he meant using it as a "support skill" to give a bonus to casting spells, rather than basing casting rolls themselves off the Math skill.
Right, and I'm saying it's even simpler to base it on an easier skill, if you want to differentiate Decanic from Kabbalic practice.

Quote:
That said, most mystical traditions use Meditation (or some sort of altered state of consciousness), like most traditions have some form of Symbol Drawing. I could totally see a Meditation roll acting as a support skill for ritual magic. Breath Control too ... Hermetic tradition incorporates a lot of yogic breathing techniques, more as a means of entering the afformentioned altered states than to recover FP.
Isn't the goal here to make the traditions different?
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