Editing Witchcraft (section)

= Spellcraft of the Spirit Lands =

{{quote|
''"If you look there, you see there not here''<br>
''But if you look far, you see far not near''<br>
''Your eyes see only what you say.''<br>
''If you look in you will see in not out''<br>
''And if you look out?  It’s turn about''<br>
''This is not the way.''<br>
''Look to the hills and the ground''<br>
''And the forest all around''<br>
''This is the Wilder’s way''<br>
''Children of light look up to the sky''<br>
''They never seem to question why''<br>
''Content to close their eyes and pray.''<br>
''The wise man looks to the past''<br>
''and questions the future only to ask''<br>
''How do I best live this day?''<br>
''Which path do you take to seek out truth?''<br>
''When will you start - in age or in youth?''<br>
''Will knowledge or wisdom or understanding best show you the way?"''<br>
}}

Wherein worshipers of the Church of Light reach upward toward heavens, and Wilders to the nature around them, those who have embarked on the path of Spirit lands reach inward and beyond time and place. Of all the world's inhabitants, the Gaesati and Templars have the most followers of the Spirit Path. Those who walk the path of spirits know that this corporeal world of ours is, in fact, just a vanishing delusion. Through dreams, visions, and ultimately death, one can instead enter the real world of spirits.

The Gaesati seeks contact with the spirits of animals living in this real land of visions and dreams. According to them, these animal spirits have in their time given birth to man, and, on the other hand, all people will eventually return to them. Templars, in turn, elevate their own ancestors as targets for their worship. These are great heroines in the history of the templar family who have been able to maintain their individuality and power in the [[spirit world|halls of the dead]].


== Minor spellcraft ==

=== Worship rites ===

{{quote|
''"Howling wind blows''<br>
''The heavy snows,''<br>
''The drifts pile all around.''<br>
''And through the night''<br>
''All wrapped in white''<br>
''My family sleeps sound."''<br>
}}

The walker is able to perform a rite of worship for the local spirit or seita at its sacred stone, tree, or other landmark. They are usually happy with very few gifts (bread, berries or pieces of meat are typically sufficient). If the seita is satisfied with the walker's actions, i.e. he has not violated the laws of the seita, for example by hunting or fishing too much, and has otherwise acted respecting both nature and the seita, the walker learns the seita's special ability temporarily. Seita's ability is usually related to hunting, fishing, or moving about in the province of the seita. With this power of spellcraft, some are known to have dreamed themselves into the spirit lands (or "to befall" as the Gaesati calls it).


=== Worship ceremony ===

{{quote|
''"Our grey mothers rise from their tombs''<br>
''Each with bear spear in hand''<br>
''They ride their ghostly mounts of white''<br>
''Into the border land."''<br>
}}

The worship ceremony of the ancestral pre-mothers are very similar to the worship expenses of the seita. The worship ceremonies of the ancestral pre-mothers are usually performed on small altars reserved for them, and these ancestral spirits favor as worshipers those who are members of the pre-mother's own family lineage. Some worshipers also carry with them some part of their ancestral pre-mother's body, such as a small part of her ashes or, for example, a carefully preserved and engraved piece of femur. The bearer of such an object can carry out the worship ceremonies of his ancestral spirit anywhere.

The ancestral spirit expects her offspring to nurture the customs and traditions of her family lineage and to defend her family in the best possible way in both words and deeds. If the ancestral spirit is pleased with her worshiper, she gives him some of her abilities in exchange for spell points. The ability given by the ancestral spirit is one of those that she became known for while living. With this power of spellcraft, some are known to have dreamed themselves into the halls of the dead, wherein the ancestral spirits await for this eventuality.


=== Spirit animal ===


The walker has an animal spirit that advises and helps him in difficult places. The walker can also take on the essence of his spirit animal making him become more like his spirit animal for a while. The walker summoning the spirit of the wolf gets a better sense of smell and at the same time quite a lust for the flesh, while the one asking for help from the spirit of the hare is able to sneak away at a wild pace while being very afraid of the smell of the fox.

A walker can only have the essence of one spirit animal on him at any time.


== Major spellcraft ==


The major spellcraft provided by spirits can only be learned from the great spirits and they usually put the walker into some kind of grueling test before granting the knowledge.


=== Shapeshift ===


Shapeshifting is not only being able to recall one of his spirit animals but it is also about summoning its physical form in a process called shapeshifting. The shapeshifter is thus able to physically transform into the form of a a spirit animal while retaining his own memory and soul.


=== Reincarnation ===


This power otherwise works exactly like the shapeshifting, but the spirit that the shapeshifter summons is not an animal but one of his ancestral pre-mothers, and a mask of that specific ancestral spirit is used in preparation instead of raw feral force. The shapeshifter does not physically turn into his ancestral spirit, but he typically gets some of its traits. If, for example, the shapeshifter's ancestral spirit had scars across her face, these very same scars could also appear on the shapeshifter's face when his ancestral spirit has reincarnated into his corporeal body.


=== Proxy ===


{{quote|
''"From afar comes an ominous warning''<br>
''A ghost blood-covered, dead,''<br>
''A spirit showing that in the morning''<br>
''The ground will run red."''<br>
}}

The walker is granted visions that can warn him of the dangers to come and give precious hints about future events in a way no one else can. The events do not always correspond exactly to the walker's proxy, and things might unfold with a lot of variance, and sometimes manifest only on a purely symbolic level.


== Greater spellcraft ==


To learn greater spellcraft of the spirits, the follower of the spirit path must have visited the spirit world or the halls of the dead.


=== Gates of time and space ===


The walker has finally learned that time and place are illusions. Through the world of spirits, he is able to reach out into new times and places. To do this, the walker must first enter the world of spirits through rites dedicated to either his ancestral spirit or his seita. After this, the walker can try and reach out to either the past or the future and step into a different time and place.

It is worth noting that the walker cannot change history with this power. All the times and places the walker can move are far from the time and place where the walker lives. So this power takes the walker into midst of strange and wonderful creatures in strange and wonderful worlds. 

It is worth noting that traveling in time is to the shaman as an experience much closer to a hallucination trip with the help of fly agarics, than a scientific experiment testing the laws of physics. For example, the transition into another time or place can happen with the help of a mole spirit; the walker digs himself deep into the tunnels of the spirit world, so deep, that once he clears out from them, he finds himself in a different place. A walker specializing in wolf spirits can follow their secret trails in deep boreal forest, into a new era. Also, returning back from a foreign time requires similar knowledge as the walker now has to find his way back in reverse direction.

If a walker drifts into the stream of dreams, he will drift into some undetermined time and place he didn't want to end up. This time and place is very likely hostile and dangerous to the walker.