What follows is an unavoidably tenuous attempt to render the ineffable Tellurian - essentially the whole corpus of existence and potential existence - as a graphic diagram. Of course no such undertaking will meet with complete (or even really substantial) success; the very subject under scrutiny defies such an approach by definition! This does not, however, mean that this task is without merit. On the contrary, while an erstwhile "map" of the entire universe cannot hope to represent everything within the universe, it can provide a guide and metaphysical starting point, making further exploration of the Tellurian, whether spiritually, conceptually or physically, a somewhat less confusing journey. Let the naysayers pooh-pooh this presentation, and for those who desire to better grasp the fundamental relationships between the infinite "places" in reality, read on and enjoy! :)

Aurelius, Mind of a Pretzel

---- I'm posting this to mage, vamp, wraith, changlg, and wod. Apologies!

A TELLURIC TOPOGRAPHY

To begin, take a piece of paper. For our sake, we shall imagine this to be a three-dimensional space without limit. EVERYTHING that can exist, actually or potentially, is contained on this piece of paper. Or, to be more to the point, the paper IS the Tellurian.

Okay. Now, imagine three tennis-ball sized spheres resting on this piece of paper. Now push them together, and since this is all in your mind anyway, imagine them suddenly merging together so that each intersects its neighbors. Since we cannot easily draw a sphere on a piece of paper, however, we will have to stick with circles, BUT it is important to remember as we move along that these should be considered whole spheres for purposes of this topographical model.

Draw the three spheres/circles now, each intersecting the others so that in the end each will have four distinct regions: An area free of the "influence" (intersection) of its neighbors, an area influenced by one neighboring sphere, an area influenced by the other, and finally an area influenced by both neighbors. This last area should, then, be the point of intersection of all three spheres. As a suggestion, make sure that each of these areas is large enough for a few labels to be added later on, otherwise it might get a bit difficult to know exactly what you are looking at when you try to recall what is what.

Maybe it isn't so obvious, but these three spheres are the three accepted Umbrae, or "aspects" of reality. One can also very helpfully imagine them as three spotlights -- one blue, one red and one yellow -- intersecting. Part of each will be pure, parts will be influenced by another color, and in the center all three will merge to create a white light (assuming pure light was being used).

So what shall we label the four distinct areas within the spheres?

First, let's speak generically for a moment. The areas of the spheres which remain pure (do not intersect another sphere) are the three Near Umbrae. Those parts (there will be three of them also) which result from the intersection of two spheres are the Penumbrae. And the center area, where all the spheres come together, is Gaia, or earth!

Okay, where is the Deep Umbra? Well, draw a circle around the three you already have, so that it encompasses them all. The area within this circle, not claimed by the other spheres, is the Deep Umbra (I know you want to point out that there should be 3 of them, but hold on for now).

Go ahead and label the three Umbrae. For simplicity's sake, label the one nearest the top of the page the High Umbra. This is a very colorless name, and therefore suggest also writing these additional names also, for the following supply much more philosophical, spiritual and emotional flavor: The Astra, The Weaver, Stasis. This sphere is the "place" of form, structure, pattern, design, permananence and order.

Label the next sphere (I chose the bottom right) as the Middle Umbra, also supplying the following alternate names: The Spirit World, the Living Umbra, the Wyld and Dynamism, as it is called many things. This is the "place" of genesis, growth and rebirth, procreation and change.

The last sphere should be labeled the Low Umbra, along with Dark Umbra, the Underworld (NOT SHADOWLANDS!!), the Wyrm and Entropy. This final sphere is the source of destruction, decay, corruption, extinction, dissolution and finality.

Now, think of these for a moment not as places, but as the three fundamental cosmic forces that mages so love to discuss: Dynamism, Stasis and Entropy. Or better yet, Genesis, Form and Destruction. The Garou like to imagine these universal ingredients as powerful beings, which is perfectly acceptable for their purposes too. However they are seen, they are unchanging at their core. In fact, one should imagine that there is a single point at the center of each of these spheres, a precise "location" where the ultimate purity of the concept of each sphere can be said to exist. (This will be mentioned again later.)

Okay, now remember the "light" analogy? At one time the three Umbrae (cosmic forces) were all superimposed upon each other perfectly (or more rightly, there was only ONE Umbra -- GOD? -- with three aspects). Something happened and this single Umbra began to divide into three separate spheres. This separation has continued ever since, and theoretically, if it does continue, the world will disappear forever. Why? Because the earth/Gaia is really only the result (a shadow!) of the overlap of the three Umbrae (actually, the Dreaming is very important too, but we'll save that for the moment...), and should they completely pull apart from each other, they can no longer overlap!

Getting back to the spheres though, label the Near Umbra area of the Astra (that part not shared with another sphere), the Astral Plane; the same part of the Spirit World, the Garden; and the same part of the Underworld, the Tempest (there you go!). Here the Umbrae are relatively pure (as discussed above), but not entirely. Don't think of the borders of the spheres as made of iron, but rather as composed of fog, meaning that they are really fuzzy, albeit present. This means that within these Near Umbrae the influence of the other spheres will vary depending on how "far" one is from the border of another Umbra (once you cross a border, however, you have left the Near Umbra for the Penumbra; see below).

Here can be found the myriad Realms so frequently spoken of and "visited." In the Garden one finds the supposed 13 Realms, with some, like the Abyss, closer to the border of the Underworld, and others, like the Aetherial Realm, closer to the border of the Astral Plane. The same goes for the Astral Plane, where its Realms will be influenced to varying degrees by their proximity to the other Umbrae, and ditto for the Tempest. Horizon Realms in the Astral Plane, for example, can be drawn on your map as little circles resting just inside the outer curve of the Astra, while Stygia and the Dark Kingdoms of the Underworld can be drawn as small circles floating inside the Tempest.

Somewhere within the very center of each sphere (as mentioned above) exists a place of cosmic purity, where that Umbra is completely uninfluenced by its neighbors. In the Underworld this place/point is called the Labyrinth, where Oblivion itself can be found. In the Spirit World this place is called the Summer Country, where nothing can die and genesis is the only force. And in the Astra there is a similar place where only static structure exists. [I call this Metropolis, until WW supplies something more appropriate. Any suggestions?]

Now, let's move along quickly to the Penumbrae, whose borders are two Umbrae and Gaia itself. These places are literally shadows of earth, each one effectively being a reflection of the world as we know it with one of its three composite cosmic aspects be filtered out. They should be labeled as follows:Where the Astral Plane and the Garden overlap, label this the Ethereal Plane; where the Garden and the Tempest overlap, label this the Velvet Shadow; and where the Tempest and the Astral Plane meet, call this the Shadowlands.

The Shadowlands is literally earth without the influence of Dynamism (at least to any effective degree). This is a reflection of earth's death. Here there is form and pattern to be sure, but genesis, growth, creation, and continuance don't exist. It is the place where Stasis and Entropy meet, where structure and its destruction are everything. Here the High and Low Umbrae meet to create a place where form marches unceasingly towards oblivion, quite literally. And the border between the Shadowlands and Gaia? The Shroud, of course (or more generically, a Gauntlet). Here is where one arrives when one attuned to death step-sideways.

[This view that the Penumbrae are actually "located" at the juncture of two different Umbrae, and not simply part of one, is my own and not the published view of WW. However, after much contemplation and insight, I believe that this view here is not only more conceptually and graphically correct, but in the end makes actual play easier.]

The Velvet Shadow then, is earth without the force of Stasis. It is earth's spiritual, living reflection. Here exists genesis, growth and life alongside destruction, decay and corruption. And though it would seem that form surely exists, the actual cosmic aspect of Stasis does not. [Form, one should remember, is actually being given to this place by our own preconceptions, for without some form to what we encounter, we, as beings composed of all three cosmic forces, cannot begin to truly comprehend what we encounter.] And the barrier between this place and earth is called the Velvet Curtain. This is where Garou and shamanistic mages "go" when they step-sideways.

Finally we have the Ethereal Plane. This is earth's intellectual and conceptual reflection. Here the force of Entropy holds no sway. Genesis, creation and dynamic evolution come together with forms and lasting structures to create a place of undying ideas, thoughts, concepts and archetypes. Without Entropy none of these things can truly die, though they can surely be diminished in the dynamic struggle for supremacy. Things are created and given form, but cannot ever really be destroyed. And the barrier between this place and earth is quite simply called the Gauntlet. This is where most mages "go" once they step-sideways.

Once one crosses over from Gaia to one of these Penumbrae, however, one must be careful about looking back at earth, for unless one is experienced enough to know the difference, it is possible to accidently "get light in one's eye," so to speak, and see an illusion instead of the "real" earth. This "place" is called the Mirror Zone and it can lure many an inexperienced umbral traveler. Be careful!

Without going into too much detail about the specifics of each of the three Umbrae (as they are covered elsewhere in great depth), it should be noted that these three "spheres" or aspects of all possible existence are not the only ingredients necessary for existential manifestation, despite the hubris-laden beliefs of many umbral travelers. Alone, these three cosmic forces cannot result in the complete picture of reality as we perceive it. Sure, one can have dynamic creation, after which form is taken, until finally entropy dissolves the creation back into the nothingness from whence it came. But this can not accomplish everything. There is one final fourth cosmic force that is significantly different, yet fundamentally a peer of the other three: Imagination.

Yes, imagination. Inspiration, originality. The Muse! The Dreaming!

Look at your piece of paper again. Now imagine again the three intersecting circles as three-dimensional spheres in front of you, melded into one another. Imagine them as the three basic colors: red, blue and yellow. Fine. But what about shading? What makes them light and dark? Simple: inspiration, imagination. Glamour.

Imagine a fourth sphere, shimmering with pearly light, nestled above and center of the other three spheres. Picture this sphere, The Dreaming, sinking down a bit until it too begins to intersect that middle area, a place now bisected into complete colorlessness and complete color. Day and night. The night is the world without the influence of this sphere, while the day is the world with it.

This final intersection of the fourth sphere is geometrically complicated to imagine on an effectively two-dimensional map, but with a little imagination (get it!) it can be done.

Where The Dreaming impinges upon earth we have the waking world (or uninspired world) and the dreaming world (or inspired world). This world of dreams that essentially exists here on earth is called the Dreamlands and is entered through the normal process of sleep. Just outside of the sleeping earth you can find the Dreaming Penumbra, a chimerical reflection of the earth's dreams, called the Near Dreaming (not to be confused or equated with the Near Umbrae). The barrier separating this "place" from the Dreamlands can be labeled the Mists (so an ordinary person could enter the Near Dreaming if in their dreams they could penetrate the Mists). The Near Dreaming is the effective counterpart to the three Penumbrae and touches and intersects each of these areas. Further out, geometrically equivalent to the Near Umbrae of the Astral Plane, the Garden and the Tempest, is the Far Dreaming, a place of Dream Realms where even the fey tread lightly and watch their backs.

But what of the Deep Umbra and the places said to be there (Malfeas, Paradox Realms, etc.)? And what about the Deep Dreaming, said to be undescribable and very dangerous, within which Arcadia can be found?

Forget all you know. The various Deep Umbra AND the Deep Dreaming ARE THE SAME. Sort of. On your paper, draw a large circle around the Umbrae and the Dreaming, encompassing them all. Okay? Now, everything within this giant circle, but not already within the Umbrae or the Dreaming is the Deep. Now, when one is "closer" to one of the Umbrae or the Dreaming this Deep will seem to be more influenced by the concept embodied therein, but it is all really the same giant bowl of soup! Scary?

And what lies beyond this final shell? What does the rest of the piece of paper represente, the part beyond the Deep Umbra/Dreaming? This is the Null Zone; the theoretical backstage of all existence. Here the must fundamental axioms necessary for existence in the first place "are." While the rest of the Tellurian is purely subjective, this place is purely objective and no subjective will, no matter how damned strong, can change this place.

Obviously, much has been said in a quick and perhaps too rambling manner. You must be my critics. Suffice to say, there is sooooo much more to say. I only hope that I was able to provide the basic tools necessary for arriving at a useable topographical represenation of the Tellurian and how it "all comes together." I think this is pretty close. Then again, I could be wrong.

Aurelius, Cosmology 6

~FINIS~

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