Author's Foreword:

This is one  of a series of posts intended to show what various mage groups 
believe, how they think, and why they think the Sleepers ought to prefer 
their vision of reality.  It is not intended as a complete picture of each 
group, or a 'fair' portrait.  It's written as propaganda by each group, 
but honest propaganda. They won't lie, but they won't list their own flaws 
in detail either :)

Naturally, these posts represent my own idiosyncratic views which I
believe to be reasonably compatible with canon, but given my memory is at
times rather sieve like, I may forget stuff.  If you see a contradiction
between this or the appropriate Trad/Conv book, it may or may not be
deliberate.

If you have suggestions for more questions that should be covered, please
let me know.

Ahl-I-Batin and a bunch o' other stuff is all copyright of White
Wolf, of course.

You can find the ones done so far at:

http://www.maison-otaku.net/~rhea/WW/index.html

Enjoy!


Ascension 2000 Campaign Pamphlets:  Ahl-i-Batin

Okay, you guys are the...uh...actually, I have no clue who you are.  
Other than that you have something to do with the Middle East.

	That is how we wish it.  We are the bringers of unity, the 
hidden ones, the ecstatic union of opposites.  We are the keystone of 
Mount Qaf, the mountain of Ascension.  We walk in shadows, guiding 
those who lead, leading those who follow, as they seek to climb 
Mount Qaf to the top.  For it is we alone who realize that there are 
many roads of equal worth, but only one destination.  Let each follow 
their own road, until they realize they have always been at their 
destination all along.

	It was we who created the Web of Faith, we who found Mount 
Qaf, the axis of the world.  While the Technocracy is our enemies, 
the Cabal of Pure Thought was misguidedly trying to apply our ideal 
of Unity when it created the Order of Reason.  And it was we who 
worked behind the scenes to unite the Council of Nine.

	And yet, we were betrayed.  The Solificati failed us.  The 
Council failed to aid us when the Technocracy overran our homes and 
destroyed Mount Qaf, in search of the power of the dragon blood that 
coursed through the earth beneath our feet.  And so we were 
defeated and scattered.  But we live yet, and the time shall come 
when we are united once more, for division is but an illusion.  

If you guys did so much, how come none of the other Tradition mages 
even mentioned you?

	We have always worked from the shadows, hiding from our 
enemies and acting as guides, not leaders.  Even when we sat upon 
the council, we wore a mask.  Since we work even further in the 
shadows than before, many of them have likely forgotten we exist.  
We do not mind, for we work not for glory, but to recreate the 
forgotten Unity of All.

So what is this 'Unity' thing?  Is that your version of Ascension?

	Yes.  We recognize that everything is the same thing, every 
place the same place, every time the same time, all minds and 
spirits are one.  Yet, in the present, they are divided, that unity 
forgotten due to the illusion of division that has come upon the all.  
We are the renders of veils, who destroy the errors each path 
contains by showing that all paths are one, that every road leads to 
the same point, the top of Mount Qaf, to Ascension.

	The foci used by every tradition, even our own, are but tools to 
help us believe; they have no power in themselves, or as one person 
once put it, "It's not the tool, it's the mechanic".  All our foci are 
intended to focus our minds and open ourselves to the unity of all 
things, to help us rend the veils we have put between ourselves and 
the truth, but our goal is to reach the point where we can throw 
away those tools and work Magick by our wills alone (recognizing 
that the very existence of our wills is an illusion, for only the Unity 
exists, and we are but a part of it).  All action is magick, the 
working of wills focused through tools, whether that tool be our 
mind, our body, the foci of mages, or the machines of technologists.

	All the roads to enlightenment end at the same point, the 
destruction of all the veils which hide from us the fact that we are 
already part of the Unity.  Some roads may be better, while others 
double back on themselves and are littered with stones, but we can 
accept them all.  Once others recognize this, then our pointless 
battles with each other will cease.

Even the Nephandi and the Marauders?  And the Technocracy?  So you 
want to join all these groups together into one?  Even the Traditions 
often seem to have contradictory goals.

	The Marauders remind me of one of those Family Circle 
cartoons with Billy wandering all over the place, leaving a black 
trail behind him.  So long as they are mad, the Marauders can never 
achieve Union...or perhaps by their random wanderings, they will one 
day blunder to the mountain top.  We do not seek to recruit them, but 
they too may one day stumble into Unity.

	The Nephandi, on the other hand, are not interested in 
Ascension.  They will never clear the veils from their eyes, for they 
have poked out their eyes.  They seek the Void, the negation of the 
Unity.  Still, they are little threat to us, for we have infiltrated 
them and stolen their secrets long ago.  In the end, the Void they 
serve will swallow them, clearing away another barrier which 
prevents Unity.

	The Technocracy frustrates us.  It shares certain of our goals 
of Unity, but at the same time, it raises other walls against Union 
higher and higher every day.  They have become a barrier to Unity, 
and as such, we must cast them down, not from the spirit of 
revenge, but for the good of the all.

	Similarly, in the end, the Euthanatos will have to either reform 
or be destroyed.  They wield the same power that guides the 
Nephandi, Entropy, and Entropy has no place in the Unity, for it is the 
force that destroys Unity.  We have not forgotten how they sought to 
destroy our Akashic ancestors.  

So you only believe in eight spheres?

	We believe in nine, but the ninth is Unity, not Entropy.  It is the 
truth, where Entropy is a lie and an illusion.  There are no true 
divisions, only Oblivion and the Unity.  They feed Oblivion and 
diminish the Unity with their every act.  They will be punished.

They told me that their Entropy powers just brought about change, 
not Obliteration.

	They lied.

But all the other Tradition use Entropy as well.  How will you ever 
unite them?

	In time, they will come to see their error, that it is the power 
of Oblivion.  And since all times are one, we have already brought 
them to see this, most people simply cannot percieve it yet.

Uh huh.  So how do you do your magick?

	Our foci are tools to enable us to briefly clear away the veils 
which prevent us from fully experiencing Unity.  Once we achieve 
that, we are all things, for we merge once more with the One That 
Is, and we can change whatever we like.  The eight spheres known to 
all are but aspects of the ninth, through which we wield our power.  
Of course, all change is an illusion, but at the present a necessary 
one.  

	Our most common foci is prayer to the One, but we also draw 
mandalas and sigils representing the secrets of sacred geometry, 
meditate, dance, sing, play music, and sometimes even use sex as a 
means of achieving unity.  Many of our foci are drawn from the two 
Traditions from which we emerged: the Cult of Ecstasy and the 
Akashic Brotherhood.

Right.  So how would you cure my lung cancer?

	How long have you been smoking?

Eh?  Thirteen years.

	We would go out into the desert, where we might find 
clear fresh air, and a night sky not blocked by clouds or 
manmade lights.  Under the gaze of the Infinite, we would draw 
a great sigil in the sand, and stand in its heart at the navel of 
the world, for every point is the spine of the world, the axis 
about which all turns.

	With all those things to remind us that our division from 
the All is but a trick of our mind, we would fast, dance, and 
meditate to clear our minds and bring about the ecstatic state 
of unity with the One.  Once we had achieved that, I would guide 
you to heal your lungs, for we would be in Union with each other 
as well as the One, for we are both the One.

Thirteen hours of DANCING?

	It's easier than you think.

Urgle.  So why are you guys so secretive?

	There are several reasons for this.  Firstly, our initiates 
must learn to walk before they run, and to crawl before they 
walk.  Those who rush headlong into power without gaining 
wisdom often self-destruct.  

	Secondly, despite our efforts to bring about union and 
harmony instead of division and discord, we have made many 
enemies.  The best way to disarm an enemy is to winkle out his 
secrets without revealing one's own.

	The third is that mages are incredibly stubborn beings, and 
if we were to walk up to them and say 'We are right.  Do what 
we say', they would ignore us at best, and deliberately flout us 
at worst.  We must guide instead of forcing, and this requires 
some degree of discretion.

	And finally, I think force of habit plays a role.  Once one 
begins to walk down our road, stealth and dissembling become 
second nature, for good or ill.

But doesn't all that sneakiness put up veils of division that 
block one from Unity?

	We do what we must.  One day, that veil will also be 
removed, but the world isn't ready yet.

Okay, so what would your ideal world be like?

	Mount Qaf would be restored to its former glory as a living 
symbol of the vision of Unity, and around its base there would be 
shrines for every road to Ascension.  Unlike some of our fellows, 
we do not seek to destroy or absorb the other Traditions, but 
rather to simply enlighten them to the knowledge that all roads 
travel to the same destination, that what unifies us is more 
important than our differences.

	The static nature of current reality would be loosened, in 
order to accomodate all the different ways of achieving Unity, 
and each path would be honored for its strengths, and its 
weaknesses understood.  All would serve the One instead of 
their divided selves, realizing that they are the One.  

	The barriers would be torn down, Gauntlet, Shroud, and 
Horizon, and the living and the dead would mingle together, 
matter and spirit once more joined as one, as it was in the 
beginning.  And all would walk together towards the 
achievement of the perfect Union from which the world 
shattered when the veils of illusion first formed.

If everything was one in the beginning, how did it become 
divided?

	That is a great mystery.

If you don't know how it became divided, how do you know it was 
ever united?

	I will tell you a story.  Perhaps it is truth.  Perhaps not, 
but since we have yet to fully part the veils that hide us from 
our awareness of being the One, who knows all, it is the best I 
can do.

	In the Time That Was No Time, the One was.  It sat 
serenely for a time beyond counting, though it could have 
counted it if it so desired, contemplating all that could ever be.

	And then a moment came, when it contemplated the 
possibility of division, the idea that multiple things could exist 
and not be united.  And with that thought, because its will was 
law, the One became divided, not completely, for it could never 
truly be divided, but rather, parts of the One fell under the 
Illusion of being seperate entities.

	One of them, named Idabaoloth, liked the new state of 
affairs, and sought to preserve it, and when the One sought to 
restore Unity, having finished the thought experiment, 
Idabaoloth resisted, and convinced other pieces of the One to 
resist.  

	And so, the One decided to let the state of illusion persist 
for a time, to see what these divided creatures would do with 
their illusionary freedom, and how long it would take them to 
realize they were indeed, part of a greater whole.  

	And so things have continued to the present day.

How do you know it's a good idea to unify everything?  Maybe the 
One wants to stay divided, at least somewhat.   Like what the 
Choristers told me--the One wants to be in harmony with the 
Many once more, not to just absorb them like the Blob.

	From the moment of our creation, when Mahlav and Saddhu 
joined to form the Khwaja al-Akbar, we have sought this goal, 
passed down to us by him, who is an Oracle of the Place Which is 
One.  It is our vision, our guiding light, reinforced by the visions 
each of us has in the moment of our awakening.  It is known by 
revelation. 

	It is also known to us by reason, as we observe the world.  
If all places were not one, how could we learn to see them as 
one?  If all minds were not one, our doctrine of Unity could not 
work, and our magic would fail us.

But other Traditions don't teach this doctrine and their magic 
works.

	We possess the full truth, while they are still partially 
blinded.  But study carefully what they say, and you will see 
that what we teach is the unadorned core of their own 
teachings.  Some, like the Sons of Ether and Virtual Adepts are 
so blinded by their foci it is nearly impossible to tell, but the 
goal of Ascension is common to us, and takes similar forms.  As 
each grows in enlightenment, they discard their tools.  They 
seek Ascension, the state of perfect power and enlightenment.  
The mere fact that we can use a common terminology and 
organizational structure, the spheres, shows how much we have 
in common.  We all use quintessence, though we call it by 
different names, and we all know the power of an Awakened soul 
to shape reality, and of the Sleepers to forge the world in 
masse.  

	As one climbs Mount Qaf, the paths grow closer and closer 
together until they fuse into one at the capstone of Ascension.  
We stand closer to each other than the Sleepers, though we may 
walk different paths.  Above us, the Oracles stand closer to each 
other, and beyond them, the Pure Ones wait, shoulder to 
shoulder, and beyond them, where the gaps between all roads 
close to zero, becoming the Correspondence Point, is the One, 
the fount of Prime, of Mind, of Correspondence, of all things.  In 
time, all will see this truth.

Okay, so you want to destroy the Technocracy.  What do you think 
about science and technology?

	They are no substitute for seeking Ascension, and in the 
end, they are but another way to help one believe one has the 
power to change the world.  They are the toys of adolescence as 
the foci of the more mystical tradtions were the tools of 
childhood.  When humanity comes into adulthood, it will have no 
need for the playthings of its youth.

	So what do you think of your fellow Traditions?  You 
already covered the Euthanatos, Technos, Marauders, and 
Nephandi, but what about the rest?

	The Virtual Adepts hold much of our wisdom, stolen from 
us when the Technocracy destroyed our network of Qutbs, 
although they have misused it, turning Mount Qaf's rubble into 
some sort of bizarre parody of a bad cyberpunk novel.  They seem 
to want to turn it into a land of introverted couch potatoes, each 
the all powerful god of their own little sector.  This is not the 
road to ascension.  Still, we have hope to enlighten them, and 
they have done nothing to persecute us.

	The Sons of Ether are endlessly amusing, and often useful.  
They are too lost in their Technomancy and addicted to foci, but 
in the end, they too will see they travel the same road as the 
rest of us.

	The Akashic Brotherhood are cowards; they need to come 
out of their retreat and face the world.  But we greatly respect 
their discipline and their wisdom, and we acknowledge them as 
our fathers.

	The Cult of Ecstasy, in turn, is our mother.  From them we 
have gained insight and intuition to go with the discipline and 
physical grace of the Akashic Brotherhood.  They are ancient 
allies, and unlike those who badmouth them, we understand what 
they truly seek and accept the methods they use to climb their 
own road to Ascension.

	The Celestial Chorus and the Order of Hermes have been 
both friends and enemies.  Together with the Cult of Ecstasy, 
the four of us created the Web of Faith, the forerunner of the 
Council of Nine, which brought peace to the Middle East.  We 
share belief in the One with the Chorus, and in the unification of 
all traditions under one broad roof with the Order of Hermes.  
Now if they'd just stop feuding over things that happened 
hundreds of years ago, we'd be halfway to the peak of Mount Qaf 
by now.

	The Dreamspeakers have forgotten unity, mesmerized by 
the illusionary diversity of the spirit world, not realizing there 
is only one Spirit, the One who is All, and that all the spirits 
they serve are but aspects of the One.  It will take much coaxing 
to guide them.
	
	The Verbena are similarly mesmerized, in their case by 
the diversity of the world of nature.  They have long standing 
feuds with two of our closest allies, and have never trusted us 
because of that.  Still, they too can be brought to embrace all of 
creation, not just the green and growing things.    Some day.

	[The following quotes p. 97 of the Book of Shadows, which 
kicks the ass of any closing statement I could have written]  We 
are fragmented now, our souls as spread and scattered as the 
ashes of Mount Qaf.  A bitter wall stands between the Council 
and our present state, and yet we might all some day gather the 
ashes and hurl the invaders from our lands.  Ours is the Faith, 
the Vision, and the Secret.  To those who would befriend us, we 
are the breeze, the oasis, the clasping hand.  To those who cross 
our sword, we are the assassin's whisper and the midnight 
sandstorm.  By Allah's will and Khwaja al-Akbar's wisdom, we 
shall prevail!