This is also why the magic of Mage: The Ascension is totally unmagical, since magic is the realm of the soul, and the ego cannot see it, being aware of only the dimmest reflections. Mages in Mage: the Ascension are egotists of immense proportions, attempting to sway the consensus trance of the masses to meet with their own pre-conceptions in order to alter reality. Actually, reality is already here and doing fine on its own, we're just too busy ignoring it. The illusion is not out there but here in our heads -- we make it ourselves. If the Zen master asks you whether the stick he is holding is real, say yes, otherwise he'll hit you over the head with it. Magic is paradox, and logic is not truth.

Nephilim approaches the metaphor of magical enlightenment from another perspective, from the viewpoint of the soul reaching down to the ego, not the ego looking up. Metaphorically, Nephilim are the spiritual self, the magical side of a person that awakens when one first glimpses the infinite. Nephilim is a game of the soul's journey out of darkness into light, of the gradual illumination of the whole person. The Nephilim and its Simulacra (host body) represent the yin and yang of mindful awareness. The Nephilim is awareness and being, and the Simulacra is mindfulness and doing. Joined together they are "becoming", or directed change. Think of the metaphor of a boat, where the Simulacra is the ego, the boat; and the Nephilim is the religious awakening, the pilot.

And on a purely game-play level, the game activities are greatly divergent. The metaphors discussed above are just the game-design underpinnings. For all this lofty philosophy, Nephilim is a game of street-level action. The action in Nephilim is driven by the Nephilim's struggles against the human secret societies that are trying to destroy or entrap them on the

one hand, and on the other hand by their search for Agartha (spiritual enlightenment) that will free them from the sorrows of this world and the eternal cycle of re-incarnation. The Nephilim search for arcane tomes and items to help them in their struggles, and try to find other Nephilim or sympathetic humans with whom they can ally. And at times they must act against the secret societies to thwart their plots. The ultimate goal is Agartha - Ascension to a kind of Godhood and freedom from mundane incarnation, not simply gaining power over others and thriving on the sensations of intrigue and competition. In this Nephilim and the White Wolf’s World of Darkness are as different as night and day.
Zen and the Art of Freeform
- Nephilim Occult roleplaying compared to White Wolf's World of Darkness

This is a revised copy of an article explaining the differences between the Nephilim Occult roleplaying game, upon which Age of Aquarius is based, to a the very popular World of Darkness games of which many prospective players will be familiar with as the Camarilla or Sin City. In no way is it intended to discourage your participation in any game, rather its purpose is to explain why the games are different from a very fundamental perspective, even if they are both supernatural horror roleplaying freeform campaigns!

Nephilim differs in fundamental ways from White Wolf's World of Darkness. The dominant mythology of White Wolf's world setting is a metaphor for the ego's fear of annihilation, hence the heavy darkness and death themes; the World of Darkness is the world of Samsara (eastern mysticism: world of suffering). For the ego, illumination (because it requires the ego's death) is an unattainable goal. Vampires are the ego, with no knowledge of the soul, holding on even beyond death, and satisfying their need for the balancing soul by draining the life essence from others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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