The Power of Faith and Belief - by E.P. Long, (6 Jul 94), - introduction by R How (Jul 98)   Human belief in certain ways of thinking generates a great amount of force in itself, and though this is usually unconscious and formless, those who have strong belief are strengthen by this energy in resisting harm by other occult forces. Here are described three types of belief which gives protection against the supernatural, and against magick. All three can be localised to certain areas, as well as being carried by certain individuals. These have a compound affect, so that a strong-believer priest in a church or temple will have additional resistance. These three are Divine, Infernal, and Reason. There are debates as to whether the undead can possess True Faith. Would a High Inquisitor (not even the Pope is guaranteed to have such a high level of Faith) suddenly lose his strength of belief if Embraced? It is doubtful that it would be sudden, but under the weight of corruption that blood-drinking and rage inevitably brings, Faith would be worn away. Also, if one with Divine Faith requires a humanity of 10, what does one with an Infernal Faith require? Zero? One? A separate Path (this is more likely)? The differences between Divine and Infernal are in fact medieval and Judaeo-Christo-centric - as defined in the old grimoires of the Hermetic Order and others. In actual fact there is no practical difference between the two. They both act on Faith, as defined by the nature and properties of the religion involved. Even more so, these distinctions are entirely centred around the Roman Catholic Church and its opponents, and it is very doubtful that a strong Satanic church exists or has ever existed - certainly not one strong enough to generate enough power for True Faith. Bhuddism, Taoism, Janism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Wicca, Animism, Parsi, Shintoism and all the myriad non-Judao-Christian-Hamitic religions do not easily fit into this Divine/Infernal model, yet they all have their own valid forms of True Faith. So here, notions of the 'Divine' and 'Infernal' are presented as they were defined by the old Dark Age European Magi, and although many traditionalists still believe in them (the undead are slow to change their beliefs, if at all), modern research-Magi should look on such relativism with a large pinch of salt. Despite this, it is certainly true that there is a well-recognised force of evil at work in the world, but whether a form of Faith is good or evil is entirely subjective to the observer. RH Divine Faith is the power of belief in an Omnipotent being, or pantheon of beings in some cases. It is Faith which drives this power and fuels the abilities of the Celestial Chorus and those with the ability of True Faith. In the past, divine regions (called the Domain) protected the people against supernatural predation. As faith has waned in the present age, this protection has ebbed as well. This may be the cause of the general malaise which has gripped the Twentieth century. Divine regions are areas of harmony, peace, and inspiration. In Christian areas of the world, the strength of the domain changes with the calender. The domain is stronger on Sundays and strongest at Easter. Sadly, with commercialization, Christmas is not as powerful as it used to be although it is still stronger than the rest of the year. Days are stronger than nights. The Domain is weakest on Good Friday [huh? the day of the founding act in the Christian faith?! - Ed.]. These are typically in Churchs, centred at the altar. The Throne of St. Peter in the Vatican has a Divine strength of 10 [for Catholics - those of other Faiths might consider it to be a seat of the Infernal.] People with True Faith automatically gain the benifits of counter-magic, with as many dice as they have in True Faith. This is intuitive, requiring no effort or attention of the individual. As such, it functions even when the person is sleeping. Normally, this protection manifests itself coincidentally. It works against mundane threats as well.   Infernal This is the evil power generated by the Prince of Darkness, the Nephandi, the Wyrm. Infernal regions are generated on Earth when demons or bane spirits manage to become present. Diabolists or satanists may also make these regions. Even the horrific evil of certain mundanes may generate these areas. Caerns corrupted by Black Spiral Dancers are examples of this type. These areas tend to exude negative energy to their surroundings. They may be the cause for the blight of the gothic-punk world, particularly in the inner cities. Although they are spreading in number, there are almost none with a strength greater than 5 (Major Satanic Church or greatest node possessed by Nephandi or Black Spirals) People and entities with Infernal Power gain the benifits of magic resistence, at an equivalent score to their own. The powers from below protect their own agents, but are notoriously fickle in their patronage. Nephandi also are capable of using counter-magic.   Fairie The few remaining fey areas left on Earth exist mostly deep in the wilderness, particularly forests. With the growth of the Domain, and later Reason, fairie regions have gradually left the earth. Still, they do occasionally reappear. They tend to be stronger at the equinoxes and during the full moon. The laws of nature tend to become warped in Fairie regions. Many of the circles in Britain are fairie regions, and there is still a farie region in the Black Forest. A creature with Fairie Might tends to bend reality around them. This does not function as resistence or counter-magic, but tends to increase the probability of mishaps and botches. Fairies are notoriously difficult to control or contain magickly, but can often be tricked or confined with iron. Mauraders seem to possess a similar form of protection as fairies.   Reason Areas of Reason began to grow during the end of the Mythic age and now dominate much of the world. Much but not all of this growth can be attributed to the Technomancers. These are areas of pure rationality. Supernatural beings generally do not feel comfortable here, although vampires are curiously much less affected than any other type of supernatural beings. Even mundane people are more logical and less emotional in such areas. They are spread all around the world. The are concentrated in factories, research laboratories, and universities. They provide the strength for the gauntlet which seperates Earth from the Umbra. [Reason is of course the intellectual opposite of Faith, but interestingly it is created in the same way - by Belief. Those with Reason have a strong belief - a Faith if you will - that their way of thinking is true, as strong as the belief of others in a divine being. However in occult terms, it acts in the opposite way. In areas of Faith, the Gauntlet is weakened to the extent that magick is more easy, and those Faithful who are affected by occult forces draw the magickal strength of Faith to fight the attack. Those with Faith are protected by the magickal power of their Belief, which filters through from Realms in the Umbra. Reason acts in the opposite way. It strengthens the Gaunlet, and makes magick harder to perform. Both have the same effect in making offensive magick harder, but they operate in different ways. - RDH] Certain contructs of Reason (eg. HIT Marks) and people with high Reason scores (similar to True Faith in some ways), possess magic resistence [- particularly, members of the Arcanum. See Arcanum for further information on this, and the system by which Reason rolls work.] System: In resisting the supernatural, the Reasoner must make an Intelligence+Reason roll to rationalise what she sees, if she is being attacked or influenced in some way. Number of successes cancels out the number of dice of the assailant. It is interesting that in areas of True Reason (which are rarely very strong except in very localised areas, such as some universities and research institutes), all occult creatures suffer penalties in using their powers, even those not used in offence.   "Order of Draco", (c) Robert D How, 1998