Question Birth of a Spirit

Most of the spirits we've seen so far have been eons old, but what does it take to create a new spirit? Does Jobe creating the Razorspinner species, for example, mean there is now a Greater Razorspinner spirit, and a bunch of lesser ones, running around in the spirit realm?

my guess it either takes a long time or a major/meaningful event to create a spirit and it would take both for a major spirit

Cryptic wrote: Most of the spirits we've seen so far have been eons old, but what does it take to create a new spirit? Does Jobe creating the Razorspinner species, for example, mean there is now a Greater Razorspinner spirit, and a bunch of lesser ones, running around in the spirit realm?

In Rise n 'Shine, a witch cursed Joe Johnson to bind his spirit to his still because Joe stood up the witch because he was making a batch of 'shine. So when he died, his spirit stuck around in his still until 'Shine manifested and absorbed it. So with some powerful magic, it's possible to create a spirit, but it's a long, long way from the sentient spirits of Ptesanwi, Tatanka, Grizzly, or Kodiak.

Cryptic wrote: Most of the spirits we've seen so far have been eons old, but what does it take to create a new spirit? Does Jobe creating the Razorspinner species, for example, mean there is now a Greater Razorspinner spirit, and a bunch of lesser ones, running around in the spirit realm?

Check out Entity Classifications and look under Class 2.

It doesn't really get into how the Knots of Magic are formed but you can assume they are a by-product arising from certain magical processes.

Beyond this, in order to become a "Razorspinner" spirit it would need to learn of "What" a razorspinner is from somewhere... perhaps from the dreams or thoughts of someone involved in their creation or use... or nightmares of someone who's encountered them. It could imprint on this and then it's appearance and/or details are defined by that source.

I think I remember something being discussed about this a long time ago. Essentially, spirits begin "life" as hobgoblins -- knots of animated magical energy given form.They usually dissipate quickly, but sometimes they attach themselves to something that keeps them charged. Over time, the source of Essence may allow the hobgoblin to grow into a spirit, while at the same time shaping the new spirit according to the nature of the source.

It's unclear whether animal spirits, for instance, originate from the animals themselves or from human minds forming a belief system around that animal, attaching meaning to the animal. I tend to go for the later hypothesis. Consider Wihinape, for instance -- she represents grace and femininity because those are the values the Lakota people attached to the puma. Other tribes may have attached different values, resulting in a different puma spirit.

Sir Lee wrote: I think I remember something being discussed about this a long time ago. Essentially, spirits begin "life" as hobgoblins -- knots of animated magical energy given form. ...

Yeah, the linked Entity Classifications :

OH... You got Ninja'd by DanZilla! Sorry for not noticing!

What do you think that Grizzly and Kodiak, er Lanie and Wyatt were doing?

Valentine wrote: What do you think that Grizzly and Kodiak, er Lanie and Wyatt were doing?

Each other. Or weren't you paying attention.

There was a story, Glee I think, where a spirit was created by all the girls watching TV at the same time. The spirit would have dissipated pretty soon, but found an avatar.

DasVals wrote: There was a story, Glee I think, where a spirit was created by all the girls watching TV at the same time. The spirit would have dissipated pretty soon, but found an avatar.

(Glee/Bewitched is now a canon character in G2 but their origin story isn't, so we will have to see if they want to delve deeper on who they are and how glee has been created.)

^ ... What? I don't remember that? ... "Glee"... "Souffle Girl - Living With Glee" ... I guess I missed it.

Just stopped from when he wants to play some MMO, but it seems like their excitement attracted a emotion-eater that feeds on excitement. Nothing wrong with that in canon?

Have you ever read "American Gods" by Neal Gaiman?

It included a description of someone deliberately creating a Tribal Spirit.



In contemporary magickal thought, there's also the concept of the Genus Locii, the spirit of a place, which in WU terms could be a Class 2 magical knot, which was tied to a specific hallow.

There was also the story that i heard from one practising chaos magician, of a fire spirit whose hallow was a reel-to-reel tape machine, that had been salvaged from a burnt-out building. Every time it was taken somewhere else, the building that it was in would burn down 6-9 months later, and one of the only things salvagable would be this reel-to-reel tape recorder. He tried banishing whatever was inside it but was unsuccessful, and so he had to get hold of a number of protective charms related to water, and disposed of it at a ritual site used by the Romans to propitiate the spirit of the River Thames.

When it landed in the river, there was a large cloud of green smoke as it sank beneath the water...

I still don't know whether this was true, but it was a story that was too good to check.