As I’ve been hinting at across the other three parts of this brain dump, I do feel this this an actual current. I’m not convinced it’s at the peak of its potential in terms of power. I can see several constraints on this and will go into those. I have seen some of the pitfalls others have experienced and heard (second- or third-hand at best).
Let’s start with the Current as a current and not a mosaic. When I did my year long blood pact with the Maegzjirah current and got my attunement from Cernobog, I quickly noticed that I could feel that underlying energies when interacting with the other entities I was introduced to. Cernobog, Nykarleth, Astrael, and the spirits they introduced me too all felt like their Towers and there was an underlying sameness, a base energy connecting them. I’m not saying they were simply different aspects of the same entity. It’s more broad than that. Think of how most angels typical have a sameness in the underlying energies before their “personalities” and offices are layered on top. That’s harder to do with “Demons”, as some very different types of entities have ended up in the category over time.
There is a base current I can reach for, connect to, that makes connecting with those entities much easier. I can feel this base current when I call them to my location or when I project to their “worlds” and “cities”. There is a cohesiveness to them that suggests planning to me. This gives more credibility that the original entities were overlays of Order the XYZ Angles may have been a starting point. A cohesive undertone like this isn’t something you typically feel unless it was planned – or derived – such as another book I’m thinking of with squares that exhibit a similar structure in the dark, edgelord library I may have done a walkthrough of many, many years ago on another site.
Just as Somnus would read a book and allegedly refit the original narrative…Devil’s Quran…, this wouldn’t really be possible if the current was as established as it was. Some ousted Cabal members believe it was that way all along, just like the 4 added Towers. Seems a bit odd that the supposed Ascended Grand Master revealed this and got himself booted after all of this work unless it was constructed.
It is more logical that these additions meshing with the current because it was a newer current than it is advertised. Does this mean I’m right about that? No, but it seems likely. This will likely come down to the individual’s opinion. I think the Devil’s Quran is about as authoritative as the Book of Satan by Lavey. Except we know who wrote that one. I have the Devil’s Quran and it’s literally JCI worship mechanisms and rules with dark adolescent-level anarchy dressing on top. Read it a few times. It is amusing to consider it a serious work. But members of the previous Cabal do believe it is seamless and I don’t know enough current members to get a genuine feel for their opinion. But many of the more senior Cabal members left when the Devil’s Quran became cannon, despite not having existed for years prior.
There are some pitfalls I’m very aware of with this current. The most perilous seems to be the social aspects, but I’ve crapped on those enough. There is a genuine concern for other aspects of this current that is espoused by some members of it – the closed practice. There was a period of the current’s history where you were allowed, then not allowed, to work with other entities and currents while practicing. This can be a legitimate *temporary* thing to do when going into new currents to get accustomed to them and the way they work. This helps prevent someone coming in and simply rehashing their current way of doing things and can lead to growth. If the Maegzjirah was as old as it claims, this could be a legitimate ask.
But it isn’t. The additions and usurpation of Cernobog with Shaitan now at the head calls this into legitimate question. Unless it isn’t the real, Slavic Cernobog and all of the Tower Masters and Mistresses were created and enhanced…. There was a picking and choosing of which entities one was allowed to work with while dealing with the Cabal and to leave that social pretend religious cult got one hit with apostasy. This leads to this being used more as control mechanisms than broadening magical experiences.
Now we can move to another issue tied to this system – the deepening merging of the practitioner with the Lord or Lady of the Tower (Cernobog, Nykarleth, Astrael, etc…). To move up the progression ladder of the Tower, according to the published materials we have and that are available to those of us without a social aspect, we have to make another pact/dedication to the Lord or Lady to become more like them and be able to progress. Which doesn’t sound like a bad thing – when you’re talking about Gods and Goddesses with known track records that you want to be more like.
What did we say about the origins of the Lords and Ladies? Do we know that the Lord or Lady of our Tower has the depth and breadth of a Goddess as complex as Hecate or as storied as Shiva? Our evidence for the origin of the current itself is only found within the Cabal. There are some external sources I already linked to that goes over the addition of the other Towers and the bolstering of the spirits according to some of the members that did it. That’s all we have.
I’m clearly still working with them – albeit on a slower time scale than I originally intended. I don’t mind promising to continue to learn from their Tower, but pacting for Life (remember the apostasy threat?) isn’t something I consider a smart thing to do. Pacting to learn while I’m under the blood pact – sure thing.
Why am I bringing up the complexity and the pacting? Because I’ve seen a lot of unhinged things come out of this current – especially from the current Cabal leader. I’ve also worked to help a couple of former members that were left mentally unstable after their time with the Cabal and only indulging in their brand of the Maegzjiran current with only dabbles in other related areas. I’m assuming they were mentally competent enough to get into the Cabal. By the time I tried to help them, they were metaphysically off the rails and having trouble telling the difference between the physical and astral here-and-now. Could it be that the Cabal attracts that type of person in the same way other semi-cults attract dark edgelords? Sure, totally possible, but I’ve seen and heard more people coming out of the Cabal and exclusive current work being unbalanced and unhinged than being sane.
Conclusive proof? No, of course not. But the complexity mention was because we can expect behavior that isn’t quite as refined from entities that aren’t as complex. Say, entities created to fit molds of specific desire instead of a more balanced approach that also take the health and wellbeing of the disciple into account. Thus, I am proceeding more cautiously that I could. Once one’s mind is tipped too far, righting it becomes way more difficult than making sure to periodically realign before tipping the table again. Frankly, I’ve seen enough unhinged, unhealthy magical practitioners to make me very aware of that need. Please keep this in mind literally and figuratively.
Finally, I don’t believe the current is anywhere near close to it’s peak performance and usefulness. If you ask some of the practitioners, which may not know much else, it’s all you need. Remember when I said that Nykarleth’s shadow realm felt contained? It feels contained like a created subdomain/subrealm in the astral that hasn’t quite merged with the rest in a cohesive way. It specifically reminds me of the practice where some black magicians create their own subspace in the astral to reside in later. It reminds me of that because it feels containerized in that manner – defined, created, highly focused. And when working with it, one gets better results from creating an anchor point into your ritual space to give easier access to this plane to conduct work. This isn’t necessary for more seamless “worlds” and “realms” one encounters – such as demonic realms and similar.
It becomes more obvious that these subrealms do best when there are more anchor points available. There will be a stronger, more immediate response the closer the anchor points are – meaning the effects will be greater with those working with the current that have them and among each other than on others not aligned and at a greater energetic distance from them. My requests to the Shadow People of the Maergzjiran haven’t been as effective as I’d like and I chose targets that would be a good fit for the “Shadow People” here I’ve worked with. Are the M version lesser? No, I don’t think so and this is as much about the target as the entity. I’ve seen other well known entities struggle with some of these, which makes it more of a fair comparison. But I think that all of the Towers would become more powerful and have a heavier non-pacted reach with more practitioners and entry points. You could argue that about any entity, but it seems especially relevant to me with them.
I think there’s a lot of potential in this current, social parts aside. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to get into and make meaningful additions to it while it’s still getting itself established in this world. Is it full of LARPy behavior and overtones? Sure and you won’t win any admiration points any time soon for mentioning it in your bio. This does present an opportunity for those looking for one.
The majority of the published materials for the Maergzjiran current suffer from a lack of published materials with meaningful depth. They also could use materials that have a dark approach without the over-the-top DnD/Pathfinder vibes. No one in their right mind is going to read Charnal Whispers and believe half of the first half and all of the second at face value. Not only do the materials like this detract from legitimate skills to be sought (in some cases), but don’t do anything meaningful to progress the magician in a measurable way. It’s reads as a fantasy-based framework for fantasy seeking audience. With there being almost no materials for the majority of the Towers, this is an area of meaningful growth for those looking to volunteer their time and materials. These are still copyrighted work and untangling that mess to get permission for derivative works is more than I’m likely to pursue, to be honest. The interest is there, but that’s a lot of work and my time is limited by the projects and hobbies I already am invested in.
Do I plan on renewing my pact? I’m unsure. I feel I could help the current in my own way, but want to get more out of it at a base level before investing heavily in it. One could argue that this is a recipe for backfire, but that is part of the understanding I have with these entities from the beginning. It was part of my pacting. I’m not here to be a cheerleader or fanboy of any particular system. I’m an analyst and this doesn’t turn off when I approach a magical system. I think the potential is absolutely there, which means I’m not likely to toss it and walk away. If there was an increase of open usage and collaboration across the community by more mature magicians and the works could go somewhere meaningful, I’d likely be game for helping boost it.
So, this is my current opinion of the current. I’m usually reevaluating as new things come about and have given as honest of an account as I can to express that. This is absolutely the condensed version and I’ve not included things to keep it more concise while getting my point across. I didn’t get into the ways these entities feel for example or my observations with the brief interactions I get from them and their spirits. That would take too much time and not provide anything more meaningful. Kindly take these articles for what they are – my current understanding at this point in time.