Correspondence

File:Correspondence sigil.jpg

Correspondence sigil.

Correspondence (previously known as Connection) is one of nine Spheres of magic in Mage: The Ascension. The Ahl-i-Batin occupied the Seat of Correspondence in the original Council of Nine Mystic Traditions, but it is currently held by the Virtual Adepts. The Shard Realm of Correspondence maps physically to Mercury.

Overview

Correspondence magic allows powers such as teleportation, seeing into distant areas, levitation and flying. At higher levels the Mage may also co-locate himself or even stack different spaces within each-other. Correspondence can be combined with almost any other sphere to create effects that span distances. Space, interrelationships and sympathetic links all become clear through the study of Correspondence. By bending space or bypassing it entirely, a mage can travel rapidly, fly or teleport from place to place. Divining locations allows the mage to see far-away places or direct magic over distances. With a link between a person and an object, Effects may be targeted through connecting rituals.

Distance forms no barrier to a master of Correspondence. Indeed, distance and even space do not exist to the student of this Sphere. Through the unifying Correspondence Point, mages realize that all things occupy the same space — or no space at all. Virtual Adepts, the most dedicated modern students of Correspondence, theorize that all things coexist in a single All-Space or Correspondence Point, and that bypassing space is simply a matter of realizing this unity. Mathematically, space is just an illusion, a convenient construct of the mind. Objects, people and places don’t really take up space, according to such theories. Instead, everything is just a Pattern, and space simply describes the relations of different Patterns to one another.

Mystically inclined mages see Correspondence through the theories of contagion and sympathy. Any two things that have touched share a little trace of that connection, which can be called on through Correspondence. Objects or places that are similar in Pattern can be manipulated through that similitude. Any sort of connection opens the door to the manipulation of Patterns. It’s always easier to work with the familiar than the strange, after all.

To utilize Arch-spheres, the Master of Correspondence has to figure out how to be in the same space as himself; the Correspondence Point lets Masters exist in many places simultaneously. Next, the mage must resolve the paradox of coexisting in space with himself as more than one simultaneous awareness of singular space.

Marks

Mages who focus on Correspondence tend to develop a befuddled or faraway look, as if they wouldn't pay attention. This is because of the growing perspective and usually, they are more aware of their surroundings than their realizes. In contrast to the impression of distractment, their very motions seem to be precise and planned, thanks to their growing knowledge of distances.

Limits

Despite its capacity to bend space and distance, Correspondence functions only on whole Patterns unless combined with the various Pattern Spheres. That is, it’s impossible to just teleport away someone’s heart with Correspondence alone. In essence, Correspondence does not affect Patterns directly; such manipulations must be done with other magic. Correspondence simply lets those Patterns be affected, whole and complete, in changes of space or distance. If the mage wants to use Pattern Spheres to affect something with Correspondence, she’s limited by the Correspondence level (if it’s lower than the Pattern Sphere). Thus, a mage can teleport something with just Correspondence, but if she wants to change its Pattern at a distance, its skill with Correspondence is as important as its skill with the other Sphere.

Paradigmatic Interpretations

Below is a short representation how the Sphere of Correspondence is interpretated by the various magickal factions within the World of Darkness.

Traditions

• Akashic Brotherhood:
• Celestial Chorus:
• Cult of Ecstasy:
• Dreamspeakers:
• Euthanatoi:
• Order of Hermes:
• Sons of Ether:
• Verbena:
• Virtual Adepts:

Technocratic Union

• The Technocratic Union (especially the New World Order) utilizes a different form of Correspondence called Data. Others, like the Void Engineers, utilize a version of Correspondence that fits closer to the version espoused by the Traditionalists.

Standard Powers

• ^[1]
  • Immediate Spatial Perceptions: Raises the mages awareness of space to determine exact directions and distances, as well as distortions of the same. Allows to locate things that the mage cannot perceive with her human senses.
• ^[2]
  • Sense, Touch, Thicken And Reach Through Space: Allows the mage extend her senses beyond her current location. With adjactant Spheres of Life or Matter, she can draw small lifeforms or objects through space. Allows to dampen spatial distortion that can be sensed on rank 1.
• ^[3]
  • Pierce Space: Allows a mage to penetrate the very fabric of space itself, opening small portals that allow travel via teleportation. With adjactent Spheres, the mage can teleport Patterns from a distance.
  • Seal Gate: Allows a mage to ward an area against Correspondence Effects and mundane attempts to enter.
  • Co-Locality Perception: Allows a mage to split her perceptions over various locations, allowing her to see multiple places simultaneously.
• ^[4]
  • Rend Space: Allows a mage to create permanent portals to any location within the Tellurian.
  • Co-locate Self: By causing her own Pattern to manifest in several perceived spaces, the mage can appear to exist in multiple places at once. Through the adjactant use of the Mind and Life Sphere, the appearence can interact and think just as the mage would.
  • Ward: The mage can isolate forces, spaces, objects, or people into their own tiny realms with the use of various auxiliary Spheres.
• ^[5]
  • Mutate Localities: Allows a mage to bend space according to her will, altering sizes and volumes, stretching distances and willfully manipulating any objects that appear in space.
  • Co-Locate Space: Allows a mage to merge chunks of space together, superimposing location on each other instead of creating a portal.

Archspheres

• ^[6]
  • Fold Space: Allows a mage to reduce or increase the distance between two objects, or to fold the space around a person to twist her into various shapes.
  • Create Space: Allows a mage to generate space by creating a zone of emptiness.
• ^[7]
  • No Warding: Allows a mage to step through wards or allow others to ignore them by transforming into a small "Correspondence Point" herself.
• ^[8]
  • Limits of Spirit: Allows a mage to transport material or spiritual realities to translocate features of a place instead of objects.
• ^[9]
  • No Limits: The mage can move freely around the Tellurian.

Correspondence Range

Success	Range	Connection
1	Line of Sight	Body sample or Blood relative
2	Very familiar	Best Friend or prized possession
3	Familiar	Casual friend, cousin or possession
4	Visited Once	Acquaintance, object used once
5	Described location	Briefly touched or saw object or person

References

^  Level 1

Immediate Spatial Perceptions	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 157
Immediate Spatial Perceptions	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513

^  Level 2

Sense Space/ Touch Space	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 157-158
Sense, Touch, Thicken And Reach Through Space	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513

^  Level 3

Pierce Space	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 158
Pierce Space	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513
Seal Gate	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 158
Open Or Close Gates	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513
Co-Locality Perceptions	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 158
Co-Locality Perceptions	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513

^  Level 4

Rend Space	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 158
Rend Space	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513
Co-Locate Self	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 158
Co-Locate Self	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513
Ward	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513

^  Level 5

Mutate Localities	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 158
Spatial Mutation	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513
Co-Location	Mage: The Ascension Revised	Pg. 158
Co-Location	Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 513

^  Level 6

Fold Space	Masters of the Art	Pg. 66
Create Space	Masters of the Art	Pg. 66

^  Level 7

No Warding

Masters of the Art

Pg. 67

^  Level 8

Limits of Spirit

Masters of the Art

Pg. 67

^  Level 9

No Limits

Masters of the Art

Pg. 67

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• MTAs: Mage: The Ascension Revised Edition , p.157, 207