Walking Ways : The Old Ways and the New
This thread is giving a conclusion to two others - you should read them to see why I'm saying some of the things here.
First, in On star and Waters , I sum-up what we know about souls, memory, and magicka.
Then, in World-Creating 101 I talked about how I saw the details of this creation ; how and why the different Adas acted.
Thus, I reach the idea that most TES mythic history, subgradience, is a reduction of souls. Lorkhan escpecially created Mundus in a strict pattern, and as a huge soul net, where these souls experimented a short life/memory, and then either gave up and joined an Ada, or went to the Dreamsleeve and tried another time something .
I also remind that I see Padomay doing what could be more or less called an Inception on Anu : he is making Anu dream of him. He is at the same time a component of the dream, and something that shouldn't be there - at least for Anu.
Now, I will begin to discuss the "why" of all this. As you might have guessed if you are very clever, (and if you managed to read the tittle), I'm talking about the Walking Ways.
Another times, this is my take on the ways, and if I see someone who agrees with me on the entierity of this text, I would be surprised - all is sourced, but the result depends on the sources used.
Why, then? Because I like this result ; it doesn't let many room for imaginating new things in the Aurbis, but it is rich and can lead to some interesting plilosophy.
Do you know the Psijic? They have something called the "Old Ways". At first glance, there's no link with the Walking Ways ; in the same manner that the Psijic Endeavor has no link with the Psijic Order, as it is in fact linked to PSJJJJ, "Sithis".
Then, we come to some details in a very obscure text, supected to be written by Gary Noonan :
>As a Psijic of the New Ways, the Dwemer appear to have been most successful in the Endeavor than any mortal. Their Endeavor is not the shared Endeavor of the Old Way. The New Way, so I speak with no REAL title, is the Way in which I have devoted my research to. I find this New Way to be most delightful a study. The Dwemer have taught me more about the "ideals" of the Endeavor than any Psijic could have in 1,000 years. So many questions, so little time. Finding answers appears to be the primary purpose of mortal existence.
So, different ways having different Endeavor... Hmmm....
Then, we go to the discussion between Xal and Golseigh (MK and Peterson) :
>Divayth Fyr, who you may recall from our days at Gwylim, has the whole of the Inner Sea interested in the varied guises of PSJJJJ again. One of his cohorts, who signs only 'B', has pulled all manner of pamphlets to the fore in an effort to get at the heart of the matter. And, though they know it not, the Aurbis is trembling as they near themselves to truth. (Incidentally, I have petitioned the Murder House for a Dram simulacrum, sixth-measure, in case Fyr or 'B'-- a Borgite, perhaps?-- come too close to waking the Sleepers.)
So... studying PSJJJJ/The Ways would shake the Aurbis and "wake the Sleepers" when reaching "the truth"?
If we heard dinmenel, in Demystifying the Dwemer their (Kagrenac's at least) first goal with Numidium would have been to make another subgradience, and go beyond mortal death - following Lorkhan's Idea.
So, the "New Ways" would be, in a way or another, following the idea that as some parts of them are linked to Padhome, they cannot be free while Anu dreams of them ; by becoming an Amaranth, they would be freed from Anu.
At the same time, we should notice that there seem to be more in the Old Ways than "respect the Adas", and that the higher Psijics are hiding a lot of things. If we follow what they were doing, we notice that Psjic are centered on Anu, and meditate on PSJJJJ because he is the sign of Anu (being forced?) doing something.
So, we can think there goal is to return to the staticism of Anu - but with their way ; they begin filling Crystal-like-law with the body of dead Aldmer, in the Ancestral cult, creating in fact a huge concetration of souls/magicka.
Then Auriel and the others use this magicka to dracochrysalis, and join Aetherius. The Psijic do not disagree on the goal (going to Aetherius is a return to Anu, as this is a nearly total statism) but on how it is done - but, as the other Aldmer change their cult, and worship their "higher ancestors", Psijics go to Artaeum. And what is now the Altmer focus on Dracochrysalid.
The other point is "how". We guess some some Old Ways, some of their methods ; "destroying the Aurbis throught White-Gold Tower" being the more extreme, while there is more usual, like "uniting all the elves to reform Altmeris".
But, the "how" of the New Ways is a bit more difficult. It needs a lot of quotation from the Sermons, so, be ready.
>'The spaces between the gift-limbs number sixteen, the signal shapes of the Demon Princedoms. It is the key and the lock, series and manticore.'
>'Look at the majesty sideways and all you see is the Tower, which our ancestors made idols from. Look at its center and all you see is the begotten hole, second serpent, womb-ready for the Right Reaching, exact and without enchantment.'
>'The heart of the second serpent holds the secret triangular gate.'
>'Look at the secret triangular gate sideways and you see the secret Tower.'
>'The secret Tower within the Tower is the shape of the only name of God, I.'
(I had to cut the beginning, it was too long).
Here, we have a geometric description of Mundus, and of what Lorkhan built.In a more or less fractal way, the Tower/Stone/Major Adas complex of Mundus is surrounded by sixteen other complex like this, but with only one "prince" each time, and not eight spokes (and this planes have smaller oblivion planes with only a tower and a stone, like in the game Oblivion)
This pattern (16-8-4-2-1) is present in the Mundus, but not only ; Vivec, who seems to be opposed to the Divines, might have the Barons of Move-like-this as the "spokes" he uses. The House of Trouble (see later) might also change. Breaking something in this pattern is breaking the whole purpose of the Aurbis.
It leads to a wheel, and the possibility of understanding the "I" ; and maybe even the CHIM.
Then, we look at Sep, the Second Serpent, and probably the Constellation of the Serpent. He is "womb ready" to bear the Amaranth, behind his unstars : there is only Void (and maybe memories) behind, nothing physical, which would lead to sensory deprivation.
The gate throught this is the "triangular gate", which lead to the secret tower, and the possibility to be a God/true individual person, and say "I".
Then, later :
>'The magical cross is an integration of the worth of mortals at the expense of their spirits.
"The cross is the sword". We are talking about 7, the sword at the center, which is trying to integrate mortals - it gives the idea that what follows might be more general than what we think when one would have succeeded in the jump, the others might follow.
>Surround it with the triangle and you begin to see the Triune house. It becomes divided into corners, which are ruled by our brethren, the Four Corners: BAL DAGON MALAC SHEOG. Rotate the triangle and you pierce the heart of the Beginning Place, the foul lie, the testament of the irrefutable-for-a-span.
>Above them all is the horizon where only one stands, though no one stands there yet. It is proof of the new. It is the promise of the wise.
The promise of PSJJJJ? So, someone must stand at the center for the "New Walking Ways" - whatever the center is Nirn, probably, but in C0DA, it seems to be replaced by a mechanical construction (the "the mechanism that allows the transformation of the world"?).
>Unfold the whole and what you have is a star, which is not my domain, but not entirely outside my judgment.The grand design takes flight; it is transformed not only into a star but a hornet. The center cannot hold. It becomes devoid of lines and points. It becomes devoid of anything and so becomes a receptacle. This is its usefulness at the end. This is its promise.
The center cannot hold, but someone must sacrifice for this. When the corner/triangle rotate, maybe the dragon break probably, the center is pierced, but it creates a hole, where someone can go.
>'The sword is the cross and ALMSIVI is the Triune house around it. If there is to be an end I must be removed. The ruling king must know this, and I will test him. I will murder him time and again until he knows this. I am the defender of the last and the last. To remove me is to refill the heart that lay dormant at the center that cannot hold. I am the sword, Ayem the star, Seht the mechanism that allows the transformation of the world. Ours is the duty to keep the compromise from being filled with black sea.
Black sea - black memories. And Vivec explains that he will kill Nerevar returned, until he/she removes Vivec, letting a hole where he may pass : the "mortal trap" give the possibility to retry many times the "right reaching" ; moreover, we can guess that Lorkhan and then the dwemer used subreatiion to ensure that the person would manage to go throught the door, and would not have enough soul to totally encompass memory in the Void outside the Aurbis.
All of this is more or less the " 29 2 9 11 7 18 4.5" that MK gave : 29, the Captive Sage, is probably Anu, or Padhome depending on what you want. 2 The Enantiomorph gives him the possibility to have a missing, 9, something to fill at the center. Thanks to a Master, 11, a "Sword" can go at the center (who talked about Boethiah and the Chimer?). Then, they can begin the way to reach 18 : a Dragon Break, 1, making of the Mundus the Hurling Disk, 17 : if it is well managed, it will give 18. If not, "the sleepers will awake" (both Anu and the Godhead? Or the New Amaranth and Anu? Or the couple - as the Amaranth need their love?) and... well, it is not good.
Wait, and :
>This is the promise of the PSJJJJ: egg, image, man, god, city, state. I serve and am served. I am made of wire and string and mortar and I accede my own precedent, world without am.'
Well, see it as a descritpion of the path given thanks to Sithis/PSJJJJ, but I admit that all that I could say about this would not be backed up by sources, so I let it to your own interpretation.
If we look at the different races, we can notice that most elves are more on something that looks like an Old Way (except at least chimer/dunmer and dwemer), and they use towers to give the magicka necessary to thei ways. Most humans are on New Ways, following Lorkhan ("Redguards" are debatable), and they use singing and dance - "symbolic" forces.
In fact, all these way have a goal close, an Amaranth, the only way to be free, but they disagree on what is right ; is Padhome something that must be removed if they want Anu (them in fact) to have his liberty, or is it Anu who is controling all, and Padhome giving the possibility to escape from this?
What is really interesting is that this create a systems of morale totally different from ours (Vivec killing Nerevar was an act of Love, he gave him a chance of becoming the Amaranth), but at the same time, even if we know every detail of divine interactions, we cannot say who is right - this question cannot be boiled down to the traditional "Why is there anything?".