Cybermancy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Occult Portal

Cybermancy refers to the act of using computer-driven divination systems. These systems may be based upon oracles originally created in non-electric media ( i.e., Tarot, Runes, or I Ching ) or may exist solely as software constructs. These are usually divination programs, but may include reference materials, such as programs which track the phase of the moon, which practitioners of ritual magic need for timing their spells. It's nothing new to use computers to create astrology charts, either.

Wherever known, cybermancy is controversial, and practitioners of divination tend to have mixed feelings towards it. Some people feel that having a physical medium (such as cards, in the case of Tarot) is important for channelling the correct energies, and that the "cold" technology interferes with the lively, natural, human element required. Others feel that the concept essentially remains the same, since random numbers are what computers do best; or that the technology may even assist the divining energy.

Cybermancy may also be used to refer to the act of surfing to a random web page on the Internet in the hope of receiving divinatory guidance from its content - similar in this respect to bibliomancy. (This practice is described, but not named, in The Urban Primitive, page 184.)

In the Shadowrun role-playing game, Cybermancy refers to a complex mixture of magic and implant technology (called cybertechnology), that allows the soul of a person to be trapped in an otherwise dead cyborg body. This procedure is not without its drawbacks though. The implant technology increases the chance of cancer and there is a constant threat of death (as the body is technically dead already). Many mages also state that individuals that have gone through this process have what is defined as a negative soul. Like a void that calls out to all living things to fill it. This makes casting magic around these people very difficult.