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Another in my ongoing series “A Theory of Cosmere Magic” Classification of Magic Systems Pre-Shattering Magic In the Beginning – The Cosmere’s Origin I include this topic because my views on Realmic theory underlie the over-arching cosmere magic theory. While most of my views are canon, you shouldn’t be surprised some aren’t. I changed from “Realmatic” to “Realmic” to follow Khriss in AU. I am concurrently posting “In the Beginning – The Cosmere’s Origin,” since that post provides some background to the conclusions I reach in this post. THE THREE REALMS Preservation’s Metaphor. In M:SH, Preservation metaphorically describes the Realms to Kelsier. The Spiritual Realm shines a beam of “perfect” light that the Cognitive Realm “filters” before the light “pools” on the Physical Realm’s “floor.” The Spiritual Realm is the place of perfection, of Spiritual energy (the Powers) and structure (Spiritwebs). The Cognitive Realm is the place of perception, filtering the Spiritual Realm’s perfection. The Physical Realm is the place of material existence, where perceived objects and lifeforms take shape. I use the term “Creation” to describe the sum of all Spiritwebs and their corresponding Cognitive and Physical Realm aspects. Kelsier himself calls this description a “metaphor.” (M:SH, Kindle Loc 530, Part 2-1 .) The description does not address the mechanics of magic. Brandon intends this metaphor to help us understand Realmic differences, not how the magic works. Spiritual Realm. The Spiritual Realm consists of two types of Investitures: the Powers (Spiritual energy) and “Spiritweb Investiture” (Spiritual structure). Spiritweb Investiture constitutes the Spiritual aspect of Creation (the sum of all Spiritwebs). The Spiritual Realm holds the most Investiture because of the Powers: Shards are “mostly Spiritual.” Location “isn’t particularly important” in the Spiritual Realm, only Connection. Cognitive Realm. The Cognitive Realm is the collective mind of the sentient entities on each planet (an idea Brandon expressly borrows from Carl Jung). Non-sentient objects exist in the Cognitive Realm as the perceptions of the collective mind, since such objects have no cognitive function of their own: “Whenever a planet has enough thinking life on it that's considering it a planet, it drops into Shadesmar.” The collective mind includes the conscious and the unconscious. (WoR, Kindle p. 40.) a. Correspondence to Physical Realm. Brandon describes the Cognitive Realm as relatively flat, but not two-dimensional – a plain, not a plane. He contrasts its topography with the Physical Realm’s, which is three-dimensional. The SLA maps and the Dor show there is a one-to-one correspondence between locations in the Physical and Cognitive Realms. b. Subastrals. Each collection of sentient minds has its own “subastral” – the term Hoid uses in M:SH to describe Scadrial’s Cognitive Realm. Each Shardworld with a sentient population has at least one subastral. Roshar has two subastrals: one for its Physical Realm sapient population (humans, listeners and Aimians), and a second subastral for its sapient spren. Brandon calls all sapient entities “people.” Sapient spren are ideas that have ideas. These spren have their own politics and cities. The discarded Oathbreaker chapter where Jasnah first Elsecalls shows the Rosharan spren subastral. Braize also has a subastral – Khriss says there are splinters and Cognitive Shadows there. Cognitive Realm distance is measured by thought, and the distance between subastrals compresses minds. c. Shadesmar’s Sun. I believe the “sun” in Roshar’s and Scadrial’s subastrals represents those planets’ collective perception of the afterlife – the place the spirits of dead people go. Brandon refers to these collective perceptions as “cultural.” The Cognitive Realm sun is like the “light” that Earth people see during near-death experiences. That “light” is the Cognitive Realm’s collectively perceived Connection to the Spiritual Realm. The “clouds” that trail towards the sun represent the collective mind’s perception of the souls of the dead moving towards the Spiritual Realm. Everything in the Cognitive Realm “moves towards the light,” including shadows. This movement is how the collective mind perceives entropy: “all things must pass.” Physical Realm. The Physical Realm is the material world sentient life actually experiences. It consists of the matter and energy into which the Powers convert plus the Physical Realm aspect of each planet’s Unique Investiture – one can see Stormlight, Breaths and the mists. Adonalsium’s Creations comprise most of the Physical Realm cosmere: “The effects of Adonalsium permeate everything.” SPIRITUAL REALM INVESTITURE Spiritweb Investiture. Spiritweb Investiture composes the Spiritual aspect of Creation – Creation’s “Spiritual matter.” Spiritweb Investiture gives Creation its Spiritual structure. Each use of the Powers creates new matter, energy and/or Unique Investiture. That new part of Creation either has its own Spiritweb or is part of other Spiritwebs. a. A Spiritweb consists of a soul and its Connections. Each soul has unique Spiritual DNA and unique Connections – a unique Spiritweb. b. Connections bind the cosmere together – not only between souls (“External Connections”), but also between the three Realmic aspects of each soul (“Internal Connections”). Kelsier could not return to Scadrial’s Physical Realm because his death severed his Internal Connections to that Realm. (i) Internal Connections maintain mind-body-soul unity. They “vertically” link the Realmic aspects of each attribute of a lifeform or object. The Feruchemy sections of recent Ars Arcana list many human attributes. Each attribute has an analog in all three Realms. (ii) External Connections “horizontally” link a soul to other souls. These Connections can extend between people, between objects, between a person and a planet, a person and other objects, and a person and Unique Investiture. A temporary Connection can extend between a person and the Powers – that’s how catalytic magic systems work. c. A Shardworld’s Unique Investiture is encoded into the Shardworld’s soul and is part of its Spiritual DNA. Unique Investiture is thus a form of Spiritweb Investiture. Sazed says a Shard’s Unique Investitures are its “flesh and blood.” (HoA, Chapter 14 Epigraph.) d. Connections link to different Spiritual “genes” of an entity’s Spiritual DNA. A planet’s soul includes as Spiritual “genes” each location on that planet. When Allik Neverfar in BoM uses his language-translation medallion, he Connects his soul to a different “Spiritual gene” of Scadrial’s soul – a different birthplace location on Scadrial. Allik retains his accent because his soul still knows he is Malwish. Allik explains, “My soul thinks I was raised here, in your lands, but it knows that I am Malwish by descent…so I cannot help but have an accent…” (BoM, Kindle p. 302.) e. Brandon says Connections are not “on/off” switches. They can widen or narrow over time. f. “Identity” refers to the relationship between a mortal and the Unique Investiture of his native Shardworld. Unique Investiture is “keyed” to the mortal, enabling the mortal to perform “Unique Investiture Magic” on that Shardworld: “The Spiritual self is tied to the Investiture of the world that you come from.” Identity is embedded in the mortal’s Spiritual DNA. It can develop over time as part of an adaptive, evolutionary process. Non-natives must “hack” local Unique Investiture to use it (except for Breaths, which automatically “key into” their holder’s Identity.) Non-natives’ Identity is not “keyed” to the local Unique Investiture. Feruchemists’ Unique Investiture is “internal” and personal to them. BoM shows their Identity relates to the use of their personal Unique Investiture inside their metalmind. The Powers. The Powers are the cosmere’s “Spiritual energy,” the “the energy of Shards.” Under Brandon’s “one substance” principle, the Powers are the source of everything else – they convert into all of the cosmere’s matter, energy and other Investiture. The Powers are “raw” undifferentiated Investiture awaiting a directing mind to tell them what to do. Brandon also calls this form of Spiritual Realm Investiture “true Investiture” or “raw power.” COGNITIVE REALM INVESTITURE Unlike Spiritual Realm Investiture, Cognitive Realm Investiture is different everywhere – it is a form of Unique Investiture. If the Cognitive Realm is the collective mind of a Shardworld, Cognitive Realm Investiture is the collective mind’s ideas. These ideas have a Spiritual Realm aspect with their own Spiritwebs. Shai describes how this happens in TES (Kindle p. 74). Splinters are bits of the Powers that become “self-aware.” That means a splinter (including spren) has its own Cognitive function. Bits of the Powers that become splinters convert into Cognitive Realm Investiture: splinters are “less physical, more a blend of the other two [Realms].” PHYSICAL REALM INVESTITURE Differences Between Shardworlds. Like Cognitive Realm Investiture, Physical Realm Investiture is also a form of Unique Investiture. It is different everywhere. Roshar, Nalthis and Scadrial have gaseous manifestations of Investiture: Stormlight, Breaths and the mists. Lerasium and atium differ from Autonomy’s Investiture of microflora. The Tears of Edgli differ from Devotion’s perpendicularity. Each Physical Realm manifestation of Investiture reflects the Mandate of the Investiture’s Shard plus the planet’s “inherent Investiture.” Minor Shardworlds continue with whatever Unique Investiture Adonalsium and/or a Shard left there. States of Physical Realm Investiture. Brandon says the liquid state of a Shard’s Unique Investiture (its “shardpool”) is the most “potent.” The Coppermind asserts, “the liquid essence of a Shard is said to be related to the Cognitive aspect.” The solid state of Physical Realm Investiture (metals) is the least potent, and each metal has a single function. The gaseous state of Physical Realm Investiture is somewhere between the two in potency – it can directly fuel a Connection to the Powers like the mists did for Vin. PERPENDICULARITIES Realmic Conduits. Perpendicularities are conduits between the three Realms. They permit Worldhopping. The only Worldhopping we’ve seen so far is between the Cognitive and Physical Realms. Formation. Khriss says perpendicularities arise from a Shard’s presence on a planet. (AU, Kindle p. 477.) The weight of the Shard’s Investiture punches a “spike-like” hole through the planet’s Realmic aspects, forming the conduits between Realms. Brandon states the existence of a perpendicularity means the Shard cannot easily divest itself from its Shardworld: “Once you’ve got a Perpendicularity, you are starting...That’s trouble for going other places.” Speculation: Investiture Residue. I speculate a perpendicularity is the precise spot where a Shard Invests in a planet, where its Investiture “enters" the planet’s three Realmic aspects. That’s where the Shard “is present” and why the perpendicularity is “spike-like.” Otherwise, the weight of Investiture seems like it would form multiple perpendicularities per Shard on that planet. When Investiture is complete, residual unused Investiture remains – like water dripping from a turned-off hose. These attuned “catch-basins” collect a planet’s recycling Investiture. Brandon says perpendicularities “normally” disappear when a Shard divests itself from a planet, but “there are circumstances that could prevent the shardpool from disappearing.” Since Sazed says Physical Realm Investiture (like a shardpool) is the “body” of a Shard, I speculate the Shard Vessel’s death might be one such circumstance: Aona’s shardpool didn’t “disappear” after her death. I also speculate that a Shard can choose to leave Investiture behind when it divests. (Brandon recently confirmed this speculation when he stated at least one planet has a shardpool the Shard abandoned (voluntarily or not).)