Theory: Each Shardworld has an Essence

[Bondranx]

I know this thread is nearly a month old, but I noticed you discounted Amethyst on the Scadrial section of the chart.

 

If you'll recall Atium itself grows inside of an amethyst-like geode in the Pits of Hatsyn

[Strigoi]

This post seems dead but I might as well add my 2 cents. The way I see it the specific gems and the essences that a soulcaster can use stormlight in those gems to turn things into are the only two things that another shardworld would logically have in common for this theory. The surges seem to be Honor/Cultivation's influence with Roshar's essence; Lucentia. Like how burning steel gives you investiture from preservation that only allows you to push metals it seems like absorbing investiture in the form of stormlight with an honorspren only allows you to manipulate gravity and adhesion. It's most likely that poeple attributed surges with the essences because they're looking for a connection that isn't there just like Scadrians putting Atium and Malatium on the table of allomantic metals when they shouldn't have been there. Along the same lines I think the the divine attribute/secondary attribute are just things the Rosharians attached to the essences because the Knights radiant personified those attributes and don't have anything to do with essences at all. The bodily focuses seem to just be symbols of the essences and thus other shardworlds don't need to have them.

Though I do disagree with Roshar being more or less important than the other shardworlds because of its essence of Lucentia. It seems to be a coincidence that this was the place where people first had the idea of surges (because of soul casting) and while the idea of it being a prism for investiture was an interesting idea I don't think this is the case (though I can still be proven wrong on this point). But it does seem like Roshar will be important for other reasons, since it is where the fight to defeat Odium is taking place.

[ARARITA]

Qabalah / Kabbalah - table of correspondences ...

[Stormgate]

I realize not many will likely see this. Thank you for presenting a theory that I have had myself, and have been unable to put into adequate words. The fact that I, on my own, without any forums to help me or anything, got a similar theory seems to authenticate it, though we both may be wrong. I also have a theory that the sixteen Shards of Adonalsium correspond with the sixteen basic Allomantic metals. This is an old post, but I want to back up your claim.

[skaa]

Thanks for your interest in my old theories, @Stormgate! Since I started this thread, my attitude towards Cosmere theories in general has changed from "I'm confident this is correct and I'll be surprised if I'm wrong" into something more of "I think this is cool and it'd be awesome if it's actually the case". The Shardworld Essence Theory is one of those things I personally feel is really cool, and it's great that you've thought of it as well.

 

If you're interested, here's an old theory by @Youngy linking the 16 Shards to the Allomantic divisions. And here's @Tempus' thoughts on how each of the known Shards could be placed on the Allomantic chart. Note, however, that there is WoB suggesting that simple pairing of Shards (as in the Allomantic pushing-pulling/internal-external pairs) wouldn't work:

 

 

 

CHAOS

Are Shards all paired? Does Endowment have a counterpart?

BRANDON SANDERSON

RAFO. Also, yes and no. Not all Shards have perfect counterparts like Ruin and Preservation.

QUESTION

Why were Ruin and Preservation linked together?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Because they're such perfect opposites. Basically it's just an opposites attract thing.

 

 

[A Windspren]

I think that we're looking at this theory the wrong way. Instead of each Shardworld's Investiture based on each Essence, the idea of the Ten Essenses could have arisen from worldhoppers from each planet. As the Heralds are associated with each Essence, I think it likely that they were originally worldhoppers before becoming Heralds. After becoming Heralds, they could have included information about their respective Shardworlds in their pre-Vorinism religion. Vorinism can be considered relatively new compared to events like the Shattering and planet formation, and it likely is mostly made up doctrine initiated after the breaking of the Oathpact. The idea of Essenses is likely a fragment of information about the Herald's origins that survived the Hierocracy to become part of modern Vorinism.

[A Windspren]

Also, the Body Focus correspondes with the magic systems. The Body Focus for Lucentia is the eyes, and on Roshar eye color is a big thing. For Foil, the Body Focus is the nails, but if you interpret this as another kind of nail, you get something seen on Scadrial... 

[Yata]

I asked to Brandon about the 10 Essences and the Shardworld.

 

 

Question for Mr. Sanderson: Are the Ten Essence related to the Ten Shardworld's Form-of-Investiture ?

 

 

[–]mistborn/r/Fantasy Best of 2014 Winner, AMA Author Brandon Sanderson 1 punto

2 ore fa 

1. They are not as related as philosophers from ancient days, who created those tables, thought that they were.

[skaa]

Nice to have that sort of cleared up, though the wording still allows for some small level of relationship depending on what exactly those philosophers thought and how far they are off the mark. We'll see. I guess for now I'll acknowledge that the connection, if it exists at all, can't be that great.

 

Wait... so those philosophers (presumably Rosharan) knew about the other Shardworlds?! Whoa, that's actually pretty interesting.

Edited December 29, 2015 by skaa

[Yata]

Wait... so those philosophers (presumably Rosharian) knew about the other Shardworlds?! Whoa, that's actually pretty interesting.

Well, if like some element of the books seems to point as a "Roshar's people are a mix of multiple Exodus from other Worlds" it's probably that they knew a lot of the Cosmere. And they of course had some kind of Worldhopping's knowledge.

[skaa]

Well, if like some element of the books seems to point as a "Roshar's people are a mix of multiple Exodus from other Worlds" it's probably that they knew a lot of the Cosmere. And they of course had some kind of Worldhopping's knowledge.

If the originators of the Table of Essences really were Worldhopping scholars, and if they had some theory about the Essences being connected to the Shardworlds in some specific (but wrong) way, then it's an honor to be in such distinguished company, even if we are wrong.

[Stormgate]

I am mentally freaking out because he says they aren't as connected as philosophers thought they were. This indicates that, although it isn't a direct correlation, there is some connection, simply a more loose interpretation. As a Theoryweaver in two ways, this is just awesome that we finally have something confirming some connection between the Essences and the Shardworlds. I am vindicated!

[Moogle]

I am mentally freaking out because he says they aren't as connected as philosophers thought they were. This indicates that, although it isn't a direct correlation, there is some connection, simply a more loose interpretation.

 

I don't really agree with this interpretation. "Not as related as the philosophers thought they were" could mean there is absolutely no connection. Brandon usually phrases things so that he never seems to be making an absolute statement in cases like this.

 

I do find this WoB interesting because of the immense knowledge of other Shardworlds it would require. Mistborn weren't even a thing on Scadrial 1300 years-ish before WoK, and I'm guessing the Surgebinding Chart is older than that. The idea that they could connect Scadrial to metal seems very strange. I guess it's not impossible they knew of Feruchemists...

 

All the same, I almost wonder if Brandon didn't misinterpret the question and think Yata was asking about the ten Surges, which he has previously noted were thought by ancient philosophers to be connected (ie. blood and air). Seems like a huge misinterpretation to make, though.

 

Either way, interesting question Yata!

[iBambam]

I love this theory. The research you've done is amazing! I think you may be onto something here and I love it! I'm not sure about the other planets, but Lucentia/Vev really seems to fit Roshar in many ways.

If Lucentia as an essence is the "eyes" of the cosmere, then it makes perfect sense that through it Odium could gain access to the test of the cosmere somehow. This would be a big reason why Roshar is central to the struggle within the cosmere. If Odium can literally crack Roshar, thereby cracking Lucentia, perhaps that is how he free's himself from Roshar.

[skaa]

On 2/22/2014 at 9:15 AM, skaa said:

Anyway, I'm sure Brandon will surprise us all by making things a bit more complicated than I laid out, like maybe Shardworlds have-- *drumroll*-- two Essences! Or something. This was all just a fun little thought experiment that I decided to share with you all, so I'm really happy that a lot of you liked it enough to upvote. Thanks!

 

I can't believe I'm saying this two years after making fun of this idea, but... I now think Shardworlds have two Essences.

 

Yeah, I know how Brandon said that the philosophers who created the Essence tables were a bit off when it came to their understanding of how the Essences are connected to the Shardworlds' powers, but I reckon maybe they weren't completely off, maybe the Essences are still connected somehow.

 

I actually posted this revised theory in the Secret History spoiler forums, but I'm re-posting it here.

 

---

 

M:SH spoilers

 

 

The main reason for this revision is because mists in the Scadrian Cognitive Realm (as seen in Secret History) contradicts the Scadrial=Foil part of my original theory. I now think that a Shardworld's nature is more properly viewed as a combination of two Essences, not just one. In the case of Scadrial, these Essences would be Foil (for metal) and Vapor (for mist).

Why two Essences?

As I posited in my L-Theory, the Cognitive Realm is the space between the Spiritual and the Physical Realms. Leras confirms this in Secret History:

Quote

"It's not the world of the dead. It's the world of the mind. Men--all things, truly--are like a ray of light. The floor is the Physical Realm, where the light pools. The sun is the Spiritual Realm, where it begins. This Realm, the Cognitive Realm, is the space between where that beam stretches."

It's reasonable to assume that since the Physical and Spiritual aspects of objects pass through the Cognitive Realm, both aspects are visible there to some extent. I theorize that the Physical and the Spiritual Realms for each Shardworld are each attuned to an Essence, and that this can be observed when going to that Shardworld's Cognitive Realm.

 

---

 

Part I: Physical aspects

Let's take an example. According to my theory above, the Physical aspects of things appear to be made of mist on the Scadrian Cognitive Realm because the Scadrian Physical Realm is attuned to Vapor. On Roshar, Physical aspects appear as glass beads because Rosharan Physical Realm is attuned to Lucentia.

So for each region of the Cognitive Realm, I believe that Physical aspects (at least, those that have an Identity) appear in the form of a particular Essence. But for objects with no or very little presence in the Physical Realm (e.g. disembodied souls, people travelling in the Cognitive Realm, etc.), they will look simply as they are in the Cognitive.

Also, from what we've seen in the Words of Radiance Shadesmar scenes and the "Cognitive land" scenes in Secret History, it appears that the Physical Essence of a Shardworld also manifests in the "land" (the solid Cognitive version of large bodies of water) in solid form, and that the "plants" growing there also manifest the Physical Essence somehow.

Interestingly enough, even though Shards can manifest as solid, liquid, or gas on the Physical Realm, part of their power seems to naturally gravitate towards their Shardworld's Physical Essence. On Scadrial, the Shards' power often manifests as mist. On Roshar, Stormlight readily resides within crystalline gemstones.

Let's explore these ideas for each Shardworld:

 

Scadrian Physical Essence: Vapor

Vapor corresponds to the misty manifestations of Physical aspects on the Scadrian Cognitive Realm. It matches Scadrial's designation as the Expanse of the Vapors, as well as the Shards' tendency to manifest as mists on the Physical Realm.

The Cognitive "land" is made of a "dark, smoky stone". Plants that grow there emit mists:

Quote

Kelsier stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets and kicked at the ground of the island. It was some type of dark, smoky stone.

...

Kelsier passed scrubby plants sprouting from the otherwise hard ground—not misty, inchoate plants, but real ones full of color. They had broad brown leaves with—curiously—what seemed like mist rising from them. None of the plants reached higher than his knees, but there were still far more than he’d expected to find here.

 

Rosharan Physical Essence: Lucentia

We are already very familiar with the small glass beads that represent physical objects on Shadesmar. It was the combination of these beads, the crystalline trees grown on Shadesmar land, and the obsidian look of Shadesmar land that convinced me to designate Roshar as the Lucentia Shardworld in my original theory. Also, Stormlight most commonly manifests in the Physical Realm as light coming from gemstones.

 

Nalthian Physical Essence: Tallow

Given that the Tears of Edgli appear to be Endowment's Physical manifestation on Nalthis, I first thought that the Physical Essence of Nalthis is Pulp (the Essence of plant life), but I quickly realized that the dyes produced from the Tears are a more specific manifestation of Shardic power than the plants themselves, because the dyes from the Tears can actually be used in the magic system (just like Scadrian mists and Stormlight-infused gemstones).

After researching a bit, I learned that many plant-based compounds used for dyes come in the form of oils (e.g. aniline), making it possible that the Tears of Edgli dyes are produced by extracting the plant oils and processing them. I therefore concluded that Tallow (the Essence of oil) is the Physical Essence of Nalthis.

I'm guessing that the Nalthian Cognitive Realm contains dark prismatic objects made of oily substance, similar in appearance to Jasnah's spren Ivory, all floating in a sea of oil. The land might be made of a dark waxy substance. There might be trees made of tallow (as in old-style candles).

 

Selish Physical Essence: Zephyr

I got this idea from the fact that Selish Cognitive Realm is supposed to be "full of pressure", and the fact that air in the Physical Realm can easily hold Investiture (as when Elantrians draw Aons in the air). I imagine the Selish Cognitive Realms to be full of "Identity winds", each object existing as a discrete air stream within a vast wind storm.

The Selish Cognitive land contains "solidified wind". Kelsier saw some of these solidified wind trees when he visited Sel (or at least Sel's Cognitive land) in Secret History:

Quote

Eventually he reached a place where plants grew only in occasional patches. They were replaced with strange formations of rock, like glassy sculptures. The jagged things were often some ten feet or more tall. He didn’t know what to make of those.

...

He drew near and pulled up beside one of the odd rock formations that were common out here. It had hooked spikes drooping from it almost like branches.

 

---

 

Part II: Spiritual aspects

The Spiritual aspects of things, on the other hand, appear to manifest less apparently on the Cognitive Realm than Physical aspects. While objects with the Spark of Life (animate objects) show their Spiritual aspects quite clearly as bright light (the glowing shapes on Scadrial, the bright flames on Roshar), most inanimate objects appear dark, especially when they're not Invested (as we've seen in WoK, a Shadesmar bead flares while being Soulcast, but most Shadesmar beads are dark). This may be because Spiritual power (i.e. Investiture, which includes the Spark of Life) is the only part of the Spiritual Realm that is visible in the Cognitive Realm, which is why non-Invested things don't glow.

There is an exception, though. It appears that some non-Invested inanimate objects do appear brightly on the Cognitive Realm, at least on Scadrial. I am of course referring to metallic objects. Somehow, it is easier for Scadrian Investiture to travel from the Spiritual Realm to the Physical Realm via metal than via anything other regular substance. It is as if metal is a gateway to the Scadrian Spiritual Realm, with the energy from that Realm visible in the Cognitive Realm.

I believe this because the spiritual aspect of Scadrial is attuned to Foil, just as its physical aspect is attuned to Vapor. This, I think, is why metal is the Focus of the Metallic Arts.

 

Scadrian Spiritual Essence: Foil

Metals glow in the Scadrian Cognitive Realm. Metal is the focus of the manifestations of Investiture on Scadrial.

 

Rosharan Spiritual Essence: Zephyr

At first I wondered if the Cognitive flames of living things in Shadesmar meant that Roshar is Spiritually Spark, but there are a couple of problems with that idea. First, fire doesn't seem to have much use in the magic systems on Roshar. Also, one would expect the Spiritual Essence to appear "hotter" than its normal state (e.g. metal on Scadrial appear incandescent, as if a lot of energy is being applied to them), but the Rosharan Cognitive flames only appear as regular candle flames instead of hot blue plasma.

These problems led me to the idea that Roshar's Spiritual Essence is in fact Zephyr, the Essence of wind and air. A yellow candle flame is just incandescent air, which is what the soul would look like on Shadesmar if Zephyr is Roshar's Spiritual Essence. As for air's significance to the magic system, well, it is the Stormfather that Invests gemstones with Stormlight as he blows his terrible winds across Roshar, and Stormlight is normally obtained by a Surgebinder via inhalation of air.

I predict that a highstorm looks like a gigantic firestorm in Shadesmar. Also, I think that every time someone tries to Soulcast air, they first create an Identity for a portion of air, which would look like a flame in Shadesmar, before turning it into something else (which turns the Cognitive flame of the air into a glass bead).

 

Nalthian Spiritual Essence: Vapor

Like the Scadrian Cognitive Realm, I think the Nalthian Cognitive Realm also has vaporous substances, except these vapors burn like Rosharan burning air-souls. These are the Cognitive manifestations of BioChromatic Breaths of living things and Awakened objects. Unlike Rosharan Shadesmar flames, BioChromatic flames burn with various colors and they rise like a fiery aura from living things and Awakened objects in the oily, iridescent Nalthian Cognitive Realm.

 

Selish Spiritual Essence: Talus

My guess is that living things appear as glowing rocks being flung around in the winds of the Selish Cognitive Realm. Each region of land is represented by a gigantic rocky glowing form dominating its own area in the Cognitive Realm. The Invested winds of the Dor blow from these regional Land Form entities.

 

TL;DR: Scadrial is Physically Vapor and Spiritually Foil. Roshar is Physically Lucentia and Spiritually Zephyr. Nalthis is Physically Tallow and Spiritually Vapor. Sel is Physically Zephyr and Spiritually Talus.

Edited December 2, 2016 by Ookla the Insipid

[Yata]

Well Skaa impressive work.... I read it just once but it's a wonderful analisys.... I am not sure about the "Physical Essence and Spiritual Essence" but it's just a doubt of mine, without any clue about.

 

Anyway great work

[Irkutsk]

I can't believe I'm saying this two years after making fun of this idea, but, I now think Shardworlds have two Essences.

Yeah, I know how Brandon said that the philosophers who created the Essence tables were a bit off when it came to their understanding of how the Essences are connected to the powers, but I reckon maybe they weren't completely off, so maybe the Essences are still connected somehow.

I actually posted this revised theory in the Secret History spoiler forums, but I'm re-posting it here.

---

M:SH spoilers

The main reason for this revision is because mists in the Scadrian Cognitive Realm (as seen in Secret History) contradicts the Scadrial=Foil part of my original theory. I now think that a Shardworld's nature is more properly viewed as a combination of two Essences, not just one. In the case of Scadrial, these Essences would be Foil (for metal) and Vapor (for mist).

Why two Essences?

As I posited in my L-Theory, the Cognitive Realm is the space between the Spiritual and the Physical Realms. Leras confirms this in Secret History:

It's reasonable to assume that since the Physical and Spiritual aspects of objects pass through the Cognitive Realm, both aspects are visible there to some extent. I theorize that the Physical and the Spiritual Realms for each Shardworld are each attuned to an Essence, and that this can be observed when going to that Shardworld's Cognitive Realm.

---

Part I: Physical aspects

Let's take an example. According to my theory above, the Physical aspects of things appear to be made of mist on the Scadrian Cognitive Realm because the Scadrian Physical Realm is attuned to Vapor. This is why objects with no or very little presence in the Physical Realm (e.g. disembodied souls, people travelling in the Cognitive Realm, etc.) don't look mist-y in the Cognitive. On Roshar, Physical aspects appear as glass beads because Rosharan Physical Realm is attuned to Lucentia.

So for each region of the Cognitive Realm, I believe that Physical aspects (at least, those that have an Identity) appear in the form of a particular Essence.

Also, from what we've seen in the Words of Radiance Shadesmar scenes and the "Cognitive land" scenes in Secret history, it appears that the Physical Essence of a Shardworld also manifests in the "land" (the solid Cognitive version of large bodies of water) in solid form, and that the "plants" growing there also manifest the Physical Essence somehow.

Interestingly enough, even though Shards can manifest as solid, liquid, or gas on the Physical Realm, part of their power seems to naturally gravitate towards their Shardworld's Physical Essence. On Scadrial, the Shards' power often manifests as mist. On Roshar, Stormlight readily resides within crystalline gemstones.

Let's explore these ideas for each Shardworld:

Scadrian Physical Essence: Vapor

Vapor corresponds to the misty manifestations of Physical aspects on the Scadrian Cognitive Realm. It matches Scadrial's designation as the Expanse of the Vapors, as well as the Shards' tendency to manifest as mists on the Physical Realm.

The Cognitive "land" is made of a "dark, smoky stone". Plants that grow there emit mists:

Rosharan Physical Essence: Lucentia

We are already very familiar with the small glass beads that represent physical objects on Shadesmar. It was the combination of these beads, the crystalline trees grown on Shadesmar land, and the obsidian look of Shadesmar land that convinced me to designate Roshar as the Lucentia Shardworld in my original theory. Also, Stormlight most commonly manifests in the Physical Realm as light coming from gemstones.

Nalthian Physical Essence: Tallow

Given that the Tears of Edgli appear to be Endowment's Physical manifestation on Nalthis, I first thought that the Physical Essence of Nalthis is Pulp (the Essence of plant life), but I quickly realized that the dyes produced from the Tears are a more specific manifestation of Shardic power than the plants themselves, because the dyes from the Tears are the things that actually used in the magic system.

After reading a bit, I learned that many plant-based compounds used for dyes come in the form of oils (e.g. aniline), making it possible that the Tears of Edgli dyes are produced by extracting the plant oils and processing them. I therefore concluded that Tallow (the Essence of oil) is the Physical Essence of Nalthis.

(There is also the fact that the ability to regrow Royal Locks causes Idrian royalty to become hungry, indicating that the ability uses up body fat.)

I'm guessing that the Nalthian Cognitive Realm contains dark prismatic objects made of oily substance, similar in appearance to Jasnah's spren Ivory, all floating in a sea of oil. The land might be made of a dark waxy substance. There might be trees made of tallow (as in old-style candles).

Selish Physical Essence: Zephyr

I got this idea from the fact that Selish Cognitive Realm is supposed to be "full of pressure", and the fact that air in the Physical Realm can easily hold Investiture (as when Elantrians draw Aons in the air). I imagine the Selish Cognitive Realms to be full of "Identity winds", each object existing as a discrete air stream within a vast wind storm.

The Selish Cognitive land contains "solidified wind". Kelsier saw some of these solidified wind trees when he visited Sel (or at least Sel's Cognitive land) in Secret History:

---

Part II: Spiritual aspects

The Spiritual aspects of things, on the other hand, appear to manifest less apparently on the Cognitive Realm than Physical aspects. While objects with the Spark of Life (animate objects) show their Spiritual aspects quite clearly as bright light (the glowing shapes on Scadrial, the bright flames on Roshar), most inanimate objects appear dark, especially when they're not Invested (as we've seen in WoK, a Shadesmar bead flares while being Soulcast, but most Shadesmar beads are dark). This may be because Spiritual power (i.e. Investiture, which includes the Spark of Life) is the only part of the Spiritual Realm that is visible in the Cognitive Realm, which is why non-Invested things don't glow.

There is an exception, though. It appears that some non-Invested inanimate objects do appear brightly on the Cognitive Realm, at least on Scadrial. I am of course referring to metallic objects. Somehow, it is easier for Scadrian Investiture to travel from the Spiritual Realm to the Physical Realm via metal than via anything other regular substance. It is as if metal is a gateway to the Scadrian Spiritual Realm, with the energy from that Realm visible in the Cognitive Realm.

I believe this because the spirit of Scadrial is attuned to Foil, just as its body is attuned to Vapor. This, I think, is why metal is the Focus of the Metallic Arts.

Scadrian Spiritual Essence: Foil

Metals glow in the Scadrian Cognitive Realm. Metal is the focus of the manifestations of Investiture on Scadrial.

Rosharan Spiritual Essence: Zephyr

At first I wondered if the Cognitive flames of living things in Shadesmar meant that Roshar is Spiritually Spark, but there are a couple of problems with that idea. First, fire doesn't seem to have much use in the magic systems on Roshar. Also, one would expect the Spiritual Essence to appear "hotter" than its normal state (e.g. metal on Scadrial appear incandescent, as if a lot of energy is being applied to them), but the Rosharan Cognitive flames only appear as regular candle flames instead of hot blue plasma.

These problems led me to the idea that Roshar's Spiritual Essence is in fact Zephyr, the Essence of wind and air. A yellow candle flame is just incandescent air, which is what the soul would look like on Shadesmar if Zephyr is Roshar's Spiritual Essence. As for air's significance to the magic system, well, it is the Stormfather that Invests gemstones with Stormlight as he blows his terrible winds across Roshar, and Stormlight is normally obtained by a Surgebinder via inhalation of air.

I predict that a highstorm looks like a gigantic firestorm in Shadesmar. Also, I think that every time someone tries to Soulcast air, they first create an Identity for a portion of air, which would look like a flame in Shadesmar, before turning it into something else (which turns the Cognitive flame of the air into a glass bead).

Nalthian Spiritual Essence: Vapor

Like the Scadrian Cognitive Realm, I think the Nalthian Cognitive Realm also has vaporous substances, except these vapors burn like Rosharan Cognitive flames. These are the Cognitive manifestations of BioChromatic Breaths of living things and Awakened objects. Unlike Rosharan Cognitive flames, Breaths burn with various colors and they rise like a fiery aura from living things and Awakened objects in the oily, iridescent Nalthian Cognitive Realm.

Selish Spiritual Essence: Talus

My guess is that living things appear as glowing rocks being flung around in the winds of the Selish Cognitive Realm. Each region of land is represented by a gigantic rocky glowing form dominating its own area in the Cognitive Realm. The Invested winds of the Dor blow from these regional Land Form entities.

TL;DR: Scadrial is Physically Vapor and Spiritually Foil. Roshar is Physically Lucentia and Spiritually Zephyr. Nalthis is Physically Tallow and Spiritually Vapor. Sel is Physically Zephyr and Spiritually Talus.

I read through this and the OP, and I have to say, great work. This is fairly convincing, but I suspect we won't hear WoB on this for quite a long time.

It seems to match with the idea that surgebinders have control of two surges, relating to two focuses, and thus planets are attuned to two essences.

[Confused]

What if the “ten essences” that relate to Shardworlds are all on Roshar because THEY ARE ADONALSIUM’S ESSENCES?

 

We know that Roshar bears Adonalsium’s “touch and design.” He/She/It was there long before the Shards appeared. That’s why Brandon says ALL the Shards have been on Roshar, in the person of Adonalsium. Wouldn’t the planet thus incorporate all of his/her/its essences? Then when the Shards dispersed to planets other than Yolen, making those planets Shardworlds, they each took one or more of Adonalsium’s essence with them.

[skaa]

My thoughts about the origins of the Essences are somewhat similar to yours, Confused, though I still need to develop my general Essence theory further before I post anything.

My main stumbling block is that Brandon seems to be discouraging people from thinking too much about the Essences. This could mean that they really aren't that important in the grand scheme of things, or it could mean that they are so important that Brandon fears some great secret about the Cosmere will be deduced if people analyzed the Essence connections enough.

Whatever the reason is, I'll just keep on looking for Essence-related clues, while at the same time being prepared to toss everything out in case those Rosharian philosophers really were just fooling themselves.

Edited March 2, 2016 by skaa