Cybermancy

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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. Astrologers have long used computers to create astrology charts.

Wherever known, cybermancy is controversial, and practitioners of divination tend to have mixed feelings towards it.^{[citation needed]} Some people feel that having a physical medium (such as cards, in the case of Tarot) is important for channeling the correct energies, and that the "cold" interface between the practitioner and computer interferes with the lively, natural, human element required to perform divination. Others feel that the concept of divination remains essentially the same; the computer is a tool, just like a deck of cards, which assists the practitioner in focusing their energy on divination.

A simple example of cybermancy is 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.)

Cybermancy has also appeared in role-playing games. For instance, in Shadowrun, 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.

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[edit] References

Kaldera, Raven, and Tannin Schwartzstein. The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle. St. Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 2002. ISBN 0738702595 (pbk) ISBN 0738704792 (elec bk)