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The Gift A Primer on Spirits, Concluded

They say that good things are worth waiting for, which means that this last bit of introduction to the world of spirits is probably going to be the best one! That, and you get more Yokai!

What Kon means to say, folks, is 'welcome back'. This post is going to cover--

They already know what it's going to cover, Esteemed Author! We've been over it!

Well, we can go over it again for anyone who hasn't been paying attention or may have forgotten. In this final post on the spirit primer for readers of "The Gift" we're going to discuss several topics, including--

We're gonna discuss Inner Light and the whole metaphor about eyes being the windows to the soul which, aside from the fact that Spirits don't have souls is pretty true when it comes to us. I'll explain different powers all spirits share, including the ability to affect the mortal world by expending spirit energy in the form of a Push or a Pull and, in extreme cases, wasting a LOT of energy by Tearing.

Very good, Kon, and I'm glad you're going to be thorough. What else are we going to cover?

I'm explaining the different kinds of mortals as spirits see you all-- I mean the ones who interact with spirits. That includes titles like Seer and Weaver but also other Titles that some spirits give to mortals who mean a lot to

You're off to a great start, Kon. Let's go ahead and start with Inner Light and how astute mortals can get a glimpse into the truth within spirits by knowing that eye color has meaning for those who can decipher them.

*Squee!* Thank you, Senpai! *tail swishes* Okay... so, the thing about spirits is that we are formed by and draw energy off of emotions and actions of mortals. We exemplify and represent the different ideals and thoughts that give us strength. Because of this, or maybe due to this we don't hide our natures as easy as mortals do-- if you know what to look for you'll understand most of what you need to know about any spirit you meet, and one of the fastest ways to figure out what you're dealing with is to look at a spirit's eyes.

All spirits have what is called an Inner Light. This is a glow that manifests within them as they absorb, use, and subsist on spirit energy. This illumination is usually hidden within their being but it can be seen in their eyes most prominently when they make use of spirit powers but it is still obvious just by looking at the color of their irises. Kon, why don't you go ahead and tell the readers about the six different eye colors of spirits and what they mean?

I'd love to, jihibukai kuma. Any spirits you'll see most often (assuming you can interact with spirits) will have eye colors named after gems, and the most common are Emerald, Amethyst, and Topaz. Less common spirits will have Ruby, and the rarest of spirits have Sapphire eyes. If you're not being official, you'd probably say Green, Purple, Yellow, Red, and Blue, but no matter what you call the colors they mean something when you're trying to understand spirits.

As readers of "The Gift", the first thing you'll note is that all of the spirits presented within the story as companions for the protagonists all have Emerald, Amethyst, or Topaz eye colors and yes, that is for a reason. You will likely encounter other spirits in the stories that have Ruby eyes and maybe, if things happen 'just right' you'll encounter one with Sapphire eyes, but there's no guarantee.

Yeah! What HE said. So you can tell a lot about spirits by the colors of their eyes... and, you should know that spirits can have different eye colors based on how it is they gain their spirit energy and the actions they take. It's like one of those test-things done with paper.

A litmus test?

Sure. I was thinking 'bribery', but I guess that works as a better example. Anyway, the most common spirits you'll see in this day and age have Amethyst eyes. These spirits usually get their energy from a variety of sources, some of them including causing harm to humans. Now, before you go all torches-and-pitchforks, it's important to realize that 'harm' is a pretty wide range of meanings. For example, most Scavengers have purple eyes because they are taking the energy that ties a mortal's soul to its body. They aren't really HURTING a mortal, but it still qualifies as a kind of energy consumption that gets that kind of a response. Other types of energy that create an Amethyst tint to a spirit's Inner Light include obsessions, drama, and sexual energy.

Very good, Kon. But, readers will probably be interested to note that sexual energy can also contribute to a green Inner Light. How about you explain how those spirits differ from those with Amethyst eyes?

Oh! That's a good point, Senpai! Spirits with Emerald eyes usually live outside the scope of mortal morality. They may be more willing to harm a mortal to get the energy they're after but they don't do it maliciously. You might call those kinds of spirits 'predators', but they don't usually cause any lasting harm to a mortal who is providing them spirit energy. Really, an Emerald eyed spirit just deals with life as it comes at em and doesn't focus too far past how they can keep going. It sometimes means they might hurt humans, but it isn't something that they do 'just because'-- it's about survival.

It's funny that you say 'they', Kon, considering you have green eyes.

well... yeah... but I'm a Yokai. You can't really judge us by our eyes and, besides, most green eyed spirits like me are 'in transition'-- it takes a really special kind of spirit to stay Emerald for a long time. I mean, the Ancient One has been around since before mortals, so of COURSE he's Emerald, but it's not a color that most have except when we're switching our outlook on how to stay alive and empowered.

That's a very good point, Kon. In general, spirits who are in the process of reinventing themselves or finding new sources of spirit energy will become green eyed temporarily as their 'moral compass' adjusts its reading. Other spirits, like The Ancient One or Herne, who have been around for centuries exemplify the kinds of morality or outlook that indicate a green eyed spirit for the long run.

Yeah... lots of Naturae spirits have green eyes; Emerald is their color, after all. Other spirits like me will have green eyes for awhile when we're looking at the world in a new way. The last time I had green eyes was-- *clears throat* well... awhile ago, I guess you could say. *tail droops* It was... an interesting time.

Okay. What about Topaz eyes? Those are very rare in this day and age.

That's because golden eyes are the mark of a guardian spirit, or a sentinel-- a spirit that gets its energy off of protecting and defending their mortal or mortals. They usually create their own power because of a Duty or an ancient Pact. I guess you might think that they'd be the most powerful since they don't have to interact directly with mortals or make them do anything special, but you'd be wrong; spirits with Topaz eyes only get tiny little amounts of energy unless the mortal is aware of them and, since so few mortals are these days, most of them starve out or are forced to go Emerald then Amethyst.

A few Topaz spirits are able to maintain their Inner Light by becoming spirit guides, gently nudging mortals onto safer paths or mentoring them indirectly and gaining sustenance off of the positive emotions of a successful ward.

Yep. So those are the common eye colors and most of the spirits you might expect to meet will usually have one of those.

And what about the uncommon eye colors, Kon? Ruby and Sapphire-- red and blue?

*ear flick* Well, Sapphire eyes are all but lost to legend, lovely readers. It's been a long LONG time since I've seen any spirits with blue eyes. A Sapphire eyed spirit is one who has actively not caused harm to a human or other spirits. It really doesn't happen these days since pretty much any action has secondary actions that usually end up hurting SOMEONE... and since spirits have to scrape up whatever spirit energy we can get it isn't uncommon at all that we have to fight one another.

That's only a half-truth, Kon... try explaining the Universal Truth behind Sapphire eyes so the readers can understand the significance better.

*clears throat and taps claws on the table* That's really what it means-- spirits with blue eyes have taken such an interest in the affairs of mortals and the benefit of those around them that they--

Maybe you should tell them about the time you had Sapphire eyes, and--

*hackle-snarls* I WILL HIT YOU SO HARD WITH A MARK OF THE DEAL-BREAKER THAT IT'LL GLOW ON YOUR CORPSE TWO CENTURIES FROM NOW!!!

I wasn't going to go THERE, Kon... I just meant that every spirit has the capacity to have Blue eyes, but it's almost always a situational thing.

*licks his teeth and smooths down his fur* Well... uh... yeah. Of course. Any spirit COULD have Sapphire eyes, but the kinds of situations just don't happen much anymore.

Exactly. SO... how about Ruby eyes?

*glares*

You promised you'd talk about all of the eye colors, Kon-- that was the Pact.

*grumbles* Ruby eyes are found among spirits who actively harm mortals or other spirits-- sometimes both. As the world gets harder and harder for spirits some of us turn to cannibalizing weaker spirits and, sometimes, causing direct and severe injury to mortals. It doesn't take a lot for a spirit's Inner Light to turn Ruby but it takes a lot of active choice and very strict commitment to self-improvement for them to no longer be red.

Although some of the less aggressive Feral Spirits might have Emerald eyes, most Feral Spirits and the VAST majority of Evil Spirits almost always have red ones. The most common cause for Ruby eyes include Possession (until death, or several cases of non-lethal Possession), regular Spirit-Searing, or as little as a single case of Conspicuous Consumption. Actively and purposefully destroying a mortal is one of the fastest ways to gain red eyes, as is killing and consuming another spirit.

Certain down-on-their-luck spirits can also build up to red eyes with enough 'kinda bad' acts.

True... but it takes a LOT of them if they're 'kinda bad'.

And, since mortals have a natural aversion and fear of spirit energies that manifest as red eyes, Yokai have a long history of faking it to get the better of mortals they need to intimidate.

True... but most Yokai who have red eyes usually deser--

ANYWAY, can we move on? That covers Inner Light and how it affects eye color... right?

Close enough, sure... and I'm sure if readers have more questions they'll ask them.

Yep! So next are the powers that spirits use to affect the mortal world-- Pushing and Pulling and Tearing.

Alright, Kon-- you've done a good job so far, so go ahead and explain those.

Well, first of all, the terms Push and Pull are different for spirits than they are for mortals-- we're not talking about putting our weight against something to move it or leaning away from something to drag it. When a spirit attempts to Push something in the mortal world then we are talking about a sudden, violent, powerful movement to affect a quick change to something solid. This could include shutting a door, breaking a window, or throwing a baseball.

Exactly-- and Pulling is a much more slow, controlled movement like pouring a glass of milk or carrying a light object or--

Or undressing someone WITH their permission-- without it would probably involve a lot of Pushing. *tail swishes*

Yes, Kon. True, but hardly the right tone for this discussion. Interacting with mortals who can see spirits is also a form of Pulling , but this takes less energy the more compatible a spirit to the mortal with whom they are attempting to interact. In general attempting to Pull uses a lot less energy than attempting to Push but both use far less energy than if a spirit attempts to Tear.

Yeah... you don't see a lot of spirits Tearing these days-- not just because it's really draining, but because they don't have as many reasons to do it. The whole "spirit-of-things" was a lot more common a few centuries ago.

Why don't you go ahead and explain what it means to Tear , Kon?

Well, I can't think of any time in recent history where I've done it myself but, I suppose I could. It's a pretty silly waste of energy to be honest. See, when a spirit wants something they usually just manifest it themselves-- we can create clothes, tools, weapons, or whatever just by extending our essence and making it into whatever we want. It isn't 'free', but it takes so little energy it'd be like asking if a mortal gets tired because they just stood up and walked across the room.

What Kon means to say is that spirits don't usually find themselves in need of anything so they don't really have a reason to interact with the physical world like mortals do.

Yeah! Right! So the idea of taking a huge amount of power to separate the spirit energy of objects from their physical form is a pretty silly idea.

When a spirit Tears a physical item they create a spirit copy of it that is as solid and 'real' to a spirit as the physical form is to a mortal. This could range from making a spiritual copy of a sandwich so they could taste 'real' food to making a usable baseball bat by Tearing it away from its physical form.

So if I wanted to get away from a Feral Spirit I might Tear a door after going through it. I passed through the physical door and when I Tear its spirit energy then it manifests as a door that can actually keep other spirits out.

That's a very ingenious way to handle things-- leave it to a Yokai to figure that out.

Yep! But that's only part of how a spirit can use Tearing The thing is, even though physical objects don't really rely on their spiritual form in the way a mortal requires its soul, they tend to follow em. What I mean is, you know how people always lose socks? Ever wonder why you always misplace your car keys? Well, sometimes it's coincidence, but other times a spirit is messing with you. While it'd be easiest to do something like Pull them to another spot, sometimes it makes more sense to Tear them.

See? This is why I like a Yokai explaining things like this. Pretty crazy, huh?

*giggle* It hasn't gotten anywhere NEAR crazy yet! Affecting their spirit essence means we get to use whatever we're touching as if it were as solid to us as it is to you mortals, and, given a short amount of time, the physical version of the item will end up rejoining its spirit half... so if I wanted to really mess with a mortal and energy wasn't an issue I could Tear their bed, then literally shred it into pieces. When the solid and the spirit attempt to rejoin, the physical version will, however it happens, end up in the same spot and condition as the spirit half. Maybe a wild raccoon will jump into the room and have a field day on the mattress, or maybe a next door neighbor will break in through the window and slice it up with a kitchen knife.

Or, on a less theoretical level, a spirit might Tear a solid item and use it as a weapon, since physical items are far more effective anything they create with their essence.

Oh! Right! Like Tom the Rhino did in Edward's storyline using that radiator!

Exactly like that.

Okay... so we've gone over the common spirit powers that we use to affect the physical world. What next? Titles?

Sure. I think that's a good way to conclude the primer. Go ahead, Kon. Let's start with Seers and Weavers and then close with personal titles some spirits use.

*tail swishes* Personal titles like "sekushina kuma"!

No... real titles. But let's start with Seers and Weavers then go from there.

That's easy enough. Seers are what spirits call mortals who help them and Weavers are what spirits call mortals who... uh... help them?

And you were doing SO well! Yes, Kon-- both Seers and Weavers help spirits but they do so in different ways. In order to be either, a mortal must have The Sight. Mortals who interact with spirits in order to help them affect the world are Seers. These mortals use the insights, powers, and wisdom of spirits to change the world for the better. Mortals aided by Guardian spirits usually try to protect people from natural disasters or help them recover during times of crisis; those mortals who act as a Seer for Spirit Guides usually aim to spread understanding, knowledge, or some kind of faith.

Oh right! That's the difference! Seers are a lot more common because mortals usually focus on mortals and mortal things. The main difference between Seers and Weavers is that Weavers use the influence and power of spirits to change the SPIRIT world rather than their own mortal one. Weavers are really rare because of that since most mortals only focus on their own existence and aren't as interested in making the world of spirits a better place.

That's only partially true, Kon. It's really hard for mortals to perceive the spirit world, let alone affect it. As such, most mortals are Seers because it's so much easier for them to help a spirit affect the physical world than it is for a mortal to directly help affect a spirit.

I could say more about that kinda thing, but it would be a breach of our Pact.

Then I'm glad you're respecting that limitation. Thank you. How about we finish up tonight with talking about person titles some spirits choose for a mortal with The Sight?

Well, lovely readers, as beings of intent, emotion, and perception, spirits rely heavily on meaning, and sometimes the clearest meaning can be generated with a name. Humans are able to greatly empower a spirit by giving it a name, but, what a lot of armchair spiritualists don't know is that spirits can become so much closer and connected to a mortal who has been granted a name by the spirit as well. This investment of essence and purpose means that the mortal and spirit grow closer, and... *clears throat* ... well... what I mean is... uh... *clears throat again* ... it's a friendly kinda thing... like how groups of mortals come up with nicknames for one another. It's like that.

Kon, when a spirit--

IT'S LIKE THAT, I SAID!

In many ways personal titles among spirits are similar to nicknames among mortal friends, yes, but in some ways it can also be compared to pet names lovers may have for one another, or cute versions of names parents might have for their kids-- or something as simple as a parental title like 'mom' or 'dad'. Spirits can create these 'titles' for their mortal companions just as easily as mortals could give one to their spirit companions. While this helps built rapport and camaraderie for a mortal, the meaning is even more significant for a spirit, who can dwell with those memories and emotions for centuries.

...

It can provide great strength to a spirit, but it can also be a cause of great pain when they--

... are we done?

Almost. Readers, it's important to realize that spirits are immortal and, sometimes the closer they get to a mortal the more it hurts to lose them. Spirits have the unenviable position of watching what they love grow old and die. It's a difficult--

I'M done. Goodnight.

Well, I think this does conclude our primer on spirits, folks. Thank you for reading this in preparation for the various storylines of "The Gift" and I hope you are looking forward to helping me create these as much as I am having you help me. There's one more week of "prologues" to go and then we'll get moving forward with the actual chapters and big time events that will further flesh out human protagonists and their spirit companions.

...and, if we take to the right plot points you may learn a little more about what has Kon so disquieted. I'll now answer any questions you may have, but I think Kon checked out for the week, so don't expect any answers from him. You are, of course, invited to send him well-wishes... enough spirit energy might entice him to come back and face all of you rather than hiding in his own... emotions.