X-Topic-No: 8
Date: Fri, 21 Oct 1994 00:48:38 -0700 (MST)
From: Paul Beakley <ADPYB@ACVAX.INRE.ASU.EDU>
To: mage-l@wizards.com
Subject: Syndicate Magick: Last post was messed up
Message-ID: <01HIIPGKPMBM002A7I@ACVAX.INRE.ASU.EDU>

Syndicate Magick

by Paul Beakley

Note: this is not a paradigm page for the Syndicate. 
Anders Sandberg has done a nice job with that already. 
Rather, this is an essay on the nature of the Syndicate's
"magick," one of the least-understood aspects of the
Technocracy.

To the outside world, the Syndicate exists to control the
economies of this reality.  This is partially true.  The
Syndicate is the Technocracy's most powerful source of
quintessence.  In the Technocracy paradigm, this
quintessence comes in the form of money.

The Syndicate generates money in several ways.  While
it controls such mortal organizations as the Federal
Reserve Board, this kind of quintessence creation is only
partially effective.  This is because, for the money to
carry true creative power, it must receive this power from
the public.

Thus, it is not money *per se* that is the quintessence,
but the abstraction of personal buying power that carries
with it "realness."  Creating money in the Federal
Reserve is only half the job; it must trickle into the world
economy and receive importance before it becomes truly
powerful.

The Syndicate has spent no small effort on the promotion
of a capitalistic society.  This has proven to be the most
effective way to "charge" money with realness.  Methods
of promotion have been the drafting of the Declaration of
Independence (although the Syndicate's efforts to include
"Life, Liberty and Property" were overridden by the New
World Order's version: "Life, Liberty and Happiness." 
This happens to be true), the manufacturing of consumer
products (especially mass-produced convenience items),
the creation of popular culture icons (especially during the
1950s, when the Syndicate's American Dream Project
nearly succeeded in the total elimination of religion,
spiritualism and magick in general), and advertising.

It is this last item -- advertising -- that is at the core of
Syndicate magick.  This is their main method of paradigm
manipulation, and their main method of manipulation of
the masses.  They advertise everything from product to
lifestyle to political agenda to faith.  And every dollar that
is generated in a sale gains a measure of quintessence
from the spender.

The following are some "rotes" used by the Syndicate in
their effort to generate quintessence for the Technocracy:

Advertising Campaign (Mind 2, Correspondence 2): As an
extended ritual, an advertising campaign can implant the
desire to spend money in a vast number of people. 
Using the coincidental Correspondence foci of radio and
television, the spending impulse is spread and multiplied.

Psychographic Research (Life 1, Mind 3): By identifying
physical and mental reactions to certain advertising
stimuli, advertising can be made exceedingly effective. 
Every success on a Psychographic Research project
reduces the difficulty of an Advertising Campaign by one.

New Product Introduction (Entropy 1/2, Correspondence
2, Mind 3, Prime 2): This is one of the Technocracy's
methods for introducing a new technology into the
Paradigm.  A high-powered effect, the New Product
Introduction involves channeling quintessence into *ideas*
that are then transmitted throughout society.  Additional
use of Entropy allows the Introduction to be precisely
timed with public acceptance.

Credit/Interest (Prime 3, Mind 2, Time 3): By granting
consumers credit, quint is actually accumulated and
generated *faster* by the combination of Prime and Time
effects.  The coincidental Mind 2 effect is designed to
drive consumers (i.e. Sleepers) into using their credit at
an exceedingly quick rate.  A version of this rote that
does not include the Mind effect is called "Investment."

Trend Analysis (Time 2, Entropy 2): The consumers are
such a vast and chaotic power that even the Syndicate
has difficulty controlling them.  However, by using Trend
Analysis, randomness can be minimized and future
events can be maximized.  Using Trend Analysis reduces
the difficulty of an Advertising Campaign or New Product
Introduction by one for each success achieved.

Paul Beakley
adpyb@acvax.inre.asu.edu