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{{wikipediainfo}} | {{wikipediainfo}}'''''Loa''''' was a term coined within the religious practices of [[Haiti]]an [[voodoo]] for a supernatural entity whose power could be called down and channeled, being neither precisely a [[ghost]] nor anything so grand as a [[god]]. | ||
[[Faction Paradox]] | Due to the similarity between their form [[witchcraft]] and Haitian voodoo, [[Faction Paradox]] also used the term "''loa''" to refer to the [[spirit]]s involved in their own [[ritual]]s. This principally meant sentient phenomena within the [[structure of time]], which the [[Time Lord]]s preferred to understand as [[equation]]s and other lifeless mathematics. | ||
Additionally, some schools of thought within the Faction, including those which came into the creation of the [[Remote]], had a broader understanding of the term "''loa''", as potentially referring to any non-physica being with a material influence on the culture within which it had emerged, such as fictional characters or the public personas of celebrities. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}) The [[Native American]] ''[[dakina]]'' has similarities to the Remote's understanding of ''loa''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=A'daltem Ano'nde}}) | |||
== Nature == | |||
=== Haitian ''loa'' === | |||
The word ''loa'' was originally coined for entities which were a central fixture of the [[Haiti]]an [[voodoo]] religion. In contrast to the remote [[god]]s and [[angel]]s of other religions, ''loa'' were spirits existing alongside the worshippers rather than above them or in a different world altogether. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Interference - Book One (novel)|namedep=Definitions}}) According to ''[[The Book of the War]]'', a ''loa'' was "a presence which walks on a plane alongside humankind rather than above it". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}) | |||
{{quote|The loa aren’t your average bunch of gods-from-above, that’s what I’m say- ing. They’re not untouchable, and they’re not infallible. They get drunk and they get angry and they have good days and they have bad days, same as the rest of us. They’re real, but they’re not-quite-real. They’re here, but they’re not-quite-here. Ready to get involved at a moment’s notice, if you know how to get in touch with them. (…) You don’t worship them, not like you worship gods. You talk to them. Like friends. Like companions. And they talk back.|[[PROSE]]: [[Interference - Book One (novel)|Interference - Book One]]}} | |||
Thus, the ''loa'' could be "invoked, called upon or even invited to occupy the body of the summoner". A practitioner would "use the ''loa'' almost as spiritual tools, summoning the higher presences to ‘ride’ them and thereby invest them with that loa’s own abilities". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}) At a typical voodoo ceremony, "you’d think the ''loa'' were right there in the middle of things, dancing along with the priests and the priestesses. Well, maybe they are". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Interference - Book One (novel)|namedep=Definitions}}) | |||
There were different types of ''loa'', some of them "ancestral", as indicated by "familial names", while some of them were "linked to a specific place, item or even historical event". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}) Though not [[ghost]]s in the conventional sense, it was possible for dead human beings to ascend to become ''loa''. In [[18th century]] [[Saint-Domingue]], "new and hungry" loa of the Revolution were created by followers of the revolutionary [[Makandal]], who himself was believed to have become a spirit after his execution. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)}}, [[COMIC]]: {{cs|Bêtes Noires & Dark Horses (comic story)}}) In the [[20th century]], [[Baron Samedi]] and the [[Petro god]]s were worshiped as evil gods in [[Haiti]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|White Darkness (novel)}}) | |||
At the same time, Makandal's followers incorporated much of the [[Catholic Church]]'s mythology and continued to honour their saints while practicing other rituals; ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)}}) in 20th century Haiti, the [[Rada Loa]] included [[Patrick (saint)|Saint Patrick]]. A small group in Haiti originating from [[Dahomey]] also worshiped the [[Great Old One]]s, including [[Cthulhu|one]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|White Darkness (novel)}}) later identified by the [[Seventh Doctor]] as [[Cthulhu]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|All-Consuming Fire (novel)}}) [[Hermes]] suggested that the gods of Haiti were [[Immortal]]s. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Deadly Reunion (novel)}}) | |||
=== Faction Paradox ''loa'' === | |||
{{main|The Spirits}} | |||
[[Faction Paradox]] adopted the concept of ''loa'' to refer to the entities they called upon in most of their temporal [[ritual]]s, attempting to communicate with them and "prime" them. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}) Some sources had the Faction usually refer to these beings as simply "spirits" or indeed "[[the Spirits]]". ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Eleven Day Empire (audio story)}}) | |||
[[ | Either way, the Faction viewed these ''loa'' or spirits as emergent processes within the [[Web of Time|structure]] of [[time]] itself, who were in some sense alive, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}) as contrasted with the [[Gallirey]]an [[Great House]]s' conventional view that the laws and processes of time were mere [[mathematics|mathematical]] [[equation]]s. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Ancestor Cell (novel)}}, {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}, {{cs|Weapons Grade Snake Oil (novel)}}) For example, when [[Parent (rank)|Mother]] [[Tarra]] invoked the ''loa'' among a [[coven]] of young [[Gallifreyan]]s, [[Kellen (The Ancestor Cell)|Kellen]] preferred to refer to them as equations. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Ancestor Cell (novel)}}) | ||
Certain [[Swimmer (species)|Swimmers]], such as [[Spinning Jenny]], [[Baron Samedi]], and [[Maman Brigitte]], were considered loa by [[Elizabeth Howkins]] and [[Cousin (rank)|Cousin]] [[Isabella (Spinning Jenny)|Isabella]]. These Swimmers were said to contain every soul they have ever devoured inside, slaved to the Loa's will. One such Swimmer, Spinning Jenny, was created by a magic ritual and the sacrifice of humans. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[ | How literally the Faction took its belief in the sentience of these spirits was a matter of some debate. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}) One source gave their view as substantially metaphorical: if one defined history as an ever-changing pattern, then, just as shapes can be seen in clouds in the sky, the ''loa'' could be seen in time. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Weapons Grade Snake Oil (novel)}}) Also to the credit of the hypothesis that the ''loa'' were a metaphor was the fact that some Faction elders, such as [[Godparent (rank)|Godparent]] [[Morlock]], had been known to "invent ''loa'' out of thin air whenever necessary". | ||
[[File:White Guardian and black guardian.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Black Guardian]] and [[White Guardian]]. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Enlightenment (TV story)}})]]However, ''[[The Book of the War]]'' tilted towards acknowledging the existence of these entities, reasoning that with[[Godparent (rank)|Godfathers]] "duty-bound to research [[alter-time]]", there may be "little difference between them devising a new loa and a less exotic scientist creating a new chemical formula". Thus, it might very well be an entirely sensible presentation of events to assert as the Faction did that "the processes of time [were] ''entities''" with "no tangible presence in the universe" but the ability to "protect, beguile, curse and possess anybody who tries to cross their boundaries", meaning that Time was "occupied, even guarded, by ''loa''". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedep=Loa}}) Indeed, many accounts documented powerful beings known as [[Guardian of Time|the Guardians]], who were distinct from the [[Time Lord]]s, guarded "the equilibrium of time itself", ([[TV]]: {{cs|The Ribos Operation (TV story)}}) and found taking on physical forms to be a stifling imposition. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Destroyer of Delights (audio story)}}) | |||
{{quote|Even if [[Time Lord|the Houses]] claim that the processes of time are mere phenomena, those phenomena are so complex that there's no reason they shouldn't have a will of their own, taking on a form of [[sentience]] just as any complex system might do. There are parts of the [[Spiral Politic]] where the [[structure of histor]]y is made up of trillions upon trillions of pieces of information, vastly more than the typical [[human]] [[brain]]. Indeed, if history could be viewed from the correct angle, how does anybody know that there wouldn’t appear to be 'organisms' encoded in its mass? If that's even remotely true, and history [[Evolution|evolves]], then it'd certainly explain how the Houses can now be at War even though they specifically designed history to make War impossible.|[[PROSE]]: [[The Book of the War (novel)|The Book of the War]]}} | |||
[[Godparent (rank)|Godmother]] [[Kumo]] wrote on the Faction's practices of ''loa'' evocation for ''[[The Book of the Truce]]'', comparing stage-[[hypnosis]] to the Faction's use of ritual to appease, communicate, and bargain with the ''loa'': as long as the volunteer was playing along (whether for fun, to avoid embarrassment, out of a sense of duty, or due to genuine hypnosis), the task would be performed, and the desired action would indeed result. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Weapons Grade Snake Oil (novel)}}) Due to her highly [[Christianity|Christian]] upbringing, [[Cousin (rank)|Cousin]] [[Justine]] sometimes found it difficult to remember that the Spirits should be talked to rather than [[Prayer|prayed]] to. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Eleven Day Empire (audio story)}}) | |||
==== Specific instances ==== | |||
Particular ''loa'' protected the [[Eleven-Day Empire]], ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Eleven Day Empire (audio story)}}) with ''[[The Book of the War]]'' suggesting that they were initially among the ''loa'' which arose around the "real" [[London]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)}}) | |||
[[Parent (rank)|Father]] [[Christèmas]] created a ''loa'' to protect [[Bankside]] by conducting an elaborate ritual involving the [[Chance Coteries]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Weapons Grade Snake Oil (novel)}}) | |||
[[Godparent (rank)|Godfather]] [[Avatar (Of the City of the Saved...)|Avatar]] was himself a ''loa'' and was capable of riding a human psyche. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Of the City of the Saved... (novel)}}) | |||
==== Conflation with Swimmers ==== | |||
Certain [[Swimmer (species)|Swimmers]], such as [[Spinning Jenny]], [[Baron Samedi]], and [[Maman Brigitte]], were considered loa by [[Elizabeth Howkins]] and [[Cousin (rank)|Cousin]] [[Isabella (Spinning Jenny)|Isabella]]. These Swimmers were said to contain every soul they have ever devoured inside, slaved to the Loa's will. One such Swimmer, [[Spinning Jenny]], was created by a magic ritual and the sacrifice of humans. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Spinning Jenny (novel)}}) ''[[The Book of the War]]'', on the other hand, discussed Swimmers and ''loa'' separately and in quite different terms. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)}}) | |||
=== Remote ''loa'' === | |||
At some point, [[Faction Paradox]] noticed that the cultural role of celebrities and mascots in mass-media cultures seemed like an extension of the basic idea of ''loa'', in that they could be viewed by transmissions but remained apart from people and they could become the face of their ideas. On the [[human]] colony world [[Ordifica]], the Faction fully infiltrated the media-obsessed culture within a couple years to create loa in the [[medianet]], transforming its people into a new culture, the [[Remote]], hoping that the Remote would blossom into "''loa''-driven soldiers who'd bring down the whole [[High Council]] of [[Time Lord]]s one day". | |||
Although the project did not work out as the Remote's rapid cultural evolution made them lose knowledge of time travel and the Faction itself, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Interference - Book One (novel)|namedep=Definitions}}) they carried on believing in ''loa'', with their records of the Faction's already-untrustworthy legends becoming increasingly garbled. They referred to [[All-High God|the powers]] that [[Rassilon]] barred from entering [[N-Space]] as "the greater ''loa''", with [[Nathaniel Guest]] mistakenly believing [[The Cold (Interference)|the Cold]] to be one of them; {{cs|Interference - Book Two (novel)|namedep=Indestructible, Ms Jones? You Don’t Know the Meaning of the Word}}) indeed, their dramatisation of the [[Yssgaroth]] breaking into N-Space saw [[Omega|Rassilon's Engineer]] referring to the true Yssgaroth on the "other side" as ''loa'', despite [[Rassilon]]'s protests that the [[Great Vampire]]s they were fighting were obviously not [[spirit]]s themselves. ([[PROSE]]: '{{cs|Interference - Book One (novel)|namedep=Faster than the Speed of Dark}}) | |||
=== Other cultures === | |||
[[Dreekan voodoo]] had its own deities including [[Treeka'dwra]], a messianic beast-god. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Storm Harvest (novel)}}) | |||
== External links == | == External links == | ||