Disclaimer: The following document fragment is presented from an in-character perspective, it should not be taken as the truth of the setting.
Context: In the history of humankind, a few cultures were more closely tied to the occult than all others. Ancient India is one of these cultures. For today’s lore, we’ll look into a few texts discussing this in-universe. For this first one, we’ll look at the concept of Akasha, and what it could mean for a world where multidimensional beings, spanning both vast reaches of time and space, exist. But also how the concept manifests across different cultures.
The concept of the Akashic Records or Akashic Chronicle is a modern term for a theoretical inscription of at the very least the entirety of the past human thought upon the Idee. Akasha, in this context, relates to the supernal, the Idee, the world of souls and thought.
In recent years the term replaced the relatively obscure concepts of the Book of Life (ספר החיים), the Preserved Tablet (اللوح الْمَحفُوظ) or the Mother of Books (أمّ الکتاب), found both in our arcane practices and the religions descending from Judaism, where we believe the two intermingle or co-originate. Where, even according to the Norma, the interpretation is much the same, a supernal chronicle of all human actions. Or at the very least the fate awaiting humans once they pass to the afterlife, as this concept is de-emphasised among the Christian sects.
Among many concepts found widespread among magekind, this one proves to be controversial. Opinions are split between multiple theories of what the Record might actually be, including many who do not find it plausible for it to exist or at least exist in a way where it is accessible to the human mind.
Let us start with a brief summary of each point, according to the order of chapters in which the given view will be expanded and analysed.
In chapter one, we will discuss the Akashic record as something that cannot exist and consider its plausibility in light of various theories of free will. It is important to note that many descriptions of Akasha portray it as holding within itself not only an imprint of the past. The chronicle dating back to the beginning of time but also into the future, to the end of time. With such outrageous claims being thrown around, it is no wonder the concept finds staunch opposition among the more sceptical of our kindred souls.
In chapter two, we discuss the feasibility of extracting information from such a body of knowledge, forming a theoretical analogy between the Akashic Record and the holographic principle. After all, the supernal is nothing but an infinite set of ripples created by every thought. What effort would be needed to untangle the entirety of conscious thought interacting since the first primordial formed the first thought in aeons lost?
In chapter three, we discuss the possibility that, to some degree, the concept of Akasha is related to experiments the ancient traditions might have carried out with exploring echoes of now dead minds within the dreaming realm. Much criticism of the concept uses this as an argument for a different interpretation of the Record, in such a case, it would be nothing else, then a different way of describing the concept of the Silver Sea – the place where abandoned mental constructs linger before dissolving in the Abyss.
Finally, in chapter four, we assume the Akashic record exists and is accessible, and theorise on ways to find proof of such a construct. As a mental exercise, we can consider what applications access to the sum total of human thought (either just past, or past and future) might have.
The biggest question the theoretical existence of Akasha brings is a question of free will. Similarly to Her who can see our futures, we must ask:
If our future can be recorded, does that not imply we have no free will, and our whole life is predestined?
Here we can look at the principle of Divine Fore-ordainment (قدر) in Islam, as it may serve for us as a window into the original thoughts surrounding Akasha among the lost traditions.
In this interpretation, the existence of a record of all human deeds, both past and future, does not contradict free will, because it is itself an impartial observer. Specifically, it is written down by their god, at the very beginning of time. Thus it does not preordain a person’s action but merely chronicles it from a perspective of omniscience. This can be easily extrapolated into the concept of observing the universe from an outside perspective. Not just the localise perspective, but the entirety of fractal space, fractal time and dreaming at once.
But that begets the question, would that not make the universe itself the Akashic record, as seen from the perspective of an outsider, beyond time, space, thought. At a place where causality does not apply, and paradox cannot arise.
This perhaps, more than an argument against Akasha itself, strikes at the core of human arrogance.
There is, after all, a reason why we deem the TRUTH to be eldritch.
Esoteric Musings... 