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. In this text, we’ll dive straight into the possibility, that at some point a cult devoted to the Elder Gods existed and even found acceptance among the mundane people. Of course, a heavily distorted version of it, as the truth is poisonous to the human mind.
But only in human beings is the Atman obvious,
for they are equipped with cognition.
They speak what they have understood.
They see what they have recognized,
and know what will exist tomorrow.
They know of this world and of the other.
Through that which is mortal, they strive for immortality.
They are equipped with all this…
such a human being is an ocean.
He partakes of everything in the world,
and still his thoughts go beyond it.
And even if he were to partake of the other world,
his thoughts would also go beyond it.
—Aitereya Aranyaka 2.3.2 – 2.3.3, ~1000 BCE
The Vedic magi is a peculiar tradition. Among all of the lost practices, we have the most indications of its existence, and yet we have almost no knowledge of the actual tradition nor a clear view of its practitioners. We can be sure that they served among the priesthood of India, and we have some indication that Shraaddha (श्राद्ध, no direct English equivalent, “an action perform with uttermost faith in it”) might be the term they used for their practices. They are also highly likely to be the progenitors of Nidra and as such the oldest practitioners of type-B Oneiromancy.
There is no doubt that this long lost tradition is an outstanding example of eldritch knowledge, comparable only to maybe two or three other practices. And perhaps, one of the most widespread, judging by the amount of potential bleedthrough of arcane knowledge into Norma religion. Unfortunately, as it is, this is the only, very distorted, lens through which we can view this tradition. For unknown reasons, approximately three thousand years ago, the practice met its end.
Though multiple traditions arose during those thousands of years, claiming to be a successor to the Vedic magi, none of them displays anything more than a reconstructive understanding of the original practices. There is still an emphasis on the Dreaming present in these practices, but they lack the broader knowledge of the Cosmos the vipra must have held.
The mystery of this practice truly lies in its in-depth exploration of both the Dreaming and the Cosmos. While most traditions focus on either one or the other, in particular as their exploration oft leads in different directions and through different means, Vedic magi seem to have indulged themselves in both, with a suggestion of some interwoven connection between the two. In fact, in the existence of the Somayajna rituals, we find an interesting possibility, that the knowledge of the Cosmos the Vedic magi possessed was passed down to them from beings of the Dream. Or perhaps, as far as some theories go, the souls of a Great Race that travelled to Earth through the Dreaming, thus defying the locality of consciousness grids.
Whatever the case might be, unless by some miraculous occurrence hitherto unknown texts or writings are discovered, or something that knew of it first hand emerges, the tradition of Shraaddha is lost, and we cannot ever come to know its true nature. This further speaks to the importance of the Great Libraries and the conservation of what we have glimpsed of the eldritch Truth.
Esoteric Musings... 