Pillars of Human Existence

The Pillars of Human Existence or Human Experience, also known as the Five Major Forces,<ref name="10.3e1"/> are five concepts which are important in certain rituals, most notably the Awakening,<ref name="1.2e1"/> as well as in Incarnate practice.

The exact details are subjective and variable,<ref name="1.2e1">“Holly it is. Here, we have your objects,” Matthew said, indicating the outer ring. “They relate to the pillars of human experience.”
Verona, already by her bag, was ready to pull some things out.
Knife, skull, coin, timepiece, thread, Lucy recalled.
[...]
“I have three skulls in my room,” Verona said. “I asked Miss and she said the one that was actual bone instead of clay or plastic would be best.”
Verona set a raccoon skull down in one of the circles. It was missing a fang.
[...]
Avery had a knit doll that wasn’t quite finished, with the knitting needles and the yarn still attached. [...] “I never finished making this for my baby bro.”
“Considering what the thread is meant to represent, that may be a perfect choice,” Miss said.
[...]
“Is it a problem if I use the same thing twice?” Lucy asked. “Knife and then knife again.”
“The ritual is, at its essence, you introducing yourself to our world,” Miss said. She walked through the trees, and she seemed to have little or no difficulty at all picking her way through the undergrowth. “The only wrong answer is the answer that feels wrong.”
“Does anything here feel wrong?” Edith asked.
[...]
“I might have overdone it, doing the double knife thing,” she said. “I’m seeing knives everywhere.”
- excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref> and not all Practitioners use the same five concepts.<ref name="10.3e1">Each of the five major forces had a rune that could be put down or made out of lashed-together sticks. They’d handled some of that when rebuilding the wards after the skeptic Sharon had torn everything down. The arrow for War, the forking branch for Nature, the hourglass arrangement of two triangles with points touching for Time, the angular C-shape for Fate, and the gateway, like a keyhole without a floor, for Death.
There was another, and it sometimes replaced nature, sometimes overlapped with Fate, for Fortune, but that was a newer thing. - excerpt from One After Another 10.3</ref>

Augurs and Collectors employ special diagrams for diagnosing what concepts a Magic Item is linked to, including the five pillars.<ref name="Identification"/> Warding may employ them to ward against only Others associated with a particular pillar.<ref name="10.3e1"/>

The Blade

Also known as the Edge. Represented by a knife<ref name="1.2e1"/><ref name="Identification">Interesting thought: Avery has the rope and we don’t want to bug her, but we’ve got a blade, a timepiece, and a rope. Goes back to the Edge, the Hours, the Threads. Is there a Bough or a Pale? The big forces of Incarnates? Might be worth checking/searching again. A camp of five, each carry one, maybe? [...] Cards indicate Hermit & World, no real indication from the rough stones that point to Edge, Hours, Threads, Bough or Pale. - 9.z bonus: Magic Item Identification</ref> or possibly an axe.<ref name="4.7e1">A glowing circle appeared over his head, with a triple-layered border, the center circle filled in, and symbols at the north, east, south, and west. It looked like a dog, an old fashioned axe, a comb, and a skeletal fish. [...] Sutton, Austin, and Leos, good effort in drawing comparisons to the pillars of the awakening ritual, fishbone as skull, axe as blade, dog as element of nature, and comb as thread. [...] The ritual is a simple one, to get deeper into the Ruins. - excerpt from Leaving a Mark 4.7</ref>

Probably the same as War, which can be represented by an arrow rune.<ref name="10.3e1"/>

Others associated with this pillar include John Stiles,<ref>The rattling of metal drew Lucy’s attention. The knife had come free to the ground, and like a compass, pointed at John, who stepped into the knife’s arch. It tracked his feet, shuddering toward a middle-point when both were touching the circle, and pointed after him as he ventured further in. [...] before departing the circle much in the way he’d come. In by blade, out by blade. - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref> Goblins<ref name="1.2Gob">The goblins came after, in through the knife-door. They took separate paths once they were there, the little one traveling almost a three-quarter circle around, hitting two dead ends before finally joining the others by Lucy. [...] Toadswallow left by hourglass. The other three by skull. - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref> Lucy Ellingson tied herself especially closely to this pillar by using a knife to represent herself in the Awakening, and as such has a Second Sight dominated by blades and hurt.<ref name="1.2e1"/>

The Hours

Represented by a timepiece<ref name="1.2e1"/> or an hourglass rune of two triangles.<ref name="10.3e1"/>

Others associated with the timepiece include Toadswallow,<ref name="1.2Gob"/><ref name="1.2Guil">The giant, tan and long-haired, with chiseled features partially hidden behind long hair, entered through the hourglass, almost stepping on Toadswallow. [...] He exited by way of the sewn thing. - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref> Matthew Moss<ref name="1.2M&E">Edith and Matthew entered at the same time. Edith by skull, Matthew by the timepiece. [...] Edith exited by coin. Matthew exited by skull. - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref>

The Threads

Can be represented by anything woven, such as a knitted doll,<ref name="1.2e1"/> a rope,<ref name="Identification"/> a skein.<ref name="Blood"/> Something knitted as a gift for a sibling is particularly appropriate.<ref name="1.2e1"/>

Probably the same as Fate; which can also be represented by an angular C-shaped rune.<ref name="10.3e1"/>

Others associated with the Threads include Miss,<ref>Miss stepped out onto the diagram [... t]hrough the arch-circle with the doll, which turned its head to watch her enter and walk past it. [...] She left the same way she’d come. - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref> Maricica,<ref name="1.2Mari">The woman with the wings came in past the thread, which seemed larger and brighter. [...] She left by way of the coin. That was different. - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref> Guilherme,<ref name="1.2Guil"/> Alpeana<ref>The girl with the filthy hair moved like a spider did, her movements too quick and jerky, her body low to the ground. She navigated her way across by darkness, not the paths of the light. In through the thread, giving oil. [...] The girl left the same way she’d come. - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref>

Skull

Ideally represented with a real skull, such as from a dead racoon.<ref name="1.2e1"/> Probably the same as Death, which can be represented by a "gateway" rune like a keyhole with no base.<ref name="10.3e1"/>

Others associated with the skull include Matthew Moss and Edith James,<ref name="1.2M&E"/> all the Kennet goblins but Toadswallow,<ref name="1.2Gob"/> the Hungry Choir.<ref name="1.2Choir"/> Ghouls are very closely tied to Death over the other major forces.<ref name="10.3e1"/>

Coin

Others associated with the coin include Maricica,<ref name="1.2Mari"/> Edith James,<ref name="1.2M&E"/> the Hungry Choir<ref name="1.2Choir">The Children came in past the arch with the skull, filing in one after another. Fifty, a hundred. There was no singing, only silence. [...] They filed out by way of the coin. - excerpt from Lost for Words 1.2</ref>

The Bough

Probably the same as Nature, which can be represented by a forking branch rune<ref name="10.3e1"/> or possibly an animal.<ref name="4.7e1"/> Probably the same as the flower included in several variant Awakening rituals.<ref>“More abstract things for the middle ring,” I said. Rose gave me directions to find each object she’d already set up on her side.

A dagger. An hourglass. A dreamcatcher. A small silver skull. A coin.

“Which catches you up to where I was,” Rose said. “I got stumped. A rose, and something personal.”

“Kitchen for the former,” I said. “I can’t help with the latter.” - Excerpt from Bonds 1.7</ref><ref name=":9">I put the wine aside for later before going upstairs [from the kitchen], my arms full. Everything went into a bowl, except the rose.
The basic stuff in the inner ring. The dagger, hourglass and all the rest in the middle ring… leaving me with one empty circle. The personal touch.[...] The keys found their place in the empty circle.

I set out the food as well. One offering to each bowl, for the outer ring. - Excerpt from Bonds 1.7</ref><ref name=":6">Subordination 6.2</ref><ref name="Blood">Rowan is initiated into the practice. Death is his first step onto the bloody path. He welcomes his pet cat Bartles into his arms, given to him as a kitten when he was four, and at his parent’s instruction, severs its head, being careful to catch every drop of blood in a prepared bowl. The ritual calls for a skull, a coin, a dagger, a skein, a means of tracking time, a flower. For his ritual, the cat’s head is the skull, the tag- his parents made it a coin, a long time ago. The tendons and whiskers are the skein, woven crudely with blood-sticky fingers and tear-heavy eyes. A drop of blood in water blossoms, to be his flower, and the weapon used to kill Bartles is his dagger. He completes his ritual and he goes to where his parents have set up a table with common implements. He chooses a chain and he soaks it in the blood he put in the bowl, before binding it around his arm. A meaningful sacrifice, the first step onto his path is a binding one. - Pact Dice - Blood Magic</ref>

Nature is not always included as a pillar, and sometimes replaced by Fortune.<ref name="10.3e1"/>

The Pale

A frequently mentioned pillar, but has yet to be defined in-story. Probably corresponds to one of the other pillars listed here; Fortune, Skull/Death, and Coin are all possibilities.

Fortune

A newer pillar, sometimes replacing Nature or lumped in with Fate.<ref name="10.3e1"/>

References