Sadhana: Hindu Sorcery

Description

Sadhana is a form of Hindu blood sorcery. It is practiced by the Hindu Brahmin Cainites of India, who are known as rakta-sadhus or even Blood Brahmin.

The Blood Brahmins of India see themselves as demons, who seek to overthrow the gods and rule the universe in their stead by transcending the maya of the temporal world to achieve moksha. According to those Cainites Prana is the life energy which vampires steal from the living via their blood, and via the methods of vampiric Sadhana the practitioner uses the stolen prana to enable him/her to alter reality according to mystical formulae learned from grimoires – the seminal thaumaturgic grimoires among Hindu Cainites are the unabridged versions of the Atharva-Veda and the Yajur-Veda.

The Cainite bloodlines with the deepest roots in India are the Daitya, Danava, Nagaraja, Ravnos, and to a slightly lesser extent the Salubri. The Brahmin Castes are the only ones who are permissioned to learn Sadhana and as such, they have the greatest store of knowledge about this peculiar art of blood magic.

Undead rakta-sadhus often deliberately break the taboos of mortal Sadhana, to show their disrespect to the Gods and their acceptance of their role as demons.

Practices

Just like a mortal Hindu mystic, a rakta-sadhu must engage in long meditation and grueling austerities to unlock the mystic power of the Blood. Typical exercises include: fasting nearly to the point of torpor; yoga exercises; breathing exercises called pranayama, such as breathing in through the mouth and out through the nose at the same time; and exposure to heat, cold and other unpleasantness. Rakta-Sadhus revere Shiva and Shakti above most other Hindu gods, in their incarnations as Bhairava/Mahakala and Kali. Others pay respect to Vishnu and Lakshmi and a host of lesser gods, like Agni, the god of the flame.

Their rituals incorporate mystic symbols called yantras; mystic syllables or phrases called mantras; complex drawings called mandalas; mudras, or gestures with a variety of ritual implements; and elaborate sacrifices of blood, butter and the intoxicating plant-derived liquid called soma. Sadhana rituals demand great courage from a vampire, for the sacrifice is always by fire. These rituals generate tapas, spiritual heat that, when amassed in great quantities, can force the gods to work the brahmins will. The more austere the hardships of their meditation, the more intense is their tapas.

In order to be able to cast their spells for the day the rakta-sadhus must complete a task that would require them to test for frenzy or Rötschreck; if they fail, they are not able to use Blood Magic for a night. If they pass, they get bonus Traits equal to the difficulty of the test. When casting a ritual this test is also required based on the rank of the ritual. Basic rituals require a 1-Trait test, Intermediate rituals require a 3-Trait test, and Advanced or higher rituals require a 5-Trait test. If the ritual test fails the caster can try again. Practitioner can still use rituals even if they fail the daily test to cast spells. If the did past the test the bonus can be used for ritual tests.

(Source: https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Sadhana, CC-BY-SA )

Paths

The following paths are unique to Sadhana:

Path Of The Blood Nectar

(Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion pp.62-63)

Basic

• By brewing a potion out of his own vitae, the rakta-sadhu can imbibe the drinker with one level of a discipline or path.
• By brewing a potion out of his own vitae, the rakta-sadhu can imbibe the drinker with two levels of a discipline or path.

Intermediate

• By brewing a potion out of his own vitae, the rakta-sadhu can imbibe the drinker with three levels of a discipline or path.
• By brewing a potion out of his own vitae, the rakta-sadhu can imbibe the drinker with four levels of a discipline or path.

Advanced

• By brewing a potion out of his own vitae, the rakta-sadhu can imbibe the drinker with five levels of a discipline or path.

Path Of Karma

(Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion pp.63-64)

Basic

• Threads of the Past: Receive a vision from the past of the target.
• Weave of the Future: Receive omens of events to come.

Intermediate

• Certain Fate: Receive a certain vision of an event in the future.
• Past Lives: Receive a moderately detailed biography of your previous incarnation.

Advanced

• Master of Samsara: Gain limited power over the future incarnation of a target.

Path of Praapti

A practitioner of Praapti can travel instantaneously to a destination. (Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.64)

Basic

• Teleport up to 30 feet (10 m).
• Teleport up to 150 feet (50 m).

Intermediate

• Teleport up to 1500 feet (500 m).
• Teleport up to 5 miles (8 km).

Advanced

• Teleport up to 500 miles (800 km).

Other Paths

In addition to the above, rakta-sadhus know many paths also used by Thaumaturgy, though they are known by different names and practiced in the Sadhana style. The paths have nothing in common but their effects. Where names differ, the Thaumaturgical name is listed along with the reference.

• Asura-Raja (Spirit Manipulation; Camarilla Guide p.89)
• Brahma-Vidya (The Path of Conjuring; Laws of the Night, Revised p.182)
• Echo of Nirvana (The Focused Mind; Storyteller’s Guide p.50)
• Hand of Mahakala (Hands of Destruction; Laws of the Night, Revised p.183)
• Lakshmi's Wishes (Oneiromancy; Storyteller’s Guide p.54)
• Path of Yama (Path of Duat; Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.26)
• Rasayana (Alchemy; Storyteller’s Guide p.47)
• Rishi's Hand (Movement of the Mind; Faith & Fire p.202)
• Temptations of Mara (The Snake Inside; Blood Magic: Secrets Of Thaumaturgy p.116))
• Yaksha-Vidya (Elemental Mastery; Faith & Fire p.204)

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Rituals

Their rituals incorporate mystic symbols called yantras; mystic syllables or phrases called mantras; complex drawings called mandalas; mudras, or gestures with a variety of ritual implements; and elaborate sacrifices of blood, butter and the intoxicating plant-derived liquid called soma. Sadhana rituals demand great courage from a vampire, for the sacrifice is always by fire. These rituals generate tapas, spiritual heat that, when amassed in great quantities, can force the gods to work the brahmins will. The more austere the hardships of their meditation, the more intense is their tapas.

(Source: https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Sadhana_Rituals, CC-BY-SA )

Basic

• Animaa: The magician can see tiny things clearly, as if he were the size of a bird, a mouse, an ant, a grain of dust, or even smaller. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.65)
• Armor of Diamond Serenity: By calls upon Shiva, the sadhu is immune to frenzy of all types for the rest of the night, reduces the difficulty of all Willpower rolls and treats his Willpower as if it were two higher against effects which use his Willpower (temporary or permanent) as the target number. The side effect is the loss of the ability to spend blood to increase Physical Attributes. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.64)
• Ash of Agni's Curse: The magician burns an offering to Agni, the god of fire and the sacrifice, while beseeching the god to withdraw his favor from the fires of the magician's enemies. The magician then gathers the ash of the sacrifice and stores it in a box or jar to extinguishes any mundane blaze. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.65)
• Garimaa: For a time, the magician becomes almost impossible to lift, knock off her feet or push in any direction she does not want to go. An effective Strength of 8 resists any force that attempts to move the magician against his will. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.65)
• Rakta-Maya Rituals: A large group of rituals. Each ritual enables a magician to hypnotize a willing audience into seeing one specific illusion. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.64)
• Water Walking: Through a sacrifice of porridge and ghee to Varuna, the sadhu gains power of walking on water. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.65)

Intermediate

• Aurava: Some Indian sorcerers can conjure aurava, a magical fire that burns under water. The ritual involves drawing a mandala on a golden tray underwater, placing an offering at the center, and challenging Agni to claim his due. When the offering bursts into flame, the magician can carry the tray about and use the aurava to set other things on fire. The flame can be extinguished in other ways, but not with water. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.65)
• Destiny's Call: This tantra enables the magician to meet a person having whatever qualities she wants. Destiny's Call draws in an unknown person who meets three conditions set by the magician. The sadhu can set physical, mental and social conditions, with the exception of supernatural condition (such as "a werewolf" or "a Methuselah"). Destiny's Call dissipates at dawn. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.65)
• Leper's Curse: Brahmin reverse a sacred rite and turn it into a curse upon an enemy. Sadhu calls upon Agni, Indra and other gods of light and life to deliver the victim unto Nirriti, the goddess of misery and destruction. The victim will be infected with real leprosy; the leprosy-curing spell from Atharva-Veda can remove the curse, however, if the victim uses it within one month of contracting the disease. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.65)
• Milk of Puutanaa: Undead sadhus can call upon Puutanaa, the sadhu uses a sympathetic link to the victim, consisting of the child's name and the names of the child's parents. The next mild that the child drinks carries Puutanaa's venom, which always kills, unless the child grows its first adult tooth. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.65)
• Warded Womb: Through an oblation of milk and ghee and an amulet of lead, a sadhu can ban the snake-demoness from a woman's womb and guarantee that she delivers a safely human child. Correctly performed, the ritual protects a pregnant woman against miscarriage and guarantees an easy delivery of a healthy child. It also eradicates any supernatural taint from the infant. Progeny of werebeasts (especially the weresnakes) do not inherit any supernatural heritage. The ritual also negates the condition of being born a revenant and the potential for any other innate supernatural talent other than True Faith. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.66)

Advanced

• Transcendentally Satisfying Body-Filling: The sadhu performs the ritual at a shrine to Shiva previously consecrated by the magician and used for worship for at least a year. The tantra of parapurakayapravesa requires a drum made from the top of a human skull, the sacrifice of a horse to Shiva, an oblation of soma and drinking the soma dregs mixed with the horse's blood. The spell also requires something that came from the mortal victim's body, which likewise burns in the sacrificial fire. The sadhu vanishes and merges with the victim, wherever he may be. The effect resembles the Dominate power of Possession, but with certain advantages and limitations. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.66)

Elder

• Loom of Vishnu: This potent tantra enables a magician to usurp the god Vishnu’s power of cosmic illusion. The magician burns an oblation of milk, ghee, soma and her own vitae within a special mandala, then burns a picture of a scene she wants to create. That scene then appears in solid form – real to every test that mortal senses can devise. Despite this power, the ritual has few limitations. The main ones are the need to keep fire and the inability to directly harm people. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.67)

Methuselah

• Eye of Mahakala: This ritual invokes Shive as Mahakala, Lord of Time and Final Destroyer, to annihilate a small part of the world's illusion. What the magician commands Mahakala to look upon, ceases to be and never was. Everyone except the sadhu himself forgets the target's existence (needs the victim's full name and the full names of both parents for living or undead), because they never knew it in the first place. This ritual requires fast in the midst of an elaborate mandala. And then when the sadhu hovers at the brink of death, one can see Mahakala's face and guide the Destroyer to his target. The disappeared object will be quickly replaced by something else; sometimes, perhaps even something similar to the former self. Still, it probably cannot unmake gods or creatures of commensurate power, such as the vampire pirris. Likewise, the ritual cannot erase the too famous or those who are involved in many events. (See Blood Sacrifice: The Thaumaturgy Companion p.67)

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