By Aurelius Verdigris
REN: Conceptual Aspect (True Name)
One's True Name or conceptual existence, without which the no aspect of the individual could ever exist. This aspect is only affected by the most powerful magicks of both the Mind and Spirit and is potentially impossible to destroy in its entirety, change being the more likely result of even the most awesome assaults, though some suggest that even this is an impossibility. The Ren only exists in the Astral Plane, or High Umbra. It should be noted that if a mage "visits" the Astral Plane, for all intents and purposes the Ren is the mage's astral body. The Silver Cord that is often mentioned as being attached to one's astral body is actually attached to one's Ba. This is an important distinction and should be noted.
SEKHEM: Realized Aspect (Raw Quintessence)
Essential Quintessence that is necessary for an individual to exist as anything more substantial than mere concept. The Sekhem is only directly affected by a mage's Prime magicks and can be said to exist in every place/umbrae/etc. where an individual manifests some aspect aside from the Ren. A mage's Quintessence reserves used to make working magick easier is NOT Sekhem, as it is not essential and can be fully depleted without any harm to the mage's existence. The same can be said of a vampire's vitae as well as the highly specialized Gnosis, Glamour, Pathos and Power of other supernatural entities. (Note: this use of Sekhem is hierarchically different from that mentioned in the World of Darkness: Mummy book. The Sekhem mentioned there is actually Free Quintessence, akin to vampiric vitae, etc.)
KHU: Quintessential Aspect (Avatar)
One's Avatar, or eternal soul. This is the most fundamental aspect of willful existence and is the essential True Identity of an individual, the spark of existential being, if you will. Only the most powerful Spirit magicks can directly affect this aspect of one's make-up. This aspect exists simultaneously in all umbrae. Most humans' Khus can be called "sleeping," being essentially inactive and static. Those Khu which have "awakened," however, are quite active and are capable of dynamically altering local reality. Despite the close relationship between a mage's Khu and his Ba, however, it is the Fae who best understand the Khu, as they see it as their true Kithain identity, rather than a separate entity in and of itself. In addtion, the Khu of a vampire has essentially been corrupted during the Embrace by a parasitic contagion, the resulting mutant Avatar being called the Beast, while a Garou is born with a unique "werewolf Khu" which sets him or her apart from ordinary humans from birth. As a final note, during vampiric Diablerie it is the victim's Khu which must be "consumed" by the Diabolist's Khu for the act to be considered complete, the very act being essentially a struggle between the two for dominance. Should such consumption fail, the Diablerie will be incomplete, but ONLY in the sense that the victim's Avatar will remain free and potentially be able to be reincarnated at asome future date. All other spoils of the Diablerie will still be effected (decrease in generation, stolen memories, etc.).
AB: Quintessential Nature (Essence)
The essential "personality" of one's Khu. This is one's eternal, spiritual nature or moral "heart," something that can rarely be changed without resorting to the most powerful vulgar Spirit magicks. The Ab is not a separate aspect of one's identity per se, but is an aspect of one's Khu. While the Awakened posit five distinct possible Essences, it should be noted that this accounting may be overly simplified and could potentially be further broken down into the multitude of Fae Kiths, Vampiric Clans, a Garou Essence, etc. Such detail, however, could continue forever and is unnecessary for our purposes, though not without merit. Suffice to say that the Ab is merely a convenient means of archetyping the Khu for sake of discussion. The mages' classification includes the Questing, the Dynamic, the Pattern, the Primordial and the Infinite, these five being the broadest division still providing utility of study.
BA: Psychic "Survival" Aspect (Psyche)
The mind. One's emotional and intellecual identity, or eidolic psyche. For most purposes, the Ba is thought of as the true "I," the real seat of identity, though this is an insufficient correspondence for our more exacting purposes. All too often, however, the arrogant Ba fools itself into believing that it is the True Identity, ignoring more quintessential aspects of existence. The truth is that on a cosmic scale the Ba is merely a tool (technomancers liken the Ba to a computer's operating system) used by the Khu to allow it interaction with its environment (for the Khu is too abstract to do so itself), driven primarily by the will to survive. The Ba may be affected by Mind magicks, very powerful Entropy magicks, or similar psychic numina. The Ba can be said to exist in whatever plane of reality it wills itself to exist in, though for most humans this means the physical world only, or sometimes the Periphery. As a final note, the Ba can only exist in one place at one time, it being too limited by its need for stimuli to effectively operate simultaneously in numerous locations.
KHAIBIT: Psychic "Extinction" Aspect (Shadow)
The flip-side of one's Ba, the Khaibit is that aspect of the mind which seeks its own destruction, inexorably drawn to extinction (again, in technomantic jargon they might liken this to the bugs in the operating system). Like its counterpart, the shadow psyche may be affected by Mind magicks and mental numina. Wherever the Ba goes, so goes the Khaibit. Most individuals deny the existence of their Khaibit and so cannot find it of their own volition. This is a very important aspect of psychic existence, however, and should be recognized as such even if it cannot be easily identified. The Khaibit is like the little devil on one's shoulder, while the Ba is the proverbial angel, though this is an extreme and dangrous simplification.
KA: Spiritual Aspect (Ephemeral Form)
The "body" one possesses in the Living or Middle Umbra, affected by Spirit and Prime magicks. This aspect is created as needed and like the Khat and S”hu below, is not a necessary aspect of existence. Some mages and scholars argue that the Ka is formed from the very Khat, which is somehow transformed from physical "matter" to spiritual "matter." For purposes of this study, however, the Ka and Khat are completely separate and while the Khat may technically cease to exist when one "steps sideways," this does not mean that it becomes the Ka.
KHAT: Physical Aspect (Material Body)
One's physical, earthly body of flesh and blood. Directly affected by Life, Matter, Prime and Entropy magicks. The Khat can only exist in the material world, though a "new" Khat can be created for physical existence in other material realms beyond Gaia, and these new bodies can exist simultaneously without ill effect.
S™HU [SOEHU]: Entropic Aspect (Corpus)
The Low Umbral equivalent of the Khat. This "death flesh" is affected directly by Spirit magicks, as well as Entropy and Prime.
Editor's Note: This is version 3.0, posted to the wod-l list by the author, Christopher Kobar (ckobar@dttus.com), on May 31, 1996. Posted with his permission.
Jack Dracula (vampire@access.digex.net)