I'm making things harder than they need to be

[Magizoologist]

Hi guys!

Basically, I have a character who uses 7 elements and unlocks them successively by unblocking her chakras. In-game, this basically amounts to buying Refinement a lot. (I know this is an unusual number and completely unnecessary; please don't get distracted by this.)

I have the elements arranged around a 7-pointed star and I treat them like the elements in Wu Xing: they have a constructive and a controlling cycle.

Now, my character is a tattoo artist with the star sort of built into the floor of the tattoo parlour, with representations of an element at each point (incense for fire, for example). I picture her sitting or standing on this star (when the shop is closed and/or prior to opening) and doing her thaumaturgic rituals.

What I'm having trouble with is coming up with the steps to her rituals.

Two things that really intrigued me were Tai Chi's elemental steps, and mudras, which are gestures you do to help you unblock chakras.

I keep finding references to the fact that Tai Chi uses some mudras, but can't find any information on which ones, which forms they're used in, etc. Everyone seems to know that they're involved somehow, but that's it.

Also, there aren't a whole lot of resources depicting pictures of people doing Tai Chi elemental forms. I keep finding resources on which direction you're supposed to step with each element, but not which forms to use.

Anybody here have greater Google-fu than me? I'd appreciate the help.

Also, other ideas on what to include in the rituals are welcome.

[UmbraLux]

Welcome!

Have you tried searching quigong elements or mudras as well as tai chi?  May find a bit more.

[Sanctaphrax]

Huh, cool idea. Never thought of unlocking magical power with mystical poses before. Pretty good way to get physical skills involved in the Declaration process for a ritual.

[Magizoologist]

Welcome!

Have you tried searching quigong elements or mudras as well as tai chi?  May find a bit more.

Will try that tonight when I get home, thanks.

Huh, cool idea. Never thought of unlocking magical power with mystical poses before. Pretty good way to get physical skills involved in the Declaration process for a ritual.

Well, I got to thinking about it when I was thinking about how deaf people back in the days before hearing aids wouldn't have been able to use their voice to cast spells. Sign language activates the same areas of the brain as spoken language.

So I'm guessing in the Dresdenverse deaf people would have used mudras or something similar to cast spells.

[Lavecki121]

Also in the anime Naruto, they use hand signs to represent different spells that they cast. Could look into that too.

[Ophidimancer]

Huh, cool idea. Never thought of unlocking magical power with mystical poses before. Pretty good way to get physical skills involved in the Declaration process for a ritual.

I posited something like it awhile ago in THIS thread.

[Magizoologist]

Also in the anime Naruto, they use hand signs to represent different spells that they cast. Could look into that too.

Not to knock Naruto, but they didn't really try too hard to be authentic with that series. I mean, the main character is a ninja who goes around wearing emergency orange and a reflective headband. Plus jutsus are more or less super powers or magic spells in that series, and not tricky slight-of-hand ones you'd expect from a ninja. So I really gotta pass on that one. Thanks for trying, though.

[Lavecki121]

Plus jutsus are more or less super powers or magic spells in that series, and not tricky slight-of-hand ones you'd expect from a ninja. So I really gotta pass on that one. Thanks for trying, though.

....isnt that what you are going for??

[Mrmdubois]

I think he's going for thaumaturgy type spells though.

Regardless, just because everything they do with mudras in Naruto isn't what you're shooting for it doesn't change the usefulness of the the mudras themselves.  What the mudras do is just a flavor descriptor that can be changed.

[Lavecki121]

Exactly my point.

[Magizoologist]

I think he's going for thaumaturgy type spells though.

Regardless, just because everything they do with mudras in Naruto isn't what you're shooting for it doesn't change the usefulness of the the mudras themselves.  What the mudras do is just a flavor descriptor that can be changed.

Well, I was kinda wanting to use actual mudras, that people really do.

[Lavecki121]

Do you mind if I ask why? Are you going to be doing them at the table?

[Ophidimancer]

You don't normally see the phrase "mudra" used in Tai Chi.  Mudra is a Sanskrit word used in Hinduism and Buddhism to denote a hand gesture with particular meanings that are intended to help bring about certain states of mind.  So you'll definitely see them in yoga, which has roots in Hinduism.  Tai Chi, on the other hand, has roots in Chinese Martial Arts and Taoism.  The forms that I've learned in Tai Chi are not just hand gestures, but dynamic movements, instead of just static postures like in Yoga, that involve the whole body.  So to use Yoga terminology they'd be mudras and asanas at the same time ... kinda.

Chinese medicine also doesn't really use the chakras.  Instead it talks about the meridians, or channels of chi that run through the body.

As for the elements, I know medical chi gong talks about the wu hsing and the five elements, but the style of Tai Chi I take doesn't really delve into those very much.

Are you perhaps interested in the names of the different forms?  They're very poetic, like "Parting the Wild Horse's Mane", "Grasping the Swallow's Tail", "Needle at the Bottom of the Ocean" etc.

[fantazero]

do you need like "DICE MECHANICS" help, or are you just looking for HOW she does it Story wise?

[Sanctaphrax]

Naruto makes a lot more sense if you mentally edit out the word "ninja". I like the manga, but...they aren't terribly ninja-like.

I posited something like it awhile ago in THIS thread.

I'm afraid I missed that on account of it being before my time.