Professor of Religious Spellcasting
"Let us remember last time's discussion... Did we reach the part about scripture channeling? We didn't? Alright, let's resume our lesson from there.
As we found out together last week, the basis of ritual casting - or, as some may put it, doing miracles - is simply following a set of specific steps, a fulfillment of various little things that, when brought together, creates a desirable effect. Does it sound familiar? If you passed Spellcasting Basics last semester, you should already know where I'm going with this...
Take each specific step. Every hand movement, every word spoken. Do you not use them yourselves? Whenever you cast your little fireballs and ice shards during training- No, not you Jehaya, I know you're excused from anything physical. Come on class, don't laugh at him, be decent!"
Religious Spellcasting is one of the many courses offered by the Exarhi University, in which students learn about rites and rituals from all the religions found on the Meridian plane. The curriculum focuses on exploring the most important parts from as many different faiths as possible in order to underline common patterns found in each of them. The professors that teach this subject must therefore be experts on religious studies and Meridian cultures - the more they know, the better. It is also important for them to treat these subjects with a certain level of respect while keeping a neutral position towards any belief. Not many Exalted professors fit this description; the bloody wars held against the mages of the Continent have left deep scars that still hurt, even decades after the tragedies.
"Ahem... As I was saying, you can draw many parallels between our dictionaries and these scripture tomes - so many, in fact, that any mage worth their mana can reach a reasonable conclusion: miracles are simply spells. Nothing more and nothing less. The difference is that these little hymn books do not actually contain arrays; they are humble beacons that link the clergy to- wait, let me grab some chalk- that link... the priests... to one... centralized... source of mana. This is where the fun stuff happens - and this is the reason why priests are stronger on their holy turf. They are simply closer to the source of their powers."
Career
Qualifications
Only Exalted - students that have studied at the University and obtained a degree in a related field - may work towards getting a teaching position such as this. They would start as assistants, slowly gaining more responsibilities as they help their assigned professor with the coursework, labwork and home assignments. After 4-5 years, they may be deemed admissible to take the yearly professorate exam, overseered by members of the Exarhi Council. If they pass the exam, they can finally apply for a permanent position at the University.
Career Progression
As it is usually the case, a professor can look forward to a position of Pillar if their work and accomplishments are deemed significant enough. Becoming a Pillar means accepting more responsibilities and being given more respect during academic discussions - other than that, it is expected of Pillars to keep teaching at least one subject every two semesters.
Payment & Reimbursement
The salary of a Religious Spellcasting professor is slightly better, following the pattern of religion-related fields getting better payment. That is because the Exarhi Council wants as many young mages to be invested in cultural studies; after all, knowledge is the foundation of understanding and cooperation.
Operations
Materials
"... And before you leave, remember to ask your lab assistants about our homemade Thesaurus - it contains all the required elements of array construction you will need. If you've not found partners yet, you have time until the end of the week. Remember, only teams of 3 or 4 students are allowed! And you have two months to build a working Lexicon prototype and prove that you can cast at least three spells using only incantations. Now, if anyone would like to ask questions or discuss more..."
The Faculty provides an in-house thesaurus with minimal functionalities that serves didactic purposes. As miracle works are just a convoluted way to cast spells, professors usually have their students construct small array books that work like real-life lexicons; instead of magical power flowing from a holy capital to cathedrals and from a cathedral to priests, the students will build these books to link themselves to the common thesaurus. In doing so, they learn how the flow of mana functions inside these religious organizations and structures; they become mini priests that channel the power of a fake scripture in order to create simple spells, proving to themselves and to each other that, indeed, religious power is just an application of magic.
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