BARBARO
The Quatrian Symbols Explained
BARBARO is the second of the four Hypogeic Powers.
It may be worth a brief digression to discuss the idea of the “Hypogeic Powers,” central as they are to the Quatrian milieu. The “Hypogeum,” conceptually, is the concretion of the liminal, an underground mythic space that is no more “underground” than Hades, Gehenna, or any other chthonic mytholocale. Variously described as “the Origin of All Places,” “the Passage to the Prior Worlds,” “the Dark Place of Light,” &tc., all entrances into the underground are considered potential doorways into the Hypogeum. The Hypogeum is the origin of life, but also the sanctuary where the People of Anthuor will return at the end of each cycle of society.
The four Hypogeic Powers — Anthuor, Barbaro, The Musician, The Maiden — are powerful entities whose status borders on “divine,” similar to the Shinto kami but possibly extensions of the past and future simultaneously. They are ancestral spirits, but from prior civilizations, and of all of the “spirits,” the Hypogeic Powers are the ones who drive the conversation that creates “reality” in the Quatrian oral literature.
In this conversation, if ANTHUOR is “Yes,” BARBARO is “Perhaps, But Maybe Not.” She signifies the origin of ambiguity — not sheer chaos or negativity or adversarial struggle, but anything that can be “taken either way.”
In Quatrian oral tradition, it is said that one round of civilization predated even Ancient Quatria. This civilization progressed, as all do and all always will, towards greater and greater deviation from the original intent of the Hypogeic Powers. Finally, immediately prior to the demise of these people, Anthuor led one of their priests into the Hypogeum. “Beyond this door,” the priest was told, “is the Bell of Transition. Ring this bell, and your people will be allowed to continue on the surface [Ed. In “real time” as opposed to Mythic Time]. If, however, you do not ring the bell, they will be called back into the Bright Chthonic World and will have to ‘try again next time.’”
The priest walked through the door and saw the Bell of Transition. However, he also saw Barbaro (or one of her extensions) perched upon the bell. Saying nothing, Barbaro merely screamed and hissed.
Striking the bell would send Barbaro into a rage, but not doing so would condemn his fellows to restart everything, the priest froze in place, unable to make a decision. According to Quatrian tradition, he remains there today.
One school of Quatrian philosophy — called since “the Barbaroites” — held that Barbaro created a matrix of ambiguity — called “The 27 Inbiguities of Barbaro” — upon which observable reality depended. Barbaro is traditionally depicted with 27 feathers on her wings for this reason. The 27 Inbiguities were listed as: Is, Is not, Is too, Maybe, Maybe not, Maybe so, Could be, Could not be, Could only be, Should be, Should not be, Should only be, In case of, Beyond case of, Along with, Without, Out with, Besides, Between, Beyond, Behold, First case, Second case, Extended case, Unidirection, Omnidirection, Completion.
Discussing Quatrian Barbaroite phenomenology would take many volumes, so for now we’ll mention only that the Barbaroites mapped these Inbiguities onto the human form:
Doing so allowed them to perform powerful programmatic ritual movements which doubled as complex discourses on the nature of being and non-being. Sadly, most of these movements have been lost, but Quatrian Reconstructionists have been trying to piece together some of the basic “sign-sentence-actions” with mixed success.
The Symbol in Magical Practice
When traced with a Spell Stick, the BARBARO sigil facilitated ambiguity. Used especially to confuse one’s opponents or enemies, those confronted with this symbol almost always changed their plans in consternation. Individuals wishing to cast the symbol of Barbaro were subject to one restriction: it must never be Obvious that they were the ones using the symbol, or they would fall out of Barbaro’s favor due to a lack of ambiguity.
When divining, BARBARO represents power, but powerful ambiguity. She represents the end of a system, caused not by outright destruction, but by the inability of some party to act. Some readers also consider the Barbaro symbol indicative of a kind of temporal malleability. Regardless, those who draw this symbol should sit up and pay very close attention, because the Owls Are Not What They Seem.
