#raam

the subtle body is a series of invisible pathways of light that run through the mundane body, supposedly carrying the "essence" of the astral body throughout. if you were to cut open a body, you would not see the subtle body, its channels, its focal points. but they are detectable by their effects, namely the animation of the mundane body, and more obviously, the magical powers that it can project.

most mortal tenvo are not born with innate magical ability. this is because they are born flawed, the channels of their subtle body blocked in various ways, preventing the proper flow of light and magic throughout their body. most often, only saints and mortals born with relatively unblocked channels, called sorcerers, can perform magic. however, it is possible, through meditation, effort, study, practice, exercise, and often some amount of acupuncture, to "unlock" these blocked pathways and gain access to magical ability. these tenvo who have had to strive for many years to attain magic are often called "wizards." generally speaking, saints are always trusted with magic; wizards, by the trained disposition they possess, are often trusted with magic; sorcerers, wildcards, are rarely trusted with magic in temple society.

the following is apocrypha:

the astral body might not exist. while the mundane body obviously exists by observation, and the subtle body can be well-reckoned to exist by its effects, there is no evidence for the astral body's existence, beyond temple doctrine saying it is so.

there are two known heresies kept from the knowledge of the public that propose respectively 1) the complete non-existence of the astral body, or 2) that the astral body is not natural, but a sort of "binding" that raam places upon mortals as a way to control their magical natures.