Ousia and Hyle

Ousia

The mental aspect of a hyperstasis which allows a hyperstatic to safely perceive and instinctively manipulate the hyle of their hyperstasis. In a metapathogen, the ousia is faulty leading to potential harm to the hyperstatic.

For a superhuman that can generate and control flames such as the Red Blaze, the ousia of his power would be his ability to control when he creates flames, how they move, and to not be harmed by them.

Ousia, unlike hyle, cannot change. It is simply not in its nature to change. Ousia is the hyperkeimenon in its purest form and the hyperkeimenon is an artifact of the Astral consciousness. It is not of our liminal reality. But those that suffer from metapathogens do have a recourse. The meditative practice of theoria can strengthen a hyperstatic’s connection to his ousia allowing him to gain greater control over his powers.

The strength of our world is that of change, and when that strength is used to compliment the unchanging strength of the Astral miracles can happen and even the most virulent thought-form can become as tame as a dog.

It is possible for a hyperstasis to have an ousia without a hyle, but not the other way around. In this we can see the intentions of the Firsts. They would not give us powers without first giving us the ability to safely control those powers. When a hyperstatic has an ousia without a hyle it is said that he has silent powers. Hyperstatics with silent powers run the risk of developing metapathogens when they encounter a common secondary hyperstasis such as the tangible noosphere due to interference from their ousia. But silent powers are invaluable to mirabologic research. By exposing superhumans with silent powers to hylomorphs in a controlled manner, mirabologists learn about the relationship between ousia and hyle.

The term ousia is taken from Aristotle who used the term to refer to the essence of a thing beyond its physical form.

Theoria

The capacity for a hyperstatic to exercise control over his powers as well as the practice of giving himself more control through disciplined awareness.

To have ousia is for a hyperstatic to have unconscious control over his powers primarily in the sense of not being harmed by them. But theoria is conscious control. With ousia, a hyperstatic with the power to create and control flames knows instinctively that thinking this thought will cause his flames to move this way and thinking that thought will cause his flames to move that way. But theoria is the ability to effectively use ousia with intent. When the hyperstatic makes flames dance around his head or jump through hoops, he uses theoria.

Theoria is a term taken from the Greek where it means contemplation. In Christian mysticism, which made up part of the thaumaturgical tradition that first studied superpowers, it means to contemplate god. It’s adoption by thaumaturgists to describe the skillful use of superpowers speaks to the spiritual light in which they held them.

The earliest texts on superpowers referred to ousia as the Promethean factor and theoria as the Adamic factor. The idea was that, just as fire and thought came to man from the titan Prometheus, ousia came from the Firsts to man. And theoria was man requitting his gift from the divine in the form of skillful imagination.

Hyle

The physical, tangible, and observable aspect of a hyperstasis.

For a superhuman that can generate and control flames such as the Red Blaze, the hyle of his power would be the flames themselves.

The Firsts intended for the ancestral mortals of the blue time to have complete mastery over nature. Each hyle is but a fragment of complete and total power over nature. But fragmented though they might be, hyles are still mighty forces. Stone’s Law states that there is no limit to what superpowers can do--no limit at all.

The term hyle is taken from Aristotle, who used the word to refer to matter.

Hylomorph

Hyle organized into a form.

Hylomorphs are totalizations of a hyle such as the lightning bolt of the great wizard Shazam which transforms Billy Batson--or whoever is struck by it--into Captain Marvel, the white fire of Fire Chief which he shares with his Fire Men brigade, and the deck of tarot cards Wildcard uses to transform into 79 different forms.

When a superhuman such as Mr. Echo “steals the powers” of another superhuman, he does so by creating and transferring a hylomorph between the victim and himself. Superhumans that can switch between different hyles, such as Baldanders and the Form Masters, make use of a similar hylomorph system.

Modern technology is able to directly affect most hylomorphs which greatly aids in the treatment of metapathogens and superpowers with low theoria. But directly affecting ousia remains beyond current technology. When Mr. Echo steals a hylomorph, he cannot take the victims ousia as well and when he loses consciousness the stolen hylomorphs return to their victims drawn by their respective ousia. When superhumans like Billy Batson or Fire Chief share hylomorphs, they must be careful that they do so with powerless basics or those with a studied ousia otherwise complications may occur. When Fire Chief accidentally shared his white fire with the Sapphire Phantom, the result was a metapathogen that phased Sapphire Phantom between universes until she was rescued by Dr. Chime. The spacefaring culture known as the Blood Clan knows well what complications might arise when hylomorphs meet incompatible ousia. They maintain a caste of basics called receivers bred to make skillful use of other castes’ hylomorphs that the Blood Clan wouldn’t dare bestow upon other hyperstatics.

The term hylomorph is taken from Aristotle who used the term to refer to physical objects being a combination of a substrate matter (hyle) and a form (morph) that organizes that matter.

Hylozoomorph

Intelligent hylomorphs.

Hylozoomorphs are typically hypostatic bonded thought-forms or homo fabula. Examples of bonded thought-forms include Zongar the Miracle Man’s Abraxas and the ghost of revolutionary soldier Bruce Carter who empowers and assists those of the Fighting Yank legacy. Examples of bonded homo fabula include the thunder god Thor who bonded with human Grant Farrel as the Thor of the 1940’s and the nats Mahagiri and Hnamadawgyi who bonded with the Burmese superhero Kyarr.

Though commonly called hylozoomorphs, independent of hypostatic bonding thought-forms and homo fabula are not actually hylozoomorphs. It is only when they are incorporated into the hyle of a hyperstasis that they are hylozoomorphs.

Though rare, hylozoomorphs that are neither thought-forms or homo fabula do exist as in the case of the Cartographer whose power appears in his mind as a talking (and sarcastic) map named Circle that knows the area around the Cartographer down to the smallest detail and the French superhero Petit Guignol whose power manifests as a small army of invincible puppets that he controls with his mind.

The most famous example of a hylozoomorph is without a doubt Captain Marvel, a man made completely out of mystic substance. Captain Marvel is a living superpower, and like all superpowers he comes to those that call to him.