The origins of the Ancient and Esoteric Orders of the Shek-Pvar are lost in the prehistoric past.
Individual mages employed Pvaric principles long before the convocations were organised, and some still continue to practice the hidden arts independently. Most Shek-Pvar hold that the elements and processes of Pvaric philosophy are things to be discovered, rather than invented. Only the most chauvinistic mage will promote his personal philosophy as the only valid world view, but the set of beliefs collectively known as Pvarism is the most widely held by Lythian arcanists.
Pvaric philosophy is essentially a way of perceiving Kelestia, the cosmic all, in terms of key elemental principles. The various schools of arcane lore place different stress on these elements, and exploit different principles. Nevertheless, throughout Hârn and western Lythia, nearly all organised mystic arts are unified, to one degree or another, by a shared belief in Pvaric principles.
While it is true that the earliest schools of Pvaric thought ascribed to the belief that all substances were comprised of a small number of "psycho-physical" elements, most modern Pvarists now perceive the elements as mental templates, as ways to grasp and manipulate Kelestian "realities". This point is driven home by the existence of divergent elemental grouping systems, some of which recognise more or less than six elements, yet still seem to work.
Nevertheless, in recent centuries, the major arcane schools, including the Shek-Pvar, have gradually come to adhere to the "hexagonal wheel" of six elements. To the Shek-Pvar, and to those who share their world view, the key principles are light, fire, metal, earth, water, and aura.
These are no more than names. A modern Shek-Pvar would deem it simplistic to view each item in the universe simply as being composed of varying amounts of these six basic "elements". When the contemporary Pvaric philosopher says "earth" he means far more than the dirt beneath his feet. He is referring to the innumerable, natural cycles of birth, life, growth, death, and decay.
Pvarism requires a trans-intellectual identity with Kelestia, an ineluctable feel for the way of things. While its beliefs involve logic and phyiscal law, it is more a style of enlightenment that must be embraced by the whole being. One cannot ascribe to Pvarism simply by reading Pvaric books and agreeing with their contents.
While all Pvarists share beliefs and feelings about the world, it should not be forgotten that Pvarism is a pluralistic world view; each of the six elements makes unique demands upon the minds and bodies of those who would embrace them, and these disparate demands are exceedingly difficult to reconcile within the compass of a single being. For this reason it is generally necessary for practitioners to specialise.
The Shek-Pvar is divided into six sub-orders called convocations. Each employs its own element/principles to achieve its unique brand of magic. It is difficult for an individual to employ more than a narrow range of compatible principles to drive his spells because attunement to one range tends to preclude others. A mage attuned to fire, for example, finds water abhorrent. The principles are "organised" in accordance with the wheel of the Shek-Pvar, and this arrangement is the origin of the convocations. The six convocations, their symbolic hues, natural elements, and principles are:
| Convocation | Hue | Element | Principles | Forms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyahvi | Red | Air | Light/Illusion/Etherealness | Auram, Imaginem |
| Peleahn | Orange | Fire | Heat/Energy/Dryness | Ignem |
| Jmorvi | Yellow | Metal | Metallic/Mineral/Artifice | Terram |
| Fyvria | Green | Earth | Life/Growth/Decay | Terram, Herbam, Animal, Corpus |
| Odivshe | Blue | Water | Cold/Darkness/Moisture | Aquam |
| Savorya | Violet | Spirit | Knowledge/Mind/Meaning | Mentem |
The convocation to which a Shek-Pvar belongs is his Primary Convocation. Those adjacent to his primary on the Wheel are his Secondary Convocations. The convocation opposite the Primary is the Diametric, and those adjacent to the Diametric are Tertiary.
The wheel of the Shek-Pvar is symbolic of the relationships between convocations. The colour assigned to each convocation is in harmony with its neighbours, and symbolises the more complex ways in which the convocational magics blend with each other at their "edges". The fact that the six are joined in a ring reflects the unity of Pvarism, that all things share an identity within Kelestia, and that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
A mage is best able to learn spells of his own convocation, but can, with more difficulty, learn those of his secondary convocations, and with great difficulty, those of his tertiary convocation. It is virtually impossible to master spells of diametric convocations.
There are also neutral principles, the hub of the Wheel, which mages of any convocation can employ with equal ease/difficulty. Vim spells are neutral.
Lyahvi is the magic of air, of the insubstantial, the invisible, and the illusory. Lyahvi mages manipulate reflection, refraction, light, and confusion. Their effects are swift and ambiguous. The essence of Lyahvi is bright, sterile, unliving.
Peleahn manipulate heat, smoke, and fire to produce pyrotechnic effects. Peleahn is, perhaps, the most active, destructive, and least thoughtful school of magic.
The element of the Jmorvi is mineral, especially metal. Their magic tends to run in a slower vein, the study, making, and manipulation of metallic artifacts, powerful, unyielding, but sometimes brittle. Jmorvi is the convocation of smiths and artisans.
Fyvria is the magic of the green and growing, and of the pale and dying - the cycles of growth and decay that underlie the natural world. The base of Fyvria is fertile earth where life swarms.
Odivshe is the magic of slow, cool darkness, the opposite of fire and action. Odivshe mages study and manipulate water, ice, darkness, and cold to achieve their gloomy ends. It is said that the Odivshe manipulate inertia, although the picture is far more complex than that.
Savorya is the magic of the mind. The most esoteric Savoryans deal in aura, knowledge and spirit, and thought and concept, all of which, they believe, stand over the other elements.