Overview

The Edeia (plural: Edeia, pronunciation [ee-DAY-uh]) are manifestations of abstract concepts. They are a closed species created by me, Auspice. The world they exist in is referred to as the world of "Ideation."

Edeia are born from the power of ideas. While any creature can become one, most begin as humans, since there are no other sentient nonmagical creatures native to the world of Ideation. Those with the potential to become an Edeia have an Idea, and magic abilities associated with it. Some are born with it, while others develop it later. When they truly attune to their Idea, they Actualize: their physical body is consumed and replaced with one composed entirely of their own magic.

Note from me: Generally, if I say something is "rare," please check with me if you want to apply it to your Edeia. If something is "very rare" or "extremely rare," you will need to convince me via explaining your desired character lore/ideas, etc. — especially since oftentimes, I will need to develop the lore further once others want to use it. I will also generally have a soft limit of each person only having one Edeia that the very rare trait applies to. (Particular examples of things this applies to is Twin Edeia and a fission trait.)

Inspiration

While the concept of the species did essentially just pop into my head one day, one thing that inspired the development of Edeia is the psychological theory of self-actualization and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

In a sense, Edeia Actualization gives an individual an opportunity to let go of many aspects of who they were before and embrace their new identity—to jump immediately to self-actualization. Objectively speaking, physiological and safety needs are completely eliminated due to Edeia not being organic beings with organic needs. Many Edeia do have psychological needs, but it is possible to discard those as well in order to be the concept they embody entirely. This is largely the case for Consciousness and Concept—they essentially are their Ideas.

Now, for a brief explanation on the theory of self-actualization: the theory was first outlined by Carl Rogers, I believe; he terms self-actualization as "maintenance or enhancement of the self," which can enrich life, enhance creativity, and promote something called "congruence."

Congruence has two types: the first is when our ideal self is closer to our actual self—self-actualization promotes a closer fit, which allows us to become the self we want to be. The second type is in regards to experiences: we seek out experiences that match our perception of self; for instance, if you are kind you might do kind things.

Those who are self-actualizers have a number of common traits: they are accepting of themselves and others, realize they are not perfect, have a fresh appreciation for life, tend to be creative, etc. In the Edeia world, those who become Edeia do not necessarily have all these traits, but it is something to consider.

For me, the Edeia are those who have become the self they want to be, deep down in their soul. Another way to think about it is that the process of Actualization reduces all sorts of dysphoria to zero—their form, ideal self, and actual self are all aligned. The entire journey of discovering one's self and learning what they want to be is what leads up to actualization.

Self-Determination

Another important concept relevant to Edeia is that of self-determination - having a life of growth, integrity and well-being. The theory involves us having three needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness (having open and positive communication in personal relationships), which would all be nice to have for Edeia, but the most important concept has to do with autonomy and introjection and identification.

Introjected regulation is when an individual treats a behavior as something they "should" do, when they do things to avoid guilt/shame or gain self-approval - for instance, when a student tries to do well only to not waste their parents' money but does not have passion/interest of their own. Introjected behavior is externally regulated (i.e. external pressures), but control is exerted from the inside (parents might not actually look down at you for not performing well, but the pressure is still there).

Identified regulation is when an individual has come to hold a behavior as personally meaningful and valuable - so their behavior is self-determined. As people mature, they regulate less by introjected values and more by identified and integrated (autonomous) values.

In terms of how this relates to Edeia - the affinity and identification with a concept must come from identified regulation in order to reach Actualization and become an Edeia. Introjected values may allow an Idea to manifest, but it will be weak so long as it is still introjected. For instance, if someone is born into a situation where they have an affinity to and drive for Power, but then their society shapes them and pushes that drive to extremes and they act for the sake of satisfying those societal values, then their magic may manifest weakly but nothing more may come of it.