Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 2, The Warp: part 1, The Materium and the Immaterium

Introduction

This chapter will mark this blogs official return to the Warhammer 40k franchise. In this series discuss the epic and daunting fictional series set in the 40th millennium. With this chapter will we start looking at one of the largest cornerstones of the Warhammer 40k franchise, that of the warp. We will begin with trying to describe the Warp, and how it relates to other similar worlds.

The Materium

The physical world or material world of Warhammer 40k. This would be the allegory of our Real world. The Materium is the place of physical laws and life. The Materium more or less follows the same laws of physics that our world does. The biggest difference being the direct connection to to the warp. One of these connections are that some individuals are given (or cursed) with special special powers. These powers are referred to as magic or psychic powers interchangeably, depending on who describes them. (Games Workshop 2016)

The Immaterium

In contrast to to the Materium, the Immaterium is void of any form of physical matter, at least in any traditional terms of the word. The Immaterium is described a misty sea of smokey clouds of vapour and colour, impossible structures of impossible size and angles fill this wiling space, constantly moving and changing. Within the warp does the laws of physics, time and causality seise to exist. The warp is described as an unknowable landscape of dreams, emotions and fears. The warp itself can not be seen, heard touched or smelled, it is a realm built up entirely of abstract ideas. (Games Workshop 2016)

Everything within the Warp is a reflection of the beliefs, hopes and fears of the inhabitants of the Materium. Every sentient creature has a an effect on the landscape of the Warp. Similar emptions clump together, and forms a strange landscape of rives, lakes and mountains of love fear and hatred. They eventual form in to what can be seen as rudimentary forms of life.(Games Workshop 2016)

These life forms with time forms a sentience of their own, with wants and desires, these reflections is what is most commonly known as gods within the 40k universe. The Orks project their image of grandeur in the form of the titans of Gork and Mork, the Eldar has their gods of old, and the strife and struggles of the Imperium has given birth to three chaos gods, as well as a projection of the Emperor of mankind himself. These creatures battle in endless wars, stuck in struggles with no clear end or starting point. The warp exists outside the confines of time, causality and logic, as does its inhabitants. These gods and daemons of the Warp can not directly effect the physical world of the Materium, but must instead act trough followers and servants. (Games Workshop 2016)

The world beyond

The duality that the Materium and the Immaterium represents is far from a new idea. To visualize this point will I present a series of examples of similar worlds in philosophy as well as fiction. These universes all have the same dichotomy of duality. One world is physical and tangible, while the other is abstract and incorporeal in one way or another. Al of these worlds are also deeply intertwined with their double.

Plato’s world of duality

The concept of Plato´s cave is well known to anyone that has studied any level of philosophy. The basic tenements is that there exists a natural world of physical items, and an ethereal eternal world of ideas. The physical world is mere reflections of the ideas present in the ethereal world.

The world of ideas, is ethereal, endless and never-changing. Each and every object that exists within the physical world is a mere reflection of its true self within the idea-world. The physical world is a mere reflection of the true world of the idea world. (Plato 1892)

Lovecrafts other-world

The world of Lovecraft is described as being separated in to the world of the mundane, and the world of the supernatural. Much of the horror in Lovecraft fiction comes from the world of the supernatural in one way or another bleeds in to the realm of the mundane. The Old gods, deities of Lovecrafts world, are said to have escaped from the world beyond, to settle in to the mundane reality of humans. The world of the supernatural is said to be abstract and beyond the realm of mortal comprehension. (Lovecraft 2008)

Digimon

The other-world within Digimon is called the Digital World, and was created when the first Digital computor on this narratives real world (earth), was started for the first time. This created the foundations for this words physics and ground rules. Its explained as the expansion of digital communication, the digital world has expanded rapidly. (Bandai 2001)

These are but a few examples, but enough to five us a general idea about these kinds of worlds, and how they are represented elsewhere.

The Warp and its uses

It is possible for the Immaterium to spill out in to the world of the Materium, when this happens it is often referred to as a tear or a storm. When a tear in the Materium occurs, the abstract representations and fears of the warp pour in to the world. As one can imagine by a galaxy beset on al sides by war, sickness and strife, are the reflections in the warp, just as, or even more terrifying then the galaxy that willed them in to existence. (Games Workshop 2016)

To breach in to the Immaterium from them Materium is indeed also very possible. This is a highly dangerous and unpredictable process, but a very useful one, if done correctly. Because of the fact that the warp exits outside of time and space as mortal minds understand it, is it possible for physical objects (such a s a space craft), travel over immensely vast distances. The Warp needs to have a connection point to the Materium in the shape of a psychically sensitive sentient individual. These psykers can use their powers to draw forth powers from the warp, as well as to travel in to it (Hill 2016). This power can be used to navigate space ship safely trough the Immaterium, call forth storms of pure Warp energies, or even to send messages trough vast distances of space. I will go further in to the details on how the different races and species handle and work with the warp in a future chapter. (Games Workshop 2016)

The gods and their worshippers

The gods of the Warp grows as the emptions that first birthed them grows. This influence grows either by direct worship, or by the creatures that willed them in to being, feel certain sensations. For example, every time a human feel ambition or lust for knowlage, the power of the god of knowlage Tzeentch grow.

This is true of al the sentient races of the galaxy (with the possible exception of the Tau). The larger and more successful a species become, the larger of an imprint will they have on the warp. In aeons past, the Galaxy was ruled by a species known as the Aeldari (or the Eldar), and as a result was the warp a reflection of their hopes, dreams and fears. In the 40th millennium the Galaxy is fought over, and more or less ruled over, by humanity, and their strife and homes and fears help shape most of the warp. I would argue that humanity is the birthplace of a number of Warp entities, more specificity Nurgle, Korn and Tzeentch (Games Workshop 2016). These entities are feared by some and worshipped by many others others. The Orks for example are adamantly loyal to their representations in the warp Gork and Mork. Most humans hate and fear their reflections in the warp, but some choose, or are forced in to their service and worship. Yet again will we discuss the pantheon of the Warhammer 40k setting in a much deeper detail in later chapters. (Plato 1892)

Conclusions

This is a basic introduction to how the Warp operates and how it relates to the world of the Materium. We have compared it to the ideas of Plato’s idea world, as well as a few other similar fictional worlds. I have trough this chapter shown that the narrative of the dual worlds exists in many places of the world, within classical as well as modern narratives. I have also tried to lay the groundwork for further discussion of the Warp, and ids significances for forming the rest of the Warhammer narrative. Next time we will start discussing how the different factions and races handle and look upon magic and psychic powers.

References

Hill, DisclaimerJ.D. (2016). Astra militarum. Games Workshop. Lenton, Nothingham.

Plato. (1892). The Republic [Electronic recurse]. Auckland: The Floating Press.

Games Workshop (2016). Codex: Chaos daemons . Games Workshop. Lenton, Nottingham.

Games Workshop (2015). Codex: Orks. Games Workshop. Lenton, Nottingham.

Bandai (2001). Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer. Tokyo, Japan.

Lovecraft, H.P. & Jones, S. (2008). Necronomicon: the best weird tales of H. P. Lovecraft. (Commemorative ed.) London: Gollancz.