astromancy lore questions

i've been trying to understand exactly how astromancy works considering they 'attune'* themselves to the aether of the heavens / celestial bodies and seemingly do not use internal reservoirs of aether or that of the environment like every other class does.

my question is, do they use aether from some of the seven heavens? or from the stars/space? if so, how exactly do they draw upon this aether? it's not exactly right there for them to use- the aether would, in theory, be quite far and inaccessible. and also, isn't space lacking in aether anyways? besides our star, the rest of the universe and other planets seem to be much less rich in aether and instead lean more towards dynamis.

*and what does 'attuning' mean in this context anyways? does it mean the astrologian is aspecting their aether to that of the stars? like, umbral draw aspects their aether towards and umbral and astral to astral aether? astrologians have both unaspected and aspected spells though :confused: and wouldn't it be possible for their aether to become unstable due to the 'attuning' (if we consider attuning to be the same as a person's aether becoming aspected) or even become affected negatively in a way similar to primal tempering or voidsent/sineaters?

overall i'm just curious to see what people think of astromancy post myths of the realm + endwalker, considering the lore given.

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Originally Posted by Atlas_Two

my question is, do they use aether from some of the seven heavens? or from the stars/space? if so, how exactly do they draw upon this aether? it's not exactly right there for them to use- the aether would, in theory, be quite far and inaccessible. and also, isn't space lacking in aether anyways? besides our star, the rest of the universe and other planets seem to be much less rich in aether and instead lean more towards dynamis.

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The answer for where they get their aether is 'from the stars', and the answer for how they do it is... uhm, from the stars, this is confirmed by the Encyclopedia Eorzea. If we use the logic of actual real-world energy, then it is, in fact, 'right there': the fact we can see them means the energy from the stars got here, and so the same logic is probably true for the Astrologians. You probably think other planets are 'less rich in aether' because the main experience of them you have was Ultima Thule, which isn't exactly a representative example.

They attune themselves to the stars in the same way any other style attunes themselves to anything else, that's not especially unique or weird here. I could say that any aetheric style could become 'unsable' by their source getting corrupted or the connection getting weird; if anything, I think Astrologians have better odds of avoiding that, because their power source is a lot of individual sources in aggregate. One star getting corrupted somehow (which already seems to be a pretty hard thing to do) isn't gonna do them a lot of trouble.

So, about Astromancy and how they utilize the Aetherial Currents

Effectively, the short version is that the most likely answer as far as I understand it is that Astrologians and Geomancers "attune" themselves to the Aetherial Currents in the heavens/ground respectively. But what's that actually mean?

Well, think of it this way. When you attune to an aetheryte, and then teleport, you cast yourself into the aetherial sea, and ride the currents towards the thing you're attuned to, remanifesting on the other end.

At the same time, we know these currents can be created artificially, with spells like Loom from Blue Magic being prime examples of this.

Theoretically, what the Astrologian and Geomancers are likely doing is essentially acting as the terminus for a current, drawing aether away from the currents they've chosen to tap into, and directing it to themselves to utilize in their magics.

Mind you, this is VERY speculative, but falls in line with what we understand about how external aether use and astromancy/geomancy specifically work.

Additionally, regarding the potential risk of Corporeal Corruption of Tempering, it's unlikely. While they could definitely suffer negative effects from the use of the aetherial currents in question, it's highly unlikely they'd reach the point of Overaspectation or Oversaturation from it. Aethersickness sets in WELL before that point, and would become debilitating before the corruption actually started unless they did something to ensure the flow didn't stop when they did, and Polarity equalizes too fast in the source for Overpolarization to be a real risk for them.

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Originally Posted by Lunair

So, about Astromancy and how they utilize the Aetherial Currents

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It's not from the celestial currents but from the actual stars in the sky. To quote Jannequinard:

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Originally Posted by From Jannequinard in "Stairway to Heaven"

Astrology, or the reading of the stars, is a branch of aetherological science which originated in distant Sharlayan. There have been astrologians in Ishgard for thousands of years, but it wasn't until three centuries ago when Adaunel the Younger learned that the movement of the stars could also be used to foresee the movements of the Dravanian Horde that the field became popular.

Since then, what was once a single science has bifurcated into two similar yet ultimately different schools of learning: the Sharlayan school of astrology and the Ishgardian school─the former placing a focus on tapping celestial aether and transforming it into beneficial magicks, or astromancy, the latter specializing solely in determining the actions of our dragon enemies to the north.

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But the stars, they can serve us in other ways than merely revealing when the Horde will attack. Their powers can be tapped! The aether within can be used for─

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The heavens they're referring to are different sections of space where astrologers have divined meaning and aether through their faith in the Twelve. Hence the Bole (Heaven of Earth, referring to Nophica and Althyk), Spear (Heaven of Ice, referring to Halone), Balance (Heaven of Fire, referring to Nald'thal), Ewer (Heaven of Water, referring to Thaliak), and the Arrow (Heaven of Wind, referring to Oschon). We also know it's specifically the stars and not the celestial currents running through the atmosphere because of the Level 80 AST quest:

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Originally Posted by From Leveva in "Love, Astrologically"

As Kyokuho explained, unlike astrologians who look to the stars above to read their fates, geomancers look to the star below and listen to its songs, and draw their answers from its whispers.

Yet try as I might, I remain impotent in tapping the land's puissance. I've spent my life attuning to the slight variations in the aether of distant stars. So much so that when I look to Hydaelyn and her aether, I am overwhelmed by its potency...its glow, you could say. Think of it as trying to open one of the heavens' gates in a world of everlasting daylight.

You have visited such a place? Then my readings were accurate. Exactly where have your adventures taken you, Forename?

And you had no trouble channeling the aether from that world's heavens despite the fact that you never once physically laid eyes upon them?

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Originally Posted by Dikatis

It's not from the celestial currents but from the actual stars in the sky. To quote Jannequinard:



The heavens they're referring to are different sections of space where astrologers have divined meaning and aether through their faith in the Twelve. Hence the Bole (Heaven of Earth, referring to Nophica and Althyk), Spear (Heaven of Ice, referring to Halone), Balance (Heaven of Fire, referring to Nald'thal), Ewer (Heaven of Water, referring to Thaliak), and the Arrow (Heaven of Wind, referring to Oschon). We also know it's specifically the stars and not the celestial currents running through the atmosphere because of the Level 80 AST quest:

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You're right that the stars themselves are the source of the aether, but I stand by my point about attunement likely serving as a means to achieve a current from the star to the astromancer. We know from various sources (especially teleportation, which we can do all the way to the edge of existence itself, after all.) that contacting distant sources of aether can be achieved from basically anywhere as long as you can feel it, Astromancy just uses that as a power source. This is also likely the same methodology behind skills like Collective Unconcious, though a slightly different application. but that's a fair bit more speculative.