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This is an essay I wrote some time ago, for fun. I edited a little just now, but it's mostly unchanged. Enjoy. (I mostly did it for the gold, just like last post) biggrin biggrin

Psi, as I mentioned in a different essay, is the fifth and neutral element of the primitive, primarily agnostic cultures. While it is a prominent aspect of fantasy fiction, many people appear to have a flawed understanding of it and therefore attempt explanation of it through imagery. This is intrinsically wrong. Many people do not understand this basic concept - the mind does not have walls/barriers per se. Nor is it fortified by any congenital strength. The "strength" of a mind is a measure of its determination that it is correct. It's "fortifications" are the arguments that support those theories. Its offensive capabilities are likewise based on facts and principles that either support or undermine beliefs. There is no "power" that you have because you trained your mind, or were born with it, or whatever else. Rather, there are willpower and knowledge. The mind's walls and strengths are the theories that guide it.
This brings us to a contest between two minds. Robin Hobbes (author of The Tawny Man and Assassin’s Apprentice says that a person can attack another's mind in one of two ways - battering them senseless in an assault or slowly creeping into their consciousness to alter them. This "battery" of a person's mind can be done by anyone. Though Hobbes does not describe it this way, what this means is a constant repetition of the antithesis to a person's belief system. If they are not "strong" enough, their psychological processes break down and the other mind is able to infiltrate that person's consciousness and implant whatever other ideals they feel will benefit their cause (e.g., illusions, delusions, infatuations, loyalties, animosities, or senselessness). The other method, which is more refined and discrete, is a systematic disassembly of the victim's mind. For instance, if the person believes in his wife’s loyalty, the aggressor will slip thoughts into his mind - "She’s known that guy for years." "He’s better than you." *a memory of her looking guilty after just talking to the other man* After these, which appear to the victim as justified doubts, the attacker implants the final piece - "Your wife is a strumpet. Destroy her." Depending upon the desires of the agressor, this may continue until the victim has completely abandoned all of his previous beliefs, or stop with a single victory. It takes a skilled mind to detect the intrusion, and much more so to refute these arguments, as they are presented systematically and in quick succession by the skilled psychomancer. It all boils down to which thaumopsychotic (I love Latin stems) combatant has the greater willpower and stronger belief.
A final aspect of psychological combat is the implantation not of ideals, but of notions or short-term beliefs, such as the time of a day or a person's location. This is a more refined, but simpler breakage of a person's beliefs. If a person believes it is night, just tell him it is day with enough force. If he doesn't care or is in a window-less room, he will soon fall prey to his agressor's deception. To resist such illusions, a person must provide for himself proof they are wrong. He must feel the warmth of the sun, the absence of an object or being in front of him, or aspects of his surroundings that prove to him he is in a different place than his tormentor has said. Alternatively, he can simply be so convinced (by his determination) of his location, surroundings, or time, that the illusion(s) hold no power over him. To counter these defenses, the offensive thaumaturge must convince his victim through senses other than sight. This is more difficult, because ocular deception is so closely related to neurological deception and seeing is 70% (give or a take a few) of believing. The rest is harder to contact (note: madness occurs mostly by audio/visual decay). If a person is a skilled enough illusionist to control not only sight and sound, but taste, touch, and smell, he has become the ultimate master of psychomancy (which might be a made up word). He can convince a person of anything. It is also wise to note that when one speaks of a master psychic, another quality the one spoken of posesses is that they have had so much experience that certain subversive techniques are second nature, much like reflexes in physical combat.
Psychological power and prowess consist solely of facts (which build the foundations of beliefs), theories (the wordy culmination of illiterate beliefs) and a person's conviction of their truth. There is no physical representation that can describe this, so none should be used unless they are clearly defined.