Soul-Binding

The ritual process of Soul Binding is a necessary ritual which brings the mind of a psyker who shows the potential to become an Astropath, mingling a little of His immeasurable power with their own, bringing them close to the psychic greatness of the Emperor. This agonizing ritual is a brutal but necessary evil for Daemons of the Warp have an insatiable lust for the flesh and blood of living creatures. Fortunately, Daemons cannot exist for long in the material universe, needing to find psychic gateways in order to leave the Warp. Such gateways, though rare, do exist unfortunately. The most vulnerable portals are the souls of psykers, whose powers open up a path between reality and the Warp. A path which a Daemon may discover and follow to the mind of the psyker himself. Soul Binding is necessary, to gird the psyker's soul against the predations of the Warp.

During this ritual process, some of the Emperor's vast energy is transferred to the Astropath, which will enable them to transmit messages over vast distances through the warp. This transference of energy is traumatic for the psyker - not all survive this painful process, despite years of ritual preparation, and not all those that survive retain their sanity. Even the survivors suffer severe physical damage to the sensitive optic nerves of the eyes, so that almost all Astropaths are blind. But their increased psychic skills acquired through this ritual process are greatly enhanced, making up for this loss of sight, so that they do not appear blind were it not for their distorted, sunken and empty eye sockets. The intensity of this arcane ritual tends to overload the psyker's sensory organs, resulting in their suffering of further nerve damage, incurring loss of smell, touch, or hearing as well.

According to ancient legend, by the 41st Millennium it is traditionally believed that the first psyker to have undergone the ritual of Soul Binding was none other than Malcador the Sigilite, the Emperor's most trusted confidant, who became forever linked to the Emperor of Mankind.