RITE OF SPIRIT AWAKENING: (Level 2)
This rite awakens the slumbering spirit within everyday objects in the Realm. It is also necessary to open a Moon Bridge to other Caerns.
This rite is performed on the pathstone to open a moonbridge at a caern or, more commonly, an object in the realm that hasn't been around long enough to develop a spiritual presence. So this rite is useful for, say, awakening the weaver spirit in a computer and then asking it about what kind of information it is storing. (It might need to be bribed first before giving up encoded or classified files, or threatened with "impromptu tech support".) Or the spirit in a sword, awakened, would be slightly stronger and tougher than an unawakened sword--but not worthy of Fetish status. Herbs can be made more purified and potent.
Awakening a sidewalk in a park might give an indication as to how many people come that way each day and a basic idea of when they come that way, based upon the amount of sunlight that warmed the cement and the number of people that trod across it. (A cement sidewalk spirit would have no other concept of time.) If you want to know who was in the area recently, an awakened video camera spirit would prove helpful in providing descriptions. An awakened fire in a trashcan could tell you what it'd burned or cooked recently.
Awakened spirits have limitations on their perceptive and communicative abilities that tie in with their nature. A sidewalk cannot tell a Garou if a man in a yellow suit walked over it thirty minutes ago, nor could it tell the Garou that he met with another man named "Bob" and they talked about whether sheer or ultra panty hose felt best. It might be able to tell a Garou how many people walked over it recently and in which directions and if anyone was unusually heavy or light. What this rite is not is a means of awakening a spirit and learning detailed accounts as to what transpired in or around an area--it's more like potentiall getting a clue of pseudo-forensics evidence, if the right question is asked of the right kind of spirit.
Remember that this is a Level 2 rite and therefore cannot be performed without preparation, and will take some time to complete (think a good portion of a scene). One of the powerful aspects of the rite is that the awakened object has both a spiritual and physical presence, so it also essentially awakens the spirit in a manifested (in the physical world) form. Obviously, performing this kind of ritual in a public place, and any resulting interaction with a spirit in the physical world, is going to be obvious, possibly considered a Veil breach among certain parties, and potentially attract unwanted attention of normal people and supernatural entities that might be passing by in the Realm.
Awakened spirits will eventually return to slumber if left alone as their weak and unmoving spiritual manifestation is killed off or withers away back to normal. The spirit generally stays awake for about 1 week per rank of the Garou who performed the rite.
[Type: Mystic Rite / Theurges] (Source: Werewolf: The Apocalypse, 2nd Ed)