From: David Cake (dave@difference.com.au)
Date: Tue 10 Oct 2000 - 05:20:14 EEST
Nils wrote:
> > SLH I can't say much about, but Yothbedta's Stream and other
>> places of Vithelan myth are definitely in a theist portion
>> of the Otherworld, as the actor's in these myths are mainly
>> deities (with disclaimers about the High Gods as previously
>> mentioned). So, it's Vithelan, but I don't think it can be
>> called mystic.
Well, yes, Yothbedta is Vithelan, but I got the reference to
her stream from a Kralorelan myth in which the actors are mystic and
Kralorelan sages (the Reign Of Shang-Hsa, May His Name Be Cursed). Of
course, the whole episode could be taken as another good reason why
good mystics shouldn't give in to the temptations of the otherworld,
but I never said that the mystics liked it.
Anyway, even if the otherworld is kind of theist - I guess my
proposition could be restated, in a manner that is a little less
Four-Worldish to satisfy Alex, that the mystic dominated cultures
(such as Vithela and Kralorela) still acknowledge an otherworld.
While it might satisfy the rigid Four-World proponents to
disclaim that such otherworlds are not essentially mystic, I don't
really see the distinction myself. The followers of, say, Mashunasen
might tell you that the otherworld is essentially an illusion and you
should avoid messing with it - but they can still tell a bit about
what its like, who lives there, and there will even be some
essentially mystic aspects of it (like mystically illuminated gods
and such). The distinction between, say, a Kralorelan otherworld with
a large mystic influence, and a mystic otherworld, is hairsplitting
that I don't care much about. Suffice to say I can't think of a
culture that doesn't acknowledge an otherworld, and in such cases the
mystics will have an influence on it.
Cheers
David
------------------------------
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 13 Jun 2003 - 17:19:54 EEST