From: Colin Watson (watson@computing-science.aberdeen.ac.uk)
Date: Tue 28 Jun 1994 - 20:32:49 EEST
> It seems that the hardest part of this idea for me is the question of "is
>the god independant of the pathes or not".
There was a time when the gods walked their paths for the First Time. At that time the gods could be thought of as "independant" of their paths. But today the gods *are* the paths. This is what people worship; and also how they worship. This is the timeless nature of the gods: they *are* everything they ever *did*.
My theory is that anyone who does anything New leaves a small etching on the godplane. If you do something so great that other people want to copy it to get the same result then the etching becomes a path. The gods did many Outstandingly Cool things which a lot of people wanted to repeat for similar results. And so people began worshipping the gods; that is, they began following the paths over and over again to get the same results as the First Time. Some paths are small and simple (Runepaths); others are lengthy and complex (HeroQuests).
For a hero to ascend to Godhood he must perform actions so immense that others will want to follow in his footsteps. By following in his path these others are worshipping him. They make the path deeper; they make his myths greater; they make Him stronger. At this point the Hero is not an individual; he is The Path Describing What He Did. He is not just a person travelling along the path; he *is* the path.
"Do the ritual and Orlanth responds reflexively by giving magic" is perhaps too simple an explanation. It's more like Orlanth *is* the ritual; Orlanth *is* the response; and, for a moment, the person doing the ritual *is* Orlanth. God, Cult and Path are somewhat unified. By repeating what has gone before you get the same results as the First Time.
... or something like that. :)
> I am not convinced that "by rote" recitation of the rituals is enough for
>initiation (for ogres, maybe, but they, like illuminates, are special). I
>believe that to follow the Runepathes successfully, you need the right
>"frame of mind".
I was assuming "frame of mind" was part of the ritual. A certain amount
of mental discipline may be required, but I don't think that the participants
have to hold any particular beliefs (other than, perhaps, the belief that
the magic will work).
The way I see it, Illuminates are only "special" in that they *realise*
they don't have to believe anything to get magic from the gods.
___
CW.
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