Cultural Initiation

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From: boris (mabeyke@batman.b11.ingr.com)
Date: Sun 13 Feb 1994 - 19:18:21 EET

  A while back there was some discussion about what it meant to be to be an
  Orlanthi initiate; not so much an initiate of the cult of Orlanth, but to
  be a member of the Theyalan culture who has just gone through initiation.
  There were several ideas batted around, but nothing that seemed satisfying
  to me. After some of thought, I have come up with the following, some
(perhaps most) of which was mentioned in that previous discussion. It can
  stand a lot of going over, so if anyone has ideas that seem germane,
  please comment.

(Note: In the following I will use the term "Theyalan" when referring to
  the culture or the pantheon, and Orlanthi when referring to just the
  cult(s) of Orlanth, to save confusion.)

  When a Theyalan youth or maiden comes of age and is initiated, at first
  they become what is referred to in the RQAG draft as "Low Initiates". What
  this is is not defined in the draft; I assumed (and the authors probably
  intended) it to mean low ranking initiates in the cult, more a matter of
  "time in grade" (so to speak), than any real degree of initiation. Well,
  I intend to define a Low Initiate now as follows: a Low Initiate is someone
  who has been initiated into the basic mysteries of a pantheon. What cults
  the pantheon consists of varies from clan to clan; in KoS p239, it says
  "Children become adults after a formal initiation ceremony, parts of which
  are the most closely held secrets of the clan." In some of the Lismelder
  clans, for instance, the pantheon may include Humakt as an associate of
  Orlanth and the Ernaldan household.

  This is not an initiation into any of the cults of the pantheon, just to
  the pantheon itself. This allows one to take part in cult worship to any
  of the deities as an initiate. This may or may not allow one to sacrifice
  for divine spells; at most only those spells which are offered to associate
  cults would be accessable. One would not have to be bound by the harsher
  strictures of the individual cults; the Lismelder clansman mentioned above
  could be resurrected, for instance. Any rules held to by all of the cults
  would be binding, however.

  Later, when the Theyalan initiate has seen some of the basic mysteries of
  each cult, and has had a chance to decide, they may advance to become a
  Full Initiate. This is when they become a full member of a particular
  cult. However, they would not necessarily loose the benefits that they
  had before; an Orlanthi initiate may (and might be expected to) take part
  in Ernalda services. However since they are not Full Initiates of Ernalda
  they will never see anything but the basic mysteries of that cult. Some
  cults, particularly Humakt, may require a severing of the Low Initiate
  status; this also may vary from clan to clan. Note that when one becomes
  a Full Initiate one does not sacrifice any more POW; that was done at the
  basic initiation. One goes to the priest of the desired cult who performs
  the Initiation ceremony (a new spell added in RQAG, gladly enough).

  Anyway, I think this is the core of a workable system to reflect the "real
  world" process of initiation. A youth of 15 may have no idea that he will
  become a great Storm Bull berserker; why would he be forced to decide yet?
  But he is still able to participate in the community through worship. In
  some clans, most of the people may never go past the Low Initiate level;
  they may view those who dedicate themselves to a single cult as "dangerous
  fanatics", especially any cult other than Orlanth and Ernalda (and perhaps
  the household cults such as Barntar, Mahome, etc.). Such is best left for
  the thanes and lords; common farmers need all the gods' favor, not just
  one, even if that one is Orlanth. 

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  Boris

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