Re: The Stationary Lightbringers Quest

From: Stephen R. Marsh <srmarsh_at_...>
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 12:53:43 -0600

At 12:28 PM 2/20/2006, you wrote:
>Not magic. "Ceremony"
>and "ritual" both have normal meanings (the same one,
>more or less), just like "all" does. In English, those
>meanings do not include magic, and "all" means 100%,
>not 85%. If you're using some other language that
>looks a lot like English but isn't (anything that
>thinks "normal" and "magical" go together comes under
>this heading) then you need to say so, every time you
>use the phrase. Or we'll asssume you're talking
>English.

Let me respond.

A baptism or a marriage is a ceremony. It is intended to have a definite transfinite impact. While some would not use "magic" to refer to spiritual bindings and results, the word applies directly to the Gloranthan analog.

I'm at a loss for a ritual that is empty of import, or a religious ceremony that is. In fact, the reason for oaths and prayers in our national ceremonies (such as swearing in a president or a justice on the supreme court or a lawyer before they are allowed to practice) is that the ceremony is intended to invoke the transmundane.

The thought that ceremonies exist as pageantry only is quite new, and not a part of our common heritage.