On Sat, Aug 1, 2009 at 10:35 AM, Benedict Adamson<yahoo_at_XeKCe9cRd2oJlmAdYKaGeAvtj9ARWzmJdtyYmINNlDmeVjV6BJ3u8U6PQBJf0DStHU-1eCSrFgZYhNZVz-eWfLcF.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
>Yet balance is associated with the Moon rune.
I know there are references to Balance in the Lunar Way, but I think Moon is less about Balance per se and more about Cycles - a sort of balance that changes over time. The Jernotian Way is more about a fixed permanent balance that achieves an optimal result.
As an aside, I recently noticed with interest that there are seven High Gods and seven Lunar Phases - coincidence?
I played with the balance issue a bit in my Carmanian games using the Carmanian churches (Lunar and Traditional). Traditional Carmanian religion sees a dualistic "balance" of Good and Evil, Light and Dark, etc where one side is clearly superior to the other. The ultimate goal of the religion is the *elimination* of dualism. The Traditional religion is more stern and inflexible than the Lunar version.
The Lunar Carmanian church, on the other hand, acknowledges cyclical change as a good thing and is more flexible regarding things like caste mobility. The idea that darkness and even chaos might be positive under certain circumstances is abhorrent to the Traditionalists, but they have had to grudgingly accept it since Arronius Jaranthir made his case before the Magi.
> * Sedenya Herself makes no identification with the Jerontian Way.
I am unclear on this - doesn't the Lunar Way claim some connection with most Pelorian mystic traditions - Nysalor, Jernotius, and maybe someone else that slips my mind right now.
> * To the Lunars, Natha is important as the embodiment of Balance. To the
> Pelandans she is NOT important for embodying Balance, which Jerontius
> provides. She instead embodies something else, such as Death, vengeance
> (following ILH-2), destruction, Disorder (as suggested by Kevin
> McDonald), revolution or autonomy as part of Balance.
For clarity's sake, Natha is not a goddess of Balance per se but rather Nemesis which restores Balance. Thus, one might write her rune as Balance (Nemesis).
-Kevin McD
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