Which is one reason that I, myself, prefer the Long March as the correct parallel. Another reason is that the Chinese ideology underwent significant changes during the trek, which I perceive as also occurring to the Carmanians.
Eric Scharf
>There are two aspects of the Humakt myth that would incline me to
>say that most (not all; we need to have room to make these guys
>distinguishable) Humakti neither marry nor procreate: First, the
>much-heralded severance of kinship ties was an act of rejection of
>not only clan but also marriage. To my (petit) knowledge, Humakt
>never took a wife.
I as yet don't buy a standardized severing of all kinship upon joining Humakt. I think that all Humakti undergo a ritual funeral ceremony when they join Humakt, symbolizing their readiness to be dead to all former ties, and I think that the Humakti _have_ a sever-all-kinship ritual.
Just because Humakt didn't marry doesn't mean the Humakti don't. There's no recorded instance of Christ marrying, and he's a lot more central to the cultures worshiping him than Humakt. I would be willing to bet, though, that Humakti Swords undergo a ritual divorce when they go to war. (Usually) to remarry upon their return.
If Humakt was as screwed up and marginalized as some folks seem to feel -- cutting himself off forever from all his kin, going celibate, etc. I don't think _anyone_ would worship him. He's got to be seen in a cultural context as well as a mythic one.
Harald Smith
> One of the benefits of the 7 man unit including a leader is that it
>can nominally cover all directions. It would not surprise me if
>this formation developed in the period of Sheng Seleris
Good point. Maybe they didn't adopt the 7-man file to fight the Dara Happans after all, but to fight Sheng's horsemen.
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