7 Mothers

From: David Cake <davidc_at_cs.uwa.edu.au>
Date: Tue, 01 Aug 1995 13:50:59 +0800

>From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
>Date: Tue, 01 Aug 1995 14:30:34 +1300
>Subject: Seven Mothers and a lot of Bull
>
>David Cake:
>===========
>
>> Mind you, I think that IO at least came to be regarded as a renegade
>>- - though I certainly think he is a lot less despised than Treack. Using the
>>Catholic Church as an analogy for Lhankor Mhy, IO is the founder of the
>>Orthodox church or at worst the Protestants, but TM is an active self
>>admitted devil worshipper and incarnation of the Antichrist.
>
>Um, there's no actual founder of the Orthodox Church.
>

        I know. Don't you hate it when real history doesn't obliging fall into line with your analogies?

>There were Nysalorian Cults before this time.
>There was one prominent one called the Order of Illumination which had
>eight schools that was active before the Carmanian Conquest.

        So there was definately ample opportunity for some of the 7 Mothers to be illuminated. Further evidence that references to the Red Goddess reawening or reviving Nysalor are just Lunar propaganda.

> It was
>state-supported too. You may cite this as evidence for the some of the
>Seven Mothers being illuminated, but I am taking issue with the proposition
>that they _had_ to be illuminated to participate in the Birth of the Red
>Goddess. It Does Not Follow, say I.
>

        And I agree. It is quite possible for the 7 Mothers to be illuminated, or otherwise. Personally, I am pretty sure that some of them were (Yanafals, Irripi, and Jakaleel at least, IMHO) but not necessary that all of them are.

        I think Yanafals and Irripi knew that they would end up breaking cult vows in the course of the ritual before they started, and so were probably illuminated. If you don't share my view of the cynical and cunning exploitation of the LBQ pattern by YT and IO, then you need not consider them to have been illuminated. I think Jakaleel pretty much needed to be illuminated (she has at least some association with Zorak Zoran, in some versions a priestess, so unless the Red Goddess association with chaos and Nysalor was unknown to her before the ritual started she would have been in serious trouble). But the others have not broken any cult restrictions to my knowledge, so they may well not be illuminated.

        Cheers

                David


------------------------------