> Sandy
>Correct. IMO (and Greg's - private conversation) rape is an act
>devoted to Thed, and any rapist stands a (admittedly very small) >chance of going into broo-hood.
While I think that what Michael and Sandy are speaking about is a change
in body and soul rather than forcing you to become an initiate of a
particular cult (Thed in this instance) this got me thinking about
involantary initiation into cults generally by displaying "archtypical"
behavior of those cults.
If you are an Orlanthi warrior who enjoys duels to the death do you find
Humakt answering rather than old windy next time you appeal to the Gods?
Could you suddenly find you are non-resurectable (hehe) and have your
sword break in your hand when trying to ambush those (honest, worthy,
just doing their job) Lunar hoplites.
Does a love of languages come from being an Issaries initiate or does it
FORCE you to become an Issaries initiate (eventually).
This then leads to a question of the role of the established church in any religion. If people can go out and worship the gods directly is the cult just a method of keeping some people in worldly power? I guess if the chance of this kind of unconsious initiation is small then the cult structure is still a much simpler method of giving praise to those you feel are due.
Hugh
P.S. This of course means that all dogs who travel regularly in the back of a ute ('pick-up' for americans) are all intiiates of Orlanth (Ahhh, feel the blessed wind on your tounge). :)
Powered by hypermail