Blind Illuminates?

From: Joerg Baumgartner <joe_at_toppoint.de>
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 97 19:24 MET

Steve Martin mused:
>On Illuminates -- do people think they can still see the sacred meanings
>of these rituals, or is that one of the things they lose.

I strongly doubt that all illuminates lose the ability to see the sacred meanings. After all, ol' Arkat was (sort of) illuminated, and he perceived clearly the significance of his various religious practices. Likewise the Lunars... - ok, the perhaps best elaborated example, Valare Addi, made a major mistake in defining the Red Goddess through her rites as Dendara the Goddess of Virtue - something not even devout Lunars would accuse their goddess of. However, it appears that illuminates can see the sacred meanings of a ritual, and _beyond_ them, something non-illuminates can only guess at, or apply the RuneQuest sight to.

Note that the guesswork of instinctive questers like Harrek can easily surpass scientific questing...

>I have this
>great image of the illuminated Orlanth priest officiating for years
>based on his memories, because all he can see is the guys in masks
>holding sacred implements.

This sounds more like an illuminate who has succumbed to the dark side of illumination and lost all faith in his religion.

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