Re: Illumination

From: Simon Hibbs <simonh_at_msi-uk.com>
Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 14:06:30 +0100


Frank Rafaelsen says :

>Illumination isn't an insight, it is a power. It is in light of the
power
>you get insight. The insight seems to vary according to what the
>illuminate makes of the power. Power is knowledge.

Power is Knowledge? I could make endless examples of power that has nothing to do with knowledge, usch as the power of the strong over the weak. The only way this would work is if you arbitrarily define power in such a way that it is true, however that would hardly lead to a generaly usefull definition of power.

In Glorantha, illumination is defined as an insight which gives the illuminate a number of powers. That's implicit in the sources. How can answering riddles give you powers independently of any insight required to produce the answers? Also, the same insight can lead to different powers, unless you are saying that many powers can give their wielder the same insight?

Riddles stretch the intelectual, imaginitive and emotional faculties of the subject. By presenting the subject with conundrums that cannot be resolved or analysed through normal mental processes, the subject realizes the limitations of those processes. The subject becomes aware of the internal architecture of her mind and becomes able to percieve the structure of her own conciousness, ultimately transcending it.

Your game may, of course, vary.

Simon Hibbs


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