>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.
Nils Weinander in addition:
>I think the effects are quite similar, but the actual
>state of consciousness is subtly different: finding
>the One in yourself as opposed to finding yourself in
>the One. Like a mathematical limes value approaching
>zero from the positive and negative side.
> ....The illumination writeup in Dorastor says that not all illuminates
have
> all the listed powers, and that different schools of illumination
> commonly acheive different apparent effects. I imagine this is also
true
> of Enlightenment.
>Different I think. Illumination and Enlightenment
>seems to put you "above" cultural and religious
>factiousness. Saints OTOH are the the most eminently
>malkionish Malkioni?
and a Simon
>What about Arkat, then? Both an Illuminate and a Saint. Presumably
>there are other Saints from that time who would have been
>Illuminated. I can see no reason why Illumination should prevent
>Malkioni from entering Solace.
For another point of view, I believe illumination includes the dissolution of an individual's ideological, spiritual, religious, moral and cultural constraints. In this view, becoming illuminated would be like having your slate wiped clean, your guideposts uprooted and your walls blown down.
What illumination means in an individuals life would depend on what they chose to do at that point. I can well imagine that a pious malkioni illuminate could choose to consciously reaffirm their faith and so go on to even greater holiness (ie. conformance of their life to God's will) or even saintliness than they had attained before. On the other hand, I can picture an unprepared riddler victim going mad.
Having teachings or disciplines for illumination would doubtless help the illuminate construct a new world view, leading to a higher fraction of illuminates staying functional and also informing their new lives. This would mean that the Lunars, for example, would not only produce more illuminates, they would also keep more of them sane.
In my Glorantha illuminated NPCs have covered the whole spectrum from Alexander FlyingDeath, A Humakt/Arkat Runesword (and Leader of the Entenburg Temple) who ruled his troops justly, accepted beings of every background into his command so long as they would fight Gbaji, and took regular sabbaticals to hunt down non-arkati illuminates, through Menachem Gooddeal (aka Estoban Mantrader aka Emilio Moongold aka....) the illuminated muli-cult merchant who dealt in any lucrative business without any regard to moral implications, to the human Zorak Zoran initiate who became a sociopathic killer (I know, probably not much of a change) and, as he though of it, a "Father of succubi".
Frank Giles
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #626
Powered by hypermail