> I find the discussion about Arkati illumination fascinating since it
> begins to make the cult more and more like a mystery cult. It is in
> some senses in that initiates begin with an abiding desire to drive
> out and destroy the Deceiver, and as they progress they begin to pick
> up and assemble a greater arsenal of skills, wepaons, magic and
> knowledge. What does for them is that eventually they step one step
> too far and wake up one day realising 'Oh dear, it's all become very
> clear now..'
My current feeling is that the end result of accumulation of esoteric wisdom is that one becomes aware that (haha) 'Everybody has Gbaji nature', thus allowing them to harm people who have NOT been exposed to esoteric wisdom. IMO Nobody currently has this knowledge as of now, but in the near future some people will and they will be known as Arkat returned. I'm not going to say that _all_ the Five Arkats have reached this state of awareness knowledge as I'd like to leave room for other ideas about Arkatism.
Some cultists will recognize they themselves have Gbaji nature. This occurs when they meet themselves when questing. Most simply rationalize this by rejecting some of their former practices as being tainted by Gbaji - and are villified by their former cultists as being traitors. Some however will keep to their old ways and attempt to eradicate their gbaji nature. These are IMO the closest to illuminates that the Arkati cult has and when unmasked their fate is grim.
Jose Ramos:
>I like a lot the Esoteric Arkatism idea. However I don't like the "Arkati
>ritual" concept as an unifying heroquest experience. Instead, I think that
>all the arkati societies try to manifest one or more of Arkat's aspects.
Rather than being a single ritual, it's more like diverse rituals hijacked by the arkati in their efforts to hunt down Gbaji. Orlanthi influenced Arkati might use the 'Orlanth slays Yelm' format whereas Darkness Arkati would use 'Zorak Zoran slays Flamal'. The only thing in common to all is the aim.
>The better you represent one aspect, the better you can defeat another one,
>but the more easily a superior aspect can beat you. Arkati who have got an
>inkling of the real situation try to master as many aspects as possible. As
>each sect has small differences on the aspects they represent, you may need
>to pass through several cults to become a capable arkati.
I agree that there are several aspects to Arkat, but I don't think any sect actually has these aspects in a pure form. After all, exactly who Arkat was is a key source of debate in Ralios. Instead, IMO, a hypothetical sect would know most of its details from 'Sir Arkat' and include some details from 'Arkat Humaktsson' and 'Arkat the Deceiver'. But they would not see that their picture of Arkat is a composite one and so claim it to be the One True Arkat. The opinions of the Arkati change over time, but most of the changes involve various permutations of the traditions.
Furthermore IMO the more aspects your sect borrows from, the greater the risk you run of meeting yourself in a ritual. In the long run, this _is_ a quicker way of becoming a 'capable arkati' as you put it, but it pisses other arkati off more.
>It may even become a normal ritual to settle disputes and religious
>arguments, where only the arkati with enough knowledge get to see the
>real fight. The rest only see the outcome, or some weird effects.
It might even be a method to settle disputes _within_ an Arkati cult. The two duellers try and prove which one is Gbaji and the first person to score a hit wins. The win might not necessary be fatal but the consequences of being unmasked as Gbaji are very serious indeed.
Powered by hypermail