>But at any rate, I'm ascribing the (part) Materialist philosophy
>to whichever bunch of bods it is this week who do the Starseeing,
>the tedious mathematics, the Measuring, and what-not.
In which case, it would be the Buserium who would do this IMO.
Me>> The statement that Buseri do a Henry Fordesque turn and say
>> 'mythology is bunk' is news to me.
>Wouldn't life be boring without a surprise or two?
>I carefully didn't say "Buseri"; it was originally presented as
>a "Dayzatar cult secret". I believe that particular example was
>of whether there was ever a time when the Sky Dome wasn't "broken"
>in the way it is at present. How far this take such revionisism
>I don't know, but I suspect they're pretty spaced out about it...
Since Simon Hibbs confirms your story on particulars, I'll allow it. But this isn't evidence of a overtly materialistic inclination as such for it is possible for a cult of any viewpoint to have cult secrets that go 'well now that you have passed your hazing rituals, the cult secret is that what you thought you knew is wrong!'.
>> Buserium are pretty much these days a stand-alone cult that observes
>> the Heavens whereas the Dayzatar dotards are mostly found collecting
>> cobwebs in Yuthuppa.
>Well, I think there's some sort of notional organisational connection
>between the two, but I won't pretend to have any illiminating
>suggestions as to how. Perhaps "these days" is a good choice of words,
>though; the two may well be "evolving apart".
>From what I can see, the history goes like this.
In the time of Kazkurtum, the Starseers came to Yuthuppa. They were originally nomads who came from the Acos Valley because they are associated with Goats and Buserium has the curious habit of living in a nomad yurt with the canvas stolen. There is also the linguistic evidence that the root word for Dayzatar can be found in names associated with the east such as Zayteneras (in the GRoY) and Zatenae (in a MotM 'Ancestors of the Lenshi Kings').
So when these dudes happened upon the remains of Yuthuppa with their stellar shaman in tow, they managed to take control without a struggle and left their shaman in the city because they were sicked and tired of hauling his ass over the plains.
As the Grey Age progressed, the worship of Dayzatar became entrenched in Yuthuppa. It was mixed in with ancient scribal traditions of Yuthuppa and resembled the Buserium of today save they were more rustic (ie they herded goats and they didn't have star towers).
IMO the mysticism comes to Yuthuppa after the Sunstop and the advent of Nysalor. In Khordavu's time (c. 220 ST), Dayzatar is described as 'patron of the Buserium, priests of the stars and planets, writing and aloof moral dignity' (FS p81) whereas by Fenaldavu's time (c. 620 ST), he is acknowleged as being 'the only god in contact with the One' (FS p73) which represents a subtle change in focus.
The first clear division occurs in the Karsdevanic Clarifications (c. 1000 ST) when 'A Dayzatarian aesthetic [E. Gary Gygax also made the same mistake - PHM] brotherhood also arose, inspired by their distant god to abandon all attachments to the material world' (FS p75).
I think most people who join the modern cult of Dayzatar join it without bothering to go through the hoops of starwatching. Afterall Dayzatar is beyond the Sky so what good is watching the Heavens?
Thus the Starwatching and the invocation of Stellar powers is now the province of the Buserium. Some Buserium IMO when watching the heavens too long may claim to have seen planet X. After being certified by a committee of Buseri, they are then committed to the Temple of Dayzatar in Yuthuppa whereupon they will live out the rest of their lives in straitjackets and padded cells. Come to think of it, any academic in the lunar empire who goes of the rails would probably end up in Yuthuppa...
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