> one's adulthood
>initiation is into the 'pantheon', or approx. one half thereof, by
>gender role; subsequent initiations are matters of devotion to a
>particular god (such as Issaries) or aspect of the appropriate
>cultural deity: Orlanth the Farmer, etc.
Yes - (as I understand it) the main initiation is to the Pantheon and the main gender definier within it: Ernalda for females, Orlanth for males. (note the Orlanthi legal definition of "adult" is someone initiated to Orlanth or Ernalda - these people have rights, may legally have sex with another adult, etc.) Once you are initiated, I imagine that completeing magical acts or important journeys, are what lead to forming ties to other (related) deities.
Example: When our Varmandi PC's journeyed to the top of Kero Fin and met that goddess, some of us were so moved we healed her wounds, swore oaths and donated POW to her. (Others didi so for Yinkin, who was also suffering in that hall - they became knowers of the secrets of Yinkin.) THis was interpreted slightly differently by each character. My Ernaldan priestess took it to mean that Kero Fin was now HER ancestor, and all her offspring would forever have a place in the new land they had colonized beneath the mountain. Someone who had never journeyed to Kero Fin, or who had never participated in the rituals commemorating that journey, would not know the secrets of Kero Fin, even though they might be members of the "Orlanth & Ernalda" pantheon.
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Turos is another male earth/mountain deity, mostly worshipped in Old Pelanda/modern Carmania. He is quite analagous to Lodril in many ways, and many of the same rituals work for both gods. Call him the Pelandan variant of the Greater Male Earth/Fertility/Fire deity. In the Pavis area, his worshippers would likey be retired Lunar soldiers from the western provinces of the empire.
Pam
(New computer. New modem. I can now stay connected for more than 3 minutes and open an e-mail message in less than 30 seconds! I hope to participate more on the digest now.)
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