Cults, societies, traditions

From: Mikael Raaterova <ginijji_at_telia.com>
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1999 11:54:37 +0100


John Hughes:
>For my two clacks and a greased enlo, this indicates that the 'cult' of
>Vinga is only rarely a formal cult at all, but mainly a series of
>half-remembered and half-forgotten tribal traditions, traditions gaining
>greater structure and universality by the invasion of Sartar, the impending
>Hero Wars, and (significantly) by Starbrow's tremendous fiddling of the
>Vinga paths on the Heroplane.

The following is mainly from my Far Point bias I tend to see the 'cults' of most gods that way. 'Cult' feels too organised and formalised a term for what's actually going on. The only thing approaching cultic proportions in Far Point (frinstance) is the pantheonic cult of Orlanth and Ernalda, the communal cult of the clan and the only tradition with an actual priesthood. For most of the other gods personal devotion is the de facto standard, supported and reproduced by 'half-remembered and half-forgotten' myths within the pantheonic cosmology.

The way i see it, the priests of _Orlanth_ (specifically the clan chief) are the leaders of the 'cult' of Humakt in most clans. The clan Orendanae are the leaders of the 'cult' of Vinga or of Babester.

Where there is a temple to a god other than Orlanth or Ernalda, there may actually be a functioning priesthood, performing rites that only involve people with association to that god (or who want to become associated with that god), i.e. not a communal worship for the clan.

Of course, there may exist informal 'societies' (temporary or permanent) within the clan, such as when all the people with an interest in it participate in the Great Hunt where the master hunter is celebrated. Calling that the 'cult of Odayla' feels misleading since there is no priesthood, no temple (unless you count the situational holy place created by the celebrants) and only a loose organisation. Why can the Master Hunter call upon Odayla's blessings? Because he has learned how to be like Odayla through emulation and identification, 'initiating' himself to the ways of the Hunter. He doesn't need an elder devotee to perform some initiatory ceremony for him; he can do it himself.

A successful/popular society can assume cultic structures when the members start organising themselves. But IMO, the only formal priests in a general Far Point clan are those who mediate the communal interaction between the clan and Orlanth and Ernalda.

I hope this might be of use to someone.

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