Re: Mystic gods

From: Nils Weinander <nils_w_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2000 15:47:28 +0100


Peter:
>
> >Worshipping liberated gods (Mairnali fashion) gives you
> >a path to liberation, but little magic. High Priesthood
> >(worshipping the High Gods with the most ancient rites)
> >gives no magic. Worshipping a non-liberated god in the
> >east is theism. Is there something else you are thinking
> >of here?
>
> I'm talking about the worship of the Parloth (Gods)
> who are the descendants of the mystical AvanParloth
> (High Gods) and thus also mystical entities in their
> own right. Even though they are theistically worshipped,
> they are not by origin theistic entities. Some could
> also be treated as spirits and others as sorcerous
> concepts.
>
> IMO the East Islanders would consider the theistic deities
> (Orlanth, Yelm etc) to be antigods and worshipping them
> would led to spiritual degradation as one is straying from
> Vith's realm. OTOH worshipping one of the Parloth protects
> you in some way from becoming entangled in the world and
> so it is proper to worship them even though it does not
> lead to liberation.

Ah! Yes I agree completely about the consequences of worshipping gods and antigods, and the classification of many outsider gods. I don't know if _all_ foreign deities are classed as antigods, but it's a tempting idea.

This is of course also the explanation how mysticism and theist worship can coexist with little friction in the east.

I'm not sure that an eastern god is different in essence (mystic) compared to another god though. After all, both gods and antigods are children of Vith in the Vithelan mythology. The difference is not their essence, but whether they follow the universal order (dharma) or not. Antigods can also learn mystic arts (usually to get power and then bail out, but still).

So, to conclude, from a Vithelan perspective I don't think there's a difference between mystic entities and others. What's true objectively is another matter (with the risk of upsetting Alex' sensibilities :-)). Different entities respond to different types of contact for sure (worship, veneration etc.). I suppose it's not unreasonable to say that this makes them different types of entities. You could also say that it indicates "personality" differences. I don't know which is more apt.



Nils Weinander

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