To use the word 'orthopraxis' so broadly as to be meaningless, in this context, then. Yes, you can perform a shamanic rite without taking on board whatever cosmological bill of goods that tradition is selling (if any), _but_ for the rite to 'work', it absolutely and specifically about certain changes in the mental and emotional states in the worshipper. If you don't 'correctly' experience those, then just killing the right animal and doing the right dance-steps will give you no benefit.
Greg's comparison is, I concur, rather wooly here, but I understand him to be saying that there are _similar_, though I don't think necessarily that similar, changes in emotional state for devotees in Orlanthi ceremonies.
> I can see that this makes some sense, on the angle that the god is only
> going to accept as a Rune Lord those few who have a unique ability to
> manifest his virtues, but I'm not still not sure it's the same thing as
> being devoted to him, regardless of what Greg says.
If you accept that 'manifesting his virtues' included not just being Courageous, Wise, etc, etc, but emulating him in apparantly morally neutral, even trivial ways, you could argue that 'devotion' isn't purely an internal thing, but is a matter of (to some degree) 'life as ritual'.
Hard to say to what degree the two things are separable. After a certain point, though, it'd likely be easier just to do it sincerely, rather than 'cynically' behave like the perfect Orlanthi, every waking moment. ;-)
> The more I watch, the
> more I'm convinced that Greg gets it wrong on a regular basis. Just look at
> this Storm Bull vs Urox stuff. I ask you, are we not in the hands of a
> madman?
But, in a good way! ;-) I think the account of the SB/U is definitely being given a slightly more bizarre spin than might otherwise be the case to present it as being consistent with the rules/GL Four Worlds construction.
Cheers,
Alex.
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