North: Theist
East: Mystic
South: Animist
West: Sorcerous
Also three others, one of which is Draconic and one of which is extinct, probably the Origin one (Celestial Court, Cosmic Egg/Turtle/Elephant, Silence, Nothing, Biggus Bangus Singularity, Chaos). I would nominate Giant as the opposite of Dragon, as the myths for a war of opposition between the Giants and the Dragons are pretty well established.
Imagine a 3D set of axes.
+X = Mystic (East)
- -X = Sorcerous (West)
+Y = Theist (North)
- -Y = Animist (South)
+Z = Dragon (Outerworld)
- -Z = Giant (Innerworld)
0 = Origin
An interesting way of mapping things, certainly, though it seems to lead towards conclusions about the incompatibility of various worldviews that are not necessarily valid.
> You could see animism/thesism as being opposites in animism being
> about local
> narratives and stories and theism being about global myths and
> stories.
I'd phrase the difference as being that Theism has the divine spark emanating from some Immanent Divine Entity, and Animism has the divine spark emanating from within each thing of the world, each blade of grass, each stone, each rabbit.
The theist/animist axis would share a belief in an Immanent Divine existence, differing in whether the Divine spark flows out of each living thing (animism) or into them (theism).
> Similarly, sorcery and mysticism represent the opposition between
> the ideas
> that what is "out there" is "reality", versus the idea that
> "what's inside my
> head" is the "reality". So sorcery/mysticism is the "physical/mental" (or
> materialism/idealism) axis.
Actually, I'd say that the sorcerous mindset says that the Divine is Singular and Transcendent, dwelling in a place which *no* mortal can reach by their own actions. The Divine has established laws that we must follow, and if we follow those laws precisely then when we die, if we die, then the Divine will grab us and join us with It, totally engulfing us and our memories into Its identity and memories. Mysticism isn't as clear to me, but if it's modeled on earth mysticism then the idea is for the individual to perfect itself and commune with Divine nature, and finally the earthly illusions will melt away like mist and the individual will find theirself as one of many Divine Beings.
The sorcerous/mystical axis would both posit a transcendent Divine existence, differing in their opinion of whether the Divine Entity is singular or multiple.
I have no idea what the Dragons and Giants believe.
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