> Perhaps Nandan doesn't just offer men access to Ernaldan magic. Perhaps
>he is a cult through which men gain access to earth magic in general,
>including all the Earth goddess. As a youth, he is the boon companion of
>Vinga. As an adult, he is the servant of Ernalda. As an old man, he is the
>husband of Asrelia (like the old couple who constantly argue with each
>other). His cult allows a separate path for men who choose the feminine,
>domestic route, rather than simply being a cult resorted to in the rare
>moments when a tribe has no fertile women.
I like this. It gives Nandan a wider scope and makes him an "edgier" force, not just the but of a lot of jokes. There may even be rituals where a man who can take the role of a woman is necessary. (You want to put the wind up the tunic of a boundry and catagory obsessed Solar worshipper? Put a man where a woman should be and vice versa.) It also prevents Nandan from being "the god of homosexuality" or even a "god of homosexuality," which seems wrong to me because I don't think the Orlanthi see sexuality in the same way we do.
Homosexuality is a modern concept (a little over a century old). Not that ancient cultures didn't have same-sex affectionalism or even plenty of people who we would cheerfully label as gay (and who, I'm sure, would take to modern gay life like ducks to water), but the ancient world did not (as I understand it) have a concept of sexual identity the way we do. People indulged in homosexual acts, but they were not labelled homosexual.
Starting from the assumption that the Orlanthi understand that men have sex with each other but do not see that as a sexual identity, it seems to me that instead of a "god of homosexuality," the Orlanthi would have many gods and heros who would offer role models to those men who prefer the sexual attentions of other men, but who would have other reasons for existing as well. Heler seems like the god of libertines (and other things), which might attract many "gay" Orlanthi. Nandan as the male gateway to female roles/magic, might attract others (as well as "straight" men attracted to female roles). Trickster attracts people, whatever their sexaul attraction, who want to break taboos. These have been mentioned I can imagine hyper-masculine Humakti who pursue homosexual liasons because the sex is non-procreative and doesn't defy death (and 'cause they like it). I suspect there are stories of Orlanth where he is ruggedly (or slyly or wildly) pursuing other men for purpose or pleasure. There could be a variety of hero cults that provide places for men who love men (the two warriors from hostile tribes whose staunch friendship and deep love united their people against some threat and so on). For heaven's sake, there seem like a dozen major cults for cowherds and farmers, why just one "gay" god?
Of course, someone could correct me and prove that ancient cultures had a more modern view of sexual relations, and my whole argument would collapse. I just don't think the Orlanthi have only "one way to be gay"
Peter Larsen
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