Re: Idols

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_cs.ucc.ie>
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 00:00:42 +0100 (BST)

Jerome Blondel:
> Given that the sacrifice seems to be the deity's gift (a bull, some milk,
> some oil..) i think the free action you sacrifice is related to the magic
> the idol gives you. Simply said, a hunter who swears not to hunt the Blue
> Bird would receive magic from his idol that helps him hunt the Brown Bird
> (which may happen to be more tasty btw). The hunter would rationalize this
> by saying the Blue Bird is the godling's prerogative/ friend/ manifestation/
> or anything else that does the trick.

But this is exactly how bargaining with spirits works; transactions of this sort sound more animist than theist, I gotta say. (The "mundane" sacrifice can be present in either.)

> It's the idol who casts the magic, not the owner. I think it's the idol who
> "shares the self" (the term used in Thunder Rebels). That's because the
> Masloians are so afraid of meddling with supernatural entities.

The idol shares its self with what, though? That _is_ the self of the idol? I'm not especially gripped by this as an account of what's going on.

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