Re: An opportunity to sort out Mysticism.

From: orlanthumathi <anti.spam_at_...>
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 17:01:37 -0000


Simon-
I'm sure there are Orlanth worshipers who gain mystical insights into their religion and magic, and that this is a normal and accepted thing. Such people are regarded as being a bit strange, but nobody realy equates what they are experiencing and practising with foreign forms of religion.

Absolutely agree, and this is my main point.

Simon Hibbs-
 friends, relatives and acquaintances don't know that the Mystically enlightened Orlanthi's religious insight is called Mysticism, and has any relationship with the mysticism of the Lunar or Eastern religions.

In fact it would have no relationship. Mysticism is a universal phenomenon and therefore is not specific to any culture. I also doubt that the East is as purely mystical as many believe. They just have a large number of trained-trancendents (to use the jargon). This does not mean that the main insights there are purely mystic, they may be insights into a local Eastern Pantheon. I know some stuff on this is published but is not really set in stone.

Simon Hibbs-
 also probably don't use the term 'Tarumathic', since that has a particular historical and geographical context. Tarumathic worship may have orriginated spontaneously, but it became an established religious tradition before being wiped out.

I am going to resist pulling the discusion into the realms of RQ-Digest but I will say that Tarumathic insight could be discovered independently of Lokamayadon and I believe Lokamayadon's insights to be seriously flawed and perverted by political distractions. I think Gregs piece on the Battle of Night and Day http://www.glorantha.com/new/battle_nightday.html is degigned to higlight different reactions to the mystic experience and Lokamayadon is included to show an example of missunderstood insight gained from untrained-sensate style revelation. (Step in at any time Greg.)

Simon Hibbs-
... I don't see why their magical affinities and feats should be any different from any other Orlanthi's. If they were raised in a tarumathic worship tradition, then perhaps that makes some sense, but since the new approach is that there are no specific rules for mystical magic, that implies that we should be using the normal Orlanthi magic for Tarumathics anyway.

This is at the heart of my posting - it seems clear to me that we don't have a clear structure for the understanding of Gloranthan Mystics and the type of magic they may or may not choose to employ. The use of the eastern mystics has muddied the waters and I think we could clear them somewhat by using Orlanth as an example. Let us for the sake of argument state that all mystic Orlanthi are making contact with Tarumath and ignore the historic implications for a second. What would a Tarumathic Orlanthi do, would he meditate would he dance (KoS may suggest this) would he believe in denial of the world, would he believe in breathing in the world? Would he still have an affinity style magic system?

Simon Hibbs-
 we could add some more mystic-like magical feats to the standard affinities? Or giving them the mental discipline of Meditation.

Perhaps, I also think they would loose something, perhaps a connection with their sub-cults.

Andy-
Are these not the people who would worship the Great God Orlanthi rather that a specific aspect as all other Orlanthi do ?

I am tending towards something like this.

Andy -
As such we would already have the basic rules for how to handle these people.

Not really because as written they are just individuals who feel a pull to the greater deity. I would suggest that a mystical connection would be different to just pure Orlanth Worship, but they would be analogous and may be treated the same in society.

Jamie

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