Re: Ratuki

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_...>
Date: Wed, 15 May 2002 15:33:57 +0100 (BST)

Nils:
> > > Ah! With this theory I'd say he is a giant spirit, not a god.
> >
> > So would it be hopelessly mis-stating things to say Ratuk's
> > worshippers
> > were "functionally hsunchen", at least to a first approximation,
> > though not of hsunchen historical origins?
>
> Today, I guess you could say that, but the case is still
> open on whether the Ratuki themselves think that.

There's no reason to suppose they would; their principal categories of people would be "us" and "prey", and "landlubbers".

> As mentioned before, I don't know if they think, hsunchen-like, that
> they have shark-souls in human bodies.

I suppose it's fair to say that "hsunchenism" could be: a) a historical origin; b) a magical practice; c) a self-identification; or indeed d) some combination of some or all of the above.

> We know there are tribes who have stopped being hsunchen,
> but is there any precedence for a people who are not
> descended from the original fiwan _becoming_ hsunchen?

First time for everything... Then again, they may have been descended from the fiwan, then "forgot" this identity, becoming largely theistic, only to later rediscover this. (Just a thought.)

Cheers,
Alex.

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