Re: Re: Re: Misapplied Worship

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 11:26:01 -0800

> >
> >I'd amend that to say that you'd have to learn the Pentan or Praxian
> >Tradition, not just say "well, *they* can worship him as a Spirit, so
I'll
> >just make something up too". You need to learn the proper method of
doing
> >so. This goes back to my post of this weekend, where an individual or
> >community can go to the Otherside and learn/force a different way of
worship
> >that applies to them. Just because the Penatans ecstatically worship
Orlanth
> >(frex), does not mean that every Spirit-talker in Dragon Pass can
> >automatically do so.
> >
> >Knowing that someone else worships Orlanth as a Spirit might make it
> >*easier* for you to learn how to do it, though.
>
> That doesn't fit with Greg's "Little Brother" piece. OTOH the Praxian
> Orlanthi know that they are following in a "wrong" tradition. Perhaps the
> crucial aspect is that there is insufficient critical mass to pass on
> animist insights into Orlanthi worship. Each follower of Little Brother
has
> to start afresh. In fact this could be a case of the clan deciding "Hey,
we
> need some little Brother spirits. Who'll take the sacrifice and do it?"
>
> Pure speculation, sorry.

Don't be sorry, I'm speculating as well.

No-one has (yet) managed to "convert" Little Brother into a "true" animist tradition. Little Brother is still really a god, not a spirit. If a shaman managed to go to the other side, and win a contest against "Little Brother" to prove that he was really a spirit instead of a god, then that shaman (and the people who gave him extraordinary support) would be able to ecstatically worship Little Brother and get full benefit from it. All you have to do is win a contest against a being of 10w9...

"Converting" an Otherworld being so that your mode of worship works correctly is a huge undertaking - The God Learners probably did it some, but outside of that sort of large-scale effort, I doubt that it has happened very often at all. Minor gods/spirits are the obvious beings to go after for "conversion", not the big guys.

Even when it does happen, it only happens for the people who actually *did* or supported the quest. Just because a shaman in Prax or Pent has managed to ecstatically worship Orlanth (for full benefit), that does not mean that all theistic worship of Orlanth suddenly becomes misapplied. For that to happen, a champion of Orlanth the God (and his supporters) would have to be defeated by a champion of Little Brother the Spirit (and *his* supporters) in a Quest Challange-style contest. The winner then gets to take on the champion of Worlath the Sorcerous Power (and his supporters)...

RR