My current thoughts (which may be way off -- Greg seems to be very fluid on mysticism right now) is that there are two kinds of mystic practice -- "true mysticism" which seeks nothing except to escape the World. This style is pretty much unplayable -- perhaps the mystic gains some sort of "power" from the practice, but it would be a byproduct. So maybe the mystic who has spent 30 years meditating on Nothing would be able to use his/her All Is Nothing 10W4 to defend in any contest -- physical, magical, whatever -- but cannot initiate any action at all. By pouring all experience into one skill, the mystic is going to have a very high rating (which will be needed to beat the resistance of Enlightenment (which has to be high enough so that even the Great Gods can't just do it)), but no other abilities. Not too useful as a player and, I suspect, very rare in Glorantha (some parts of the East is about it).
The other side of mysticism is what might be called "associated practices." They come in two varieties: semi-mystic practices and feeder cults. The semi-mystic practices are mostly dead ends and would include Nysalorian Illuminates, most of the EWF, and at least some Anti-god Practices in Vithela. They are magical practices that incorporate mystic tools but have perverted them in some way -- the practitioner gets power that is really usable in the World at the expense of any useful mystic progress. In some drastic cases, the semi-mystic practitioner becomes a terrible monster.... Fun to play, perhaps, but not a route to Enlightenment. The other category is a feeder cults -- these are regular magical practices (theist, common, sorcery, animism) that contain some real mystic insights, which provides no or little useful benefit in Worldly affairs. For example, you might have a Yelmalian who, along with all the useful Yelmalio abilities, magic and mundane, could learn Solar Meditation (or True Sky Knowledge or All Suns Are One or something else). This ability doesn't do much in regular life (augments Solar virtues occasionally?), but, when the Yelmalian decides he's had enough of the Dirty World, he goes and joins Dayzatar -- then the Solar Meditation, which he has painstakingly invested his HP in over the years, despite the jeers of Storm and Earth worshippers can be used in whatever tests must be passed to take the Solar path to Enlightenment. He also, of course, seals himself up in a tower, stares at the sun until he goes blind, and all that stuff. Fairure in the Dayzatar practice might mean death and starting over on the WHeel of Life, or it might mean that he has been seduced by the attractions of theist service to the Sun and has become an Immortal Solar Being of some sort -- which is pretty nice, but not Enlightenment, either.
Anyway, those are my thoughts at the moment.
Peter Larsen
Engineering and Physical Sciences Librarian
University of Rhode Island Library
15 Lippitt Rd
Kingston, RI 02881-0803
phone: (401) 874-4637
fax: (401) 874-5403
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