> Quick sums - if you estimate 20 years between
> generations, that's a thousand years. Trying to find a
> comparison here - a thousand years ago, that's roughly
> Norman invasion of England time. To what extent would
> any of us living here now recognise any of the rituals
> carried out then? The Christian ones, probably in part
> (though with language difficulties), but that's a
> religion that's continued throughout the intervening
> time. I can't, unfortunately, think of a religion or
> anything else that required ritual that got "dropped"
> in that sort of time-period, but there are better
> historians than me around. Any ideas, anyone?
Hundreds of indigenous religions have been lost in the last thousand years.
> And by the way, are we quite sure about this business
> of people dropping a religion just because it gives
> them no benefit?
It would certainly be a major contributing factor to changing one's practices. Losing the priests and loremasters would be another one. Finally, the absolutely desperate nature of life during the Darkness, when food, safety, neighbors and material goods are in dire short supply would contribute to a lack of time and goods for celebration.
> I agree that that would be the
> rational thing to do, but there seem to be an awful
> lot of people around who follow what they call
> religions without getting or expecting anything from
> them.
Most people who I know that actually practice a form of spirituality get something significent and substantial from it. Perhaps not magical spells or Feats, but the benefits are real.
Issaries, Inc.
c/o Greg Stafford
1942 Shattuck AVe, #204
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
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