This is probably too deep to debate on this list so rather attempt to thrash it out here, I'll just give my thoughts on how a mystical cult should look and feel in its magical practices (using Tareltara as an example - this was something I skteched out some time ago). I should state out that I have no problem whatsoever with Jeff* Zahari's usage of Sufi practices as chrome to the Tareltarans - it's just that their philosophy probably isn't a Sufi clone. Much of the details I've said are debatable and/or gregable.
>Lunar mysticism exhibits fundamental differences from that of the Eastern
>mystics (the Dragon Way).
Tareltarans are not the only Lunar mystics around. There are other types, including the Rashoranans, the Jernotian Mountain Sages, the current Emperor's own philosophy (Life is Short - Party Hard).
However HW:RiG describes the Tareltaran philosophy as:
Rashorana, who is the Lunar Mask, first revealed Tareltara
to set Gerra free. This created a secret fire of the
Goddess, claimed [...] by the Tareltara mystic [to be] a
fire that the mystic has ignited inside herself.
HW:RiG p86.
A fuller description of the Tareltaran Philosophy _might_ be:
Fire is the essence of the Ultimate while Fuel is the
mortal world that everyone sees. Once Fire burned within
people's hearts and they were close to the Ultimate. But
since Yelm's murder, people's hearts are stone cold, the
only fire they can make are polluted lowfires and the
Ultimate as unreachable as Yelm.
Taraltara shows the way to the way to the Ultimate within
people's hearts. Her followers use arcane practices and
lunar energies to shed excess fuel from their hearts and
minds. Since all nature is fire or fuel, where there is
no fuel, there must be fire. By creating a place of No
Fuel, the Taraltarans cause the Ultimate to ignite anew
within.
The world of unburning ebbs and flows, flooding whatever
fires burn within people's hearts. The power of _Reflection_
uses tidal energies to control this flow and reverse it
against itself.
Rebel Gods murdered Yelm because they wanted to be rid of
the Ultimate. They seek to douse our sparks too. Taraltarans
protect themselves against wicked designs of the Rebel Gods
by using the Lunar Cycle to ultimately return whatever
murderous blows they have received against their attackers.
To shed themselves of excess fuel, the Taraltarans search
their own hearts and minds for pollution and then cast
this outside themselves. Care must be taken not to cast
the polluted fuel at other people for they can be driven
mad as a result...
Reading the statements about Pelorian philosophy of fire and fuel in the Glorantha:Intro p95 (last four paragraphs) might help in understanding some of the above concepts.
>The Taraltarans use music and dance in quest of cosmic oneness. They stage
>elaborate, whirling dances in which their flashing double scimitars weave a
>web of steel around and through each other as the wielders themselves weave
>in between the other dancers. The dances are so complicated that it can take
>a lifetime to master their intricacies, for they are the motions of the
>universe itself.
I really think there are seven steps, six known and another one, each corresponding to both a stage in the Goddess's Quest (the Empty Conquest) and a Body Portion (ie the Intellect/Bird Portion) rather than just the three disciplines listed in the rulebook.
The steps are not magical in themselves but used to reveal one's Self to the mystic so she can awaken it further through the secrets. The secrets isn't the Secret listed in the rulebook (Cosmic Liberation) as that's the goal of the Tareltaran path. What the secrets are is the reflection counter and the strikes of "return damage" and "mind strike".
Now for a tentative proposal of how a Tareltaran might use the secrets to better herself:
First the Taraltaran uses Reflect to ward herself
against the Unburning World. This moves her into
the World of Tests where she incurs the wrath of the
Rebel Gods.
The Rebel Gods attempt to extinguish her. She must
defeat them using Return Blow and nothing else.
Then she must expel the excess fuel using the Mind
Strike. Success gives her a mystic fire burning
within. The downside is that as this fire grows
in strength, she will be forced up into the sky and
only through exceptional effort can she make her
way in the mortal world.
Although the three powers interlock, I do think different Taraltaran dojos would teach different strikes, namely in the way they defeat the Rebel Gods and the way they purify themselves. Reflection should remain uniform among the Taraltarans as that is its core secret.
--Peter Metcalfe
*shades of the Bruces of Monty Python. "I'll just call you Jeff, shall I?"
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