> This is absolutely one of the more difficult things to understand about
> mythology. The problem will arise when people complain about having
to lose
> an encounter on a Heroquest just because their hero did. Can't they do
> better than Orlanth on it? And the answer is, "No."
Is that the answer or merely the answer? After all, didn't heroes like Arkat cheat? Are there not examples of heroes who did things the "wrong" way and thereby benefited? Likewise, if one must always adhere to the old path, then there can be no new things. That may be what the gods would like, but it isn't what happens.
> Imminence , not Gods and Goddesses
> [Polytheistic mythology is the actual subject here, but many of these
> characteristics are also applicable to monotheism. ]
> Deities are imminent, which means that they are present here and now
in the
> physical world. Monotheism has taught that God is "out there" someplace.
Maybe the monotheism YOU have seen teaches that, but not the monotheism I adhere to. The Orthodox Church's theology is strongly grounded in immanence. We refer to it as "panentheism"--nothing can exist without the direct and constant activity of God within that thing.
> power to be something other than what it is. Thus when Odysseus is
inspired
> by Athena there is not a goddess there disguised as a passing
merchant. It
> is the passing merchant who serves as a vehicle for Odysseus'
inspiration.
Gee, kind of like the Burning Bush or Barlaam's donkey? The division is not so nearly as vast a gulf as you would like to imagine.
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