Re: King = Initiate

From: Tim Ellis <tim_at_9nHNynVphtXhY2nkzUxLmH445EnTpwApXXiP8-vFE2LZryI7JNSHnUOzNBNuyAk3SOlnSHlp>
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:47:43 -0000

I'ds broaden the exception, Most Kings and chieftans who are devotees are devotees of a god providing king or chieftan magic.

>Why?
>
>Well a devotee tends to have a god-awful relationship to their god,
>far higher than their relationship to the clan or tribe. As a
>result, he (or she, for those VInga folk), would always pick the
>goals of the deity over the goals of the clan. When these differ
>(like how many cattle to sacrifice on a holy day versus how many to
>sell) then they may lose the clan support that they need to keep
>their position.
>

in theory at least, a "ruling deity" should have goals that align with the needs of the ruled (or alternatively, is a tyranical despot, in which case the devotee doesn't care about the goals of the clan either...)

The biggest question, raised by someone else earlier, is what would happen to devotee of a "ruling deity" when they are no longer the ruler? I'm not sure of the answer to this, despite being a believer that kings and chieftans can be (and I'd even go so far as to say usually are) devotees of "King" or "chieftan" cults            

Powered by hypermail