> > Say, does anybody know if Mysticism is still its own form of
> > religion? I've seen mention of mystics worshiping the Storm Tribe. Is
> > it now "just" a form of worship, or would that be misapplied
> > worship?
I'm not sure it's even *possible* to have mysticism as misapplied worship per se, although I guess that some incomplete forms of mysticism certainly exist.
There are otherwise various forms of mysticism, including those found in mystic religions and other religions with a mystic component, either explicit or esoteric.
Peter :
> People who meditate for extended periods of time are mystics.
It is perfectly possible to meditate for extended periods of time without ever touching mysticism, and there are mystics who never engage in any meditation whatsoever.
In RW mysticism, there are two basic mystic methods, often referred to as right-hand and left-hand -- right-hand is the more conventional and safer method based on introspection, meditation, religious practise, humility, abnegation, patience, and other similar types of virtues ; the left-hand path involves passionate and willful involvement in the World, the senses, one's animal urges, active involvement in worldly affairs, and other such energetic exaggerations of the Self. The goals of each path are the same, detachment from self-delusion and etc ; but whilst the right-hand path attempts to more safely inch towards this goal via meditative methods of progressive and careful advancement, the left-hand method directly confronts and attempts to destroy the various elements of one's personal individuality and mundanity in a more directly confrontational manner by letting them loose in one's own psyche. The left-hand path is then well-known to be a very dangerous path towards illumination, both individually and socially.
Exemplars of right-hand mysticism are easily found ; as to left-hand, the Seven Mothers and perhaps Arkat spring to mind.
Julian Lord
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