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<p>Posted by <b><!--poster-->Irgend Jemand</b>
on <!--date-->14:53 2/22/02
<p>In reply to: (none)
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<p>
Mark, are you sure that Endajue <i>the way you describe it</i> is the religion
of all those people in Xurno?
<p>I'm asking because I've got the impression that for most religiously interested
people on earth, "religion" means "something they can pray to". The polytheist
religions fit this from the start with their gods and supernatural beings. Most
real-life versions of Christianity are more about praising and worshipping the
trinity than about following Jesus Christ's teachings (not to mention the
Catholic worship of Mary and the saints). Judaism has G-d knows how many rules
and rites to remind the people of His will all the time. While Buddhism
originally didn't mention gods, in the Buddhist countries it has mostly turned
into either treating Buddha as a kind of de-facto god (perhaps not among the
monks, but at least among the ordinary folks), or doing the same with famous
Buddhists, or combining the whole thing with some additional religions that do
have gods and monsters or spirits or whatever. And Islam clearly states that it
is dedication to God, period. (Wich is sometimes said to be it's major appeal).
<p>But the Greater and the Lesser Principle seem not to be that easy to worship
and
pray to in order to get one's wishes fullfilled. Are you sure that in all the
centuries of Endajue practise in Xurno, there hasn't evolved anything more
worshipable?
<p>(For that matter: I don't have any problem with god(s).)
<p>Also, there's something about some Xurnese court magician somewhere on your
pages (I've forgotten where), and since magic works on Almea, I suppose that in
more than one culture there some people have figured out how to use it. And
that
means that at least some people in Xurno have to know about the Vyoshi.
<hr><i>Mark responds:
<p>Good questions... I agree that people love to anthropomorphize, and
add personages to an otherwise austere religion. The Xurnese venerate
certain <b>dauxey</b> much as Muslims may venerate particular leaders.
<p>I don't think people necessarily want someone to <b>worship</b>.
Christianity emphasizes worship for its own sake; but I suspect that much
of the time, worship is a fairly mercenary accompaniment to supplication,
based on an analogy to earthly leaders, who generally respond well to
buttering up.
<p>And though people like a humanoid face to pray to, I think the important
thing is a way to get things done. Much of earthly 'magic' is nothing but
impersonal recipes for getting things done supernaturally. Popular Endajué
certainly has this element; there are formulas and rituals for affecting
one's daily life. (I'll talk about this more in the long-pending Xurnese
section of "Almean Belief Systems".)
<p>As for real magic, you're right; Xurnese magicians do have to deal with the
vyozhî, but their theory of what they're doing is quite different.
(And I don't know what it is yet...)
<p>By the way, if anyone's wondering, my current project is a translation of
the Cuzeian Count of Years. Though it's slowed down a bit; I haven't even
got to the creation of the ilii yet.
</i>
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<b>Irgend Jemand</b>
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