The face of Pas

Roy C. Lackey · 15 Sep 2010, 19:14 · from 2010-September.txt.gz

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From: rclackey at stic.net (Roy C. Lackey)
Date: Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:14:07 -0500
Subject: (urth) The face of Pas
References: <001d01cb5172$d6967fa0$9bd14a0c@rclackey><4C8E5FF5.1060109 at gmail.com><003101cb53c3$556e2100$b5cf4a0c@rclackey><4C8FA25B.5040409 at gmail.com><AANLkTimV+bT905WiZycaGhxABTwfucr+k25sGQej0Ek1 at mail.gmail.com><AANLkTinfbAbDcDFvY8kCAQmXW1-brU_y1Ls7-qGDszmf at mail.gmail.com><4C8FAF65.7000505 at gmail.com>	<AANLkTinx6ybGTS-OkacbWqjWATesWysOGYQjLq4fL_OV at mail.gmail.com><009b01cb5490$5be13220$82d14a0c@rclackey>
	<4C90DF4F.4020301 at gmail.com>
Message-ID: <004701cb550a$305e2020$2fd34a0c@rclackey>

James Wynn quoted and wrote:
> > It is not so
> > easy to see it in an Islam-based city like Trivigaunte. Lemur said that
> > Viron's religion was a parody of the state religion on Urth, but that
says
> > nothing about the other couple-hundred cities on the _Whorl_. But what
he
> > said about Typhon and his family being deeply entrenched in the minds of
> > people put aboard the ship does apply to all the other cities.
> > Though the religion in Trivigaunte in Silk's day may have degenerated so
far
> > as to be all but beyond recognition, it cannot have been that way on Day
> > One. What to do with 9+ gods in such a monotheistic religion? Did all
the
> > other gods just agree to step aside and let Sphigx have her way?
>
> The concept of monotheism as a central doctrinal signifier was
> foundational to Islam from the beginning. "There is no god by God" is
> the first doctrinal tenant of a Muslim.
>
> As for how such a practice could arise, there are at least two
> possibilities. 1) The memory monotheism was so ingrained in the minds of
> original the Islamic citizens of Trivigaunte that they naturally
> returned to that belief immediately. 2) The scientists recognized in
> advance that monotheism was so deeply ingrained as designed the city's
> religion around it.
> Either way, it seems unlikely that Lemur's knowledge was comprehensive
> regarding the cultural/political situation on Urth and the requirements
> of the Whorl's design.

Both of those possibilities ignore my point. I'll say it again. If memories
of Typhon and his family were too deeply entrenched in the minds of people
put aboard the _Whorl_ to be eliminated, how could/would they have initially
manifested themselves in a monotheistic religion like Islam? Either the
memories of the Nine were there on Day One or they weren't.

> As for why the other gods did not compete for worshipers there:
> Apparently, there are ways to summon and avoid summoning gods. Quetzal
> managed to completely avoid having any gods appear in Viron after the
> death of Pas and Tussah. I guess forbidding child sacrifice was one way,
> but I imagine there could be others. Presumably, the Trivigaunte were
> only interested in attracting the interest of Sphigx. They might well
> have been quite adept at it.

Quetzal could not control the gods. No sacrifice of any kind was required
for the manifestation of a god, as Kypris coming to the glass at Orchid's
and to the glass on the airship proves.

-Roy

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