Asullus Anguli IV … Asullus’ Corner
REGIONS & RELIGIONS
Well, now, ’tis Asullus once again, along wi’ trusty an’ sweet Morphia the Spritae, still actin’ as our scribe, here, tryin’ to bring answers to the queries as reach the North Tower.
Today’s scroll, sent to us by the Lady Lind o’ the Daltons touches on the lofty topic o’ religion as it applies in our world.
So, when I was growin’ up under the care o’ the Lady Lilith, she told me once, “Now, Asullus, be mindful o’ the four topics as is most sensitive to the humans ye’ll be comin’ into contact wi’ as time progresses; namely sex, politics, religion an’, o’ course, sex.”
Now Mistress Lilith ha’ ne’er steered me wrong an’ she was no’ amiss on this, either, as it all turned out.
So, keepin’ such sensitivities in mind what is it do folks here an’ there all o’er the world spend their time believin’ in?
Well, now, in the Eastlands, it was always me belief that people there tended to support Daemon-kind, in one way or another. But Tai-Pown, himself, ha’ told me on at least one occasion, that it’s more like to be the Ancient Ones, at least, as who’s reverencin’ those bein’s. Now, that seems natural as ’tis said that it was always the Daemon who had supplied the Ancient Ones wi’ their Power. O’ course, in the Westlands ye ha’ Belief as is thought to be the agent o’ change. So, methinks it’s up to the Reader to say whether ’tis Belief that allows Sorcerers to ha’ the power to shape the wishes the Lady give’s ‘em, or the reverse. I, meself, ha’ no particular opinion regardin’ this though I ha’ been sitting in a circle at a fire once or twice listenin’ to Master Anders and Brother Ecclesiates go ‘round an’ ‘round aboot this very point, endin’ up wi’ no good resolution so far as I can tell.
Now, as to the vast majority o’ those in the Eastlands — the non-
Ancient Ones, so to speak — I gather they tends to honor their local an’ family spirits an’ such. Sort o’ a Lares et Penates situation methinks.
Now the other thing, here, is that wi’ the great victory hard fought an’ won by the forces o’ the Lady, those years ago, one do no’ hear so much aboot the Daemon these days. Whether their defeat took their Power away or merely cut off the Ancient Ones’ ability to hear an’ speak to them, who knows? I canno’ say. All I can say is that the Ancient Ones as we sees ‘em these days are no’ e’en a patch on the ones as used to be. So, actually, that’s good fer the Westlands, e’en if unexplained.
One more thing, there, an’ then I’ll let it go. An’ that is the problem o’ the female Ancient Ones, o’ whom there are no’ any. Tai-Pown was ne’er one to talk o’ that business, e’en though I hears it did touch his own sister back in the day. Were they no’ able to ha’ the Power? Or did the Daemon exact a high price fer his favors? I ha’ no answer to this but I suspects the secret be a deep an’ dark one.
So, movin’ on to the Westlands, ye’ll notice, as we did discuss in the scroll o’ planet, month an’ day-namin’, the names o’ Gods and Goddesses.
So, ’tis said, these folks are all tendin’ to be left-overs from the old Imperial days. Master Anders says we, here, are ‘Poly-the-is-tic’ which, he says, means, ‘many Gods.’ It’s sort o’ like ye ha’ a bein’ whose responsibility is fer the sun, then one fer the moon, then one for the water, an’ one fer the land, an’ so on an’ so on. These be what Master Anders ha’ called the ‘splitters’, as opposed, I imagines, to those who’d be the ‘lumpers’ an’ prefer all things be in the hands o’ one entity.
Me, personally, now I ne’er ha’ the chance to meet a God or Goddess head-on, though I ha’, often enough, ha’ occasion to call on Equus, God o’ all the horse an’ mule types. Now I must admit, He did seem to grant me wishes from time to time, so I’ll no’ disagree against those who say the Special Ones ha’ no use whatsoe’er, save as some deep pain reliever as, I believe, some ha’ maintained.
Well, now, these divinities in the Westlands do ha’ their share o’ stories an’ tales, none o’ which make a particular sense, but are fun to tell to the wee ones wi’ their eyes gettin’ big wi’ wonderment an’ all.
But I admits I do ha’ a bit o’ trouble integratin’ how the old Gods exist in relation to the Lady, herself, Mater Naturae. It is true I ha’ ne’er encountered the Lady direct-like. Howe’er, Master Rolland swears he ha’ seen her on occasion, an vouchsafes ’tis an o’erpowerin’ experience, quite different than any other thing he’s ha’ occasion to witness first-hand.
So, me trouble be this: if the Lady is supreme here, as well, perhaps, as some other places, how is it we ha’ this competing family o’ the most capricious sort runnin’ things? I ha’ put this very same question to Brother Ecclesiates previous-like and he tells me, “Well, it’s a Mystery.”
Hmm. No’ so much satisfaction ha’ I in such an answer, but he’s made a study o’ the sacred scrolls an’ I ha’ not, so there ye be.
But, mostly, in the Westlands, folks as are in the profession o’ tending to the Gods’ favors like Sorcerers, Druid-kind, an’ Hermits an’ Holy Men (and Women) an’ such seem to give their nod to the Lady, whilst the vast mass o’ regular folks — especially those as live in the smaller hamlets an’ estuaries an’ the like — tend to put more hope into Gods an’ Goddesses as ha’ specific functions fer e’eryday life: Cobblin’, thatchin’, child care, meal-makin’ an’ things o’ that nature. I ha’ no idea why, but perhaps Master Anders could gi’ us an answer to that query one day.
All this abo’e ha’ set me head to spinnin’ an’ that be the truth o’ it. An’ all that spinnin’ ha’ led me to, perhaps, the most burnin’ question o’ all: to wit, what be the true purpose o’ Belief?
Now my own good Master, the lad, Thaddeus, ha’ told me any number o’ times that his own ability to practice Sorcery is because o’ Belief. Without believin’ that a fella could do what he does, there’d be no Sorcerous acts. None there are who be familiar wi’ this line o’ thought ha’ dared to dispute this.
But, do this same principle apply to our Deity friends? In other words, is Belief in them what causes them to exist at all? An’ versa vice, if no one ha’ Belief in the Gods an’ all, would there then be no such entities as exist?
I ha’ no answer to that question, but ’tis an interestin’ one. An’ if ye ha’ answered that query to yer satisfaction, can ye then take on a corollary o’ that thought — that is, if some ha’ Belief in one God but many more ha’ belief in another, does that then make the second God the stronger one? An’, if, fer some reason, all of o’ sudden, everybody stopped believin’ in a certain God or Goddess altogether, would that then mean that they’d just disappear, as they say happened to the Old Gods?
Hmm. Interestin’ questions.
Well, anyway, as to the Eastlands an’ the Westlands, the gist o’ it is that people tends to end up wi’ the beliefs they’re most at home wi’ an’ so their purpose is served.
Well, I hope I ha’ addressed that abo’e issue to everyone’s taste an’ if ye have further questions regardin’ this topic, yet, or an’ entirely new one, then just send yer scroll to the North Tower an’ we’ll see.
Fare-thee-well
Asullus
Mule-in-Residence
The Great North Tower, Northfast
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