Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Aug 2018 23:05
Have you ever considered making a world where the rebels are more fervent in their religious beliefs than the People in Power?
isn't that generally the case IRL, from the nowadays back to the Mormon Church and its splinters, to the Second Temple and the Essenes, and on even earlier still.
Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Aug 2018 22:56
So this is why Leviticus classifies the bat as a bird/tzipporah?
Yes. My view is is that ʿowf (not tzipporah, the Torah uses ʿowf in Leviticus. tzipporah is used in the parallel passage in Deuteronomy, but the context indicates that it is the wider set- ʿowf, not tzipporah- is intended for the list portion) means "Flying Vertebrate" or "Animal whose wing structure parallels the structure of its legs"; Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, who wasn a strong supporter of the Scientific taxonomy =/= Biblical taxonomy view, translates owf as "Flying animal"
My first thought was "wait, a bird's wing is less of a parallel to its legs than, say, a gliding squirrel's are"...but then my second thought was "maybe its being contrasted with thigns like moths, whose wings are nothing like the legs at all"...yes/no?
Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Aug 2018 23:05
Have you ever considered making a world where the rebels are more fervent in their religious beliefs than the People in Power?
isn't that generally the case IRL, from the nowadays back to the Mormon Church and its splinters, to the Second Temple and the Essenes, and on even earlier still.
Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Aug 2018 22:56
So this is why Leviticus classifies the bat as a bird/tzipporah?
Yes. My view is is that ʿowf (not tzipporah, the Torah uses ʿowf in Leviticus. tzipporah is used in the parallel passage in Deuteronomy, but the context indicates that it is the wider set- ʿowf, not tzipporah- is intended for the list portion) means "Flying Vertebrate" or "Animal whose wing structure parallels the structure of its legs"; Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, who wasn a strong supporter of the Scientific taxonomy =/= Biblical taxonomy view, translates owf as "Flying animal"
My first thought was "wait, a bird's wing is less of a parallel to its legs than, say, a gliding squirrel's are"...but then my second thought was "maybe its being contrasted with thigns like moths, whose wings are nothing like the legs at all"...yes/no?
I was going for more "Bone structure parallel to that of quadruped's forelimbs, or a Biped's arms", but that works to (esp. since Bib. owf also means "wing" and is never used for an insect's wing alone, but with the modifier for "insect")
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
LinguoFranco wrote: ↑06 Aug 2018 06:15
I think my own religion really affects my conworlds that much. I'm an Evangelical, but alot of my constructed religions draw from Asian religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, etc, as well as from some shamanic/animist traditions, especially those found among the indigenous Americans. I really like Confucianism's code of ethics, though it's debatable as one can argue that it is actually a philosophy rather than a religion, but it's ethical code is often used as the basis for the constructed religion's moral guidelines.
There is certainly a lot of good material in there! Agreed about Confucianism: I could be wrong but I think it reads more like a "whole system philosophy" than an actual religion. Though comes perilously close!
One that I am currently working on is monotheistic, but is loosely inspired by Aztec mythology. I also really like Islamic architecture and music, and I have been wanting to write a story with genies.
Now that Aztec based system I'd like to see! And yes about Levantine architecture & music. Lots of beauty from that quarter. Interesting mysticism, too.
I see religion as just like any other idea or institution; it's capable of both good and evil, and there are bad apples in it, but there are also those who do practice what they preach and genuinely want to help others and make society better.
Sensible!
Well, the Aztec influence is mostly that they practice sacrifices and the Sun plays a central role. The sun god is actually a Phoenix, which I thought would be perfect since the Aztecs believed the sun god could die, and there were other sun deities before him, IIRC.
LinguoFranco wrote: ↑06 Aug 2018 06:15
One that I am currently working on is monotheistic, but is loosely inspired by Aztec mythology. I also really like Islamic architecture and music, and I have been wanting to write a story with genies.
Now that Aztec based system I'd like to see! And yes about Levantine architecture & music. Lots of beauty from that quarter. Interesting mysticism, too.
Well, the Aztec influence is mostly that they practice sacrifices and the Sun plays a central role. The sun god is actually a Phoenix, which I thought would be perfect since the Aztecs believed the sun god could die, and there were other sun deities before him, IIRC.
I will continue to be interested as you develop these ideas further!
Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Aug 2018 22:50
Or Lamarck, perhaps?
The Christian concept of original sin is very Lamarckian. The account of the Garden of Eden says that Adam and Eve were made sin-free. Then they both ate of the forbidden fruit and became sinful, and as a result all of their descendants should be considered sinners. Adam's sin was an acquired trait, and yet just as Lamarck believed that cutting tails off two mouse parents will make all their descendants tailless, Christians believe that the sin Adam acquired entered the genetic code of all of his descendants, except Jesus Christ (who inherited perfection from his divine parent) and John the Baptist (not quite sure on how he avoided original sin).
I'm not aware that he did!
I remember reading that John the Baptist's saint day is observed on his birthday instead of his heavenly birthday, for he was born free of original sin.
And yes, Lammarck definitely has his say! It may not be the case that future lines of descent will lack tails: more likely, future lines of descent will quite possibly inherit the ability to lose and regrow what's been lost. On the other paw, some ancient tailless kindred, now no longer having any use for its tail, ended up bipedal and is now one of the younger races...
There must be a lot of sapient species and races on the World by now (Daine, Yttuun, Hotai, and many, many, more) if an event like that could change the future of a race! What about the racial biology of humans? If Michael Jackson lived in the World, would his children look at least partly Semitic but have no Black in them, for instance, because of his "blackendectomy" as the Onion (not the Tederian onion, I mean the satirical newspaper) called it? Assuming he didn't have children by a Black woman . . .
Ah! I love that: Tederian Onion! Kind of like Occham's Razon, only much more delicious!
Occham's Razon? Is that what they call Occam's Razor in the World?
I think tis but a misspelling!
Oh. I was thinking it was the World's variation (like Gaia becoming Gea, or elephant becoming oliphant).
The prefix again- is like "against" or "gegen", right? Similar to the word "aginner"?
The "against" definition is indeed the closest. Not quite an aginner; I take that as opposition for opposition sake. A pair of againforces is really a single force seen from two different, schroedingerian, perspectives.
I see. The "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" thing?
Not familiar with the words "hanan" and "hurin". Are these from a language of the World?
Oo, you need to look into it! It is the Incan way of dividing society, into two great moities, basically "north" and "south". Kind of like yin & yang, it is a polar concept. At a basal level, this concept permeates many aspects of the natural world, from the way gravity (and againgravity) function to the essential dualism of the person (the female & male characteristics) and the higher cultural concepts of left & right or foreward & backward deixis. Not a religious concept in and of itself, it does find frequent expression in the quasi-religions of Philosophy and Sawyery.
Sounds almost Taoist -- like yin and yang as you mentioned. I will look into this -- just as Taoism inspired much of Ursula K. LeGuin's conworlding, so could hanan and hurin inspire some of our conworlding.
More like so we recognise in ourselves a kindred spirit, if you will, and will become drawn to him in closer relationship. It's a basic understanding of natural philosophy that, more than the science of the primary world, which can only see what it sees and can only explain what it can explain natural philosophy is designed to press on and seek beyond the five basic senses. Thus, God can be recognised by the use of Reason. So we (the intelligent Speaking Races) see in the ammonite particulars of its being that the Nonspeaking beings can't. A rat might sniff at an ammonite fossil in the hopes that it is something that can either be eaten or be fucked. A Man or a Daine or Teyor will recognise the pattern that we *here* call a fibonacci sequence. The rational mind notes this datum and collates it with all the other interesting data and begins to wonder what's (or who's) at the bottom of it all. Of course, *here*, scientismists just quit while they're ahead: their science is not able to answer questions beyond the what level. But beyond what science is mandated to do, natural philosophy *there*, being broader in scope, naturally leads off from the what to the who and the why. Science doesn't like who and why: they're very uncomfortable concepts because the who can't be seen except in his very works and within our own natures; and the why delves into the mind and thought and plan and work of Being well beyond our limited senses. Natural philosophers are much more comfortable with delving into who and why: the who is a given, known from reason and history. Why is a little more speculative and theological in nature, but can be guessed at from history and known from revelation.
Almost as if God is one of us!
I start to imagine all the sapient species of the Lehola Galaxy throwing a party with each other . . . be they primate-evolved, cetacean-evolved, rodent-evolved, parrot-evolved, cephalopod-evolved, or from a class or phylum not found on Earth.
Note to self: borrow the word "scientismist" to translate the Kankonian word "halzurmis".
When reading about the concept of "turtles all the way down", I've learned that Terry Pratchett's novels take place in a world atop the shell of a giant turtle. Has anyone here created a joke/satirical cosmology like that? (I've probably read about one here in the past, but nothing comes to mind off the top of my head . . .)
A Möbius-strip world and typewriter ribbons? And where did you come op with the surname Aster for someone aboard the ship? Was it a flower name, like naming a girl Rose or Lily, or did it come from the Greek root for "star"?
♂♥♂♀
Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels
My Kankonian-English dictionary: Now at 104,000 words!
The truth is I know Christianity and the Bible better than the vast majority of Christian laymen.
That reminds me of an inspiration from my own religion on the Monotheism of Fuhe:
The idea that references to the Zlaund cults in Momčalsumai texts are censored or restricted. Orthodox Jews are not allowed to read the scriptures of other religions. The only exception is someone who has a firm grasp on our non-Biblical texts, who is in a situation were another religion might try to convert them, along with other Jews, so the one with permission can answer the missionaries' questions from the point of view of understanding where they are coming from- in other words, for Polemics. That is why I know so much about Christianity and the NT- I have permission, as I am on a College Campus in an area where their are Christians and Jews who believe in Christianity active trying to convert Jews, and I have finished the Talmud twice. That is why I know so much to put in the Greater West, and I haven't said much on Islam there: I don't know enough. But the whole idea did inspire the idea that references to the Zlaund cults in Momčalsumai texts are censored or restricted. The disrespect rituals are my own creation, given what use the Fuheans put the text to, it seems natural they would want to add extra distance to the Zlaund cults. But I can say I know more about Christianity and the NT than the vast majority of Christian laymen, despite never being a Christian.
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
Khemehekis wrote: ↑11 Aug 2018 22:50
Or Lamarck, perhaps?
The Christian concept of original sin is very Lamarckian. The account of the Garden of Eden says that Adam and Eve were made sin-free. Then they both ate of the forbidden fruit and became sinful, and as a result all of their descendants should be considered sinners. Adam's sin was an acquired trait, and yet just as Lamarck believed that cutting tails off two mouse parents will make all their descendants tailless, Christians believe that the sin Adam acquired entered the genetic code of all of his descendants, except Jesus Christ (who inherited perfection from his divine parent) and John the Baptist (not quite sure on how he avoided original sin).
I'm not aware that he did!
I remember reading that John the Baptist's saint day is observed on his birthday instead of his heavenly birthday, for he was born free of original sin.
I looked into it, and I sit corrected! This answer explains!
And yes, Lammarck definitely has his say! It may not be the case that future lines of descent will lack tails: more likely, future lines of descent will quite possibly inherit the ability to lose and regrow what's been lost. On the other paw, some ancient tailless kindred, now no longer having any use for its tail, ended up bipedal and is now one of the younger races...
There must be a lot of sapient species and races on the World by now (Daine, Yttuun, Hotai, and many, many, more) if an event like that could change the future of a race! What about the racial biology of humans? If Michael Jackson lived in the World, would his children look at least partly Semitic but have no Black in them, for instance, because of his "blackendectomy" as the Onion (not the Tederian onion, I mean the satirical newspaper) called it? Assuming he didn't have children by a Black woman . . .
Quite a few races, indeed! I know of at least thirty discrete kindreds of udan, which is what philosophers *there* call all the "intelligent / self-aware / consciously aware" races of people. A few are truly ancient, but some have probably only been around a few decades or so (Polupodes, in particular, as their racial history can be pinpointed in time and space to a singular event).
Interesting question re Michael Jackson. Also interesting re "Black"...that doesn't mean quite what we usually think of.
Assuming an Earth human and a Gean Man can have offspring, and taking into account all the lesser magics that surround pregnancy and gestation, I'd suggest that if M.J. at the age of 20 (well before his physical transformations began) got jiggy with a native, his daughter might well end up looking like this stunningly lovely young lady:
Spoiler:
If in stead he did the same in 1998, his daughter might look like this:
Spoiler:
But depending on how things line up, and given that M.J. is not a native of Gea, his daughter might end up looking like this (I think slightly doctored photo, but the dark blue undertone with dark black skin is key here):
Spoiler:
or even this:
Spoiler:
Oh. I was thinking it was the World's variation (like Gaia becoming Gea, or elephant becoming oliphant).
I can't remember ever needing to come up with The World's version of Occam's Razors. Probably they'd just end up slicing their necks on the things anyway. Out of interest, here is kind of what Occam's finest blades would like:
Spoiler:
The prefix again- is like "against" or "gegen", right? Similar to the word "aginner"?
The "against" definition is indeed the closest. Not quite an aginner; I take that as opposition for opposition sake. A pair of againforces is really a single force seen from two different, schroedingerian, perspectives.
I see. The "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" thing?
Ngng, no, not quite. To work from that Law, it's more like: if A is driving a car at 60mph going west and B is driving an identically weighted car 60mph going east and they crash, both cars end up destroyed. But if one car is moving at 60mph going east while the other car's momentum is axially rotated and is moving at 60mph going west, what ends up happening is the cars simply occupy the same space and time, momentarily, but in slightly offset planes and thus pass through one another.
Or gravity. There are naturally occurring wells where againgravity is in effect. If you stand upon a movable staircase such near an area and throw a ball with force and at an angle to the flow of both gravity & again gravity, you will notice first that the ball travels both away from you and down from you in a slightly curving trajectory. However, once it passes the boundary, the ball will continue its forward and curving aspects of trajectory but will now fall up from its last position within gravity's power. Depending on how wide the well is, the ball might just keep falling up for a while. Sooner or later, it will traverse the area and cross the boundary again and begin falling down once again.
Or like I was saying with Light and Dark. Dark isn't really the absence of light (that's just "lightlessness"). Actual Dark can be made so very intense and so very dark that it begins to illuminate; just as Light can be made so very intense and so very light that it begins to obscure.
Hanan & Hurin: Kind of like yin & yang, it is a polar concept. At a basal level, this concept permeates many aspects of the natural world, from the way gravity (and againgravity) function to the essential dualism of the person (the female & male characteristics) and the higher cultural concepts of left & right or foreward & backward deixis. Not a religious concept in and of itself, it does find frequent expression in the quasi-religions of Philosophy and Sawyery.
Sounds almost Taoist -- like yin and yang as you mentioned. I will look into this -- just as Taoism inspired much of Ursula K. LeGuin's conworlding, so could hanan and hurin inspire some of our conworlding.
Indeed!
More like so we recognise in ourselves a kindred spirit, if you will, and will become drawn to him in closer relationship. It's a basic understanding of natural philosophy that, more than the science of the primary world, which can only see what it sees and can only explain what it can explain natural philosophy is designed to press on and seek beyond the five basic senses. Thus, God can be recognised by the use of Reason. So we (the intelligent Speaking Races) see in the ammonite particulars of its being that the Nonspeaking beings can't. A rat might sniff at an ammonite fossil in the hopes that it is something that can either be eaten or be fucked. A Man or a Daine or Teyor will recognise the pattern that we *here* call a fibonacci sequence. The rational mind notes this datum and collates it with all the other interesting data and begins to wonder what's (or who's) at the bottom of it all. Of course, *here*, scientismists just quit while they're ahead: their science is not able to answer questions beyond the what level. But beyond what science is mandated to do, natural philosophy *there*, being broader in scope, naturally leads off from the what to the who and the why. Science doesn't like who and why: they're very uncomfortable concepts because the who can't be seen except in his very works and within our own natures; and the why delves into the mind and thought and plan and work of Being well beyond our limited senses. Natural philosophers are much more comfortable with delving into who and why: the who is a given, known from reason and history. Why is a little more speculative and theological in nature, but can be guessed at from history and known from revelation.
Almost as if God is one of us!
That comes later in history, but yeah very much like that!
I start to imagine all the sapient species of the Lehola Galaxy throwing a party with each other . . . be they primate-evolved, cetacean-evolved, rodent-evolved, parrot-evolved, cephalopod-evolved, or from a class or phylum not found on Earth.
Most of Gea's sophonts are "humanoid" is basic structure, though some are indeed Ratfolk or Cynanthropes or Bird people (not Daine!). Just keep an eye on the seafood platters, or else the Polupodes might show up in one of their outersea ships and nick the lot. They have a tendency of doing that, for example, along the fishing wharves of Auntimoany.
When reading about the concept of "turtles all the way down", I've learned that Terry Pratchett's novels take place in a world atop the shell of a giant turtle. Has anyone here created a joke/satirical cosmology like that? (I've probably read about one here in the past, but nothing comes to mind off the top of my head . . .)
A Möbius-strip world and typewriter ribbons? And where did you come op with the surname Aster for someone aboard the ship? Was it a flower name, like naming a girl Rose or Lily, or did it come from the Greek root for "star"?
Pretty sure "star". Sometimes the Easter eggs are easily cracked!
Yeah, the Roll-of-Tape World is kind of interesting. If you begin walking inwindingwise along the "light side" as it coils ever in upon itself, you'll eventually come to the Bitter End, a kind of noman's land where the Light ends and the Dark begins: as you pass through the End, your entire being becomes twisted about 180oin both directions and you begin the long journey outwindingwise again until you end up at the Beginning Again.
There's also Stereo8 World, where the inhabitants of Side A are completely unaware of the existence of the inhabitants of Side B as their continuous loop of world passes through the read-write heads of History.
Khemehekis wrote: ↑22 Jul 2018 04:36
A war in Heaven?
I've sometimes wondered if all these gods and goddesses and pantheons from different religions are real, and they're finding propihets to advertise themselves on Earth, trying to win over all the adherents -- much like different fast food chains going in capitalist competition with each other trying to outdo the other fast food restaurants in getting the most people to buy their ware ("McDonald's shall be #1!" "No, BURGER KING shall be #1!"
Basically that; the different interventionist gods could be real within the setting, but in competition, which would allow for both sides to be correct, more or less, without believing in the same thing.
The reason this option wouldn't allow the propaganda I've used here is that these deities aren't likely to accept their peons distorting their teachings for personal temporal power; if such deities are powerful and interventionist, I'd expect a few dramatic smitings and a quick return to orthodoxy.
eldin raigmore wrote: ↑16 Jul 2018 05:39
What about salvia divinatorum aka seer’s sage?
Doesn't have the chemical effects I'm looking for; datura's effects are described as being fairly sinister in aesthetic. Either way, it seems that henbane and datura can naturalise in the correct climates, so I do have a justification ready for why they're used.
Of course, the other option is to only refer to the entheogens by their 'native' names and just never explicitly let on what they're supposed to be in reality. (I once joked to Chagen that handwavium and unobtanium sent me deeply into severe anaphylaxis... it would appear that, like the proverbial newt, I got better).
Sin ar Pàrras agus nì sinne mar a thogras sinn. Choisinn sinn e agus ’s urrainn dhuinn ga loisgeadh.
Khemehekis wrote: ↑13 Aug 2018 04:07
I remember reading that John the Baptist's saint day is observed on his birthday instead of his heavenly birthday, for he was born free of original sin.
I looked into it, and I sit corrected! This answer explains!
Oh! So I see! The Bible says the original sin was taken away from him after his conception, but before his birth.
Assuming an Earth human and a Gean Man can have offspring, and taking into account all the lesser magics that surround pregnancy and gestation, I'd suggest that if M.J. at the age of 20 (well before his physical transformations began) got jiggy with a native, his daughter might well end up looking like this stunningly lovely young lady:
Spoiler:
If in stead he did the same in 1998, his daughter might look like this:
Spoiler:
But depending on how things line up, and given that M.J. is not a native of Gea, his daughter might end up looking like this (I think slightly doctored photo, but the dark blue undertone with dark black skin is key here):
Spoiler:
or even this:
Spoiler:
I see. "Magics" indeed! In the Lehola Galaxy, they don't have magic (nor magick), but they do have a level of science that can allow regening. So someone who was born looking like a Yoruba can consent to get regened, undergo the procedure, and end up looking like a Swede.
Out of interest, here is kind of what Occam's finest blades would like:
Spoiler:
Where do you find all these photos, Elemtilas?
I see. The "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" thing?
Ngng, no, not quite. To work from that Law, it's more like: if A is driving a car at 60mph going west and B is driving an identically weighted car 60mph going east and they crash, both cars end up destroyed. But if one car is moving at 60mph going east while the other car's momentum is axially rotated and is moving at 60mph going west, what ends up happening is the cars simply occupy the same space and time, momentarily, but in slightly offset planes and thus pass through one another.
Whoa, mind-bending! Gea/the World must exist in a parallel universe with different laws of physics.
Or like I was saying with Light and Dark. Dark isn't really the absence of light (that's just "lightlessness"). Actual Dark can be made so very intense and so very dark that it begins to illuminate; just as Light can be made so very intense and so very light that it begins to obscure.
That's brilliant! (In both the current and etymological senses of the word.)
Almost as if God is one of us!
That comes later in history, but yeah very much like that!
Oh, OK.
Most of Gea's sophonts are "humanoid" is basic structure, though some are indeed Ratfolk or Cynanthropes or Bird people (not Daine!).]
The Lehola Galaxy has lots of humanoids, or Bipedals as they're often called: humans, Greys, Reds, ilti, Domeheads, Kelly-Hopkinsville goblins, chais, bansaks, pachams, lef, lapans, xazhoes, bevgezis, Lizard People, gwuelatls, thoems, fhaang (who are marsupials and have tails), añaks, elnars, detrom, turogh, hajons, ginths, and even the bhur (whose ancestral planet, Aguan orbited Istar, a sun that blew up a few millions years ago). There are also swimming cetacean sapients; sapients evolved from parrots; sapients that resemble anteaters; cephalopod sapients such as the azhwea (think Blue Man on Studham Common) or the natives of Syprian; the nuk (a species of qoadropeds with two elephantine trunks); and even a species of sapient carniferns.
Polupodes
Cephalopod sapients?
A Möbius-strip world and typewriter ribbons? And where did you come op with the surname Aster for someone aboard the ship? Was it a flower name, like naming a girl Rose or Lily, or did it come from the Greek root for "star"?
Pretty sure "star". Sometimes the Easter eggs are easily cracked!
Looks as if I cracked that one! (Although that Easter egg must be a dyed egg rather than a candy egg if it was cracked!)
Yeah, the Roll-of-Tape World is kind of interesting. If you begin walking inwindingwise along the "light side" as it coils ever in upon itself, you'll eventually come to the Bitter End, a kind of noman's land where the Light ends and the Dark begins: as you pass through the End, your entire being becomes twisted about 180oin both directions and you begin the long journey outwindingwise again until you end up at the Beginning Again.
There's also Stereo8 World, where the inhabitants of Side A are completely unaware of the existence of the inhabitants of Side B as their continuous loop of world passes through the read-write heads of History.
Inwindingwise? Outwindingwise? Wigglewormwise? You must be a very "wise" man, Elemtilas.
♂♥♂♀
Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels
My Kankonian-English dictionary: Now at 104,000 words!
Khemehekis wrote: ↑13 Aug 2018 04:07
I remember reading that John the Baptist's saint day is observed on his birthday instead of his heavenly birthday, for he was born free of original sin.
I looked into it, and I sit corrected! This answer explains!
Oh! So I see! The Bible says the original sin was taken away from him after his conception, but before his birth.
The Bible doesn't say that; it's a belief of some Catholics (not sure if it's an "officially-held" doctrine or not) but isn't directly present in the text. Protestants don't accept this (not sure on Eastern Christianity).
alynnidalar wrote: ↑19 Aug 2018 02:56
The Bible doesn't say that; it's a belief of some Catholics (not sure if it's an "officially-held" doctrine or not) but isn't directly present in the text. Protestants don't accept this (not sure on Eastern Christianity).
What about Mormons?
♂♥♂♀
Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels
My Kankonian-English dictionary: Now at 104,000 words!
eldin raigmore wrote: ↑16 Jul 2018 05:39
What about salvia divinatorum aka seer’s sage?
Doesn't have the chemical effects I'm looking for; datura's effects are described as being fairly sinister in aesthetic. Either way, it seems that henbane and datura can naturalise in the correct climates, so I do have a justification ready for why they're used.
Of course, the other option is to only refer to the entheogens by their 'native' names and just never explicitly let on what they're supposed to be in reality. (I once joked to Chagen that handwavium and unobtanium sent me deeply into severe anaphylaxis... it would appear that, like the proverbial newt, I got better).
alynnidalar wrote: ↑19 Aug 2018 02:56
The Bible doesn't say that; it's a belief of some Catholics (not sure if it's an "officially-held" doctrine or not) but isn't directly present in the text. Protestants don't accept this (not sure on Eastern Christianity).
What about Mormons?
Not sure on that either! When it comes to specific beliefs, I generally can only speak for Protestant and some Catholic beliefs--at least when it comes to specific stuff like this. I would suspect Mormons do not accept this, though--as far as I know, they don't accept the sinlessness of Mary either.
While the Catholic position isn't logically demanded by the Bible (and isn't doctrine), it does seem to follow very closely from the Bible. The Bible says that John was filled with the Holy Spirit from before his birth. The Holy Spirit is God, and sin is a separation from God, so it's generally thought that being filled with the holy spirit and being sinful, at the same time, are contradictory if not directly opposite states, which would mean John would have to be born sinless.
Khemehekis wrote: ↑13 Aug 2018 04:07
I remember reading that John the Baptist's saint day is observed on his birthday instead of his heavenly birthday, for he was born free of original sin.
I looked into it, and I sit corrected! This answer explains!
Oh! So I see! The Bible says the original sin was taken away from him after his conception, but before his birth.
That would appear to be the Tradition. Me, I'd never heard of that before, but in reading the episode in question, I can see the tradition where both the Tradition & its derivative Scripture derive from. If you take my meaning!
I can also see where, in general, Protestants and also Mormons might would not accept.
Spoiler:
Assuming an Earth human and a Gean Man can have offspring, and taking into account all the lesser magics that surround pregnancy and gestation, I'd suggest that if M.J. at the age of 20 (well before his physical transformations began) got jiggy with a native, his daughter might well end up looking like this stunningly lovely young lady:
Spoiler:
If in stead he did the same in 1998, his daughter might look like this:
Spoiler:
But depending on how things line up, and given that M.J. is not a native of Gea, his daughter might end up looking like this (I think slightly doctored photo, but the dark blue undertone with dark black skin is key here):
Spoiler:
or even this:
Spoiler:
I see. "Magics" indeed! In the Lehola Galaxy, they don't have magic (nor magick), but they do have a level of science that can allow regening. So someone who was born looking like a Yoruba can consent to get regened, undergo the procedure, and end up looking like a Swede.
Sounds like pure dwimmery to me!
This regening is something that would not be possible in Gea. Certainly not Yoruba > Swede.
Well, no, I take that back, at least half-way.
There is a very rare magic that can be wrought on a Daine male whose testicles have been destroyed. If he doesn't want to subsequently turn into a girl, he will have to find a healer that can even do the dwimmery necessary and be willing to take on his case. But more importantly, before the month is up, he'll have to go out in the wild and find a male Beast. His choice: most such boys seem to gravitate towards wolves or wargs, a few towards bears --- megafauna are just out of the question. He'll have to subdue the creature and bring him back to the healer, slaughter it and let the healer work the magic. He'll be wrapped up in the raw hide, fed on the blood of the beast, and the healer will replace what he's lost with what he's taken from the beast. Clinically, a testicular transplant; but as with any kind of magic in the World, nothing is quite so simple. He'll certainly end up with more wolfish features than just a new set of nuts. Might end up with larger fangs than he started out with, perhaps (aesthetically placed) patches of wolf fur and an annoying habit of howling at the Moons. Some personality traits can be affected as well.
This kind of magic can not be done on girls. Once the affected boy has turned into a girl, there is no going back from the Change. And this kind of regening is a very dangerous magic. Dangerous for the affected boy, if only because he has to go out and fight a wild beast and bring him back alive. But also, he risks the potential of serious cognitive, personality and spiritual changes. He also risks dying during the procedure itself. The healer also takes a big risk, as it is a perilous magic for her to work. She could end up with some crazy changes of her own. She could also die. If she dies before the work is done, then the boy will die too. If she works too hard, she could finish the work and not have a reserve of energy to bring herself out of the trance realm where she's been working. She might end up a living statue, her body still breathing, her heart still slowly beating, but her mind and spirit wandering hopelessly out beyond, with only a small part of her still attached to the boy.
Spoiler:
Out of interest, here is kind of what Occam's finest blades would like:
Spoiler:
Where do you find all these photos, Elemtilas?
Um. I just looked up bronze + age + razor!
That happened to be the most beautiful version I found, and most like the aesthetic you'd find in Gea.
Spoiler:
Ngng, no, not quite. To work from that Law, it's more like: if A is driving a car at 60mph going west and B is driving an identically weighted car 60mph going east and they crash, both cars end up destroyed. But if one car is moving at 60mph going east while the other car's momentum is axially rotated and is moving at 60mph going west, what ends up happening is the cars simply occupy the same space and time, momentarily, but in slightly offset planes and thus pass through one another.
Whoa, mind-bending! Gea/the World must exist in a parallel universe with different laws of physics.
Yep! Quite a few laws different. Though many are quite recognisable! I mean, there is still the speed of light. That's constant.
Leastways, depending on what kind of light you're measuring and what medium it's flowing through and what time of day (or night) it is.
But some Laws have been determined to be absolutely constant. There is, for example, the Principle of Ehrranian Rug Affinity. It has been (experimentally!) proven that there is a direct correlation between the final resting orientation of a slice of buttered & jellied toasted bread with the quality and costliness of the floor upon which it is dropped. As you might suspect, there is a 1:1 correlation between butter side down and an expensive Ehrannian carpet! A scuffy & battered old wood plank floor -- even odds. A nice smooth tile or stone floor, easily cleaned, toast will almost certainly land butter side up!
The Lehola Galaxy has lots of humanoids, or Bipedals as they're often called: humans, Greys, Reds, ilti, Domeheads, Kelly-Hopkinsville goblins, chais, bansaks, pachams, lef, lapans, xazhoes, bevgezis, Lizard People, gwuelatls, thoems, fhaang (who are marsupials and have tails), añaks, elnars, detrom, turogh, hajons, ginths, and even the bhur (whose ancestral planet, Aguan orbited Istar, a sun that blew up a few millions years ago). There are also swimming cetacean sapients; sapients evolved from parrots; sapients that resemble anteaters; cephalopod sapients such as the azhwea (think Blue Man on Studham Common) or the natives of Syprian; the nuk (a species of qoadropeds with two elephantine trunks); and even a species of sapient carniferns.
That's quite a few!
This fellow?:
In Gea, the sophonts are generally either humanoid or else (slightly) anthropomorphic animals. There are countries where the people áre Wolf-folk and Raven-folk. They're far away and not easy to reach and often times can't be found again, but those that go into those lands often come back with a stock of tales to tell! A few lucky wanderers have been granted passage into those hidden realms of Beast-folk. There seems to be one well known such country somewhere in the vicinity of the wild lands beyond Ypsiy Dale, in the western marches of Auntimoany. Lost of animal tales come out of Ypsiy Dale.
Most folk just believe that the Grimwood --- the expanse of primeval forest that hunkers down to the west of the civilised lands --- is just a dark, creepy place, full of baleful creatures and savage people. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth! Even the savagest of Daine and Hotay won't go there willingly! The Wise have not penetrated the deep secrets of the place, but some suspect that the Forest itself is a sophont. Or at least that there are tree-beasts, plantimals, inhabiting the dark depths. They bear no love whatsoever for creatures that go on two legs, not even Daine or Teyor. Best just not to go into the Trees. Don't wake them up. Don't disturb them. Heck, don't even look into the verges of the woods!
Basically, it's the epitaph on Harry's parents' gravestone. Harry is puzzled by it, as he feels it is "Death Eartery", but Hermione spends a paragraph philosophizing about it.I assume that this paragraph expresses Rowling's own thoughts on the 1 Cor 15:26, as a Liberal Syncretic Calvano-Anglican (which I think, based on her own words about religion, is an accurate description of her position as a Protestant), especially since interviews with her make it clear that she would have reasons to be attracted to that verse in particular out of the entire Protestant Canon
Many children make up, or begin to make up, imaginary languages. I have been at it since I could write.
-JRR Tolkien
elemtilas wrote: ↑20 Aug 2018 21:15
That would appear to be the Tradition. Me, I'd never heard of that before, but in reading the episode in question, I can see the tradition where both the Tradition & its derivative Scripture derive from. If you take my meaning!
I can also see where, in general, Protestants and also Mormons might would not accept.
I only read that once, when I was researching saints and hagiology, but I certainly remembered it!
I see. "Magics" indeed! In the Lehola Galaxy, they don't have magic (nor magick), but they do have a level of science that can allow regening. So someone who was born looking like a Yoruba can consent to get regened, undergo the procedure, and end up looking like a Swede.
Sounds like pure dwimmery to me!
Cool! <--- Khemehekis with his shades on
This regening is something that would not be possible in Gea. Certainly not Yoruba > Swede.
Well, no, I take that back, at least half-way.
There is a very rare magic that can be wrought on a Daine male whose testicles have been destroyed. If he doesn't want to subsequently turn into a girl, he will have to find a healer that can even do the dwimmery necessary and be willing to take on his case. But more importantly, before the month is up, he'll have to go out in the wild and find a male Beast. His choice: most such boys seem to gravitate towards wolves or wargs, a few towards bears --- megafauna are just out of the question. He'll have to subdue the creature and bring him back to the healer, slaughter it and let the healer work the magic. He'll be wrapped up in the raw hide, fed on the blood of the beast, and the healer will replace what he's lost with what he's taken from the beast. Clinically, a testicular transplant; but as with any kind of magic in the World, nothing is quite so simple. He'll certainly end up with more wolfish features than just a new set of nuts. Might end up with larger fangs than he started out with, perhaps (aesthetically placed) patches of wolf fur and an annoying habit of howling at the Moons. Some personality traits can be affected as well.
This kind of magic can not be done on girls. Once the affected boy has turned into a girl, there is no going back from the Change. And this kind of regening is a very dangerous magic. Dangerous for the affected boy, if only because he has to go out and fight a wild beast and bring him back alive. But also, he risks the potential of serious cognitive, personality and spiritual changes. He also risks dying during the procedure itself. The healer also takes a big risk, as it is a perilous magic for her to work. She could end up with some crazy changes of her own. She could also die. If she dies before the work is done, then the boy will die too. If she works too hard, she could finish the work and not have a reserve of energy to bring herself out of the trance realm where she's been working. She might end up a living statue, her body still breathing, her heart still slowly beating, but her mind and spirit wandering hopelessly out beyond, with only a small part of her still attached to the boy.
I think I read about this in the Multiverse Inn! So gaining back your testicles and preserving your masculinity comes with a very tragic price. A Kankonian or Bodusian or Hapoishan from the Lehola Galaxy could read this and be glad werewolves weren't real in Lehola.
(Aren't bears megafauna, though?)
That happened to be the most beautiful version I found, and most like the aesthetic you'd find in Gea.
Oh, OK. No dwimmery nor thaumaturgy in the razor blades?
But some Laws have been determined to be absolutely constant. There is, for example, the Principle of Ehrranian Rug Affinity. It has been (experimentally!) proven that there is a direct correlation between the final resting orientation of a slice of buttered & jellied toasted bread with the quality and costliness of the floor upon which it is dropped. As you might suspect, there is a 1:1 correlation between butter side down and an expensive Ehrannian carpet! A scuffy & battered old wood plank floor -- even odds. A nice smooth tile or stone floor, easily cleaned, toast will almost certainly land butter side up!
But what happens if a cat falls down on the carpet with a slice of bread butter-side-up tied to its back?
azhwea (think Blue Man on Studham Common)
This fellow?:
Yes, that fellow. Looks like a squid descendant, doesn't he?
In Gea, the sophonts are generally either humanoid or else (slightly) anthropomorphic animals. There are countries where the people áre Wolf-folk and Raven-folk. They're far away and not easy to reach and often times can't be found again, but those that go into those lands often come back with a stock of tales to tell! A few lucky wanderers have been granted passage into those hidden realms of Beast-folk. There seems to be one well known such country somewhere in the vicinity of the wild lands beyond Ypsiy Dale, in the western marches of Auntimoany. Lost of animal tales come out of Ypsiy Dale.
Lost = lots, right?
We were discussing our favorite animals in the Conlang Conversation thread a few years back, and I was amazed by how many of them loved wolves and ravens!
That's some awesome conbiology there, Elemtilas! So the Polupodes have coral-sculpting? The bansaks (aquatic humanoids of the planet Mensinghi) carve tufa to write. Being a tufa-quarrier is an important job to keep the records and stock market running. And do the Polupodes ever wear polyp-thongs?
Polupode scribes skrieve the histories and anals of their world by a system of knots, cords, shells and other bits woven into a loose netting.
I really hope you meant "annals".
♂♥♂♀
Squirrels chase koi . . . chase squirrels
My Kankonian-English dictionary: Now at 104,000 words!
There is a very rare magic that can be wrought on a Daine male whose testicles have been destroyed. If he doesn't want to subsequently turn into a girl, he will have to find a healer that can even do the dwimmery necessary and be willing to take on his case. But more importantly, before the month is up, he'll have to go out in the wild and find a male Beast. His choice: most such boys seem to gravitate towards wolves or wargs, a few towards bears --- megafauna are just out of the question. He'll have to subdue the creature and bring him back to the healer, slaughter it and let the healer work the magic. He'll be wrapped up in the raw hide, fed on the blood of the beast, and the healer will replace what he's lost with what he's taken from the beast. Clinically, a testicular transplant; but as with any kind of magic in the World, nothing is quite so simple. He'll certainly end up with more wolfish features than just a new set of nuts. Might end up with larger fangs than he started out with, perhaps (aesthetically placed) patches of wolf fur and an annoying habit of howling at the Moons. Some personality traits can be affected as well.
This kind of magic can not be done on girls. Once the affected boy has turned into a girl, there is no going back from the Change. And this kind of regening is a very dangerous magic. Dangerous for the affected boy, if only because he has to go out and fight a wild beast and bring him back alive. But also, he risks the potential of serious cognitive, personality and spiritual changes. He also risks dying during the procedure itself. The healer also takes a big risk, as it is a perilous magic for her to work. She could end up with some crazy changes of her own. She could also die. If she dies before the work is done, then the boy will die too. If she works too hard, she could finish the work and not have a reserve of energy to bring herself out of the trance realm where she's been working. She might end up a living statue, her body still breathing, her heart still slowly beating, but her mind and spirit wandering hopelessly out beyond, with only a small part of her still attached to the boy.
I think I read about this in the Multiverse Inn! So gaining back your testicles and preserving your masculinity comes with a very tragic price. A Kankonian or Bodusian or Hapoishan from the Lehola Galaxy could read this and be glad werewolves weren't real in Lehola.
Good memory! I didn't recall that it got brought up there!
Well, sòmebody's testicles, anyway.
(Aren't bears megafauna, though?)
Well, some bears are pretty big.
But this is megafauna, compared with average height Daine:
That happened to be the most beautiful version I found, and most like the aesthetic you'd find in Gea.
Oh, OK. No dwimmery nor thaumaturgy in the razor blades?
Um. No. Frankly, my friend, I would nòt allow a thaumologically activated razor blade anywhere close to me! You just never know what will set the things off on some crazy flight around the room!
But some Laws have been determined to be absolutely constant. There is, for example, the Principle of Ehrranian Rug Affinity. It has been (experimentally!) proven that there is a direct correlation between the final resting orientation of a slice of buttered & jellied toasted bread with the quality and costliness of the floor upon which it is dropped. As you might suspect, there is a 1:1 correlation between butter side down and an expensive Ehrannian carpet! A scuffy & battered old wood plank floor -- even odds. A nice smooth tile or stone floor, easily cleaned, toast will almost certainly land butter side up!
But what happens if a cat falls down on the carpet with a slice of bread butter-side-up tied to its back?
Oh dear.
You've heard of antimatter, right? Could be something like that!
Or maybe that equal and opposite reaction thing?
Whatever happens, that will be one unhappy cat, once the dust settles and you can sort out where all the bits actually ended up.
Yes, that fellow. Looks like a squid descendant, doesn't he?
I can't tell -- does he have tentacles or something?
That's some awesome conbiology there, Elemtilas! So the Polupodes have coral-sculpting? The bansaks (aquatic humanoids of the planet Mensinghi) carve tufa to write. Being a tufa-quarrier is an important job to keep the records and stock market running. And do the Polupodes ever wear polyp-thongs?[/quote]
Thanks! And interesting: have you worked out the Bansaks' writing system at all?
Khemehekis wrote: ↑30 Aug 2018 00:55
I think I read about this in the Multiverse Inn! So gaining back your testicles and preserving your masculinity comes with a very tragic price. A Kankonian or Bodusian or Hapoishan from the Lehola Galaxy could read this and be glad werewolves weren't real in Lehola.
Good memory! I didn't recall that it got brought up there!
Well, sòmebody's testicles, anyway.
Yeah, somebody (or something)'s testicles.
It was brought up when the characters were discussing being gender-nonbinary and how boys are boys and girls are girls in the World.
Well, some bears are pretty big.
But this is megafauna, compared with average height Daine:
That's huge! Between an elephant and a blue whale in size, perhaps?
Oh, OK. No dwimmery nor thaumaturgy in the razor blades?
Um. No. Frankly, my friend, I would nòt allow a thaumologically activated razor blade anywhere close to me! You just never know what will set the things off on some crazy flight around the room!
One would think a Daine would be more concerned about the razor with a mind of its own shaving off the wrong part of his body.
But what happens if a cat falls down on the carpet with a slice of bread butter-side-up tied to its back?
Oh dear.
You've heard of antimatter, right? Could be something like that!
Or maybe that equal and opposite reaction thing?
Whatever happens, that will be one unhappy cat, once the dust settles and you can sort out where all the bits actually ended up.
Ewww! So the cat disintegrates into at least 257 pieces like a cartoon character?
Yes, that fellow. Looks like a squid descendant, doesn't he?
I can't tell -- does he have tentacles or something?
Maybe legs and non-moving arms (the arms were described as limp at his side) evolved from tentacles? Anyway, the "hat" looks like a squid's head, and the beard was speculated to be a breathing apparatus. An aquatic creature might need a breathing apparatus to breathe aboveground. And he appears to be bioluminescent, like some cephalopods.
That's some awesome conbiology there, Elemtilas! So the Polupodes have coral-sculpting? The bansaks (aquatic humanoids of the planet Mensinghi) carve tufa to write. Being a tufa-quarrier is an important job to keep the records and stock market running. And do the Polupodes ever wear polyp-thongs?
Thanks! And interesting: have you worked out the Bansaks' writing system at all?
You're welcome. The bansaks have many different alphabets, abjads, syllabaries, etc. for their different languages, but I haven't actually developed any of these. The two most important languages on Mensinghi are Palang (language of the Palang province, where the global stock market is located) and Nvetion (with the most speakers on the planet and language of Mensinghi's capital -- the NV is a linguolabial nasal). All I know about how they're written is that they're carved into tufa with a tool called a mo.
(BTW, Mensinghi is one monarchy, under a queen, with over fifty provinces across the ocean floor, all given autonomy in speaking their own languages. So although there's one-world government, languages and scripts differ from place to place, and there's some variation in laws.)
I think I read about this in the Multiverse Inn! So gaining back your testicles and preserving your masculinity comes with a very tragic price. A Kankonian or Bodusian or Hapoishan from the Lehola Galaxy could read this and be glad werewolves weren't real in Lehola.
Good memory! I didn't recall that it got brought up there!
It was brought up when the characters were discussing being gender-nonbinary and how boys are boys and girls are girls in the World.
Right, right. I recall now!
But this (sivatherioic creature) is megafauna, compared with average height Daine:
That's huge! Between an elephant and a blue whale in size, perhaps?
Probably a yard or an ell and a half taller. Nowhere near as long as the whale, though!
Um. No. Frankly, my friend, I would nòt allow a thaumologically activated razor blade anywhere close to me! You just never know what will set the things off on some crazy flight around the room!
One would think a Daine would be more concerned about the razor with a mind of its own shaving off the wrong part of his body.
Happily, razors is one thing Daine don't need, on account of no facial hair requiring a shave.
Whatever happens, that will be one unhappy cat, once the dust settles and you can sort out where all the bits actually ended up.
Ewww! So the cat disintegrates into at least 257 pieces like a cartoon character?
Right. Just try and account for all the pieces you can. You just never know when the rest of the cat will materialise. Or the toast, for that matter.
Obviously, the lesson learned here is don't buy an expensive Ehrranian carpet!
(BTW, Mensinghi is one monarchy, under a queen, with over fifty provinces across the ocean floor, all given autonomy in speaking their own languages. So although there's one-world government, languages and scripts differ from place to place, and there's some variation in laws.)
Interesting. Is a female monarch obligatory (like in most Daine lands), or do they also have kings from time to time? Is there any religious component to Mensinghian queenship or is it entirely a secular affair?
In Auntimoany, the choosing and installing of an emperor are fairly routine and secular affairs. Though the coronation is entirely & spectacularly religious in nature; and the emperor has certain duties and is given certain prerogatives of a spiritual nature.
Among Daine, queenship is very much a spiritual affair. Just not with the spectacle that Men seem to require!