| From: | shadowrn@*********.com (Melina & Pete) |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Greek Mythology - Initiation (a little long) |
| Date: | Tue Nov 20 11:15:01 2001 |
>linking metamagics to deity-figures for a hermetic. Hermetics, while
artists,
>are also scientists; unless the player wanted the character to (somehow)
turn
>to a shamanic (or better yet, idolist) spellcaster, the use of gods or
other
>mythological symbolism tends to clash with the hermetic concept.
Not necessarily. While it may seem otherwise, we today do not know a hell of
a lot about the ancient world. The quest for more knowledge in these areas
is what gives rise to the discipline of Archaeology. Just one hundred years
ago, the city of Troy was thought to be a myth till Heinrich Schliemann
found it (or rather, dug straight through the middle of it and destroyed
over three thousand years of artifacts). In any case, it *is* possible for a
hermetic to have a very scientific view of the classical world, the
professionals have since Schliemann's mistake. If he is actively trying to
uncover new aspects of the classical world, separating myth from reality (or
attempting to figure out how myth was born from interpretations of reality),
all for the purpose of advancing an understanding of magic, then that sounds
pretty hermetic to me.
As to how one would actually incorporate the Greek gods into a hermetic
tradition, that's not too hard either. Using coins for this purpose actually
makes some sense since they would both date to the period in question, and
be mythologically tied to some of the city-states and gods (each city state
was tied to a particular god: Athens = Athena, for example). If the mage
ties each coin to a particular aspect of magic (combat, detection, health,
illusion, and manipulation) to the appropriate Greek god, then he can have
one coin for each aspect come from a city devoted to that god. The coin can
then act as a spell category focus.
So, a few examples:
-an Athenian coin could be used for detection or combat as Athena was the
goddess of wisdom, and, to an almost equal degree, war.
-a coin from Epidouros would be for healing, it was the center of the cult
of Asclepius (the god of healing).
-a Spartan coin ... well that's just obvious.
This could go on ad infinitum. The Greeks colonized most of the ancient
Mediterranean, with every city and isolated temple devoted to a new god. I
don't know how much you know about ancient Greece, or even if you want to
use this suggestion, but if you want to know more feel free to email me
privately.
So the post was more than a little long, here ends my bout with verbal
diarrhea.
Pete
player, GM, and general SR addict;
who just happened to minor in Classical Studies (archaeology)
