Without
a belief-system, the reality you're in depends on whatever the sorcerer
happens to favor. In this case, our reality is a numerical one; one
that favors the ego of the acolyte.
The masculine reality is represented by the sausage-factory of Jean-Luc Godard's Tout va Bien (prev.) Where number dominates, the head (ego) becomes the body (sex) and the two become one.
This
is represented by the expressive algorithm, or animated face. Stories
will be written for these that are the opposite to a feminine dynamic.
The stories will centre on sterilized hygiene, since that is where our
"facts" come from (see prev on corona ecology, human-microchipping).
In
a belief system, information is valued when it accords with the
underlying belief in strength and fertility. A belief-system has a
dynamic which is geared to rustic harmony, the land where the bulk of
peasants live.
Because we live in a system of inductive
reason, it has to favor the acolytes of sorcerers of number. Number is
always going to be very persuasive to the ego but, for the same reasons,
has no dynamic of the body in the field.
This
is a way of saying it's inert and factual, whereas the feminine dynamic
is lithe and graceful, roaming hills and valleys. In the Hyborian
lands, belief n an Earth Mother figure like Ishtar corresponds to the
primitive elder gods, especially of Shem. Eastern nomads later invaded,
bringing with them skygods, but only Ishtar proved exportable to
neighboring Koth, already under the universal influence of Mitra (Robert
Yaple, Savage Sword #8).
To
a rustic peasant, the universal influence of the sungod Mitra in the
depths of winter would be very apparent. But it should also be born in
mind that city-states would have their own patron gods and goddesses
(such as Bel god of thieves in Zamoran Arenjun), so customs and
specificities were very diverse.
Some
have suggested that Christianity - as a type of universal proxy for the
sun - favored the rise of the scientific world order. However, it
should be noted that this order didn't develop from Christianity, but
from inductive reason - as foreseen in The New Atlantis (). In
medieval times the Arabs tended to be more advanced mathematically that
Europeans - algorithm is an Arab word - so it doesn't seem as if
Christianity innately favored advance.
The
modern era is really solar-centric - as opposed to solar worship. As
mentioned previously () even if Earth orbits sun, there is also the
moon's orbit of Earth and Earthspin, both of which are equally vital in
the dynamic. Science, from this angle, may not be a belief but a sorcery
of the sun that denies the equal-and-opposite dynamic of the moon round
Earth.
A
belief in Mitra is like a belief in Hermes; the fiery path of the sun
across the sky - which is a product of Earthspin. Beliefs are above all
dynamic since the rustic peasant depends on the dynamic to maintain
their existence.
Sun,
moon, Earth (and planets) are all dynamic objects in flux; no one is
greater than the other if looked at as a dance. In that case, we enter a
picturesque and feminine world, where the dance induces fertility. This
engenders gaiety and thanksgiving, whether the society is medieval or
Hyborian.
The
second day of the Fair was the feast of Corpus Christi, a Holy Day of
the church, when all good people attended Mass and there was a great
procession..
Even
before the cross-bearer appeared round the distant corner Nicholas
could hear the choir, as it emerged from the church, chanting the great
processional hymn, 'Lauda Sion'. Behind the cross, their embroidered
banners held high, followed the Trade Guilds of the town.. with the
various crafts of the Cloth Trade, weavers, fullers, dyers, shearmen,
massed together at the end. Last of all came the great Company of the
Clothiers, under whose emblem walled the merchants, wearing their rich
fur-trimmed gowns and heavy gold chains. (The Wool-sack, page 151)
This
brings-in the odd idea that solar-centrism may be a type of verbal
illusion. In a state of dance nothing is in the centre since all objects
are spinning-round from the vantage-point of the observer - that is,
Earth.
That
is to say, Earth is spinning; moon is spinning and orbiting; and Earth
is spinning and orbiting sun. Taken together, that is the dance (and add
the planets). Galileo's revolt against Church orthodoxy isn't simply a
case of superstition versus truth, but it imposed a new superstition of
solar-centrism.
In
terms of dynamics, Earth , sun and moon are all equal; solar-centrism
tends to lead to an inert system of facts, and the dance is lost. So,
what is the proof that life is a dance? Only in a belief in rustic
harmony; the gods and goddesses are strong and engender belief.
Solar-centrism
is therefore a type of weakness that favors the ecolyte's ego. It's an
illusion - if what you favor is the strength of a rural idyll. Dionysus
is the counter to the false Apollo.
The
sheer profusion of native deities just in Zamora gives an indication
of the difference between rustic and urban beliefs.
The
urban ones are often devilish and cultish, attracting votaries of
unruly mien. The entire city of Yezud is given-up to a Spider God
cult (see de Camp's Conan
and the Spider God),
while Arenjun is the city of Bel god of thieves. Shadizar, in Conan
#6,
was the home of a sacrificial cult to a nighted skygod.
None
of the urban deities bear much relation to the more widespread
beliefs of Ishtar, Mitra, Erlik, Ashtoreth. There may be something in
Conan's line that Zamora is, “very
ancient and very evil”.
Cities tend to harbour vices the countryside is mercifully free of.
The one thing they have in common is a dirth of order, as this splash
of Arenjun city of thieves from Savage
Sword #53
shows.
There
were long trestle tables set round the sides where travellers of a
more humble class sat on benches, cutting their meats on wooden
trenchers, or tearing them with their fingers. Some produced food
from their own packs, others supped simply with horns of ale, and
broken loaves of bread. Torches stick in holders gave a flaring smoky
light. The noise was deafening and the floor slippery with trodden
rushes and rejected food. (The
Wool-Pack,page
179)
Perhaps
what you can say is that the economy itself is largely rustic, and so
the adherents of Mitra (sun) and Ishtar (Earth) deliver goods to the
markets inside the city-gates. A rustic pantheon is a celebration of
the dance of sun, moon and Earth, as mentioned previously.
The
country festivals are highly dynamic and seasonal rhythms of the
cosmos. By comparison, our modernday economy is almost like a
superstitious awe of the sun as an emblem of straight-line order.
Yes,
but the sun also flies across the sky like Hermes in his chariot; the
cosmic dance. Because a numerical order appeals to the ego of
acolytes, they are persuaded that this is reality, rather than
illusion.
Their
reality, as I've been saying for awhile, is the head (ego) that
becomes the body (sex). The two become one through the dominion of
the intellect over the (instinctive) body. This was well-visualized
by William Blake's print of Newton.
Even though
the body is “neutralized”, physique can't be denied, and so the
result is physical boredom. This is the inert state of facts that is
the modernday reality, a black hole of hygiene (as opposed to the
black hole of Calcutta!)
So,
the modern scene is like a mix between inert fact and pornography
(see Weekend,
prev.) That will probably become more clear with the influx of
expressive algorithms – animated faces, see Japanese example, prev.
“They” will write stories for these that will tell us the usual
“safe and sterile” lies.
All
this goes against the feminine dynamic of lithe dancing in the
gloaming. The female body is not pornographic when it's fertile; it's
a question of meaning. Life as a dance has cosmic meaning in the
heavens. Artemis of the moon and her hounds.
Hyborian
peasants believe in the gods because they live a life of rustic
harmony. This reflects markets and trade-routes with towns and cities
and the general disorder of the markets and towns. From disorder and
dirt comes strength and rebirth and the cycle continues.
Naveena, classical Indian dancer/actress