On the Third Hand…

Or why Kathy should let me have my own blogs. (As soon as her dad is feeling better of course. And the recent transfer to my Paypal account goes through)

The ladies have the politics and anti-dhimmitude stuff pretty much sealed up, so I’m going to present some things a tad more esoteric and ephemeral. In other words, I’m going to talk about matters fictional, fantastical, and imaginary. Not to mention philosophical, theological, and ideological. I am, to make this short, going to talk about the gods of Ki.

The first thing to understand about the gods of Ki is that they do not depend upon worship for anything. They did rather well without it, and can survive quite nicely if it ever dried up. They do enjoy it however, and will often do things to gain said worship. This is what gives some the erroneous idea the gods need the worship of mortals. It is a matter of psychological need, not physical.

Furthermore, the gods of Ki are not the most powerful beings in the Ki Universe. Compared to most heka based creatures they are among the top 1%. But there are some who are much more potent. Fortunately, the vast majority of those have no interest in planet bound life in any form. And the vanishingly rare minority that are see physical life as a curiousity to be studied. Much as a mortal scientist studies arthropods or similar creatures.

Now, while the gods of Ki do not require worship, they have been shaped by it. Indeed, they continue to be shaped by it. How their worshippers see them influences how they see themselves, shapes their behavior, their appearance, even the physical forms they take. Much as mundane society can shape the behavior and appearance of its members over the course of time. The Ki god of war can and will change his demeanor etc. depending on the specific society calling upon him. Often in a contradictory fashion.

This trait should not be considered paradoxical in a true sense. It’s merely the deity adapting his mode for a specific culture. Society A expects thus, while society B expect so, so a god modifies its behavior to fit expectations.

There is another thing to note about the gods of Ki, they have no innate gender. What ’sex’ they bear is what is assigned them by a culture. To one the sun god may be male, to another female, it’s still the same being. At the same time, they do follow gender roles. Said roles depending in part upon biology, and in part on society

Further complicating sexual matters is the fact that not all of Ki’s cultures follow a simple male/female distinction. In one extreme case each individual is said to have a gender all his own. The gods of that land following the schema. In a more constrained reckoning you have masculine exclusively heterosexual males and effeminate exclusively heterosexual males on one side of the chart, and masculine exclusively homosexual males and effeminate exclusively homosexual males on the other side. Add in societal strictures on sexual behavior and you can get situations where the thunder god can be a raging bull dyke with a taste for young teen girls in one place, and an uptight strict heterosexual male prude with a chastity oath in another.

The gods themselves have pretty much given up trying to get things straightened out among their various worshippers. Cognitive dissonance and all that. (Against doctrinaire obstinancy the gods themselves contend in vain.)

The fact every Ki species, race, culture, ethnic group, society, tribal nation, whatever worship the same gods is bruted about by scholars, philosophers, and theologians. But most don’t believe it. About the only group who know this to be a fact are the shamans, and since they’re a bunch of drug abusing, sex abusing, perverted primitives with a yen for the darker spiritual paths, they can’t be right.

No wizard, mage, magician, sorceror, witch, wicce, or priest ever asks why shamans have a much easier time of spiritual travel. Because shamans must be lying about it. And when they do show they have an easier time of it, it must be some form of trick or shamanic mind confusing magic.

So there you have a brief (it could be a lot longer) look at the gods of Ki. You also got something of a look at how my mind works, and the strange and outre paths my imagination takes.

I may have more later on this subject. Or something not even remotely connected. All depends. See you later.