Sunday 26 February 2017

Oaths And Spells

SM Stirling, Dies The Fire (New York, 2005), pp. 505-506.

On very short acquaintance, two pre-teen girls swear blood-sisterhood and each grants the other a veto on choice of boyfriend or partner! Nothing said that young can possibly be either legally or morally binding later yet the Wiccan mother of one of the girls says:

"'...a ceremony like this is a promise to the Mighty Ones... you've asked them to bind you to a purpose... They are likely to hold you to it...'" (p. 506)

I have to disagree. We did not create the laws of physics. We did not create the moral law that unenlightened actions cause suffering. But we do create any deities that we imagine as custodians of moral laws. At least, I think we do. The gods may be invoked but must be kept in their place. The Buddha, an enlightened human being, is a teacher of gods and men. The Buddhist Milarepa is said to have tamed the Tibetan gods. A mother should not frighten her daughter with threats from "the Mighty Ones."

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Strictly speaking, Astrid and her "Anamchara" were already teenagers. But I agree they were still too young to legally or morally bind each other with such agreements.

Sean