The new Wyvan of Mistwood Choth addresses his deceased predecessor at the latter's sky funeral:
"'High flew your spirit on many winds; but downward upon you at last came winging the God the Hunter. You met Him in pride, you fought Him well, from you He has honor. Go hence now, that which the talons left, be water and leaves, arise in the wind; and spirit, be always remembered.'" (p. 559)
Noteworthy points:
the new Wyvan addresses not a spirit that has survived death but a person that no longer exists and that is described only in the past tense;
the Wyvan uses the word, "spirit," to refer to a consciousness that existed only as long as the body did;
the spirit/consciousness is remembered but not addressed as if it still exists;
the matter that composed the body becomes water, leaves and wind;
since the deceased is regarded as a prey of God the Hunter, it is appropriate that his body falls from the sky to be devoured by scavengers and to decompose into the natural environment;
Ythrians of the New Faith would not conceive of burying or burning their dead.
2 comments:
This is odd, since the Ythrian Old Faith (surely they had more than one?) -did- have a concept of an afterlife.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Exactly! The Ythrian "New Faith" seems to be more Deistic than anything else. Which makes me think the barbaric and pagan "Old Faith" had a deeper insight into spiritual matters, since it did have some concept of an afterlife.
Ad astra! Sean
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