We are on familiar imaginative territory. Although the magician Tothapis addresses Set as:
"'...lord of the universe...'" (p. 2)
- Set reminds Tothapis:
"'...how many and diverse are the gods of earth, sea, sky, and underworld...'" (p. 3)
Many peoples regard serpentine Set as a devil. His main divine enemy is solar Mitra, worshipped by the Hyborians (not on our map), who would tread him underfoot.
What would we do if we inhabited such a universe? Not worship Set. Tothapis' mattress is:
"...stuffed with the tresses of sacrificial maidens...'" (p. 1)
I would probably pay due respect to Mitra and to local gods while continuing to practice a form of meditation that works just as well in a universe without gods. All kinds of universes coexist in Poul Anderson's multiverse.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That was a grimly campy bit, Tothapis' mattress stuffed with the tresses of sacrificed maidens. A nice "Aztecish" touch!
Ad astra! Sean
Yup. When the Aztecs dedicated their seventh temple to "Hummingbird of the Left Hand", their war God, they sacrified 5,000 slaves in three days (more than one a minute) on the four altars -- cut their hearts out and threw the bodies down the sides of the pyramid. And ate parts of the bodies, btw.
The lake the city sat in turned brown and stank for weeks.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And a big reason why the Aztecs were overthrown was because Cortes recruited allies from surrounding nations who hated the Aztecs. At least the Spanish would not sacrifice and eat them!
Ad astra! Sean
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