Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site umcp-cs.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ucdavis!lll-crg!gymble!umcp-cs!mangoe From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) Newsgroups: net.religion.christian,net.religion Subject: On the Power of Arcane Symbols Message-ID: <2002@umcp-cs.UUCP> Date: Sun, 27-Oct-85 23:54:32 EST Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.2002 Posted: Sun Oct 27 23:54:32 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 28-Oct-85 23:21:12 EST References: <1516@vax3.fluke.UUCP> <1227@mhuxt.UUCP> Followup-To: net.religion Distribution: na Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD Lines: 31 Xref: ucbvax net.religion.christian:1556 net.religion:7010 [Follow-ups to net.religion, please] In the Christians-And-D&D discussion the question of the improper use of religious symbols came up. One person objected to the way much Christian symbology is "abused" by D&D designers. I see no reason not to extend the discussion to other religious symbology seeing the same sort of usage. The primary system I have played it used a number of occult techniques within the game setting. In particular, there were several uses of the tarot, because a number of us were knowledgable in it. My feeling, based on these experiences, is to treat every occultish thing as if it were real. In the first place, I know no way to exclude the possibility that these things function as claimed on occaision (although I doubt most of them). It is reasonably well-established (I can't cite references but they should be easily locatable) that these things have a lot of psychological power, even such poor tools as the newspaper horoscopes. At one time, a number of researchers substituted randomly selected horoscopes for the normal ones in a newspaper for a period of some weeks. Not suprisingly, the change went unnoticed; what was suprising was the number of 'hits' the random texts produced. I myself believe that most oracles work in the same way. So I treat these things with great respect; whether or not they do invoke the supernatural, they do have power. For the same reason, I am leery of munging religions together. I am somewhat of a student of Taoist thought, and a very little bit of Buddhism. But mix-and-match religion makes my blood run cold. The symbols of other religions, whether they are 'true' or not, nevertheless are powerful, and should be respected. Charley Wingate