[Dragaera] Messianic figures

[John Dallman]

In article <4752F916.6070109 at gaeacoop.org>, dalton_0907 at gaeacoop.org 
(Elizabeth Dalton) wrote:

> Judaic tradition specifies a ruler in the secular sense, as well as a 
> religious leader.

Islamic tradition would expect a messiah to be a secular leader, too, in 
the tradition of the Caliphate. 

> Possibly whether someone in the Dragaeran Empire can be a "messiah" 
> in the Judaic sense depends on where their House is in the Cycle, 

I don't think a messiah in anything close to that sense makes sense in 
the Empire. In terms of broader senses, Manuel the Redeemer, from James 
Branch Cabell's stories provides an example, and I;d be interested to 
know, now I think if it, if SKZB has read Cabell. 

One could fairly claim that Zerika redeemed the empire. She did not, 
however, do this through any form of spiritual leadership. She did it 
through an act of courage, in daring the Paths of the Dead, and showing 
the Lords of Judgement that there were Dragaerans who had the 
determination necessary, and that the House of the Phoenix could 
produce a reborn Phoenix even after it had been destroyed. Which is, 
after all, the central nature of Phoenix. 

The fact that redemption comes through an act of courage and daring - 
I'd like to think it was essentially achieved at the moment she jumped 
her horse from the Falls - is a good example of the difference between 
Dragaera and the world of our religions. 

-- 
John Dallman, jgd at cix.co.uk, HTML mail is treated as probable spam.