The Myth of the God Incarnate

Religion and Politics
Copyright (c) Simon Brooke 1992-1995
describing the religion and politics of the Great Place - topics which, in a theocracy, cannot be separated
The Place is, as implied by its name, a theocracy, in some ways reminiscent of Thibet. The religion of the people is monotheistic, with the God being believed to reside in the High Place, in human form.

The God is believed to be above gender, able to take on the aspect of either gender at will. The God (like the Gods of ancient Greece, for example) is capable of and takes pleasure in sexual intercourse with mortals. Every person is expected to be prepared to - indeed to be honoured to - indulge this desire of the God. Consequently, it is polite always to speak of the God as if the God was of the opposite gender to oneself - a man must always speak of the God as 'her', a woman as 'him'.

Although the God is (of course) believed to be immortal, the incarnation of the God is not. Incarnations grow old, and new incarnations take their turn. There is learned debate about the precise mechanism of this. Is a new body created instantaneously as an adult, or does the God undergo a period in the aspect of a child; or, does the God take on the body over the body of a mortal? If so, how is that mortal selected?

The Great Houses

A number of religious cults celebrate particular aspects of the God, represented by parts of the body. Although the cults are separate and to some extent competing, each is seen as worshiping an aspect of the same God. These cults are governed by monastic orders known as the Great Houses. The Great Houses undertake functions of civil administration as part of their religious duties, there being no perceived division between the secular and the religious.

The priests of each House deputise for the God in public ceremonies, and when doing so are always masked, and wear an ornamental representations of the organ they represent. It is believed that sometimes the God will act personally, and the mask is worn to prevent anyone identifying whether the celebrant is a priest or the God.

The Great Houses are:

The House of the Eye [Flag colour: Blue]

The House of the Foot [Flag Colour: Brown]

The House of the Nose [Flag Colour: Green]

The House of The Hand [Flag Colour: Red]

The House of the Ear [Flag Colour: Grey]

The House of the Mouth [Flag Colour: Orange]

The House of the Stomach [Flag Colour: Yellow]

The House of the Cunt [Flag Colour: Black]

The House of the Cock [Flag Colour: Purple]

Communication with the God

The God is from time to time deemed to summon one or more of the spokespeople of the Great Houses. This is done by sounding an enormous gong which is hung over the Front Gate, and hoisting a flag. A different coloured flag is hoisted for each house; a white flag is hoisted to summon all. The spokespeople summoned are then rowed across the river at great speed in special ceremonial rowing boats, and are expected to sprint up the thousand steps at good speed. When they reach the top, they are shown into a room in the gatehouse which is divided in two by a curtain. They converse with someone - believed to be the God - beyond the curtain.

Tan has an audience with the Incarnate God.

Only the spokespeople are ever admitted to the Gate House. No-one has ever admitted to passing beyond the Gate House and returning. The Houses of the Cock and the Cunt occasionally send people up to the gate - people who have been told that they have been invited by the God. It is not known whether any of these people ever come out again, but it would be unthinkable to refuse to go.

Spokespeople who are slow in getting to the top may find that they are debarred from entering; the God, they are told, has got tired of waiting. If a House has done something which displeases the God, it has been known for the spokesperson of that House to be summoned to the Gate House and not to return.

The Barbarian Guard

Following the revolution known as 'The Shutting of the Eye', the High Place developed an establishment of its own, based on the Barbarian Guard. The guard was originally solely a military guard of the High Place, established to protect the High Place (and thus, presumably, the incarnation of the God) from the power of the Great Houses. The Guard is recruited from barbarian tribes beyond the rim (q.v.).

Members of the Guard serve for twelve summers, and then leave. They form overwhelmingly the most powerful military force in the Place. They have their barracks on the doorstep, on the west bank of the river. They never appear east of the river, except when first arriving, and, on leaving, when returning to their tribes. They take no part in the politics of the Place, and have no communication with the ordinary people of the Place; it is widely believed that none of them can even speak the language of the Place. The Guard are not celibate for their twelve year tour of duty, however. They buy women from foreign traders, and run a little brothel in the barracks. This is highly unofficial and secret. They have an extremely bad reputation in the City for roughness and violence, and no-one would dream of risking going across to the Doorstep without official business.

Originally the function of the Guard had been solely military - to ensure the security of the High Place. However, over the years, this function has been extended somewhat. In order to prevent rebellion in the Place from starving the High Place, the Guard have taken over the Supervision of seaborn trade. All ships coming into the port must come to the 'foreign quays', on the west bank, downstream from the doorstep, where their cargo is offloaded into warehouses held by the Guard. Foreign cargoes may not be sold to anyone but the Guard. The Guard then trade through the House of the Hand and the House of the Stomach to provide for the needs of the High Place.

The Guard is, in theory, under the direct supervision of the God; it is not known, however, to what extent the God is in fact controlled by the Guard. The ambitious houses are all deeply suspicious of the Guard.

Copyright (c) Simon Brooke 1992-1995

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