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Re: The Face Of God

From:Mike Ellis <nihilsum@...>
Date:Friday, December 27, 2002, 7:06
Adrian Wrote:

>Merry Christmas, all ...
Likewise.
>I've uploaded an illustration of "The Face of God" to: > >http://web.netyp.com/member/dragon/god_face.jpg > >I imagine that this should serve as a good translation exercise.
It does. It's a bit (read: a lot) more pious than the stuff I usually translate. The Rheans are, as a rule (complete with exceptions!), not a very religious people. But here's how they'd say those twelve things:
>Most goodwilling of all (benevolent)
Fkivada ayurbartas' (aynader)
>Most imperative of all (must be obeyed)
Fkivada emirec'tas' (pac'linek fadit)
>Destiny of all (offers fulfilment)
Paikurea k'tima (iyöd kuda)
>Most universal of all (cares for all)
Fkivada pramaruksoitas' (cemun fkas'ma)
>Most vast of all (beyond the stars)
Fkivada tok'utatas' (dla zvisidad)
>Most unsurveyable of all (cannot be known)
Fkivada bizmierec'tas' (mu s'iznikar)
>Most knowing of all (wise)
Fkivada s'iznertas' (pragi)
>Most forgiving of all (will not turn against us)
Fkivada safhakritas' (karsto yezt mu jimagrir)
>Designer of all (creator)
Paikuir hatudnik (g'aduinik)
>Most personal of all (cares for individuals)
Fkivada vicec'tas' (adnucos'kin fkas'ma)
>Most intimate of all (within our hearts)
Fkivada husuznitas' (i yei körkem)
>Most indispensable of all (must be sought)
Fkivada mienrilkartas' (amiak fadit) I can see something like this twelve-attribute "wheel" appearing in a temple in Rhea: not in a temple of Rhetakaf*, but perhaps in a temple of Yadsevno**. Likely these would be reduced to one word each though, as the "of all" is redundant when the |-tas'| is used. And I'll use some alternate words (same concepts, though) which sound better in Rhean than the literal trnaslation. This gives us, around the clock: 12: Ayurbartas' (most benevolent) 1: Emirec'tas' (most vested with authority) 2: K'tima (destiny) 3: Pramaruksoitas' (most universal) 4: Tok'utatas' (most vast) 5: Bizmierec'tas' (most without measure) 6: Pragitas' (most wise) 7: Safhakritas' (most forgiving) 8: G'aduinik (the creator) 9: Vicec'tas' (most personal) 10: Husuznitas' (most intimate) 11: Laazuz'tas' (most necessary) M The PS's *Rhetakaf: the "official" religion of Rhea, and the one to which most of this largely agnostic people claim to belong. It is a monotheistic religion based on older sun-centered pagan traditions: God, called Yad, is strongly associated with the Sun. For this reason, Sun imagery appears on all things officially Rhean or Royal (THE Sun emblem of Rhea appears on the flag: http://www.geocities.com/bluetextblack/rh.gif ). In addition to their lip- service to Rhetakaf, Rheans are unusually superstitious. Most of their superstitions come from very old Omurax mythology, although this origin is not known to most Rheans. **Yadsevno: a newer religion which worships the same god as Rhetakaf, but eliminates every aspect its founders saw as coming from Sun-worship or from the superstitions of Janidas Omurax. Followers of Yadesvno see Yad as Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient, so the twelve attributes described above would fit Yadsevno's concept of God quite well.