Re: An interesting book.

Padraic Brown wrote:

>I found a curious book online: "Ancient Alphabets and Hieroglyphic
>Characters Explained". Translated in 1806 from a work purported to
>be about a 1000 years older. As far as I can tell, it has nothing
>to do with hieroglyphics as we know them, but rather is about
>alchemical or philosophical symbols>Be warned, though: this is a scan of
the original book wherein....>

This really belongs in Conculture, but....
A nice synchronicity-- this book, and SCaves "Mystical" question.  Those
parts of the book, and the rest of the site, that I looked at gave me an
idea; it will be in storage for a while however:  The Kash, in the past,
were always aware that some of them had telepathic abilities, to a greater
or lesser (or no) extent.  Anciently, the most talented were recruited for
the "priesthood", whose main job was to communicate with the unevolved wild
relatives (telepathic in their own way, mainly as an adjunct to hunting.)
(The priests also served as lawyers and judges, and as sort-of
psychotherapists).  So this priesthood probably developed an arcane symbolic
system to represent their "talks" with the Cousins, perhaps to teach
novices.

Since Contact with the Galactic Unity about 300 years ago, they have learned
how to develop and train the ability, so that almost everyone is now quite
competent.  The very best telepaths, however, (who show signs of having  the
ability to control another's mind) are now recruited for service with the
Unity and tend to go off-planet; but enough _good_  ones are left so that
the priesthood has not suffered. (Even the Kash need lawyers, judges, and
therapists!)

In any case, the Kash (and the Unity too for that matter) consider
mind-control (except perhaps in a life-threatening emergency), even
uninvited prying in another's mind, highly improper.