On Fri, 5 Dec 2003 15:40:55 -0600, Gregory Gadow wrote
(in message <3FD0FB67.8D98128B@serv.net>):

From: Gregory Gadow <techbear@serv.net>
Newsgroups: talk.atheism, alt.atheism

Harry Leopold wrote:

On Thu, 4 Dec 2003 18:41:45 -0600, Bill, The Avender wrote
(in message <3fd6cb8b.3739500@newsgroups.bellsouth.net>):

From:

Just wondering?

Well, fundamentalist Christianity raped my mind, body and 'soul' for
about the first 14 years of my life. It continued assaulting me after
that, but I covertly began exploring other paths and slowly escaped
from its wretched grasp. I'd done stints in certain shamanistic
paths, a bit as a Wiccan, a bit as a kind of generic "new agey" type,
and a bit further on still as a more coherent "solitary witch" of some
non-Wiccan sort. At present, my philosophy is in line with some less
chaotic, more generally "benign" forms of atheistic "Satanism", only I
don't call myself a "Satanist". Some do, and I've no disagreement
with their reasoning. However, if I had to choose a deity construct
to name my path after, it wouldn't be Satan. I would have to declare
Dionysius as my primary godhead, while also being virtually obligated
to consider myself an astral scion of the two-headed Janus.

How 'bout you? :-)

I am a devout Lokian. But any of the "Trickster Gods" are welcome to drop
by
for a beer and to shoot the bull.

Several years ago, I and three other men decided to create a "men's
tradition" of Wicca. Each of us picked an archetype we identified with and
told stories; that is how we began to develop our myths.

Mine was Istani, an interesting character I'm still trying to figure out. He
is a trickster figure (which is why I bring him up) well known for his
sexual exploits. He doesn't normally pull practical jokes just for the sake
of a laugh (although he has, from time to time.) Rather, he uses jokes and
funny situations to kick people out of their ruts, break down their
accustomed patterns and get them to actually *think.* One time, he wandered
in to an ancient festival where a "sacred" beer was brewed from "sacred"
grain will all kinds of "sacred" ritual, finally to be handed out to
participants at the climax of a "sacred" annual ceremony. As the people were
lining up to receive this sacrament, he jumped up on to the altar, droped
trou and whizzed in to the "sacred" beer barrel. "If this horse-***** can be
called sacred," he said, "How can god-***** be any less sacred?"

He is also the guardian of All That Is Between, and as such has power over
any time of transition: birth, death, marriage, divorce, initiation, dawn,
dusk, etc. A story tells that, the night before he was to come in to his
power, he stayed up drinking and gambling with his older brother Elari, who
was jealous of Istani's charm and popularity. As Istani became drunker, he
began loosing; when he lost his money, Elari prompted him in to giving up
spheres of influence. By the time of the investment ceremony, Istani had
lost the right to claim power over day and night, male and female, life and
death, light and dark, wet and dry... pretty much everything. So in the
middle of this ceremony, Elari stands up and tells of what his younger
brother had foolishly given up. Istani is asked, "What, then, is left?"
Immediately, Istani drops the facade of being drunk and his eyes sparkle as
he reverses Elari's trap. "Everything in between."

His third role is Keeper of the Mysteries, the remaining raw material of the
universe and source of inspiration and potential. Previous Keepers had tried
to hide the Mysteries in deep caves, in statues, in the constellations, in
written law. The problem was that man lost sight of the Mysteries and began
to worship caves, statues, stars and law for their own sake. Since no one
else wanted the job, it was given to Istani. He secured the Mysteries in the
beauty of a rainbow, the delighted laugh of a child, the ecstatic moment of
loving climax, the simple pleasure of being with friends, and many other
such delights. He said that since these were momentary things rather than
concrete objects, they would be less likely to become objects of worship.
And even if they did, he reasoned, the world would become a better place,
Mysteries or no.

Thanks for the stories, I had never heard of this particular god,

and he
certainly does fit into that very particular group of trickster gods.