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Divine Locution

The Divine Locution refers both to the actual speech of the Gods, which is universally comprehensible, and to certain special expressions therein that are independent of all worldly languages.

Universally Comprehensible Divine Speech

When one of the Gods speaks to a mate, either out loud or within that person's mind, that person hears (or otherwise perceives) the speech in their own native tongue. This is true no matter what language they speak, even in cases of highly idiosyncratic or custom languages, fusion languages, and sign languages. Moreover, it holds true no matter how many people are present when a God speaks: Each mate hears the speech in their own optimal language.

Thus, while the overall meaning of the utterances of the Gods is seldom clear, the actual comprehensibility of the individual words always is.

This sense of Divine Locution is sometimes referred to as the Divine Speech, to disambiguate it from the more technical sense of Divine Locution.

Theoscopic Value

Because of its well-documented infallible comprehensibility and physical inexplicability, the presence of Divine Locution is sometimes applied as a theoscopy, a test for individuals or entities who claim to be or are perceived by others to be one of the Gods.

Special Expressions Independent of Worldly Languages

Separately and more precisely, the Divine Locution refers to certain special phrases and terms that are perceived to be physically identical regardless of the worldly languages involved. When a God speaks, an ordinary word like “flower” would be heard differently based on each listener's language's respective physical word for the concept of “flower.” In contrast, a word belonging to the Divine Locution—such as the name Relance, for instance—is identical in every language, taking the exact same phonemic form.

This identicality is so perfect that it appears to defy logic and even physical possibility, yet wherever communication between languages is possible people always agree that words in the Divine Locution are identical.

Notably, this power only holds when the words are spoken by the Gods themselves. A person cannot simply create their own expression and elevate it to the status of Divine Locution.

Unknown Significance

It is not understood—though speculation has abounded throughout the ages—as to why this universality is reserved only for part of the Gods' speech rather than all of it. The general consensus among Relancii scholars is that phrases and terms belonging to the Divine Locution have some special but unknown (or debatable) significance. Research and exploration have been undertaken throughout recorded history, as yet with no clear success at answering this question.

Holy Words

Understandably, many societies view the Divine Locution as holy speech and restrict its usage among the public, though some scholars have observed that this appears to be entirely the effort of societies and individuals, and that there is no apparent intention on the part of the Gods themselves that the Divine Locution should be utilized any differently from ordinary speech.

reluria/society/divine_locution.txt · Last modified: 2017/02/26 02:15 by sinistral