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Old 06-05-2019, 03:29 PM   #11
Engurrand
 
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Default Re: Powerstone historical names

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Technically, the breadlike stuff is manna. The word mana with one n is Polynesian and refers to a quality of sacred power that inheres in chieftains and ritual objects. There's no etymological relation between the two.
Thank you. I love these forums. Perhaps I should research the different kinds of Polynesian ritual objects.
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Old 06-05-2019, 04:24 PM   #12
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Default Re: Powerstone historical names

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Technically, the breadlike stuff is manna. The word mana with one n is Polynesian and refers to a quality of sacred power that inheres in chieftains and ritual objects. There's no etymological relation between the two.

Thanks, I was thinking of the Polynesian word, never even knew about the Jewish bread.

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Thank you. I love these forums. Perhaps I should research the different kinds of Polynesian ritual objects.
Indeed, learn something here all the time!
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Old 06-05-2019, 04:31 PM   #13
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Default Re: Powerstone historical names

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Thanks, I was thinking of the Polynesian word, never even knew about the Jewish bread.
That's what's referred to in the phrase "manna from heaven," which was one of the Old Testament miracles.
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Old 06-05-2019, 04:36 PM   #14
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Default Re: Powerstone historical names

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Technically, the breadlike stuff is manna. The word mana with one n is Polynesian and refers to a quality of sacred power that inheres in chieftains and ritual objects. There's no etymological relation between the two.
Also, 'manna' is (at least where I live) pronounced with a short first 'a', as in 'manners'. Mana, on the other hand, is pronounced with a long 'a', as in 'father'.
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Old 06-05-2019, 06:00 PM   #15
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Also, 'manna' is (at least where I live) pronounced with a short first 'a', as in 'manners'. Mana, on the other hand, is pronounced with a long 'a', as in 'father'.
That's how I pronounce it, too.
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Old 06-05-2019, 06:16 PM   #16
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Default Re: Powerstone historical names

Threshold-limited magic and spirit-assisted magic are more historically accurate interpretations of magical energy than the standard system. Humans channeled magical energy rather than providing magical energy, and the channeling left a mark of the very soul of the individual. In the case of sorcerers, they would use threshold-limited magic, as they drew from the world around them. In the case of conjurers, they would use spirit-assisted magic, as they drew from a spiritual patron.

In the former case, a buffer stone would insulate practitioners from the distortion caused by channeling ambient magic. In the latter case, a favor stone would provide the same protection from their patron. In neither case would the stones contain magical energy.
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Old 06-06-2019, 10:48 AM   #17
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Default Re: Powerstone historical names

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Threshold-limited magic and spirit-assisted magic are more historically accurate interpretations of magical energy than the standard system. Humans channeled magical energy rather than providing magical energy... snip snip.
This is consistent with my general observations. Stones in mythology tend to posses magical qualities, such as turning water they touch into medicine, or starting fires. Some charm-stones in native american traditions seem to have been believed to possess dangerous energies which could be harassed by the skilled, but the papers I was reading simply called them charm stones, and did not include the native names which would have been useful to my purpose.

The anthropological papers I've found describing charm stones, charmstones, painted pebbles and such does not offer much in the way of indigenous vocabulary, which is a big oversight - I strongly suspect subtly of definition is lost in rebranding everything a under modernized headings.

In hindu/tantric mysticism/ritualism there are the shaktimani, which translates literally to power stone. I guess sometimes people just call things what they are.
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Old 06-06-2019, 10:52 AM   #18
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Default Re: Powerstone historical names

It's worth remembering that real world ritual objects (which is what a powerstone would be) are mundane physical objects, and there is no particularly likely mechanism that would cause them become discharged; either they are consumed as part of the ritual, or they're tools that are reusable in short order.
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Old 06-06-2019, 11:25 AM   #19
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Though they will sometimes accumulate negative energy and need to be discharged (the equivalent of buffer/favor stones).
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Old 06-06-2019, 12:04 PM   #20
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Default Re: Powerstone historical names

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Though they will sometimes accumulate negative energy and need to be discharged (the equivalent of buffer/favor stones).
You know, that's a good point. I hadn't thought of it that way, but negative energies totally do accumulate and then need to be negated or (often) passed off to a hapless proxy.

But back to my main question: setting aside that objects in mythology do not usually work in the way that gurps powerstones do, I'd still like to make a list of flavorific words that could, with a little willful suspension of disbelief, substitute for "powerstone" - ideally words which have roots in different ancient traditions. I suppose I'm just asking 'does anybody know non-english words that could mean charmstone?' but the question is more open than that.
  • Shaktimani - Sanskrit means literally Power Stone
  • Vajra - also Sanskrit, or Dorja in Tibetean, word means literally diamond, but also literally thunderbolt. It is the name for a kind of wand used in ritual, symbolic for a weapon wielded by Indra, and representing force of will and spiritual power.
  • Kaut - Egyptian
  • Swynion - Welsh for a charm or talisman.
  • Buachloch - Irish for talisman.
  • Smaragdos - A green mineral described by Heroditus, which shines brightly at night.
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