Ra not only introduced a whole bunch of terminology to convey their concepts, but they also drew upon the whole history of the english language to find the exact word they were after.
you can see a list here:
http://www.lawofone.info/unusual-words.php
some of these were unfamiliar to me when I first read Ra. For eg athanor, tocsin, and nimiety. A few others were vague in my mind, and I had to jog my memory.
but I find this an interesting point: vocabulary represents a storehouse of ideas. If, in previous centuries, they had a wider working vocab than today, does that mean we have less sharpness of ideas to work with today?
Based on my experience as a Avid RPG and history fan.
Yes.
Ra constantly points out the limitations of our language as well, as is constantly askign to excuse their use of substituting words for concepts which don't necessarily fit.
Their usage of words is fascinating to me though. As I go back and read Ra, I try to pay very close attention to the verbiage they use, and in a lot of cases I will search for multiple definitions of a particular word which I previously thought I understood the definition of, but realize that my previous understanding of the word needs to be dismissed for Ra's full context to shine through.
Do we know where Ra's vocabulary comes from? I know that they said they didn't use Carla's vocabulary, and Don did start to ask but didn't finish:
Quote:Questioner: Thank you. Do you have use of all the words in the English language and, for that matter, all of the words in all of the languages that are spoken on this planet at this time?
Ra: I am Ra. No.
This one made me scratch my head!
The Great Way of Mind, Body, or Spirit is intended to limn the milieu within which the work of mind, body, or spirit shall be placed.
Ra is addicted to truth and their careful choice of words and language reflects it clearly and beautifully!
(12-06-2012, 09:28 PM)Bring4th_Austin Wrote: [ -> ]Do we know where Ra's vocabulary comes from? I know that they said they didn't use Carla's vocabulary, and Don did start to ask but didn't finish:
Quote:Questioner: Thank you. Do you have use of all the words in the English language and, for that matter, all of the words in all of the languages that are spoken on this planet at this time?
Ra: I am Ra. No.
hey Austin, I think this issue came up in an earlier session:
Quote:21.2 Questioner: Do you use the instrument’s vocabulary or your own vocabulary to communicate with us?
Ra: I am Ra. We use the vocabulary of the language with which you are familiar. This is not the instrument’s vocabulary. However, this particular mind/body/spirit complex retains the use of a sufficiently large number of sound vibration complexes that the distinction is often without any importance.
so I assume Ra is scanning the OED (oxford english dictionary) for the closest concept that matches what they wish to convey
but you're right, they never specify where exactly they are drawing their lexicon from.
it's funny though; basically if Carla's throat box can make the sounds, they can speak it.
also: the no answer in the quote you gave is one of those 'ambiguious' type question/answers. Is Ra answering both parts of the question, the last part of the question, or the combined combination of the question (ie are both these conditions true simultaneously)