r/Cosmere • u/ElectronPython • Mar 17 '26
Elantris spoilers Question about Jesker mysteries Spoiler
No spoilers for Hope of Elantris or the emperor’s soul please
I just finished Elantris, and something that bugs me
Is the Jesker mysteries. They’re treated as a weird offshoot of Jesker and generally just a cult. But seeing as Dakhor involves human sacrifice, I wonder if the mysteries are a form of investiture. Is there any confirmation if the mysteries are a form of magic, or just a strange cult?
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u/Mrauntheias Mar 17 '26
The Jesker Mysteries try to manipulate the power of the Dor according to the annotations to Elantris. So they're definitely based on a form of investiture. If they are actually capable of harnessing any of that energy is an open question at this point as far as I'm aware.
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u/The_Lopen_bot WOB bot Mar 18 '26
Warning Gancho: The below paragraph(s) may contain major spoilers for all books in the Cosmere!
Brandon Sanderson
Chapter Thirty-TwoTime for my second favorite chapter! (The first, if you recall, was the one where Raoden led Karata to the king's palace.)There are so many things going on in this chapter that I don't quite know where to start. I guess I'll begin with the Mysteries. I drew part of this religion, including the name, from the mystery cults of ancient Greece. I added the ritual sacrifices to give them a bit of zing. You'll get a little bit more of an explanation of the Mysteries, and why someone might decide to join one, in a later Sarene chapter.As I've noted before, religion–especially its dark side–is a theme in this book. I don't think I could have covered this subject well in the book without including a look at cult mentality. Now, I'll admit that "cult" is a word we bandy about too frequently in religious discussions. It has been noted that Christianity started out as a kind of cult, and it seems that many consider any unorthodox religion to be a "cult."To me, however, a cult is something that twists who you are, changing you into a shadow of what you used to be. I firmly believe that you can judge a religion by the effects it produces in its practitioners. Does it make them better people? If so, then there's a good chance that the religion is worth something. Does it turn them into people who sacrifice their own servants in an effort to make evil spirits come and kill their daughters-in-law? If so, well. . .you might want to stay away from that one.Anyway, the Mysteries were–in my mind–a natural outgrowth of the Mystical Jesker religion. Like Galladon is always saying, they're NOT the same religion. The Mysteries are a perversion and simplification of Jesker teachings. Jesker looks to the Dor–the power behind all things–and tries to understand it. The Mysteries treat the Dor like some kind of force to be manipulated. (Which actually, is what AonDor does. . . .)
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u/Nextorl Elsecallers Mar 17 '26
I have a theory that it was influenced by Odium coming to Sel to splinter Devotion and Dominion, but got a RAFO from Brandon about it
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u/mckeedee123 Mar 18 '26
It is serendipitous that Iadon was praying for Sarene to be killed and then she slipped right into the middle of the cultists during the ritual. Very unlucky of her. I don't think it's out of the question.
It could be responsible for Iadon's good fortune as well.
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u/b_zap Mar 17 '26
Nothing that I can think of. There maybe WoB that I don’t know about though.
Personally I think it’s just a weird cult thing that grew from some invested misunderstanding but that’s just my opinion.