The Calormenes worship, bless, curse, and swear in the name of the “god” Tash. The first we hear of Tash is in The Horse and His Boy when Aravis introduces herself as a descendant of Tash. Whether this truly happened (in the history of the Narnian universe) or whether this was a ploy by which the Tisrocs ensured they could keep power is unclear. Either way, we see plenty of invocations in the name of Tash in The Horse and His Boy, but not much to tell us of the true nature of Tash. For all we know, Tash is simply the chief god in an imaginary construct of Calormene mythology, similar to Greek and Roman mythology. Of course, such theological heresy would be denied by all true Narnians who would regard Tash as simply imaginary.
In fact, denial of Tash’s existence does appear to be the general belief of the Narnians. This is stated explicitly by the Lamb (perhaps not coincidentally) in The Last Battle, “I don't believe there's any such person as Tash. But if there was, how could Aslan be friends with him?” Interestingly, the Calormenes do not deny the existence of Aslan. When, at the end of The Horse and His Boy, Aslan appears in Archenland, Rabadash, the prince of Calormen does not even seem surprised. Rather, they consider Aslan a horrible phantasm who supports Narnia and thus an enemy of Tash.
One of the major theological surprises in The Last Battle is that Tash is real. Upon seeing Tash, Tirian, Jewel, and even Eustace and Jill are shocked. This forces us to change our entire approach to the spiritual powers that are at play in the Narnian universe. Tash is not the imaginary leader of pretend gods, but an actual being upon whom the sun does not shine and who emits a foul odor strong enough to kill natural vegetation. The question, of course, is if Tash is real, who or what is he? How does he exist in a world ruled by Aslan’s father the Emperor over the Sea?
Our answer comes from Aslan himself upon being questioned by the Calormene Emeth. As we will recall, Emeth enters the paradise of Aslan thinking it is the country to Tash. When he meets the great lion, Emeth assumes that his time is up, for he has been a faithful servant of Tash, not of Aslan. Yet, Aslan accepts all the service Emeth has done for Tash as having been done for him. Why? Aslan explains:
Then by reasons of my great desire for wisdom and understanding, I overcame my fear and questioned the Glorious One and said, Lord, is it then true, as the Ape said, that thou and Tash are one? The Lion growled so that the earth shook (but his wrath was not against me) and said, It is false. Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him. For I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore, if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him. And if any man do a cruelty in my name, then, though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves and by Tash his deed is accepted.
Tash, then, is the incarnate of evil parallel to Aslan who is the incarnate of good. The Narnian universe is inhabited by an evil being that promotes and rewards wickedness, cruelty, and falsehoods. This being, Tash, is not a god as imagined by the Calormens, but Aslan’s opposite. This is why Tash is the enemy of Narnia. For it is the country that worships Aslan.
This revelation, however, raises even more questions. Did the Calormenes realize they were worshipping evil? Is it their fault if they did not know? Could they simply have assumed Tash is a just and righteous god? The answer to this question I believe is key to understanding Lewis’ belief on the identity of the true enemy of a religious person and a religious nation. It is not another religion worshipping God in a different way, but a sect of people (religious or not) who worship evil.
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