>But in my hypothetical small band culture, you only integrate an
>ancestor with your own name, and no two living people would have the
>same name. It's eminently practical.
And eminently wasteful in that only one talent could be gained from the integrated ancestor.
> > I would instead prefer to channel ancestor (described in
> > Heroforming) instead.
>This is a tradition secret, so it's likely to be quite rare.
It's about as common as Secret Knowledge is in most societies. It exists among the Pentans ("[Kargzant's] elite followers can transform themselves into blazing fiery horses" Glorantha Intro p163) and probably the Praxians too (as in Waha/Jaldon).
> > spirits that the Shaman integrates are losing _their_
> > identity irreversibly. If they are well-loved spirits of the
> > shamans own tradition (like Ancestors), then this is going to
> > be seen as a Bad Thing.
>I don't think it's irreversible -- once Drosox the younger dies, his
>great-grandson is free to integrate the original Drosox.
There's nothing to show that integration vanishes after death and I think it unlikely as it would mean that ancestors and other ghosts will have no magic. Not that it makes much difference to your example - the great-grandson integrates Drosox the younger who is now the same as Drosox the original.
>Also note that to a hsunchen, it's quite likely that the totem
>spirits you're integrating are in fact a distant ancestor...
That is a good point. But it doesn't quite seem to fit into the notion of an ancestor as in the spirit of your dead grandfather.
--Peter Metcalfe
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