Integration

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_...>
Date: Mon, 03 Jul 2000 19:55:56 +1200


This is getting rather lengthy so I'll concatenate the various integration posts and deal with them in one fell post.

First off, I'll quote from the HW FAQ which is up at: http://www.glorantha.com/hw/hw_faq.html

::When you integrate a spirit, it is a permanent part of you -- it
::is not like possession. A shaman can't come up and exorcise the
::integrated spirits, any more than he could exorcise an affinity
::or sorcerous spell. When you die, the spirits are part of your
::spirit, and go to the afterlife with you. There ARE a few rare
::circumstances where the integrated spirit could be separated from
::you, but they are uncommon, and basically are exceptions to the
::rule. Telmor himself could do it, if you met him on the Spirit
::Plane and he didn't think you were a very good Telmori, for
::example.

So all the interpretations about integrated spirits being in a symbiotic relationship or that integration is merely the spirit teaching you the integrated talent are not what is described by the HW Integration mechanism.

These alternative suggestions can exist in Glorantha but I feel to a large extent that they are already covered by the mechanisms of Fetishes, Possession and Heroforming.

Now for specific points that people have raised that aren't covered by the above:

Wulf Cobertt:

>The important idea is to allow spirits to voluntarily (with the >assistance of a shaman) split off an ability.

I won't make the obvious comment about what the FAQ says about this, but I do want to address the implications of the above suggestion. If the spirits would voluntarily split off an ability, then why does the only detailed animist culture not permit the integration of ancestors?

David Dunham:

>Me> I simply pointed out that whomever integrated their ancestors
> > would have to deal with the issue of the extinction of their
> > ancestor's individuality (and also the consequent wastage of
> > talents).

>Wasn't it you who said that the ancestor's personality would take >over?

I said the person would end up like Norman Bates. His main personality was dominant but when he had to kill people, he took the persona of his mother (and also his REAL mother).

--Peter Metcalfe

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