> The RW custom of adorning feet with henna stems at
> least partly from
> Islamic bans on tattooing and on Indian and Middle
> Eastern notions of
> modesty and what body bits can be safely seen in
> public.
And ancient Egyptian religious custom, as I recall from when I was doing the reading up (a LONG time ago now). Also mentioned in the "Clan of the Cave Bear" series, and say what rude things you may about the books, she does do her research.
> Jane's suggestion of red hair dye as a contraception
> (and Bruce's gorgeous Vinga myth) sound great.
(slightly puzzled) This isn't exactly a new idea, you know. I think I started slapping copyright notices on the cult write-up in about 1996.
> Do all the red-headed Lunar women (of which, ST
> tells us, there are many)
> dye their hair for the same reason? Or is something
> else going on?
Different shade of red, I'm told. Vingans go for a proper hair-coloured gingery orange (wasn't that the old colour for Air once? no, don't answer that, or at least if you, do, go to the Glorantha list). Lunars go for the same red as their Moon and their Bat. Looks horrible. No taste at all.
> >As an aside, I seem to recall that "feet" was used
> in the bible as a euphemism for genitals.
Interesting. And that's Deuteronomy according to that source (I haven't cross-checked or anything, so large pinch of salt still needed), which is quite old. Let's take a look....
Hey, nice curse!
"The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,
28:57 And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates."
Hmm. Not convinced.
> European shoe lore often associates them with luck
> and protection.
> Explanations as to why shoes should be considered
> protective can only be conjectural;
Because they stop your feet from getting hurt? OK, so I have a practical and literal mind :(
There's some suggestion in the Golden Bough about sacred kings not being allowed to let their heels touch the ground, and actually being crippled to prevent this, but I doubt if that applies to Orlanthi least. Solar types, maybe: don't touch that nasty obscene Earth! Much of this is inapplicable to Glorantha, but the "don't touch the earth" bit can be borrowed, if only bvecause one other ritual guard against it was the wearing of platform shoes and high heels. Can't you just see the Light Sons in stilettoes?
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