> I'd like to counterpropose that any attempt do define myths does distract from their nature. While I accept the requirement that time and causality in myth as well as in fantastic fiction can be vastly different from our experience in the real world, this does not forbid certain portions of myth to have an experience of time as we know it.
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> Since myth is malleable, there is nothing wrong with a group of people sharing a set of myths that obey at least some laws of cause and effect, and that have something similar to measurable time as a shared experience.
> ...
> I am aware that some of my use of a science-like approach to some facets of story and background may be a distraction to others, but for me some carry-over from science and cause-and-effect helps enhance my experience of the strange and wonderful.
I realise that those are your tools to working with Gloranthan mythology, mine stem from another source even though my background was originally science. I see two strands when working with the mythology of Glorantha. First, our own world:
I believe that all of the mythology of our world derives at some point from the experiences of individuals interacting with the other world. The techniques for accessing the other world are well known: dreams, visions, numinous moments, mystical experience, meditation, trance. Ignore the argument as to whether this is just fantasy or not, that's not what I'm talking about here. Don't just dismiss that these things haven't or don't happen - people write them down and we can read them. Writing them down is an imperfect way of recording something that is a personal other worldly experience, truly not of our world. Some have used other media, such as poetry or painting, but ultimately these are just as limiting as writing them down. The experiences that people have had may make no sense at the time, it may take a while to make up a big picture. When telling of these experiences, we need to hear things in a coherent form - a story. By fitting the words into a story, the original experience is further removed from its source. Time passes, stories get edited... It is possible to revisit the myth in the otherworld, through dreams, visions, numinous moments, mystical experience, meditation, trance, etc. The "visitor" may experience something more in the vein of the original experience, rather than the written form and may even find the experience very different - their own personal experience.
Secondly, Glorantha: Glorantha is a fictional world with a fictional mythology. We build Glorantha by using the real world as an example. The geography looks like real geography, but we've been told everything comes from mythological time. The histories mimic the way real world empires and peoples have come and gone. The only difference we are told, is that magic exists - it crossed the barrier from mythological times into the now. The obvious way to explore these times of myth is to look at real world mythological experiences. Just as in our world, those in Glorantha can revisit these Gloranthan otherworld experiences, using what ever system they prefer - dreams, visions, numinous moments, mystical experience, meditation, trance, etc. There will be similar issues resolving those experiences into real world communications. Fortunate for us, it's easy for others to have these experiences and experience them themselves. The shared experience of Gloranthan mythology is not as fleshed out as it seems. We have the stories, but they are lacking in details - is the face of Orlanth the same to all of those who go and see him. Is the time experienced in the god time the same for all? Is the shared experienced of myth in Glorantha the same for all - just as in this world, I don't think it is. I think most of it is "storied" to make sense, and when you get there it's your experience.
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