Mythologically Correct Thread... from Peter Metcalfe, CAPE Canty on 1994-11-29 (Glorantha Digest Vol 01)

From: Peter Metcalfe, CAPE Canty <CHEN190_at_cantva.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 15:38:43 +1300

David Dunham:

>It's true that Dendara is listed in the Cults Book as being part of the
>Eastern Pantheon. (No Sun God is listed, however, so I'd like to learn your
>source that Dendara is the Kralori Sun's wife.)

Somewhere in What the Dragon Lord tells me, Dendara is mentioned as serving her husband...

>However, Babeester Gor, Maran Gor, and Ty Kora Tek are all listed as part
>of the Pamalt Pantheon.

Only in the Pamalt Pantheon. They were not listed (at all) under their names in Learning the Right Footpath.

>>Sheng may have made her Wife of Yu-Kargzant in both Peloria
>>(and maybe Kralorela)

>If he did, it's news to this Grazer GM. Yu-kargzant's wife is obviously
>La-ungariant. If Dendara has any presence at all, it's as a slave women's
>deity.

The CHDP speaks for the Grazers of Dragon Pass. It does not speak about the Fake Sun Horse Bastards aka Pentan Nomads. The latter have long acknowleged cattle herding and other heresies. I'm thinking that when Sheng came into the Peloria, he dissolved Dendara's marriage to Yelm and married her instead in the guise of Kargzant. That way, he'll set up religious control over the farmers without having to rule through untrustworthy cities.

>how about telling us how the Main Women's Deity is _different_

For starters, if we're going to decide that the name of the MWaFD in Kralorela is different, anybody got any ideas as to what she should be called? My chinese isn't very good (in fact it's barely 1%)

The main difference that I can think of is that the Ruling Dragon Lords of Kralorela do not enact anything like a sacred marriage. From what I can divine of their philosophy, gods seem to be purely abstract phenomenon and to personify them seems to be a act worthy of a simpleton. The City folk would largely follow these teachings. The ideals of a woman would be exemplified in the teachings of Aptanace the Sage...
The virtues of the Kralorelean goddess is held to be sufficiently suitable for the farmers so it's worship is encouraged by the rural mandarins in both male and female farmers (ie meek, industrious and wholely servile). In Peloria, among the rural poulation, Dendara is worshipped mainly by the females. The males worship Lodril, thus reinforcing the Happan perception of Pelorian Peasants as rebellious drunks. The Kralori consider themselves too sophisticated to go for this Jungian Archetype Shit (If women can worship Godunya without bad side effects then why can't men worship a Goddess?).
The only other major difference, I can think of is that many of the rites would be completely different due to the agricultural techniques. I do not think that Kralorela has rites honouring the Lod-plow whereas Dendara rites take place in the cornfields instead of the rice paddies.

Nils:

>>Que? Kralori Goodwife Goddess? She is *primarily* a Farmers Goddess as
>>far as I know.

>I thought the main agricultural goddess of Kralorela was Rice Mother, so
>here I agree with Nick that Dendara is mainly the wife of the sun.

The Rice Mother is for growing rice. Kralorela and China does require other sorts of crops to live upon as well as care of animals (jungle fowl, water oxen, swine etc). Dendara is thus akin to a general store in the farming world. As the city population appear to be of a mystical bent, I can't imagine they would take too much notice of that fact that the Farmers Goddess claims to be the wife of a previous Emperor.

--Peter Metcalfe

End of Glorantha Digest V1 #26