MAstakos and Minlister

From: Michael Raaterova <cabal_at_algonet.se>
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 1995 21:38:21 +0100 (MET)

Here=D5s some other thoughts on two less known gods.

MASTAKOS, SWIFTFOOTED MESSENGER

This is an interesting one. Mastakos is more or less an incarnation of move=
ment and thus travel. He is also Orlanth=D5s charioteer. Why not make him t=
he god of riding as well, which is the primary means of transportation acro=

ss longer distances. And if he i

s the god of riding he could easily gain a more martial mask as the god of =
cavalry or knights (or the orlanthi equivalent) as war chariots are out of =
fashion. And he could also be a storm pantheon analogy to Hippoi. He would =

not be the god of horses but h
orsebreeding and horsemanship. Of course it more propable that the grazers = have influenced the orlanthi concerning horses.=20

He could take the mask of Messenger in more civilized societies, marking th=
e emergence of a rudimentary postservice, with professional postmen. Of cou=
rse the spells of teleportation comes in handy but it would be an expensive=

 service. But if you need that
 document delivered to the Pharoah=D5s court immediately there no need to s= pare the expenses.

MINLISTER, THE MEAD GOD AND BREWER OF POTIONS

One of my favourites. I usually think of Minlister as having a dionysian sl=
ant. Which isn=D5t all that preposterous as he is an Earth God, or at least=
 belongs to the Earth pantheon. Ernalda is the goddess of fruits and berrie=

s but Minlister is the supreme g
od concerning their use in producing alcoholic beverages.=20 If Minlister is indeed the god of the sacred drink (soma, mead whatever) us= ed in rituals of fertility and prosperity, he could easily become a god of = alchemy or potions or philtres of all sorts as well as poisons.=20

Anyways; the Sacred Mead of Minlister is never sold as that would be a ritu=
al crime leading to miasma. It is drunk only in rituals celebrating the lif=
e/death/rebirth paradigm. And the biggest feast of the year should be durin=

g midwinter, when the orlanthi

 and earthcultists celebrate the death and rebirth of Ernalda (the goddess =
is dead, long live the goddess). It may be that this ritual is so magical i=
n nature that it actually resurrects Ernalda from her Dead Sleep (if you be=

lieve that Ernalda actually is
 dead or sleeping during winter).
His most important mask among the peasants would still be that of Brewer of=  ordinary drinks like cider and beer and wine. And why not different flavou= rs of jam?
I have some ideas on Minlister myths. If they become written down i=D5ll po= st them too.

The idea behind my musings on gods is not to present to the world carefully=
 wrought cult descriptions but to share some ideas which might spice up you=
r version of Glorantha a bit. As long as no one threatens me with grevious =

bodily harm i=D5ll keep writing=20
musings.

Salvete,=20

Michael Raaterova.

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