LOREN MILLER (#90)
About your comments on Mastakos; I can only say that I didn't think the
Mastakos text
through very much, or indeed at all.
>Unlike Michael, I think that the rebirth ceremonies for Ernalda take
>place at the *end* of the winter, and not in the middle. There's
>ample historical precedent on our own earth for this. April used to
>be the beginning of the year. In fact the phrase April Fool arose
>because some people insisted on celebrating the new year three months
>after everybody else, on April 1 instead of January 1, as they had
>done before they adopted the Roman calendar.
Oops! So I fumbled my own english roll writing this. I didn't mean that
the actual
Rebirth ritual takes place during winter or that the Sacred Mead Feast
instantly resurrects the Goddess. What I meant was that the Sacred Mead
was a celebration of the Life/Death/Rebirth cycle of the Earth in a more
cosmic aspect; not the specific Rebirth of Ernalda the coming year but
Ernaldas cycles of death and resurrection (the earth's cyclicity in the
linearity of Time). Does this make it clearer?
I see the myth behind this Feast/Ritual as a Funerary Rite for Ernalda among the gods, where Minlister was the host (as he had the largest beer kegs). Only Minlister was seen smiling among the grieving gods. Orlanth himself was particularily pissed off by this behaviour, so he asked aloud why the host was smiling at his own mother's funeral. Minlister, being a favourite son of Ernalda's, had a secret; with his arts of brewing he had discovered many strengthening and otherwise refreshing drinks. And now he had brewed the First Mead for this rite. Amongst the many secret ingredients there was a few drops of Ernalda's blood. He told the gathered gods that they should drink in honour to Goddess of Life and told them that his mother wasn't actually dead but only in a very deep sleep. The gods drank to this and was rejoiced to hear his words. They asked for more of the Mead and wanted to hear his words again. He told them again and once again they rejoiced. This went on for days and nights and the power of their rejoicement touched Ernalda as she lay sleeping so that she started dreaming a happy dream and that was the dream of Voria who suddenly appeared barefooted among with a crown of flowers and told them that the Mother of Life would soon wake up to bring Life back to the world but not until Darkness had lifted. When Orlanth heard this he rushed out and gathered his thanes around him, and they all marched off for war. That is why Minlister is also known as the Smiling God and the Mead God.
[This mythchen came to me as I wrote the answer to Loren. It isn't structured or thought out, but I thought you'd like to see it. I'd like comments on it before I flesh it out.]
And, yes, thanks for the explanation of the phrase April Fool.
IAN GORLICK (#90)
>I like the idea of providing
>Barntar with a wife who represents the household duties but I had not
>considered Mahome in that role. Michael, is this your own idea or does
it have
>precedent in some other source?
Well, I dunno. Propably not. I wrote a small essay on gender roles where
I likened
Woman and Man to Hearth and Plough. In Glorantha this had to be Mahome
and
Barntar. I actually didn't think about that they came from different
pantheons, and in any case you solved that with your gem of a myth.
Muchos gratias.
ALISON PLACE (#91)
Thanks for the spirit equivalencies.
About John's Calendar; I think it's in #40, but perhaps it's easier to
ask him if he could mail it to you. He lives at John.Hughes_at_anu.edu.au
As I know next to nothing of the arcane lore of agriculture, I have to
rely on my betters in this case. Anyone out there who has opinions on
when to plow and sow and harvest in Glorantha?
> Concerning the Hearth Stone ritual, where does the Hearth Stone belong?
>Is it underlying the hearth, in front of it, or above it? I'm thinking
that replacing the
>hearth stone in the middle of Dark Season is going to be a very nasty
cold day's work
>in many places, with the hearth completely stonecold to permit the old
stone to be >dug out if it has to be put underneath the ashes. [... ]
>Could Midsummer's Day or the spring solstice be used instead? Am I
confusing what
>you mean by Ash Day with Hearth Day?
I'd say that the Hearth Stone is the fundament of the household. It is buried in the middle of the house to act as a focus for the family and to ward off malign spirits. You do not replace the Hearth Stone during Hearth Day - you purify it by letting it lie in the hearth fire for a night and a day, and the hearth mustn't be extinguished during this time. So, it's going to be a quite warm day's work in most places. You did confuse Ash Day with Hearth Day. Ash Day is basically only a ritual cleansing of the Hearth; it does not require the Hearth Stone to be moved. And I don't think people will be freezing on Ash Day, as it takes place during Fire Season.
The idea you had for divination during Plow Day is very useful. These items should have some symbolic content for the 'caster' of this divination, and IMO they would need to be sacred to Barntar.
Thanks to y'all for the support. I think the eyesores are fixed, as I have now exorcised the gremlins of typographical disorder from my wordprocessor.
A question to Mike Cule (and anyone else who wants to answer): Where can I find the Donandar write-up?
Salvete,
Michael.
Powered by hypermail