more from Alison

From: ian (i.) gorlick <"ian>
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 1995 12:36:00 -0500

        Alex Ferguson says, "I'd personally say that Hon-eel doesn't have a Grain Goddess (in the GL/GoG sense) aspect."

        Her Grain Goddess aspect is based on the article "The Fifth, or Hon-eel's Wane", published by Greg in 'Heroes', Vol. 1 no.6. Hon-eel has very definite earth and fertility connections, as follows, "Hon-eel was a priestess of the earth cult at age 12. She first went to the moon at age 19. At age 24, she went off on a Heroquest and engaged an elf-god lover, who left her with a golden-haired son and a bagful of special seed. The son died a tragic, young death, but the seed proved useful in the hills of the Southlands, and Hon-eel was instrumental in spreading the cultivation of maize through those regions." This definitely makes Hon-eel the agricultural goddess responsible for grain. As an earth cultist turned goddess, she would have all the normal earth fertility powers to remain patroness of her new crop. She is also described as a peaceful, generous, charismatic and cheerful goddess, who attained her greatest feats without warfare. If you have any further interest in the article, I'd be glad to post you some e-mail.

        On another, unrelated note: Andrew Joelson states in his YT essay that, "This mutiny was sparked by a rumor (utterly false), that the gun cartridges were greased with lard (pig fat; unclean)."

         As a matter of fact, the cartidges were initially greased with a mixture of pig and cow fat, making them unclean to Hindu and Muslim soldiers. They were manufactured by a British firm that used animal tallow because it was the cheapest grease available (the joy of lowest bidders, I'll bet). By the time the manufacturers realised the error of their ways and the army instructed the native soldiers to use a mixture of beeswax and vegetable oil, the mutiny was pretty much on its way.

        Sandy says that he disagrees with me on the ability of the Sartarite Chalana Arroy worshippers to be vegetarians (125). I hereby retract this. It is possible for determined individuals to manage this almost anywhere in Glorantha, except where the growing season is terribly short, which it isn't in Sartar and the Pelorian lands. That the whole culture would find it very difficult to adopt vegetarianism is a different argument, and I would support that.   

        Of his two examples, Japan's climate is much like parts of New England, while China varies from subtropical to a continental frigidity. The Chinese keep pigs and chickens everywhere. In the northern regions, they rely on sheep and beef as well. The Japanese rely heavily on fish everywhere. A peasant may be too poor to eat meat much, but that's hardly the same thing as avoiding meat.  

        In Sartar, the climate may be warm enough to grow decent crops, but chances of famine are greatly increased everywhere if they have to depend only on arable lands for life. Keeping animals for dairy and eggs makes sense, as they provide rich food from land that is unsuited to crops, and provide fertiliser besides. Once you keep dairy herds, they have to be culled, and it would be a disrespectful waste of meat to not eat it. From there it is a very short step to raising some for meat, as of course they do.  

        Those Asians who try to remain vegetarian, the Buddhist monks, are a small fraction of the population. Their moral stance as Buddhists combines a respect for all life and a wish to live ascetically, so that they may be more likely to attain release from the Wheel of Life. Likewise, Christian monks in Europe were abstemious (but not vegetarian) because they were substituting a mild form of white death as a substitute for the red death, martyrdom. While Chalana Arroy certainly believes in respecting life, there is no ritual need for asceticism or for martyrdom.

        You are right that Ian and I are using a variant of Chalana Arroy, and thank you for pointing it out. I had misremembered the original writeup in Cults of Prax (which I checked after reading your post). I would guess that the consumption of dairy products, and perhaps eggs, is still alright. Cults of Prax does state that even lay members must be vegetarian, and that none may harm a living creature, whereas we have decided that vegetarianism is not necessary and haven't paid much attention to the second provision, since we rarely have a CA cultist with us. Most of the time our characters have to haul themselves in to a temple for treatment, and have no need to know whether or not their healer wrung the chicken's neck herself for that fortifying soup.

        I would also put forward the argument that Ernalda and Odayla each have rituals that ensure the proper reincarnation of animal souls. Since it seems that animals are meant to be eaten, it would thus be ungrateful for CA cultists to refuse Ernalda's bounty. After all, plants are also alive and also Ernalda's. Eating animals joins Chalana Arroy more fully to the web of life that she supports. That is the best justification that I can come up with for non-vegetarianism among Chalana Arroy worshippers, other than the obvious one that they live in an omnivorous culture.

        I would support wholeheartedly the assumption that CA's believe that farmed, trapped and hunted animals should be treated and killed humanely, and that only what one needs (a very slippery definition) should be taken.

        On the suicide debate, their favoured afterlife is to return as a healing spirit. If local proof of this were available (the newest healing spirit remembers being High Healer Tangwystl, who died last season), it would greatly alleviate their fear of death, but I am sure (like Sandy) that most are just as afraid of death as we are. Also, the ability to live the restrictions and duties of Chalana Arroy with all your heart are so difficult that many probably feel that they will be found wanting when they appear before her after death. Both attitudes will make suicide a difficult option to take.  


End of Glorantha Digest V1 #137


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