Humakti

From: PMichaels_at_aol.com
Date: Tue, 7 Mar 1995 22:48:45 -0500

Several folks have written about their ideas about Humakti, so I thought I'd join in with some of my thoughts too.

I start with a quote from Rick Fields' book _The Code of the Warrior_.

• --- Roberto Renaldo was an anthropologist working with the Ilonget, a people he _thought_ were former headhunters in the Philippines. When missionaries told him that some of his Ilonget companions had recently gone headhunting, the Ilonget denied it vehemently. One of them said, "How could you possibly think this of me? I held your wife's hand on the trail. I carried you across this bridge. I fed you. I looked after you. How could you think I would do such a thing?" Then one day, through a casual remark, he learned that the missionaries were right. Some of his Ilonget friends had, in fact, continued the headhunting practices of their ancestors. "When I suddenly discovered that everyone took heads, that all the nice people who held my hand and fed me had taken heads," said Renaldo, "I felt completely disoriented. You can't imagine what a devastating experience it was. It confounds your categories, to say the least." His informants' revelations were disturbing, but so was a letter he received from his draft board informing him that his deferment had been canceled. He would continue his fieldwork, it seemed, in Vietnam. Now it was his Ilonget friends who were horrified. They remembered the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, and they remembered seeing a Japanese officer telling his brothers - that was how they put it - to move directly into the line of fire. They told Renaldo, "We would never ask out brother to sell his body. That's unspeakable; how can a human being do that?" They implored Renaldo to stay with them where it was safe, where no soldiers would find him. "I said, 'I thought you guys were into headhunting. Don't you think I should go off to fight the war?' They said, 'War? Soldiers sell their bodies.' " It was, Renaldo remembered, "hard to describe how morally appalled they were by this. It was just unthinkable to them that anyone could do that." And that, perhaps, is the underlying message of the first warrior. He might kill for many reasons, many of them inexplicable or even reprehensible to our eyes. He might kill for revenge, or to be admired, or to take a head to gain a powerful soul, or to give his child a name; in some cases he might even kill, like us, for resources like land or "protein." But whatever the causes of his fight, whether it had to do with the mythic-psychic undergrowth of the first planters, or the ecological paleo-cybernetic balancing of people and environment, or the genetic success of the fittest and fiercest, whether brave or chivalrous or sneaky, the first warrior's fight was personal. No one fought for him and no one could order or force him to fight. The first warrior was sown along with the first garden, was invented along with cultivation, when the clear-cutting of the earth began. He fought, strange as it may seem, to bring life from death, as the seed fallen in the earth brings the plant to the sun. He fought to restore the balance of the world, of his people, again and again, against the others, the not-quite-humans. But he didn't sell his body, and he didn't sell the body of his brother either. He was, to put it simply, responsible for his own actions. It was a straightforward sort of code - a good place for a warrior to start.
• ---

I think this approach to violence is especially appropriate to Humakti from the independent minded Orlanthi cultures. IMO the Sartarite Humakti have obviously taken their independence to the extreme. They reject such traditional Orlanthi values as clan honor and revenge, accepting only their own personal beliefs about what to be responsible for and what is "honorable behavior". To me, the honor described by the Sartarite Code of Humakt seems in many ways to be the opposite of traditional Orlanthi Honor. The honor of the Code is very individualized, with only the warrior being responsible for his or her actions. Traditional Orlanthi honor binds the individual into the group context, making him or her responsible for and responsible to his or her kin. The severing of kinship ties is integral as a way to disconnect the Sartarite Humakti warrior from this traditional cultural dynamic. (Thus, I think that the severing of kinship ties is basic to Humakti myth anywhere that Humakti honor is defined as something different from the honor of the culture it is found in.) It was by severing these ties, removing Humakti worshippers from the bloody clan feuds (and allowing Orlanthi clans NOT to be held responsible for the actions of Humakti kin), that allowed the Sartar Code of Humakt to be created. The Sartarite Humakti honor is DIFFERENT and SEPERATE from the honor of the Sartarite Orlanthi. And the very fact that the cult of Humakt has to create a ritual around duals between cult members says something to me about just how independent the members are.

Danny Slicer: "As your Sword, I'm giving you a direct order to retreat!"
Mel Gibsword: "What's that? I can't hear you over the Call to Glory ringing in my ears! And you can damn well dual with me over this later, if either of us survive!"

And I think it's even WORSE in Esrolia!

But, I also think things are different for Humakti in other areas. In Eastern Ralios, I think things are almost the complete reverse from Sartar. Humakt (or Humath, as he is known there {nod to Shannon Appel}.) is Orlanth's brother (and so is Associated, IMO), the sorts of things a Humathi warrior deals death over are the traditional Orlanthi conflicts. Humath's Code of Honor reinforces the traditional clan code of honor. This results in individual Humakti challenging and killing one another much more frequently than in Sartar. It also results in, given the deadly magics available to Humakti, clan warfare being more deadly than in Sartar. This is part of the reason that the Ralios Orlanthi remain fractious and not as politically developed as the Sartar Orlanthi. There are few purely Theyalan kingdoms in Ralios which are stable. In Lankst the Orlanthi clans form the Confederation of Jofrain only in emergencies. (Although they do use the threat of the Confederation to get tribute from the elves and collect trade revenues from Bad Deal, which are used to finance a military force against the Telmori and the dragonewts. I think a large part of this force are hired Humakti {see below}.) Surkorion was once an independent kingdom, but joined the Confederation once long ago and has since been considered just another part of Lankst. Otkorion has lately been heavily supported by the Henotheist Archbishop, and remains a unified kingdom only due to his support and the continued influence of Safelstran culture. In the East Wilds there are groups which call themselves kingdoms, but are in reality tribes when compared with other Thayalans. But, I wander from my subject.

 In Safelster, I think there are two different Humakti groups. One is made up of the (Hrestoli) Malkioni Knights who worship Saint Humakt, the "Angel of Death." These worshippers follow the culture and mores of Malkioni culture, and their Code of Humakt reflects that. Differences of opinion and disagreements are settled by their Lord, to whom they have sworn their duty.  

The other Humakti-worshipping group is the Humakti-for-hire. {nod of thanks to Paul Reilly for this understanding} These are the professional mercenary bands, with most bands being made up of a mix of individuals from both Theyalan and Malkioni cultures. They probably have a loss-of-kinship myth much like the Sartarite Humakti. Their Code of Humakt probably has to do with keeping unit discipline and honoring their contracts, and they probably have very strong unit cohesion. The behaviors other Humakti define as "honorable" are probably negotiated as part of the contract. "Hey, killing all the women and children will cost you _double_." They are perhaps the least individualized of all the forms of Humakti warriorship.

Anyway, that's some of what I think.

Peace,

     Peter

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End of Glorantha Digest V1 #201

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