clarifications

From: Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: Tue, 05 Sep 1995 11:09:28 +1300


Simon Hibbs:

I had written:

>>The error many make is assuming that Myth equals History. A Myth
>>is a magic tool to comprehend the uncomprehendable Otherworld and
>>draw power from it.

Simon glosses:

>I think what you are saying here is that the gods gain power from
>their association with myths. That's what heroquesting is all about.
>In Glorantha a culture defines it's myths and it's relationship with
>the gods through the acts of it's heroquesters.

Not quite.

The gods do not gain their power from myths. The gods are loci of power in the otherworld. The _cults_ gains their magical power from the myths. The Sun does not cycle through Heaven and Hell by Day and by Night, because he was slain in ages past. The past is practically immaterial. It orbits the Inner World because that is a natural consequence of its interaction with the Cosmic Energies of the World Machine. How such a thing came about is really important only to inhabitants of the Inner World so that they can understand the patterns and master the energies of the Otherworld. What a God makes of the Otherworld is probably too big for most people to comprehend.

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