Moon madness from Nils Weinander on 1996-01-11 (Glorantha Digest Vol 02)

From: Nils Weinander <niwe_at_ppvku.ericsson.se>
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 18:43:40 +0100

After Nick's blatant lunar propaganda and the equally vehement Orlanthi response I feel compelled to spread some lucidity on the subject of the Red Moon. The following is a document written by the scholar Tomboro from Mokato, a man of great learning and many opinions. This text was spread to all Mokataoan schools which accept foreign students in order to give them a true account of the nature of the Red Moon.

'There is much consternation and many theories regarding the heavenly body hovering above the western horizon. I refer of course to the phenomenon known as the Red Moon. That very name is in itself paradoxical. Everyone knows that the good moon which protects our dreams while we sleep is white and that the bad moon which tries to entice us and destroy us with nightmares is black.

There are three main schools for the origin of the Red Moon. I will, for reasons which will be apparent, call them the Optimist school, the Pessimist school and the Realist school.

The Optimists claim that the Red Moon is a preflection of coming glory. A sign put up by the Sun and the White Moon to tell us that the healing of Glorantha is close and that the Sun and White Moon will rise in unison, neither outshining the other, both without shadow.

The Pessimists say that the Red Moon is a harbinger of doom. The Nightmare is coming back and the Red Moon is a preflection of the terrors of Tyram and the Black Moon.

The Realists say that the Red Moon is a dream moon dreamed forth by the Sun and the White Moon to reinforce the orderly function of the Dreaming and the Waking. The times are obviously troubled now, so the Sun and the White Moon in their infinite truth and wisdom must have foreseen this four hundred years ago and created the dream moon to help the dream sun.

There are likewise many explanations why this moon is red. The Optimists say that it must mean that the combined light of the Sun and the White Moon will shine red. The Pessimists say that red is the colour of the Sky Tyrant's eye.

The Realists are divided, but the most common theory, which explains both the red colour and the shifting to black, says that the Black Moon is fighting the dream moon in an attempt to ruin its work. Thereby the black shadow creeping over the dream moon. The red is the blood which the dream moon sheds in this valiant struggle.

As you can see, the Realist theory is clearly the most rational one, but it is still not granted for true.'

A fine document indeed. Rumour says that this is the 'beginner's version' and that there is another, much longer text which analyzes the theories in consummate academic detail. Cynical tongues say that it is typical of a worshipper of faultless Hobimarong: it's easy to make no mistakes when you never commit to anything.

So now you might know what the red moon is.

Nils W				| Here we are!
Office: niwe_at_einku.ericsson.se	| We sail on a ship made of dreams.

Home: nilsw_at_ibm.net