More God Learning

From: Lemens, Chris <CNU!AUSTIN3!lemens_at_cnucorp.attmail.com>
Date: Thu, 07 Nov 1996 10:15:00 +0000


Daniel McCluskey: "Arkat Preserve me from the evils of Illumination!"

Me, GL:
1. Arkat was Illuminated.
2. Arkat was the first God Learner, whom all living God Learners seek to emulate.

Daniel again: "Creating a monomyth out of the vast and confusing landscape that is the GodPlane is obviously a very bad Idea. . . . That doesn't preclude investigation... just tampering."

Me, GL:
The acts of investigation and perceptions cannot be meaningfully segregated from the acts of tampering and changing. Arkat is a perfect example--theoretically unifying Malkionist Monotheism and Theyelan Polytheism was as difficult an investigation as was ever undertaken.   Nonetheless, your point is well taken that modern God Learners approach the GodPlane with caution, deference, reverence, and respect, unlike some of our earlier, more arrogant brethren. Our task s the God _Learners_, not God _Makers_. We do investigate in the belief that our investigations will lead us to a unified understanding of the GodPlane, but do not seek to unify the GodPlane ourselves.

Danny Bourne: "If you look at yourself in 4D you'll see an outline of yourself in all the places that you've ever been all at the same time - so you'll look like a very, very, very long amorphous blob. This is the way you can have co-existing realities as you will pass through where other people were/will be."

Me, GM:
Hmm. This seems right RW, but not IMG because it does not comport with the way I have described heroquests. I have described it such the same entity can be at different places on the God Plane and one can encounter oneself there doing a heroquest that one completed long ago. But one cannot change the way things happened--I don't want to deal with the paradox problem and figure that Arachne Solara prevented it somehow. So I guess the way I could explain this is that people from within Time simply won't notice the 4th dimension, since they are not used to thinking of it as a physical dimension. They will see normal looking people.

Speaking of Arachne Solara, it seems to me that one logical consequence of her eating Kajabor and disgorging Time is that entropy is not engrained in the world. Hence, the world ought to get less magical over time. Glorantha has a "use by" date on the bottom. Does anyone agree? I've worked into a "End of the Age" type scenario where one of the consequences is that the loss of magical energy is replaced. The Dwarves will claim credit, of course.

Danny: "Yep, count me in as a God Learner . . . ."

Me, GL:
Seek illumination and come to Jrustela. (We have one small island here left. Don't tell anyone.)

Peter Metcalfe: "Chris who has called himself a God Learner seeks to cast doubt on an Orlanthi Myth by implying that it is God Learner contaminated."

Me, GL:
Nope. Just showing you how you cannot argue even your own points without referring to the ideas that you repudiate. We are everywhere. The Humakt-Grandfather Mortal story is not contaminated, but purified--abstracted to its basic elements without denying that there is mythic validity to local variations.

Peter: "Then how does he justify the God Learner perception that Time began at the Dawn as true? The only evidence for it is God Learner metaphysics."

Me, GL:
Not really. It is through Orlanth and the other Lightbringers that we know that Arachne Solara devoured Kajabor and gave birth to linear Time. (The lunars claim that Time is cyclical in nature, but we all know that they are just trying to deny the Red Moon's ultimate destiny.) Surely you Orlanthi have noticed it as part of your LBQ heroquests? Perhaps not. It certainly is not central to Orlanth's role in the LBQ. Perhaps some followers of Chalana Arroy would have noticed it.

Chris Lemens, GL

("Look, there! It's a straw man! Burn it!")


End of Glorantha Digest V3 #267


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