Little Sun

From: Stephen P Martin <ilium_at_juno.com>
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1996 03:01:54 EST


Howdy Y'all. Hope it is less wet where you are than it is here!

<MOBTOTRM_at_vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au>
>I for one find this topic immeasurably more interesting and MGF-related
>than some of the more esoteric debates also running at present (eg.
wacko
>stuff about time running faster, people ager slower or whatever it is,
>before the Sun Stop). However Joerg, Stephen, Peter and the other
scholars
>can argue about this nonsense until the cows come home: I'll just
cheerfully
>ignore them.
>

S'Funny, I was thinking almost precisely the same thing about the drugs, some of the spell discussions, etc. I am really enjoying being on the Digest! Don't know how long I'll have the time to continue at this rate, but I think the different threads, and very different topics, are great! Much better than my private digest-like discussions I have had in the past.

Peter Metcalfe <P.Metcalfe_at_student.canterbury.ac.nz> Little Suns, Rinliddi and Youf stars
>
>Stephen P Martin:
>=================
>
>>I think the origin of

Me>>I think Manimat originally was the Darjiin
>>deity of the planet Lightfore. After all, he led his people through the
>>Darkness -- isn't that what the Little Sun always does?
>
>Well the little sun, Lightfore, didn't rise until some time later
>so if The Darjiinites were venerating anyone during the Great Dawn,
>it would have been the planet Kargzant. It's not stated when
>Lightfore arose, but my best guess is after the Dawn.
>

I disagree, and I think you miss my point. By "Lightfore", I do not mean the current deity called Lightfore, or even (necessarily) the planet in the sky. What I meant was, nearly every human culture has their Little Sun which led them through the Darkness. The Orlanthi had Elmal (the Homeguard); some Pelorian people had Antirius (IMO); the Praxians had the Sun Daughter. To the Darjiinites, their Little Sun is Manimat.

Now, by the time of the Sunstop, I think all of these entities are recognized to be/ inhabit the planet knows as Lightfore. The fact that the Buseri can prove that Lightfore the planet rose at the wrong time for most of these, is irrelevant. Belief creates myth, in Glorantha.

>However come the Dawn and the rising of the Sun, I think they
>and a lot of other people would have then transferred the cult
>of the 'little sun' to the Sun on the grounds that the since
>the 'little sun' is on the opposite side of the Heavens as the
>Sun, it is their [Little Sun God] come to life.
>

Again, this is missing my point. Transferred is not current, IMO. I view it like this: looking back, the Second Council can see that every member people (even the trolls) has a myth of the Lesser Darkness. In this Lesser Darkness, one remaining light deity saved the people from destruction (or tried to destroy them, for the trolls). This universal deity is the Little Sun. Whether there was one event, which is now remembered differently, or whether different events happened the same everywhere, is unimportant -- they are different sides of the same mirror, if you will.

>So in Darjiin, the cult of Manimat and Bijiif IMO were one
>and the same (since Bijiif gives protection against the night).
>When the Sun rose at the first Dawn, the Darjiinians decided
>that this was Manimat come again. Since this makes Bijiif
>the God of Lightfore, this fits in well with Plentonius
>claiming it to be a Part of Yelm, don't you think?
>

No, I don't. No, I _really_ don't. Bijiif is about as far a deity from the Little Sun/ Lightfore as I can imagine, and not be darkness, evil, or chaos. With this in mind, I almost see Bijiif as a version of Daka Fal, the Judge of the Dead, and thus a focus for ancestor worship, once upon a time. Thus, he would be the ancestor, and Manimat the God. Kind of opposite the truth, but that makes sense, for the Darjiinites at least. :)

Stephen Martin
ilium_at_juno.com

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The Book of Drastic Resolutions
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