RE: Glorantha Digest V4 #176

From: Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG <bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca>
Date: Fri, 07 Feb 1997 11:27:29 -0500


> I was reading a bit in the paper about Chinese New Year and how it
>is considered necessary to have a fresh (bought live, killed at the store)
>chicken for offerings to the ancestors. It struck me that while it seems in
>Glorantha that the only ancestor worshippers amongst humans are primitives
in
>the sticks, here in the Hub of the Universe (Boston, Mass.) we have people
>from an ancient and advanced culture who practice ancestor worship.

> I'm thinking that it should be possible to have a non-shamenic
>ancestor cult in Glorantha. I've seen an example of a sort; I found it in a
>_Worlds of Wonder_ boxed set I bought used. It was a family cult that
honored
>a specific near-Hero ancestor. _Cults of Prax_ notes that people turn to
>ancestor worship when they aren't happy with the gods; I think that should
>not just be in the boonies but in cities. Perhaps a person keeps a talisman
>or part of the skeleton of an ancestor or ancestors and has a reuseable
>Worship Ancestor. While one would should still not have a DI, perhaps under
>certain circumstances they could incarnate a particularly favored and
potent
>ancestor.

> Any thoughts? How blasphemous am I being? :)

>V.S. Greene : klyfix_at_aol.com : Boston, near Arkham...
>I love breen.

Actually you're not being blasphemous at all. If you go back (and here's one of those annoying references to an out-of-print product...sorry) to Borderlands Duke Raus of Rone, an exile from the Lunar Empire (apparently he got on the wrong side of some disagreement-I'm not sure if it was a Dart War or what it actually was) is said to practice some form of ancestor worship.

My take on this is that ancestor worship can occur anywhere in Glorantha.  If you follow the Chinese example for Kralorela it might be very common there. In the RW the Romans also practised a form of ancestor worship.  They especially venerated the important ancestors they'd had. (Most notably those who'd been a success in the Cursus Honorum (the chain of public offices that Romans had to hold in order to become eligible for the highest office in the city-Consul). This might be the model that's followed in Glorantha. If you have an ancestor that manages to make his or her mark in the world (maybe through Hero Questing or even worldly accomplishments?) you might be able to obtain benefits from worshipping them.

I don't know if you necessarily want to assume that the practise exists just in a shamanic form.

Glorathan reasons for ancestor worship might include:

  1. Simple respect for your ancestors.
  2. Gives you a feeling of being part of something bigger that only blood relatives can share. (How's that for an elite group?)
  3. You don't want crazy great-great-great uncle paying you visits in the middle of the night or special occasions.
  4. You've got an ancestor that was powerful enough to make him or her worth worshipping. This is where it the distinction between ancestor worship and a hero sub-cult might get fuzzy. (If there is a real distinction).

I'd have to agree I don't think you'd get DI unless your ancestor was Humakt in which case it's not really ancestor worship is it? The spell benefits you'd get (other than hopefully a lot of friendly ancestors to learn spirit spells from) would vary a lot depending on the ancestor.

Oliver D. Bernuetz
bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca


Powered by hypermail