Pam Carlson writes about general pantheon worship (rather than cults based about ONE god)in the Real World:
Pam Carlson:
>This might be a good model for the RW, but in Glorantha, the gods
>actually do things for you, give you real power and help live your life.
Yes but in the RW people believed that this was the case as well! It does not matter whether it was true or not, their behaviour and manner of worship was based on what they believed, and I do not think that the RW beliefs of many cultures need be very different form the Gloranthan ones.
Also, bear in mind that you can pray to a god to help the crops grow, but it is still more important to plant the crops first! So worship of the gods is important, but in general it is used to help your endeavours, not replace them. This must be reflected in the energy expended by the average person in their worship.
I am beginning to feel that there might be an advantage for a lot of rural Orlanthi, who have many roles to perform, to be initiated into the worship of the whole pantheon, rather than ONE god exclusively, and then pray to an appropriate god. I agree that this should not give you all the benefits of some one who dedicates themselves exclusively to that god, just minor but helpful blessings. Of course then the magic system, which reflects the blessings of the gods, does not really work! A more practical approach is the associate god approach of Alex Ferguson, which means you do not have to start from scratch with the magic system, but emphasises the general worship of other gods in the pantheon as well as the worship of your one god.
Stephen.
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