> The shaman would not be part of the cult of Orlanth, but certainly part of
> the culture.
If he's male and part of the culture, he's part of the cult, surely?
Personally I think half our problem is that we're trying to define the
whole thing with very rigid and precise terms. "Real" life isn't like
that: the distinctions between an Orlanthi priest and an Orlanthi shaman
would be much more wooly.
> >I am sorry if I ruined people's Basmoli, I just really liked these
> >hsunchen as not just believing with their heart and souls that they
> >were lions, but showing the physical attributes of it.
This is Glorantha. If they all believe, wholeheartedly, that they look
like lions, and keep that belief up, then they will look like lions.
> Looks like you've missed the point - if the Basmoli have the
> physical attributes of a lion, then that is NOT something that is
> culturally relative. Either the Basmoli look like lions, or they don't. The
> Basmoli's lion nature becomes not cultural belief, but objective truth.
Are you sure? There's some truth in this, but (to take some local
stereotypes), do we agree that all Japanese are small, indistinguishable,
and carry cameras, and that all Americans are loud and lacking in colour
sense? Actual physical observations. Honest. OK, so there may have been
some who didn't conform to these descriptions, but then I wouldn't have
recognised them as Japs/Yanks, so they don't count.
> The folks at games workshop
> (Warhammer, Bloodbowl, etc) more or less say that highelves live on an
> island out in the ocean, which can be interpreted to mean they equal
> brits in their universe, but who knows.
Since the folks at Games Workshop ARE Brits, this seems unlikely. I think
you'll find they're equating this Elven island with Tir Na Nog (how
spel?), the mythical island of eternal youth out in the western ocean:
you know, that one that doesn't end. You could give their elves an
American accent if you like, but really the place is too recently
discovered to have a spot in the mythology.
Jane Williams jane_at_williams.nildram.co.ukhttp://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~janewill/gloranth/index.shtml
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