It seems to me that familiarity with Arachne Solara cannot be traced
back with even shaky certainty to either Dragon Pass or Peloria. I can
only think of three circumstances where AS is revered to a point that
resembles standard whorship. Pelorian "whorship" of AS to my knowledge
begins with Deezola. Cults of Prax suggests that she was a priestess
of AS, while later sources say merely that she contacted
her. Cragspider is the center of Cliffhome's reverence for AS, and
there is nothing to suggest that there would be the same level of AS
awareness in the Pass without her. Her conection with AS, if memory
serves, predates Deezola's and so it could be said that Cragspider is
the center of AS awareness. The only other whorship of AS seems
to be the beastmen. Their whorship of her is primitive and shamanic,
it seems, and while filled with eerie rituals and frightening
symbolism, would probably be similar to other sorts of shamanism. The
existence of the beastmen in some models seems to begin in the second
age, so it seems quite feasible that the First Council was responsible
for the spread of awareness of Arachne Solara, especially
considering that AS was such a recently introduced Goddess in that
period (what with her first appearance being in Hell for the forging
of the Great Compromise, an event that occurs right before the
Dawn). But there is nothing to suggest that the First Council was the
center of Arachne Solara Lore. As with many other things, it seems
possible that the Council merely solidified and intermingled many
peoples' understanding of the Sun Spider. Saying that AS is connected
to Ginna Jar or is the ghost of the Goddess Glorantha seems to
indicate to me anyway peoples' desire to connect an elusive and
somewhat disconnected diety to preexisting lore. Which does not
preclude any of theories from actually being true. But it also
indicates that other cultures, Praxian, Kralorelan, East Islander etc,
may also have understandings of AS that we merely know nothing
about. Our knowledge of her is sketchy at best anyway.
Yours in warp and weft,
Erik Hamilton