The Dance of the Red Goddess

From: peter metcalfe <metcalph_at_voyager.co.nz>
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 20:02:31 +1300 (NZDT)


Erik Nolander:

>As far as I can tell, one of the reasons that the Red Goddess as
>special, is that she was born within the terms of the Compromise, and
>thus not subject to its laws. If I remember correctly, this is noted as
>the only time a god/goddess has been created within the Compromise.

That's a simplistic way of saying it. The position of the Orlanthi as per KoS is that all new gods (Zistor, Gbaji and the Red Goddess) are bad. All other new gods have been destroyed save for the Red Goddess.

>What strikes me as odd is the fact that there seem to be more gods who
>also weren't born during the Godtime, notably Dormal, Pavis and most of
>the Lunar gods.

No. The Fortunate Succession makes a distinction between the apotheosis of the Red Goddess and all the other new gods.

        'Thousands of people worshipped her, and strove for her
        ideals with all their hearts and souls.
                This was enough to make her immortal.  She could 
        have transcended her physique at that time and remain 
        alive forever in her crimson palace on the other side as 
        her azure sister had done.  But she was not content, for 
        her illumination had revealed more than the old way for 
        her.  She still had lessons for humankind.'
                The Living Goddess planned to reveal, in glory
        and splendor, the secret of her immortality for all to
        see.  This way she would live, and provide the lessons
        for humankind to live'.

The distinction between remaining alive on the other side and remaining alive in this world suggests (to me at least) that the Red Goddess intended her apotheosis to be extraordinary. I do not believe as the Orlanthi do that her actions broke the Cosmic Compromise but I do believe that it was important enough to change the fabric of glorantha and that many people felt impelled to summon their gods to oppose this as a result. Most people who apotheosize (like Pavis) would have simply 'transcended [their] physique and remained alive [...] on the other side.'

Dormal would have apotheosized albeit forcibly. We do not know what Nysalor would have done save that he was killed before he could do anything - or perhaps killed while in the process of doing something but we know not whether his action was successful. Likewise Arkat has likewise gone on to become a god but the nature of his change was a cult secret and is now probably lost.

Zistor was already a god long before he was killed. KoS merely implies that he became one shortly to allow the manifestation of Orlanth on the physical plane to make sense in Orlanthi mythology.

>So, the Red Goddess birth does not seem as singular as
>it is described. Or is it the fact that all of them were mortals who
>somehow achieved apotheosis that sets them apart from Our Beloved
>Rufelza?

No because Rufelza was also a mortal when she was born.

>If so, shouldn't they be worshipped as Hero Cults rather than
>"proper" gods (that is, with lesser magic and importance)?

No.

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