Thanks peter, I was in the process of doing that myself, but you did a pretty thorough job.
Develyn, there are a few things it might be usefull for you to bear in mind before entering into a debate like this.
Firstly, any theory about divine nature and the role of worship in glorantha has to contend with the fact that atheism, monotheism, animism and mysticism are all valid religious philosophies. I won't claim that they are equal - they are not - but that is only becasue they are no equivalent. They are all internaly consistent, make correct predictions about the behaviour of natural/magical phenomena and all provide effective magic. Any understanding of glorantha in general must be able to encompase all of these on equal terms.
Secondly, religious philosophy in glorantha closely follows real terestrial philosophical models. The lunar view of their gods seems similar to the Hindu idea of divine masks and manifestation as avatars. Malkioni doctrines display similarities to various european and middle eastern theories such as the greek theory of creation through emmanation - - just have a look at the composite creation myth in Wyrms Footprints.
I've seen people put forward the thesis that the gods are manifestations of their worshiper's beliefs dozens of times over the last 10-15 years. It seems to be a natural idea for modern rationalists with no understanding of religious philosophy to come up with. Yes, the beliefs of worshipers do have a strong impact on their religion, glorantha even has a mechanic for how this influence works - heroquests. You have to ask youself, why do they believe in the first place? What are those beliefs based on, and how are they confirmed through the religious experience?
Simon Hibbs
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