<< all this discussion is assuming something that everyone seems to be taking for granted, but that is probably not true in Glorantha.
"You have a soul, which is a part of you that is eternal. When you die, that is but a part of a journey to the next phace of being" etc etc etc.
This is part of the Christian tradition. Why has it become Gloranthan orthodoxy (on the Digest, anyway). Who says everyone has an eternal part? Who says souls are recycled?>>
The Lunars for one, and they're the ones who control the Crimson Bat, which was the topic of discussion.
If we take your definition of souls and death given above there are very few cultures on Glorantha who would not agree with the statement. The Mostali and the Brithini are the only obvious examples, although the Vadeli might too. Even then the Mostali believe in temporary souls, they just don't believe that the soul survives after death; it dissolves into the background energy field from which new souls are presumably created from time to time.
The overwhelming belief in an eternal soul among Gloranthan cultures is unsurprising, given that AFAIK all RW bronze age cultures held that belief. In that sense, the atheist cultures of Glorantha are an anachronism (not that that's necessarily a bad thing).
<<In Glorantha, there are people with these beliefs, but there are people
with widely variant beliefs, as well. And we know that they are all correct,
because they can all prove it.>>
The overwhelming majority do believe in an eternal soul. None the less, you have made a valid point in one way - the Crimson Bat is not the only thing that destroys souls forever; Brithini and Mostali souls also cease to exist when their bodies die. Yet we haven't run out of souls yet, so new ones must be being created.
<<Some people may be confused by the the concept of a spirit, which (in
some cases) can be an intangible remnant of a person left behind after their
death; but a "spirit" is not necessarily the same thing as a Christian
"soul".>>
A spirit, in this sense of the word, is a soul that doesn't have a physical body of its own.
<<Spirits can also be forces of nature,>>
Not all spirits are human souls, to be sure. Indeed, the majority are not IMO. << nameless feelings of dread associated with a place, the "spirit of learning" that even the most unspiritual person can feel over the local temple of Lhankor Mhy, etc. Even the Spirit of the Age. The metaphorical value of these concepts in the RW just has slightly more weight in Glorantha.>>
I doubt anyone is confusing these metaphorical 'spirits' with souls, though.
<<There is a RW belief system that holds everyone has 7 bodies. It's just
as sensible as all this stuff about "souls". If they all met, they could have
a party!>>
I'd agree that not all Gloranthan cultures have the same concept of what exactly a soul is, but the great majority do believe in "a part of you that is eternal" to use your own words. However, you are right that not all Gloranthan cultures regard the 'soul' in this sense as an indivisible thing - the Doraddi regard the mind and spirit as two separate parts of what other cultures would call the eternal soul.
<<So we could we avoid talking about souls unless we know what Gloranthan
thing we are really talking about?>>
I think *we* know what Gloranthan thing it is we're talking about, so I don't see any need to avoid using the word. Six of the nine 'What the Priests Say' articles in GoG mention that people are believed to have souls. The three exceptions are the Orlanthi, trolls and Praxians, all of whom believe in an eternal 'spirit' that travels into the afterlife - which I believe could reasonably be described as a soul using your definition.
So if the source material can talk about souls, so can we IMHO.
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #150
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