Geez, I turn around for a few days to get some work done and suddenly folk drag up a big question involving my supposed area of expertise. Not only that, but the question asked does not have a simple answer, but rather there are several answers. With that in mind, let me try to answer the question: "would a worshipper of Orlanth be able to worship the Lunar Goddess?"
The short answer is yes and no.
Orlanth is a very complex deity, worshipped in a rather wide variety of aspects. Orlanth is the bear, the ram, the thunderer, the storm, warrior, the chieftain-king, the farmer, Ernalda's husband, the killer and the lightbringer. Just to name a few. All of these aspects have certain shared features. For instance, Orlanth is always a powerful storm god.
Some of these aspects are compatible with the Lunar Way. Others aren't. Orlanth the Master of the Middle Air is not compatible with the Red Moon as the Master of the Middle Air. Orlanth the Bear is compatible with the Red Goddess as the Rider of the Star Bear.
The principle adult initiation rite of the Heortling Orlanthi is not compatible with several major aspects of the Red Goddess. The path of the Second Son, with its explicitly anti-chaos (last man against chaos) elements, is not exactly compatible with an mystical acceptance of the Heortling Orlanthi's great taboo. On the other hand, many tribes no longer perform the very severe and rather dangerous Second Son initiation rites - even the traditionalist Sartarites generally use a "Second Son"-lite initiation.
In practice, I suspect that you can't have a devotee/sacred initiate relationship with several of the major Heortling Orlanth aspects (Thunderer, Lightbringer) and at the same time have a devotional relationship with the Red Goddess. However, the Orlanthi are pantheistic and thus it is perfectly possible to give sacrifice to Orlanth the Thunderer on Windsday and give sacrifice to the Red Goddess on Wildsday. It is thus possible to be an Orlanthi (recognizing and worshipping the Orlanthi pantheon) and be a devotee of the Red Goddess.
Does this help at all, or am I just muddying the question?
David Dunham writes:
>I concede there are storm deities besides Orlanth in the Empire (not even
>counting Invisible Orlanth), but Orlanth is the god of Aggar, which is part
>of the Empire last I checked. And of Tarsh. I'm sorry, but I can't envision
>Rascius being crowned with the rites of Entekos. A Sylilan king, sure. Oh,
>and Talastar and Brolia are part of the Empire too. Surely all Talastari
>didn't convert overnight (that's not what White Shirt Day was, despite the
>Lunar propaganda). Thus, Orlanth is a deity in the Empire.
I agree with David. Greg and I have agreed that the DH/Pelandan Lunar attempts to supplant Orlanth with Entekos have largely flopped miserably. The Orlanthi associate Entekos with Molanni and NOBODY with any sense want to worship her.
Joerg writes:
>Worship of the Red Goddess is a very indirect affair even inside the
>Heartlands of the Empire. Various aspects (like Orogeria, the Moon
>Huntress possibly worshipped by Jomes Wulf) aren't quite the Real Thing.
Good point Joerg! I suspect that very few Orlanthi ever end up as (forgive me Nick for what I am about to write) Sedenya devotees. In fact I would question whether someone who has gone through the full Red Goddess initiation rite would still even be Orlanthi in any meaningful way. However, the Seven Mothers are not the Red Goddess.
>You might say that the Tarsh royal house still is miffed at the Sartar
>royal line's role in destroying King Philigos (when returned to fight
>Palashee Long-Axe), and at Tarkalor for besting Phargentes for the hand
>of the Feathered Horse Queen in 1575. But I still think that greed is
>the main motivation for the Tarshites.
Greed and ambition. I do think that in a very real sense, the Heartlands have been drawn into Dragon Pass as a result of the ambitions of the Tarshite royal house. In a way, the poor Dara Happans are babes in the woods getting themselves involved in yet another Orlanthi squabble - just like the poor DHs were during the Bright Empire.
>Personally, I see no trouble at all with an Orlanthi tribal king in
>Aggar married to a Lunar treaty wife doubling as Ernalda priestess, and
>with a Yanafali tribal champion and an Etyries herald besides their
>Lhankor Mhy Lawspeaker. Bolthor Hairybreeks of the Bilini had no
>problems with this, either.
I agree completely with this. I think the Seven Mothers is insidiousli compatible with Orlanthi worship.
Jeff
End of The Glorantha Digest V6 #572
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