> I have to agree with Peter Larsen on this one (apart from the fact
that
> he's my brother and could beat me up). I think there are real problems
with
> the approach that each culture's truths are mutually true even when they
> contradict each other. That's a very late 20th century attitude which may
> work quite nicely for cultural and religious things, since we can't
'email'
> our diety or higher power for a direct answer.
But neither can Gloranthans. A few quotes from old sources as evidence :
the gods, from whom it is difficult to get a straight answer, anyway.
In choosing one stream as a guide, a person finds a cohesive and unified view of reality useful to their individual development. Though one might assume that a particular viewpoint or way of existence is correct and that the others are somehow wrong, as often happened in Gloranthan history, we must warn the reader. Such a limited point of view will only further confuse a difficult subject
There are many different versions of creation, and they are all correct. Even if they mutually reject each other the stories still contain truth and value.
The mystery is not secret to the inner deities of darkness, of course, but they do not share their ancient secrets readily, even with their own kin.
Lets be clear on one thing - the gods do not give straight answers to
questions, there is no one clear truth in Glorantha, and even if it were, no
one would tell the mortals about it. (By the way - all of these were nicked
from Nick Brooke's web site -
http://www.btinternet.com/~Nick_Brooke/one-true.htm - which contains pretty
much the last word on these matters.)
> when you get right down to it, the world has to have come
> from a particular place, regardless of how many different stories are told
> about it. The same applies to Yelm. There is one body which passes
across
> the sky during the day.
Why? One person looks at the sun and sees Yelm, another Elmal. Which is right? Both are. (Or, if you prefer, neither are.) As soon as you accept that, the world can have different creation myths, all equally true. Glorantha is NOT a scientific world, and scientific ideals do not apply. It most certainly fails the reproducability axiom. Myths are not linear, histories more than 1600 or so years old are not linear. Insisting on a single creation myth or a single truth about anything is, in my opinion, being too reductionist and literal.
Cheers,
Graham
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