WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS NO ONE-ARMED DUCK BANDIT ANECDOTES (MORE'S THE PITY!) MYTHIC INTERPRETATIONS Terra continues to astound, proving language is no barrier.
>~Thomas Bulfinch? We may be able to speculate why some sources are should
>be abandoned.
Bullfinch has probably done much more good that harm. Most people know
about, say Odin/Wotan without necessarily getting bothered about his violent
rapes and transvestitism. Popularisations and reinterpretations of myth are
in
one sense part of their nature. They get reinterpreted just about every
generation, losing some (and sometimes all) of their original meaning but
gaining new meanings in a way that keeps them relevant and "good to think".
In the west, the Book of Genesis (the first book of the Bible) has been
interpreted to mean many many different things, yet it still is a
cornerstone and a valuable tool for the way the West thinks about the 'big'
questions of life and meaning.
Our understanding of Glorantha (which ultimately can't be separated from
Glorantha, itself except as an act of faith - can it?) changes the same way,
changing to some extent as gaming
conventions change, as the "scale" and distortions of our various rules
systems
change, as we delve deeper and encounter problems and contradictions which
change the way we conceptualise the Lozenge, and also changing as our
culturally-fluid ideas
about masculinity, heroism, gender and appropriate behaviour change. This is
subtle but ever-present, and is reflected in the ever-changing/ever-the-same
nature of discussion on the Digest. Differences that are ultimately personal
preferences/ personal visions gain currency, are adopted, become "official"
or are swept aside. Could *anyone* produce the cult write-up of Yelorna
these days without it being a parody?
While we like to imagine Glorantha as a realm that can be logically (though not necessarily scientifically) understood, its underlying assumptions are as much those of literary genre and mythic resonance as positivistic deduction. And to borrow an analogy from chaos theory, a sacrificial smoke in Sartar may have as much effect as a butterfly beating its wings in the Amazon. (Hold on, chaos theory can't work in Glorantha... can it? :))
TRUTH To those seeking truth:
DND says, "Truth is like a trollkin. Sometimes you have to bash it to see if it squeals."
The Crimson Bat says, "Truth is like an army. Once you've absorbed one or two, you develop a yearning for more. But in the fullness of things, they all begin to taste the same."
One of Argraths says. "To the victor the spoils. *I* relit the flame of Sartar. You beardy women all go that?"
Goedel's Incompleteness Theorem demonstrated that there are always some things within a given system that cannot be proven - within a given world, we cannot prove nor disprove anything without going outside the system - which in most cases is impossible. I find this analogy useful both for everyday metaphysics, gloranthan metaphysics, and for our own 'viewing Glorantha' metaphysics. Is my understanding accurate?
But ultimately:
Wallace Stevens says, "I was of three minds/ like a tree/ In which there are three blackbirds".
Mu.
John
nysalor_at_primus.com.au John Hughesjohnp.hughes_at_dva.gov.au
The most important function of art and science is to awaken the cosmic religious feeling and keep it alive. - - Albert Einstein.
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