>Me>I think Martin errs when he suggests Seven Mothers for
> >Rufelza. The Seven Mothers is really the Lunar Provincial
> >Church which would not be worshipped within the Heartlands.
> >I don't know on what grounds Martin doesn't think the
> >Rufelzans aren't numerous but as Jillaro is a lunar city
> >and is large enough to have a mob, Rufelza would seem
> >perfect for them.
>Cultural and historical grounds really. The Rufelza cult is potent in the
>Osliran Heartlands due to the nature of DH society and the inclusiveness of
>the lower classes within the cult, empowering them against the nobility and
>the Yelmic power structure.
While Rufelza is a cult for hoi polloi, it isn't a byproduct of Dara Happan social system for the long form writeup of Rufelza at http://www.glorantha.com/hw/cultlong_rufelza.html states:
Worshippers almost always consist of common people, especially
the unemployed, primarily in Lunarized cities. Glamour has the
highest concentration of her worshippers, and though she has
more worshippers in Silver Shadow than any other Satrapy, she
has few worshippers in rural areas, and even fewer in lands
outside of the Lunar Heartland.
Since Jillaro is a major Lunar city (Glorantha: Intro p90) as opposed to a Sylilan city, Rufelza worship will be potent there.
>Sylila is not DH, it's Orlanthi and was conquered a century after Rufelza
>rose. So they were first converted in large numbers in the 1400 period and
>that would have been by the 7Ms.
I'll have to contradict you here.
"To convert the provinces, the New Monks created the Church
of the Seven Mothers, or Provincial Church. Instead of
worshipping the Goddess directly, worship of the Mothers of
the Goddess is emphasized, drawing upon parallels between
the Seven Mothers and the Orlanthi Lightbringers."
Glorantha: Intro p131.
The New Monks Revival is mentioned in the Lunar Wane Chronicle timeline as occurring in the Fifth Wane (and it sounds like they took their name from the wane), two or three wanes after Sylila was conquered. Sylila was converted to the Lunar way through virtue of the myth of their ancestor Odayla being tamed and ridden by the Goddess. The provinces do not have this connection and so required the Seven Mothers to convert them. Hence while Sylila and the Provinces share a common history, there's also a cultural difference between them. IMO it's as follows:
Although the Sylilans are Orlanthi-sans-Orlanth, when they do worship Lunar cults, it's the proper Heartland kind (i.e. Danfive Xaron, Irrippi Ontor, Yara Aranis, Natha, Etyries etc) not the hickish Seven Mothers cult. Lunar dominance is also assured by many men worshiping Odayla who was ridden by the Goddess and IMO they experience this in their rituals.
Provincials are also Orlanthi-sans-Orlanth, but for moon worship they largely go for the Seven Mothers. They don't have the special knowledge of Odayla and the Goddess that the Sylilans do. Although the worship of the Seven Mothers is as common in the provincial cities as Lunars are in Dara Happa (and by implication more common than in Sylila), it's shallower than what is found in Sylila.
>I would agree that Jillaro is large enough to have a mob, though
>I think it has a _small_ mob at that.
I would bump it up to a sizable mob myself, although it wouldn't be any larger than a thousand people (ie 5% of the total city population).
>Therefore I think that the Rufelza cult is also
>small and localised to perhaps one temple in the city's poor quarter,
I think that quite a few temples exist, each patronized by of one of the ruling families and used for various political and commercial ends (c.f. Clodius and Milo). The worst time is when they scream "we are all one" and the mobs go on a rampage together...
>while the 7Ms will have a much more imposing presence.
I have my doubts about this. Although the Seven Mothers Cult might have originated in Jillaro, it's probably moved to greener climes in Mirin's Cross where it won't be scorned by more knowledgeable Lunars.
>I also think that Jillaro
>is the only city in Sylila with a full Rufelzan temple.
I agree. I don't think there's a mob in Thubana (although being Dara Happan, it's not large enough) and other significant Sylilan cities would are neither large enough nor Lunar/Dara Happan.
Powered by hypermail