>From: "simon_hibbs2 <simon.hibbs_at_marconi.com>"
>I can't believe that casual sex, 'the R word that shall not be spoke on
>this list', and various other unplanned or unpremeditated sexual encounters
>are immune from the chance of leading to conception in Glorantha. This
>naturaly leads to the conclusion that perhaps the ritual/magical behaviours
>associated with conception and childbirth are instinctive.
I'm having great difficulty with the idea of instinctive heroquests. AIUI a heroquest involves deliberatly going to the hero plane with a specific objective in mind. Even that can be dangerous and yet it is being suggested that some instinct can manage to substitute for all the planning and ritual normally used.
The mechanics of accidental conception in the real world is not necessarily applicable to Glorantha. Instead I would suggest there are variations in the conception heroquest which invoke different gods so a decitful seduction invokes Eurmal rather than Orlanth, a lustful fling invokes Uleria rather than Ernalda. Even these heroquests are learnt if only as examples of what not to do (thereby guarenteeing that some individuals will perform them).
The more I think of this the better I like the idea, children become a gift from the gods and the child's nature is influenced by the behaviour and traditions of the parents. It becomes a big incentive for ordinary people to follow their traditions because it enhances their chances of healthy children who also follow those traditions. There's even a mythical background - When death was introduced into the world the gods realised that eventually all their followers would die even if they themselves didn't. So they pioneered various heroquests to ensure that their followers could reproduce. Being not very inventive the results were mostly very similar, just different enough to reflect the personalities of the different gods.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/ --__--__--
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