> >Except that we know the gods already reproduced sexualy,
Well, kind of : most of them do, but at a certain level of depth, it is clear that the gods are "mortalo-morphisations", or alternatively that their sexual attributes are at least partially consequences of mortal sexual activities. Remember that in the early Green Age, the distinction between people and gods was VERY blurred.
What we *do* know is that the cosmos was organised according to the rules of a primal Cosmic Duality (or Multiplicity) : cosmic sex is an attribute or devolution of this original separation and rejoining.
> >and even
> >that our ancestor grandfather mortal (substitute various cultural
> >First Ancestors here) was born in this way, so this seems
> >unnecessery.
>
> Do we? The implication is there but the actual mechanism is undefined
> in everything I've read. KoS actually says that Grandfather and
> Grandmother Mortal were created by *all* the gods which is nothing
> like sexual reproduction, not even an enormous orgy.
From one POV at least, it is *exactly* like an enormous orgy.
This is a universal cosmogonic activity best understood as cosmic sex.
> Then the Red
> Godess was created (or reborn) by seven heros
... seven *mothers* ...
> and Gbaji was created by
> committee. So at the very least we know that there are alternatives to
> sex in Glorantha.
But the concept of not-sex is a Ulerian Mystery ...
The difficulty here is that, in general, the original Cosmic Sex is unattainable, and there are only broken, Inner World small sexes available, particularly in people's limited understanding of what "sex" and "not-sex" are.
Most people can't personally feel the activity of the daffodils as sexual, let alone Maker or Grower or other such beings.
> >If heroquests were
> >necessery to cause conception,
I personally believe that these would be a kind of reverse HQ.
That is, the heroquesting process refines some parcel of Inner World reality, to make it more essence-like, god-like, spirit-like, Rune-like, whatever : the general effect is that the substances in question become more unlike the rest of the world.
They fly apart, or struggle against each other.
My basic approach in my current Ulerian writings is that she is the force that brings these separate substances together again, so that unlike things, through the force of Love, become like, or separate things become mixed.
I'm not sure I like the term of "Instinctive HQs", but I do like the idea behind it.
Some forces, notably the Gloranthan Court entities, are so Primal that they preceded normal self-awareness, so that their mythology and HQ paths also precede true self-awareness. The Procreation Quest is definitely one of these, but so is the Flee Danger Quest, the Get to the Top of the Hill Quest, and anything else similar that happens exclusively in the Inner World as part of Mundane Reality.
> >Secondly, if accidental pregnancy is so incredibly rare in
> >Glorantha,
FWIW, I don't believe this at all. The Procreation Quest precedes self-awareness, which means that the normal Instinctive HeroQuesters will be unaware that they're attempting procreation, until its too late, they've fallen in love/lust, and they're having it off in the woods/behind the shed/etc.
> Not necessarily, accidental pregnancy is generally a far more risky
> thing that one occuring within the rules of the society.
Don't accept this either : if there are Instinctive HQs, then they are part of the foundations of society/anthropology/biology, not outside the rules.
The kind of biological control that modern Western society encourages, that is 99.9 % effective contraception, very effective abortion techniques, the interchangeability of gender rôles, should be seen not as the norm, but as an historic mutation of our perceptions.
Then again, the generally excellent health care and correspondingly high age expectancy are similar mutations.
The point being, that accidental pregnancies are a normal feature of group survival, in Glorantha as in RW.
Julian Lord
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