Re: Instinctive HeroQuests

From: Trotsky <TTrotsky_at_blueyonder.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2003 17:53:34 +0000

>
>
>From: Chris Lemens <chrislemens_at_yahoo.com>
>
> =20
>
>>>Yeah, but you may have surrounded that with the
>>>trappings of Theism -- sacrifies, ceremonies, and
>>>such. Think about Animism for a moment, typified by
>>>ecstatic worship -- dancing, drumming, intoxication,
>>>exhaustion, dehydration, etc. That sounds a lot
>>>closer to conception or childbirth to me. An eight or
>>>twenty hour labor surely puts a woman into a different
>>>plane of existence.
>> =20
>>
>
>Simply not to complicate the issue, there is the same intent to enter
>the spirit world. It becomes more difficult with the Monotheism of
>the west where communal prayer is the main contact ordinary people
>have with the other worlds. I would guess at some sort of blessing
>would serve the Malkoni purpose.=20
>

Blessings can, of course, increase the chances of conception, or the like=
lihood of an uncomplicated pregnancy, but to suggest that they are in any=
 way *necessary* for conception just doesn't feel right to me. Describing=
 conception as a heroquest might be true on some deep level (whatever tha=
t may mean) but I don't find it all useful as a description. IMO concepti=
on appears, to the external observer, just as it does in the Real World a=
nd I really don't have any interest in faffing about with alternative opt=

ions for something so basic.

The Malkioni have rites associated with childbirth and, of course, with t=
he naming of the child some time later. The latter, is indeed a sort of h=
eroquest, in that its a magical ritual which introduces the child to the =
community. The former is, IMO, a less formal affair, but it still has mag=
ical consequences and so is a heroquest of sorts, too. But conception is =
not, in and of itself, a sacred thing in Malkionism (although it can be i=
f you're married). Yes, its a magical act, because it creates a vessel fo=
r a new soul, and this type of thing is clearly magical in Glorantha, but=
 its a form of magic so basic that I think describing it as a heroquest i=
s unhelpful and broadens the definition of 'heroquest' so far as to rende=
r it almost meaningless. By this definition almost *anything* can be a he=
roquest and we suddenly need a new word for what we've called 'heroquesti=
ng' in the past and now becomes merely a subcategory of the all-encompass=

ing term. I just can't see any advantage in this.

If its seriously being suggested that there is some way in which concepti=
on in Glorantha is observably different than in the Real World, which flo=
ws from considering conception as an 'instinctive heroquest', then, well,=
 run with it if it works for you, but all I can see is 'Not In My Glorant=

ha' :-)

--=20
Trotsky
Gamer and Skeptic

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Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

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