>I think we have more everyday rituals in the modern world than we all
think.
>For example, many people simply can't seem to function in the morning
without
>making their cup of tea or coffee. In my experience, it doesn't seem to
matter
>whether we actually *drink* the stuff (I know I've not had time to on many
>occasions), but it is the very "ritual" of making the lovely hot drink
>(appeasing the tea/coffee spirit?) that seems to relax you into the day.
>
>Well, that's how it seems to work for me, anyway. Mind you, I was brought
up by
>my mother to give a friendly greeting to Magpies to stop them cursing me
with
>bad luck. I still do it now.
My mother did always tell me to keep some money on me to stop dogs from lifting their leg to me. And if I'd been a little slower it would have happened once too. (I wonder if debit and credit cards count? Maybe only if there's money in your bank account(s)).
I see your point but a lot of those sorts of rituals are no where near as pervasive as the clan wide or culture wide rituals of the Heortlings or other cultural groups in Glorantha. We don't even have school prayers or anything like that anymore (well not here in Manitoba anyway). I think Gloranthans beliefs/rituals are far more pervasive and numerous at least on a local level than most beliefs found in our western cultures.
Here's a poser though. In Glorantha do alien cultures, e.g. the Lunars respect or at least acknowledge local beliefs? If they move into an area do they recognize the local's beliefs about spirits, etc. as being genuine (if misguided and erroneously attributed as to their nature) OR do they just ignore the local's beliefs. And if they do can they suffer consequences from the local spirits? Do the western sorcerous cultures pay any heed to eastern beliefs? Are they more like RW monotheists in their approach to indigenous cultures or are they flexible enough to acknowledge local beliefs BUT tell the locals that they'd not gods, etc. but something else?
Oliver
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