Re: Re: Orlanth cares

From: KYER, JEFFREY <jeff.kyer_at_...>
Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 09:32:26 -0500

Julian Lord wrote:
>
> However, such religious cults and political organisations share deep links,
> and in most cases a political action and a religious action will
> actually combine into one single action.

Not really, I fear that the Orlanthi are far more simple than that. The Clan and to a less extent Tribe are the main concern.

Only with Sartar did we start to see anything more collective in Dragon Pass and withthe passing of his cult and kingdom, the Heortlings there are reverting to their more squabbling ways.  

> Political organisations and religious ones have it in common that all
> create "circles of exclusion", defining for instance who is kin and
> who is non-kin.

Kin is who you live with and who helps you to live. Not too complex, that. Just because some wierd god-talker who has clearly been up on the mountain top tells me I should think of all the tribes of Sartar as kin, doesnt mean we're goingg to listen to him. He's clearly mad.

Now if he pulled a few miracles out of his hat, we'd change our minds because we're a practical folk.  

(Odd Venn Diagram of social obligations deleted)

> A fairly crude model admittedly, and it should be remembered that
> Heortlings multiply these various spheres quite bewilderingly
> (there are many many clans, and many many cults,
> and many many many overlapping circles of exclusion).

...at which point the analogy becomes less than useful for day to day living and surviving in Dragon Pass. And more practical rules used.  

> One important difference though with RW schemes is that
> Gloranthan otherworld entities (such as Orlanth) are
> self-evidently manifest in the cosmogony of the world :
> ie in Glorantha "outside the political, inside the religious"
> is a fully discrete possibility, which in RW is a
> debatable one (depending on one's beliefs).

Its actually _harder_ to have faith in a god when he continually manifests and then gives you powers in exchange for sacrifice...

(I believe in Yelm when He is not Shining. I believe in Orlanth when he is Silent.)  

> So, Greg is correct as far as Glorantha is concerned,
> but not as RW is.

The question wasn't about Real World kinstrife, I think.

Jeff

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