AW: Re: Magical contraception

From: Goihl & Fahey <goihlk_at_NuYHdTL4fLsvwyT7YZjrAsxpLdfcgNB1rSAUEd-QH9rDUViOVZRD7gd3lcz_cVZefUeZ0>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2007 19:19:16 +0200


Mark:

>Of course our history didn't have fireblades, flying horses, moonburns and
the like.  

Another way to say it is that Glorantha is like what pre industrial people thot Earth was like. They were afraid that someone might have a flaming sword and maybe that "The Turkish Sultan" or someone had a flying horse, and that huge areas were scorched bare by unknown forces of evil magic.  

>Sure, _we_ know that crops will grow and the sun will rise regardless of
prayer and ritual,  

But most RW people did and still do some prayer or magic for such things. Open a paper to the astrology section. People believe in that stuff. Go to other countries where people buy magical charms and swear those are what helped them.  

>Glorantha isn't like that, it is a world in which 'science'
>is actually built around the old assumptions, not modern science.
 

Well said.  

>Without that prayer, the crops may well not grow, regardless of the
>nutrients in the soil. That wound didn't heal because of the body's
>immune systemn, it was because of the prayers that were said over it
>as the ritual herb was rubbed into it.
 

Gloranthan use of magic includes what we know as skill and knowledge. So if you do your spell you're also carefully planting seeds at the right depth and distance. The spell helps you do that. Think of people picking cotton on the old plantations. They sang as they did it. The singing was their magic to keep working in the hot sun. We'd just say it comforted them, but Gloranthans think that is magic.  

>In detail, Gloranthans do have powers that we and our

>ancestors did not, but then again they also face problems

>not found in the RW, from ice demons scouring the crop
>to Mallia's servants poisoning the well with a glare. Ultimately,
>they various differences basically cancel each other out.
 

Right. Good way of putting it.  

Daniel

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