Been a bit busy but found this article, so far:
Basic Practices in Animism
In animism there are numerous taboos or prohibitions. Prohibitions are made
to preserve the harmony between the spiritual world and physical world.
Places or people where the life force is concentrated are protected. Myriads
of taboos exist and violation of them can result in cursing of a community
and must be atoned for by sacrifices.
Sacred places. Sacred places of worship exist to commune with the spiritual
world. These are places where sacred power is concentrated. In Haiti there
is a sacred tree where a pact with the devil was signed over 200 years ago
by the animistic witch doctors.
Sacred things. A whole host of objects possess power and are potentially
dangerous. Stones are often believed to possess sacred power. This is one
reason you can easily find crystal jewelry and other semi-precious stones
for sale in catalogs and stores. Certain plants and insects are believed to
be sacred and taboo. Carved images are believed to possess the spirit of
divinities.
Sacred actions. Worship includes sacrifices of animals or plants to the
deities. The priests or shamans perform the sacred rites. Omens play an
essential role; this is the origin of saying "God bless you" after someone
sneezes, to protect the spirits from jumping into the suddenly vulnerable
person. Signs in the heavens and certain reptiles or animals encountered in
a day (such as a black cat crossing one's path portending bad luck) may
predict one's future.
Sacred words. There are many oaths, curses, and blessings. The spells of
both white and black witchcraft are sacred words. Words are charged with
sacred power if uttered by a priest.
What happens if the taboos or sacredness is violated?
The same article talks of the spirits coming to punish the transgressor.
-----Original Message-----
From: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
[mailto:WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Stephen McGinness
Sent: 02 June 2008 10:03
To: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re:Spirits
ooh. Research sounds serious. One day I may get the time back to do
research for my gaming. :-)
look forward to seeing if you get anywhere.
Stephen
- In WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com, "Matthew Cole"
<matthew.cole_at_...> wrote:
>
> Heya. This advice is very good when you are only thinking about
these
> generic nature spirits but I'd like to hear what treatment you'd
give to
> spirits from the Praxian Sword Man (you can find the heroband and
practise
> in the Masters of Luck and Death book).
>
> I see exactly what Stephen is looking for and I'd really like
something like
> that myself. I'm gonna research animist taboos online and see what
I get.
>
> Cheers
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of David Weihe
> Sent: 02 June 2008 06:42
> To: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re:Spirits
>
> > OK. One of the things that distinguishes animists from other
kinds of
> > magic using people are the strange things that they do, wear and
say.
>
> Well, they aren't strange to them. They might not even have been
strange to
> medieval European peasants let alone American Indians, Afro-
or
> any other RW animists that you can might know about.
>
> > So. Anyone got any classic spirit likes/dislikes that they have
used
> > with animist adventurers?
>
> Simple place to start:
> Spirits are analogs of RW objects. Some are animal spirits like
mundane
> animals, some plant spirits like mundane plants, some rock spirits,
etc.
> There are spirits that are not analogs, but they tend to be too
difficult
> for non-shamans to handle (and tend to be labeled "hostile"
or "enemy"
> because of the difficulty involved).
>
> Animal spirits will like and dislike what the RW animal would like
if it
> could talk. Frex, rabbit spirits will not like it if you also deal
with
> wolf spirits, frog spirits like occasional offerings of insects,
etc.
>
> Rock spirits might insist that you include a small shard in their
fetish
> (eg, as eyes, so they can see beyond their own locale). Sea
spirits might
> like offerings of rum or singing chanties (or Jimmy Buffett), etc.
>
> Plant spirits might want the spiritist to cultivate a small patch
of their
> particular type of plant, or include sprig in their charms, or
drink an
> infusion made from the plant before contacting it.
>
> The trick for you as Narrator will be to see that the spirit types
offer
> certain "spells" appropriate to their type, rather than
certain "spells" can
> be available, and you attach weird taboos to them for cool gaming.
The next
> trick will be to teach your spiritist-playing players to think the
same way,
> and ideally start giving you the spirit and its spells and its
rituals all
> in the same package.
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
Yahoo! Groups Links