Re: Animism\t rituals

From: Gavain Sweetman <gavain.sweetman_at_yjFLxNQSqmsV7GVcT4x0NHM7yIxoXV5Q4TjGdcw8q0PbatEjgmDWcALq4ctk>
Date: Fri, 5 Feb 2010 12:31:38 +0000 (GMT)


On 2/4/2010 10:42 AM, Greg Stafford wrote:

> Look:
> Chris should write down what his vision of the Praxian rites.
> Screw the theory!! SHOW US
> Someone has a variant? Give us a NARRATIVE of its difference

Here is my view of the Kolat ceremonies: The main backbone for these can be found in the Kolat documents on the glorantha website (http://www.glorantha. com/support/Kolat.pdf).

Karjakan
Karjakan is described as the great bad
spirit who conquered the world during the darkness with his spirit army. Kolat rescued his followers and other good spirits and together the fought back defeating Karjakan and driving him back to the spirit world. In every Kolat
ceremony there is acknowledgement of Kolat's victory over Karjakan. In Storm season the ceremony on Good Winds Day is more than just acknowledgement of this. The ceremony calls upon spirits from the water and sky to help Kolat defeat a common enemy. This ceremony gives Kolatings the opportunity to meet water and sky spirits and possibly to make friends with some of these spirits. They are usually named for the great spirits that helped Kolat in his battle. Watery Seleran who drowned the spirits that crawled on the earth or burrowed through it and proud Veren Vu who took the battle into the sky where Kolat could not reach and rent his foes with his powerful claws and protected Kolat from being struck from above. Before the ceremony the shaman walks
through the clan collecting objects from the six directions. A feather falling from the sky, a rock, a worm from it's burrow in the soil. Each year the objects change and the shaman only knows what objects are required when he finds them. The objects are
bound together in a straw body to form a crude man. During the Battle Dance the figure is kicked and beaten by the dancers and attacked by their spirits and the spirits of the sky and water that respond to the summons. Towards the end of the ceremony the shaman opens a new spirit window that shows only darkness he then takes the effigy and casts it through into the darkness as a warning to Karjakan that his presence will not be tolerated. Then all the participants dance the Joyful Dance reaffirming their friendship and possibly making new friendships. In this case the reward for the ceremony would be friendship with new spirits. This can be manifest in a number of ways. If the hero doesn't have either of the two spirits then they have the opportunity to acquire one. If the hero has the spirits then they can gain a lingering bonus which manifests as additional spirit friends materialising when the hero has to battle the bad spirits. Failure means the ceremony only angers the spirits and the free spirits persuade those already friendly with the Kolatings to withdraw their support, weakening the tribe against spirit attack. Completer failure may mean that the spirits summoned are hostile and attack the participants. Malia
Kolat defeated Malia
four times, each time he defeated a family of diseases. The families of diseases are catalogued by their targets. So we have diseases that affect the mind, the spirit, organs and the body (meaning the skin, muscle and bones). Each season, apart from Storm
season, a great ceremony is conducted to propitiate one of Malia's disease families. However the ceremonies are very similar. A lamb and a fawn are used to host the disease spirits because they don't live long in the mortal world without a body to occupy. The shaman also prepares a special gift for the spirits that come. Each one is unique and is made to entertain and be attractive to the diseases in question. Often gifts for mind diseases are puzzles, articulated toys are popular with the body diseases, anything covered in gore and bile makes a pleasant home for organ spirits. During the ceremony the physical object is used to construct a spiritual representation that the diseases can take with them. At the end of the ceremony the
physical object is attached to a yew stave. This stave is used by the shaman in driving out diseases as the presence of the physical object serves to remind the spirit of their gift and promise. The presence of the spirit stick acts as a focus for the benefits or penalties imposed by the success or failure of the ceremony.            

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