> "Soul" and "spirit" are related words but are not
> synonyms in English.
But close enough for everyday use by non-specialists.
> These sorts of metaphysical concepts do not have
> "nice neat terms" in
> English - the widespread belief that they do by many
> people on this
> digest is mainly a result of sloppy and imprecise
> word use
No. Keep the insults out of this unless you can prove them, or want to apply them purely to yourself. It's a result of those words having a neat, precise use in HeroQuest: you remember that? The book that currently defines How Gloranthan Magic Works?
"Soul" has a precise meaning, so does "spirit", and so does "essence", and any relation those meanings may have to those used in the Real World is entirely irrelevant, because Glorantha doesn't work the same way (even if anyone agreed on how the RW did work, which they don't).
In Glorantha, as defined by the HQ rulebook, soul/spirit/essence are analogous objects, differing mainly in which Otherworld they belong to. We so far lack a useful word that will refer to these objects without also specifying an Otherworld. We are attempting to find one, because without it conversation becomes either longwinded or confusing.
The nice neat precise diagram on page 105 labels these things as "Worshippers have: X". But "that which worshippers have" isn't a useful phrase for this purpose.
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com Received on Fri 12 May 2006 - 17:29:10 EEST
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