From: Argrath@aol.com
Date: Thu 04 Jan 1996 - 03:28:03 EET
In V2 #306, Sandy Petersen writes:
>In summary, those looking for magic-for-hire can either get it from
>their own spiritual leader for a fee or they can go to an evil
>priest, or to one of the less-insane shamans, or to the local
>wizard, if there is one. If there's no local wizard, they may have
>to travel some distance to one, a good thing for an adventure to my
>mind.
First of all, this distinction between one's own spiritual leader and "evil
priest[s]" is a false dichotomy and unGloranthan. There are lots of things
that need doing that aren't "evil" but don't require a priest, (cult) shaman
(who is a priest in the sense that he intercedes on behalf of others), or
wizard (ditto).
The arguments raised by Sandy and others prove too much: if they were true,
there would be as few independent magicians in our world as in Glorantha.
Perhaps I haven't articulated this thought as well as I could, but I detect
some willful stubbornness (even upon the people who actually made their Read
English roll when reading my original post, which was less than 100% of
people who responded) to recognize the province of independent magic.
As for shamans not being independent in Glorantha-as-presented, it's not
because of the Horned God. It's because Greg Stafford has said and/or
written that practically all shamans are cult-based, whether hsunchen, spirit
cult, or otherwise. If nobody's willing to defend that proposition, then
another third of the argument is over.
But we still have the problem of who the independent magicians are amongst
theists. I don't believe for a second that they're all shamans or sorcerors.
I believe there is a professional group, previously undescribed, which
practices divination and other magic outside the shaman/priest/sorceror
trinity.
- --Martin
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End of Glorantha Digest V2 #309
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