From: Bryan J. Maloney (jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu)
Date: Tue 03 May 1994 - 12:54:48 EEST
Graeme L. opines:
>Do the Malkioni believe that Chaos exists outside ... Glorantha? I
:don't think they do, and this is my reasoning:
>If the standard cosmology of central Genertela is accepted by the
>Westerners, then one can logically posit a god greater than the IG.
>This god created Chaos, which surrounds Glorantha and can apparently
>destroy it. Of course, Western cosmology may not accept Chaos as
>alien to Glorantha, but the product of its decay.
Starting with this possible logic-process as a basis, here is my response/belief with regards to the Malkioni. I believe that the Rokari and the Hrestoli believe that Chaos comes from outside Glorantha, and that the Invislble God formed Glorantha either by reworking Chaos or possibly ex nihilo. However, I am convinced by this argument that the Borists believe that there IS another god equal to (or better than) the Invisible God, and that this other god rules chaos. Presumably the Borists believe that by tapping this other god's minions, they lessen its' power, and thus enhance the IGs. In addition, I now believe that the Galvosti believe that Chaos does NOT exist outside Glorantha, but rather that it comes as "a product of decay", exacerbated by the worship of false gods. Hence, the Galvosti feel that all non Malkioni are, if not actively Chaotic, at least Chaos-producing, which is why it's okay to Tap them.
Okay, here's my take:
Let us posit, for the sake of argument, that Invisible God worship probably had a single origin.
Now, let us posit that it is also possible that this single, original religion could be contaminated and/or improved by syncretism.
Okay, I will postulate that primeval IG worship is simply unkown, or can only be speculated upon from fragmentary evidence. It is obvious that the Galvosti, tap, tap, tapping at my chamber door, have somehow developed a Gnostic slant to IG worship. I would futher posit that this might mean that the original Galvosti religion may not have been "Invisible God" strictu sensu but may have been a flavor of henotheism that was compatible with the word of the Invisible God. This is how we got the followers of the "Beloved Apostle". They were Gnostics who adopted Christianity and took John to be their own favorite. Their actual religion, so far as I remember from my readings, was really altered little from pagan Gnosticism, excepting that the figure of Christ was inserted as a redeemer. Satan was viewed as the ruler of this world, and all material existence was evil. This religion went so far as to state that Christ never had a physical existence at all! His "life" was illusionary. The Nicene (later Apostles') Creed was a reaction to this theological conclusion.
Thus, the Galvosti would state that the Invisible God made all things, but an evil spirit, one of the IG's greatest creations, grew jealous and sought to trap the pure light of spirit into the material world. This being was so vile that he cut himself off from the Light of the Invisible God and became Chaos. All physical existence comes from chaos and some of these bits entrap pure, true, spiritual existence. It is the duty of all holy beings to reject the chaos and embrace the Light. Tap is, therefore, good, because it pulls bits of trapped spirit away from chaos creatures (aka krjalki) and gives it to those who have seen the Holy Ways of the Invisible God. To the Galvosti, this makes Tap a sacramental act.
The Boristi believe that there is a divine struggle between the Invisible God and "the enemy", but that the Invisible God made the physical world and all the world, and that chaos is the natural result of moral corruption. It is obvious that the source of all chaos was the Invisible God's greatest servant, who chose the path of corruption and evil. The chaos that follows it's wake is just a natural consequence of that being's moral corruption combined with its innate great magical power. Thus, to Tap chaos creatures is to give power back to the Invisible God (who doesn't actually NEED this to be done, of course, the Invisible God is all-powerful. He permits evil to exist as part of his Mysterious Divine Plan).
As for what the Rokari and Hrestoli believe: In the beginning there was the Ain, the One, the formless form and the Unspoken Word. From this came the Ain Soph, the Spoken Word. From these principles radiate the parts of the Tree of Life, also called the Sephiroth. They explain chaos thus:
When there was only Ain, there was no other. There was nothing other than the Invisible God and only He existed. To produce the Other, that which is not the Invisible God, that which can be called the universe, the Invisible God had to make room, and thus had to withdraw from some small corners. Yet, as when wine or milk is poured from a jug, some small residue stays behind, thus the divine residue, the Reshimu, was left. And, as wine stays good and fine when in the whole but the residues quickly sour and become worthless, thus did the Reshimu sour into Chaos, for it was no longer part of the whole of the Invisible God.
I don't recall seeing this anywhere. Procreation might cost the Brithini something (stats?), but I always figured their reluctance to do so was because of their basic selfishness. ZPG fans need not ct -- the differences between trying to raise a family in the crowded, complex, expensive USA or Europe, and in underpopulated Arolanit are immense. The pleasure of raising kids is bittersweet at best, and the emotional, financial, and physical costs of doing so large. I don't think a people trained to be isolated and unfeeling would like such a task.
Well, I see the "cost" to the Brithini as being purely social. After all, how willing would you be to breed if to do so you had to do something about as repugnant as rubbing yourself in human diarrhea, swallowing a liter of leeches, and then squirming all over somebody else who had done the same?
The Brithini have NO natural sexual urges. Immortality means that there is no logical or mythological imperative to reproduce. (I won't address biological imperatives, since nobody has biologically explained why there is sex--lots of theories, but no real conclusions.) Sex for a Brithini is a lot like having a high-colonic rectal exam. Sure, it may be necessary sometimes, but it's very uncomfortable, rather embarassing, and you'd like to put it off as long as possible.
I would even posit that Brithini are not capable of "orgasm" as we understand it. Males might ejaculate, but there is no attendant sensation of pleasure, or perhaps no more than accompanies urination. Believe me, if you don't need to have children to pass on your genes or knowledge or memory, and you don't have orgasm, I could see precious little reason to have sex in the first place. I would wager that Brithini rulers have to provide incentives to those peasants who would be willing to do their duty to Brithos and reproduce when called upon.
>I do know that there is an Uz prohibition concerning eating
>sapient beings (not corpses but live beings).
I am unaware of such a prohibition. Certainly I know of many cases of trolls eating a leg, arm, buttock, etc. off a live human. Doesn't this count? There's even a Griselda story about it, not to mention the infamous troll kidnapper of Greg S's old campaign which ate all the limbs of his victim before the ransom finally arrived. Also, I know that trolls will happily eat zombies, which are technically not "dead" even after dismemberment.
When I play Uzko as a PC, they almost always state that they will not eat any living being. This is more to calm the non-Uz than anything. I see it as swearing off pork so long as I travel through a Muslim land. It doesn't really reflect my beliefs, but it is a polite thing to do.
Now, on the subject of Dwarves (who are not Mostali, not really):
I see Dwarves as a type of von Neumann machine. A von Neumann machine is a device that is capable of self-replication. The simplest versions can only do this. More complex ones have other functions. These have never really been built, but a theoretical use would be as terraforming devices. Drop a few on a planet, and then they'd make enough to terraform the whole thing. This is, in fact, what the Dwarves are trying to do to Glorantha, no?
As for the method: Well, if something works, a good craftsman will adopt it. The use of the Vessels proved to be too slow and inefficient. Thus, every Dwarf was given one of two "manufacturing functions". The Vesselers each have a small copy of the Vessel of Clay in their bodies. The Stirrers have a device that works that Vessel until a new Dwarf is made. That's right, Dwarven "sex" and "gestation" are the same thing. No wonder Dwarves don't like it too much. As for the heritability of Dwarf caste: I would say that the "micro-vessel" method probably has the same problem that all micro methods do--greater effects of small contaminants and small variations in conditions. Thus, each new Dwarf has to go through a battery of tests to determine its best place.
One other Mostali thing: A player in the campaign where I play the Uz has a Dwarf character. He has figured out how to explain the Mostali (and probably the Malkioni and atheist human) opinion of Spirit Magic and Divine Magic: It's the magical equivelent of drinking from the toilet. True, it does get the job done, but why would you want to do it that way?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Fri 10 Oct 2003 - 01:34:07 EEST