[Glorantha] The body and the soul in Glorantha

[Simon Hibbs]

When it comes to the relationship between mortal and immortal parts of
a person (body and soul), we don't have much in the way of explicit
statements of the beliefs of Gloranthans, but quite a bit of material
that we can use as a basis for deduction.

We know that elements of Gloranthan's personalities continue to exist,
and are contactable after death. Therefore a corporeal body is not
necessery for the continuing existence or functioning of the soul of a
Gloranthan. Therefore it would at first appear that physical damage or
dysfunction shouldn't have any effect on the functioning of the soul,
or even the mind.

However we also know that these undying parts are severely constrained
in their potential compared to their former mortal selves. While I
don't think these have been codified as formal rules anywhere, it
would appear that the dead are incapable of innovation, tend to repeat
activities or behaviours practiced in life, and may not even be able
to learn new facts on anything but a very short-term basis. They are
'shadows of their former selves', and this even seems to hold true for
those brought back to life through resurection.

So there is a difference in quality between a deceased soul and a
living soul that is part of a physical body. Furthermore we know that
damage or dysfunction of the body can directly lead to death, the
transformational experience that has such a distinct effect upon the
soul.   So is it much of a reach to deduce that physical damage or
dysfunction short of the lethal might affect the soul too?

I must admit I'm not entirely happy with this line of reasoning,
buecause personaly I dislike the notion that a real-world medical
concept such as 'brain damage' can be of any help in understanding
modes of conciousness. I still hold to that dislike because in the
case of the Great Darkness survivors the flaw was spiritual, not
physical. It was resolved through spiritual enlightenment, not medical
treatment. Furthermore it may lead to a confusion of cause with
effect. Even if, for the sake of argument, we say that in the real
world the soul is a product of the action of the mechanisms of the
brain, In Glorantha I think that material existence is a product of
spiritual causes. Therefore a cause and effect model that is useful
and predictive in the real world could be faulty and missleading if
applied to Glorantha.


Simon Hibbs