[Glorantha] Thoughts on souls and the afterlife

[Donald R. Oddy]

In message <18fh0219rvscolbk7d9uog68cgaphvsaps at 4ax.com> Stephen Tempest writes:

>=46orgive me if this has been discussed before, but... what exactly
>happens when you die?

First off I would say that we only know what various people in
Glorantha *believe* happens when they die. Different groups of
people believe different things and many of those beliefs
contradict others. However in Glorantha belief makes reality
so it is likely that those beliefs that are strongly held by
a society reflects what happens to members of that society.

>Going by Storm Tribe p87, an Orlanthi soul first goes to the Court of
>Silence - this journey takes a week.  But where is the Court of
>Silence - the Underworld?
>
>As part of this process, most people lose their individuality and
>become an undifferentiated Ancestor.  (Per RQ, they lost 1/7 of their
>individual personality for each day in the underworld, as I recall.)
>
>After judgement, the soul then goes to Storm Home to dwell alongside
>the Gods (until eventual reincarnation, in most cases).  I assume that
>this is on the Godplane - the Theistic Otherworld. Does this mean that
>any non-theistic parts of the worshipper's personality are lost or
>stripped away in order to allow them to enter the Godplane?  This, of
>course, raises the awkward question of Kolatings who have spirits, not
>souls - presumably they do *not* go to the same Storm Home, but to an
>animist version of it on the Spirit Plane?  Or do they have to endure
>an afterlife with the Alien World Penalty affecting them?

Kolat has a place on the Spirit Plane. Urox/Storm Bull is even more
complex - he exists on both and the Eternal Battle can also appear
on the mundane plane.

>Why is the Underworld normally thought of as 'the place of the dead'
>if most souls go to the Godplane instead?  Is it just because they
>pass through there temporarily on their journey to the Otherworlds?

It's like heaven and hell. People who are good (by their societies
standards) go to their god's home. People who are bad go to the
underworld. That's what the judgement determines. However people 
can also be sent to the underworld by enemy magic - Yelm and Sheng 
Seleris being notable examples. Of course the trolls are mightily 
annoyed that the surface dwellers are dumping their miscreants in 
Wonderhome. We do know that there are many different parts of the 
underworld.

>=46inally, some speculation.  In the mortal world everything is mixed -
>so a theist has a soul, but presumably also a small amount of spirit
>and essence.  Concentrating on a religion purifies the soul, by
>ridding it of these extra elements.  But what happens to them then?
>Do they simply disappear, or get absorbed/transformed into Soul?  Are
>they still present, but suppressed by a continuing act of will?  Do
>they return to their Otherworld?  Or do they become very minor
>independent essences and spirits, which can plague the homestead and
>cause minor poltergeist activity and bad luck?
>
>Also, if a person concentrates on Theism, are they actually losing
>part of their personality? (The spiritual and essential parts.) In
>extreme cases, would they act as if Tapped or, to use a modern
>analogy, lobotomised or tranquillised, because they have sacrificed a
>vital part of their essence and spirit?  (If so, I'd guess that
>Orlanthi would regard their new behaviour as a sign of their intense
>holiness and disregard for the mortal world, rather than seeing it as
>an entirely bad thing.  Even so, it suggests another reason why most
>people don't Concentrate...)
>
>Plus, if when someone dies their pure Soul goes to the Godplane, the
>same question arises.  Do the spiritual and essential parts of them go
>to the Spirit World and Solace?  Or do they just fade to nothing?

I doubt many people in Glorantha think like this about Souls, Spirits
and Essences. When a good Orlanthi dies he goes to sit in Orlanth's
hall. When a good Lunar dies she goes to the goddess's court on the
moon. All nice and simple. If something of a person remains in the
mundane world after death their family and friends will probably
conclude there was something that has tied them to the world and
will seek to get rid of it somehow.

There may well be academics and scholars who debate this sort of
thing but their chances of explaining it coherently are as likely 
as determining the number of angels who can dance on the head of
a pin.

>Clarification or expansion on these ideas is welcome... and if I've
>made any fundamental misassumptions, please let me know.

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/