The White Moon is a key part of the Lunar Way. Where the current Red Moon with the shadow that sweeps across Her face is the Mask of Natha, the White Moon will be the Mask of Zaytenera, the Seventh Mask of Sedenya, representing completion and fulfillment. The White Moon is thus an eschatological phenomenon in the popular Lunar Way- the White Moon of Peace.
The current orthodoxy of the Empire holds that the Red Moon will turn White when the Lunar Way has been spread to every corner of Glorantha. The current orthodoxy also holds that the Lunar Way includes the Lunar Empire necessarily, and that the Empire will wither away only after the White Moon rises.
There have been dissenters from this position ever since the Red Moon rose. The number of positions they take on the White Moon have been manifold, all of them agreeing at first only on one point- the current orthodoxy is in error. However, popular eschatological fervor has begun to grow in the Empire and in the Heartlands, not least because of the prospect of chaining and healing Orlanth, followed by the series of military disasters which have followed.
Thus, the White Moon cults, initially fringe beliefs, began to take on the character of a mass movement. Initially ranging from a praxis of spontaneously gathering for mass dances or singing to help the White Moon rise, over to the Fiscal Anarchists of Raibanth, who urge efforts to disrupt the tax receipts of the Empire by paying taxes in unusual goods or switching tax obligations around, nevertheless the official position was that the varied cults were a single movement aimed at sedition against the Empire.
In turn, this led to repression of the White Moon, especially by local officials acting on fears of Fiscal Anarchists spontaneously shredding their records. And in turn, this repression led the White Moon cults to merge and blend as they ended up in close contact with one another, forming an overall White Moon Movement.
Jar-eel became personally involved in 1621, where she sat down for an extended series of talks with the leadership of various cults in an effort to bring them back to the orthodox Way peacefully and without much strife. It remains unknown if she could have succeeded- regardless, events took a hand. Cities vanished, Pentan raids joined with an attempt by Sheng Seleris to break out of Hell, and the Windstop and Great Winter in the southern Provinces forced a period of running around putting out fires.
In 1624, the White Moon Rebellion began. Not initially an armed rebellion, it primarily consisted of mass demonstrations, marches, and spontaneous displays of religious devotion. Normally, not something to excite comment in the Lunar Empire, where ecstatic fits and devotional bouts of madness are daily activities. In the charged atmosphere, however, the White Moon was violently repressed in some areas, and riots broke out. Centered on the territory north of Glamour, a large group of the White Moon "rebels" marched for Graclodont and camped out not far from the city, demanding Great Sister provide protection against reprisals. Another large group formed around Yuthuppa and effectively besieged the city when the city's governor refused them entry. A third group seized Carantes, the ancient Red City, and declared it the "White City". Still others demanded Moonson address their grievances from outside the walls of Glamour.
Ordinarily, this sort of story has an ending which involves mountains of skulls, rivers of blood, mass crucifixions and impalements, etc. However, as the White Moon Rebellion continued on into 1625, some public shows of sympathy from Great Sister and Moonson helped defuse the rebel groups around Graclodont and Glamour, a riot against a proposal to temporarily whitewash the walls of Carantes in preparation for a permanent coating with chalk and limestone caused a sudden collapse of the rebellion there, and all that was left of the major groups was Yuthuppa, where the siege was coming apart.
All that would be left would be to declare an amnesty and then mop up the remaining bandits. Then the Redlands revolted and the Dragonrise happened, and the Empire suddenly lacked an easy confidence in its ability to mop up bandits while handling the other crises. As such, the White Moon Rebellion ended not with an amnesty for the repentant and "vigorous balancing" for the recalcitrant but with an overall amnesty that touched even the most radical and tacit acceptance of the White Moon for the moment, so long as they were not overly public.
This in turn left a radicalized core who had come to agree on a central tenet for their New White Moon- the Empire must be destroyed to free the Lunar Way. In turn, when the Empire split apart after the death of the Mask of Argenteus, the White Moon Movement became an important actor in the decade-long civil war.
This magic does not allow them to fool Truth spells directly. It only functions because so many of the White Moon Movement sincerely believe that the basic institutions of the Empire are good and the problems are somewhat extraneous to the Empire's existence. If they sincerely believe that the real Moonson died in Tork and Magnificus and beyond are frauds or pale imitations, then that will come out in Examination. But if they believe that the Empire's onward territorial expansion is fundamentally wrong because the Lunar Way should be spread peacefully, for example, they can use this magic to fool people as to just how strong their conscientious objection is.
Other forms of peculiarly White Moon magic will emerge as the Hero Wars continue.
The current orthodoxy of the Empire holds that the Red Moon will turn White when the Lunar Way has been spread to every corner of Glorantha. The current orthodoxy also holds that the Lunar Way includes the Lunar Empire necessarily, and that the Empire will wither away only after the White Moon rises.
There have been dissenters from this position ever since the Red Moon rose. The number of positions they take on the White Moon have been manifold, all of them agreeing at first only on one point- the current orthodoxy is in error. However, popular eschatological fervor has begun to grow in the Empire and in the Heartlands, not least because of the prospect of chaining and healing Orlanth, followed by the series of military disasters which have followed.
Thus, the White Moon cults, initially fringe beliefs, began to take on the character of a mass movement. Initially ranging from a praxis of spontaneously gathering for mass dances or singing to help the White Moon rise, over to the Fiscal Anarchists of Raibanth, who urge efforts to disrupt the tax receipts of the Empire by paying taxes in unusual goods or switching tax obligations around, nevertheless the official position was that the varied cults were a single movement aimed at sedition against the Empire.
In turn, this led to repression of the White Moon, especially by local officials acting on fears of Fiscal Anarchists spontaneously shredding their records. And in turn, this repression led the White Moon cults to merge and blend as they ended up in close contact with one another, forming an overall White Moon Movement.
Jar-eel became personally involved in 1621, where she sat down for an extended series of talks with the leadership of various cults in an effort to bring them back to the orthodox Way peacefully and without much strife. It remains unknown if she could have succeeded- regardless, events took a hand. Cities vanished, Pentan raids joined with an attempt by Sheng Seleris to break out of Hell, and the Windstop and Great Winter in the southern Provinces forced a period of running around putting out fires.
In 1624, the White Moon Rebellion began. Not initially an armed rebellion, it primarily consisted of mass demonstrations, marches, and spontaneous displays of religious devotion. Normally, not something to excite comment in the Lunar Empire, where ecstatic fits and devotional bouts of madness are daily activities. In the charged atmosphere, however, the White Moon was violently repressed in some areas, and riots broke out. Centered on the territory north of Glamour, a large group of the White Moon "rebels" marched for Graclodont and camped out not far from the city, demanding Great Sister provide protection against reprisals. Another large group formed around Yuthuppa and effectively besieged the city when the city's governor refused them entry. A third group seized Carantes, the ancient Red City, and declared it the "White City". Still others demanded Moonson address their grievances from outside the walls of Glamour.
Ordinarily, this sort of story has an ending which involves mountains of skulls, rivers of blood, mass crucifixions and impalements, etc. However, as the White Moon Rebellion continued on into 1625, some public shows of sympathy from Great Sister and Moonson helped defuse the rebel groups around Graclodont and Glamour, a riot against a proposal to temporarily whitewash the walls of Carantes in preparation for a permanent coating with chalk and limestone caused a sudden collapse of the rebellion there, and all that was left of the major groups was Yuthuppa, where the siege was coming apart.
All that would be left would be to declare an amnesty and then mop up the remaining bandits. Then the Redlands revolted and the Dragonrise happened, and the Empire suddenly lacked an easy confidence in its ability to mop up bandits while handling the other crises. As such, the White Moon Rebellion ended not with an amnesty for the repentant and "vigorous balancing" for the recalcitrant but with an overall amnesty that touched even the most radical and tacit acceptance of the White Moon for the moment, so long as they were not overly public.
This in turn left a radicalized core who had come to agree on a central tenet for their New White Moon- the Empire must be destroyed to free the Lunar Way. In turn, when the Empire split apart after the death of the Mask of Argenteus, the White Moon Movement became an important actor in the decade-long civil war.
White Moon Magic
Followers of the White Moon Movement have one bit of magic that is somewhat peculiarly theirs. In order to survive potential persecution, members of the Movement learn magic which they call "Zaytenera's Cover". This magic inspires them to prevaricate mightily and phrase their speech so delicately and arcanely that they can fool even Lunar Examiners as to whether they accept the Lunar Way's orthodox interpretations.This magic does not allow them to fool Truth spells directly. It only functions because so many of the White Moon Movement sincerely believe that the basic institutions of the Empire are good and the problems are somewhat extraneous to the Empire's existence. If they sincerely believe that the real Moonson died in Tork and Magnificus and beyond are frauds or pale imitations, then that will come out in Examination. But if they believe that the Empire's onward territorial expansion is fundamentally wrong because the Lunar Way should be spread peacefully, for example, they can use this magic to fool people as to just how strong their conscientious objection is.
Other forms of peculiarly White Moon magic will emerge as the Hero Wars continue.
Inspirations for the White Moon Movement
(Not a Gloranthan document)
The White Moon Movement when it is at peace is like the International Society for Krishna Consciousness or like student protests in a university town or like political canvassers- the sort of thing that you can safely chuckle at if you're a prosperous citizen, that you might well be attracted to if you're down on your luck or have an active conscience, and that overall generates very ambivalent feelings.
The White Moon Movement in rebellion, however, is here and in my other work, most directly inspired by the Ikko-ikki movement of Sengoku-period Japan. I like to play up the Buddhist inspirations of the Lunar Way, and so the White Moon, which from the relatively slim evidence seems less concerned with the more hermetic aspects of the Lunar Way and is more outwardly materialist, has the advantage of being able to the play the Pure Land to the Zen/Nichiren/esotericism of the mainstream Lunar Way (I will avoid overegging the analogy here by declaring things like "Oh, well, the mystics are the Tendai and Shingon sects," etc.). There's also the contrast between the pacifistic aspects of the White Moon cults and the presumed violence of the rebellions, which is not all one-sided, which is similar to the Ikko-ikki's relationship with the pacifism of Pure Land Buddhism.
As such, the White Moon suffers terribly during the Lunar Empire's civil war, and its remnants flock quickly to Phargentes the Younger. As for what happens during the Shadow Moon Empire and the Monster Empire afterwards... too terrible to contemplate. Let us hope that Arrolia is not totally destroyed by the interplay between the Lunar Empire and the Great Talar of the West.
One can also point to similar historical movements, like the "Greens" of the Russian Civil War, etc. and these might well be fruitful for further development.
One wonders what the Lunar equivalent of chanting "Namu Amida Butsu" might be...
The White Moon Movement in rebellion, however, is here and in my other work, most directly inspired by the Ikko-ikki movement of Sengoku-period Japan. I like to play up the Buddhist inspirations of the Lunar Way, and so the White Moon, which from the relatively slim evidence seems less concerned with the more hermetic aspects of the Lunar Way and is more outwardly materialist, has the advantage of being able to the play the Pure Land to the Zen/Nichiren/esotericism of the mainstream Lunar Way (I will avoid overegging the analogy here by declaring things like "Oh, well, the mystics are the Tendai and Shingon sects," etc.). There's also the contrast between the pacifistic aspects of the White Moon cults and the presumed violence of the rebellions, which is not all one-sided, which is similar to the Ikko-ikki's relationship with the pacifism of Pure Land Buddhism.
As such, the White Moon suffers terribly during the Lunar Empire's civil war, and its remnants flock quickly to Phargentes the Younger. As for what happens during the Shadow Moon Empire and the Monster Empire afterwards... too terrible to contemplate. Let us hope that Arrolia is not totally destroyed by the interplay between the Lunar Empire and the Great Talar of the West.
One can also point to similar historical movements, like the "Greens" of the Russian Civil War, etc. and these might well be fruitful for further development.
One wonders what the Lunar equivalent of chanting "Namu Amida Butsu" might be...
I have a White Moonie chant of “Zayte Nera, Zayte Neva, Zayte Zayte, Nera Nera” in a current draft Ms. (which has been lying around for 20 years, but nevertheless). Great Minds?
ReplyDeleteHahaha! Incredible and that works very well!
Delete