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# Part of Simon Phipp's RuneQuest/Glorantha Site

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Last Updated On 31 May 1998

# The Golden Book[1]

In the First Days,when the world was new and young, the Gods and Goddesses all contained the Bright Spark of Life. They had so much Life that they could produce more Gods and Goddeses just by imagining them. The more Gods and Goddesses that did this, the smaller the Bright Spark became in their children. Thus, the world diminished in power for the Gods had not realised that joining together makes them greater.

One of the Goddesses, the Great Earth, imagined a new deitiy, one wich shone brighter than anything seen before. His Light illuminated her imagination and joined with her to create Him, the first of the New Ones[2], made when two deities mingled and joined their forces. This Bright God was Aether, Father Light, and he was greater than his Mother.

As Aether grew, he touched many deities and the mingling produced new Gods and Goddesses. The other Deities saw this and tried it themselves, enriching the world and increasing the Bright Sparks available. Many of our most important deities were born at this time.

More and more deities were born, then some decided to create many children rather than one or two. Thus were born the race of Men, all of whom had the Bright Spark. However, the Bright Spark was reduced because there were so many children born. Even so, the Men could produce children merely by a touch or a glance with another, as the Gods did[3]. The World was good then and morality reigned.

As the Gods created Men with small Bright Sparks, so other Deities created the Beasts. There were very many Beasts and their Bright Sparks were much smaler than those even of Men. The Beasts found that their Sparks were too weak to reproduce. No matter how hard they touched or mingled there were no children. This saddened the Beasts and they asked the Gods for help. First, the Goddesses told them how they could bring forth children without help from others, as the early Gods did. This would not work, however. Many Gods did not listen to the pleas, many thought there were too many Beasts anyway. Some Gods mingled with the Beasts and made stronger Beasts but this did not help the masses. Finally, they asked the Evil One, a Trickster and Fool. He showed them how to concentrate all their Bright Spark into one place so that it seemed almost as strong as the Sparks of Men. He put the Sparks near to where the Shadows were so that they would not be noticed by others, at the snakes and hedgehogs. He showed those with snakes how to push the Spark from themselves and those with hedgehogs how to pull the Sparks into themselves. The first Beasts became Male, the second became female. In this way they Beasts found how to produce children.

After a while, many Men were born and their Bright Sparks became weakened until they were only as strong as the Beasts. These were the peasant folk, the low borns who were many and weak. They were saddened that they could not reproduce and saw that even the Beasts could produce children. They asked the Beasts how this was done and were shown the Evil Deed. Thus, half the peasants became Male and half Female and they began to mate like animals. However,everything has its price and this was no exception. They found that once they had concentrated their Essence into one place they could never produce children by mingling as their forefathers.[4]

The Men showed this trick to many people,including the Heron Goddess who found that this was a new toy to play with. She taught others who were not Low Born and spread immorality amongst the Good People. As more and more people learned this trick they found that even those with very Bright Sparks could not use them properly and had to Join in this new way. This saddened many people. More and more people found that this was an easier way to produce children and changed to this immoral way. However, they were afraid that the Emperor would see them and they hid away in dark places to hide their shame.

Once Men had found this new trick, they wanted to create new children. They tried and tried with their friends and mates. Many also tried on strangers and forced others to their ways. This was an evil deed for once the Evil Way had been tried it could not be refused. Thus, many women were created by the unruly Men. One of the Goddesses, Uleria, decided to try and tame the Men. She gave herself to them and took their passions onto herself. She then trained her followers to do the same. Thus, they sacrificed their own morality to save that of others. Uleria taught her followers the rituals so that they would not be sullied by the Evil Deed and ensured that several rules would be followed. The women had to purify themselves before and after mating. They had to mate within certain sanctuaries, blessed by Uleria. They had to accept a gift in order to relieve the passions of Men. In return, they found that they could control those Passions to some extent. They could make them rise and quickly be spent. They could concentrate the Essences so much that reproduction was guaranteed. As Uleria wanted her followers to be happy, she made the Evil Act pleasurable so that her followers would not suffer, but also made the Act pleasurable for Men. She spread her Veil over those who mated so that they would be hidden. Finally, she invented Marriage so that the Men and Women would not infect others with the desire to perform the Evil Act. Thus, bachelors who could not control their Passons at least had an outlet which would not hurt the innocents and the Uleria Temples became a necessary evil.

When Yelm found out what had happened, he cursed the women for bringing this about. He ensured that Childbirth resulting from the Evil Act would be slow and painful with agony at the end. To this end, he bound the children to the mothers and made them grow inside rather than just appear as they had before. Some of the Goddesses took pity on the people and gave comfort to them during this time.

As the newborns grew they found that their Bright Sparks grew and tried to mingle with others. When the Gods were mingling, the Bright Sparks would fill their skins with energy.However, children born through the Evil Act found that the bright Spark tended to concentrate in the same place as their parents' had. During adolescence, the Bright Sparks became almost unbearably powerful and concentrated. Young Men found that their bodies were changed as their Essence concentrated. Their bodies became swollen and wooden as the Essence tried to break free. Sometimes their Essence burst forth without warning and embarassed them. Often they tried to explore the Essence and cause it to grow themselves.This was terrible, for it caused the Essence to become irreversibly focussed and ended their chances for God Like reproduction. Young Men must never try these things of themselves and must guard against encourasging the Essence to flow from them. Cold Showers, exercise, long walks and noble thoughts help to overcome this problem.

Over Time, most people succumbed to these Evil Ways and mated like the animals. It became the norm and was even encouraged by some. Even the Emperors found that this way was easier than the old way. As most people followed this way, many wondered how to minimise the effects. I list the following ways. I apologise for the frankness of the text, but I cannot express these things in any other way.

1. Marriage ensured that only two people would be affected and that others would not be touched.
2. Adultery was heavily punished as it meant that more people would be infected.
3. The Uleria Temples ensured that unmarried males would not infect women of good character.
4. Many women were given the chance to become nuns and Holy Sisters, remaining pure.

There are certain conditions which help to reduce the dangers of mating:
  Mate only at night when Yelm cannot see the act.
  Only mate indoors so that none may see that it was happening.
  Mate in silence so that none may hear your shame.
  When mating, cover with Uleria's Veil, or blankets for those who cannot afford such things. (Uleria's Veil often took the form of a 4 poster bed with a canopy to hide the couple and a veil around.)
  Mate as quickly as possible so that the Essences do not become too concentrated.
  Mate in the Dark with eyes closed so as not to see your spouse's shame.
  Do not mate as the animals do.
  Wear nightclothes when mating so that the Essence is not reduced by contact.
  Mate as infrequently as possible. Most people need only mate in order to produce children. Any more than this is unnecessary.
  After Mating,purify yourself with fire and sacred herbs. Draw fire into yourself by burning herbs in a special tube. Do so immediately after mating.

## Perversions

Even though the Evil Act is a perversion in itself, there are those who make matters far worse by performing more Evil Deeds. Here are some of those deeds. Many people will find them disturbing and may not want to know of them. However, forewarned is forearmed and knowing these perversions will help you resist them and to keep from becoming more impure.

### The Manlat Way

Named after the first person to try it, this happens when the Bright Spark grows and tries to burst from young Men. They are consumed with the feelings and try to bring forth their Essence themselves. This has the effect of concentrating the Esence in a single place and preventing proper moral growth. To prevent this, take long walks, cold showers, plenty of exercise. Practice proper meditation and study good things.

### Rape

When a Man is bursting with the Bright Spark and needs to vent the Passions, he may couple with a woman who is unwilling. This is especially perverse when the woman is a maiden and is tied to the ways of Evil henceforth. Victims of this perversion often become nuns and retire from the world.

### Exhibitionism

This is when people couple without shame, sometimes without clothes, sometimes in the light, sometimes with their eyes open, sometimes not in silence, sometimes even outdoors. They bring shame to themselves and to those who would see or hear them.

### Adultery

When a couple are married they agree to restrict the Evil Way to each other so that nobody else will become corrupted. Adultery is when one engages in the Evil Act with another outside the bounds of marriage. This spreads the evil to more people. Once again, this is especially perverse when maidens or untouched men are affected.

### Pre-Marital

Some people engage in the Evil Act without the protections and rituals of marriage to keep the impurities away. They often produce children who are shamed and who cannot share in their own caste benefits.

### Lewd Conduct

Some women,and occasionally some men, delight in parading themselves lewdly, showing their bodies and performing lewd deeds. These acts entice others to couple with them, forcing the Bright Sparks to become excited and to rush to the snake and hedgehog. Some women bring the passions forth with hands and mouth, evading the rites to control the passions. They even couple, not in order to bear children, but for pleasure.

### Abominations

Some men saw the ways of women and were jealous. They saw how the women could move the Bright Sparks to their hedgehogs and thereby quench the passions of men. These men thought they did not need women and could quench the pasions of men themselves. They tried to move the Bright Spark as near to where their hedgehogs would be if they had them and tried to quanch the pasions of other men. They succedded in this but shamed themselves even more. They could not reproduce in this way as their Bright Sparks would not concentrate there no matter how they tried. Some tried to emulate women more fully, dressing as women and performing women's tasks but this did not help. Many had to be forcibly stopped, many members of the worst offending cults were forbidden to disguise themselves as women as an example to others.

Some tribes were related to the beasts. Occasionally, some members of those tribes quenched their passions with their relations. This practice spread during the Dark Times and has been noted down the years ever since.

## A Final Word

Hopefully, this will have explained why men and women have fallen from their initial state and are reduced to acting as they do. As with all things, the Gods have put things in place so that the Evil Effects are reduced. If you cannot avoid the Deed, follow these rules: First, marry and only couple to produce children. Second, always follow the rituals given to protect against impurity, couple indoors, in the dark with eyes closed, wearing nightclothes, in silence and always wash oneself first and purify oneself afterwards. Third, never engage in perversion. Fourth, if not married, never engage in the Evil Deed outside the confines of the Uleria Temples. Fifth, remember that even Gods and Emperors do this, so succumbing is not the end of the world.

## Notes

[1] The Golden Book was written during the Third Age as a guide to life. It was a combination of an etiquette guide, instruction manual on how to live and a text explaining how things are. It was quickly banned as it contained explicit references to immoral practices and became an underground hit. This excerpt concerns sexual relations and contains descriptions and advice which the authorities thought undermined the moral fabric of the people. Strangely enough, it was writtern by a monk of Dayzatar who wrote it so that people would be guarded against immorality.

[2] Aether was the first god to be born with two parents. All previous ones were devolved from other deities. As Aether effectively fathered himself, he was not sullied by contact with others and was the Purest of the Gods, born of Mother Earth and Pure Inspiration.

[3] This ability has now been almost lost. Only the very devout and faithful may reproduce in this way. Hon Eel touched Yelm at the Gates of Dawn, the Red Emperor traded with Gorgorma to make Yara Aranis. There are other examples but only Heroes are known to be able to transcend the physical.

[4] Once the Bright Spark had concentrated into the single place it was extremely difficult to move it elsewhere. There are, however, several meditative practices which can be taught to help this process. These are available from the Uleria Temples and also from the Star Temples and Temples of the Sky.