Here are a couple of stories, followed by some miscellaneous information, which is instrumental in defining the Pamaltelan mythology. It presents some new perspectives on the old mythology which is quite enlightening.
Pamalt’s Story of Where Pamalt Came From
As is regularly recounted by his possessed Descendants. “I am the oldest being alive, and I remember my beginning. Langamul the Earthmaker made me, and I sat up on Idmo, the Small Island.
Around me were the Fiwan, the Old Peoples; four water creatures, four flying creatures, four swimming creatures and four running creatures.
“Witness,” said Langamul.
The island rose slightly, and the vast waters drew away from it so the island became the great land, with the sixteen creatures upon it as far as I could see.
Langamul moved me then to see where Langamul Wished. If you meet Langamul, you will obey Him too. I saw, then the rising of the Esiti, Witnesses, who you call the Old Gods, whose movements shaped the world and the land. They are “Those Who Saw ‘Creator'”
The Witnesses moved about on the Great Island. They made a marsh, a mountain, a forest and a desert. Then we gathered together in the center, in a circle, and we gave each other names.
Noruma, I named first. “Noruma is Fire, the Ultimate Shaman.”
Yanmorla, he named second. “Yanmorla is Physical Life, Great Grandmother, the Immense Body, Grandmother Earth”.
Cronisper, she named her lover. “Cronisper is Spiritual Power, Lord of Fertility, the Limitless Animation, Grandfather Sky”.
Aleshmara, he named his daughter. “Mother, Owner of Things, the Great Woman”
Balumbasta, she named her brother. “Strength, Violence, Spear God, First Mountain”
Nyanka, he named his lover. “Wetness, Abundance, Childbirth”
Jmijie, she named her lover. “Movement, Changability, Fatherhood”
Faranar, he named his wife. “Good Daughter, the Home Mother, the Council Speaker, the Curser, the Cook, and the Gatherer.”
Siver, she named her brother. “Healer, Medicine Maker, Life Potions”
Dama, he named his rival. “Night, Spirit Keeper, God of the Dead”
Tamakderu, he named his lover. “Infinite Sea, Encircling Ocean, Supporter”
Kendamalar, she named their rival. “Sun”
Pamalt, they all named, together. “Chieftain, Speaker, Conciliator, Oaths”
Bolongo, I said, last. “Murderer, Emptiness, Evil, Trickster”
Bolongo then took up a knife, and with it he killed Langamul, and with the words of the first curse, sent him away to the Spirit World.
After that, everything which was new in the world was of spirit or of life, but not both at once. But later Pamalt taught the Right Footpath to everyone; and Noruma taught to the Seers among them how to see spirits and command them; and Kendamalar taught to the wise among the seers how to bring together Cronisper in the lap of Yanmorla again properly, so they could be with Langamul when he made the world. Such people who could bridge the two worlds were called the Amuron, or Horned Snake People.
Pamalt Exercises Rule
Langamul caused the Witnesses to rise. When they had, then Bolongo took a knife and he killed Langamul. Langamul disappeared then, gone. He went to the Spirit World.
This is why everyone who is killed goes to the spirit plane. Because everyone was so sad and lamenting Langamul, everyone today mourns whenever those they love go to the Spirit World. Everyone was unhappy with Bolongo’s vile action, and they seized the evil god.
“This is murder,” said Pamalt, “and after this, any murder will be bad, and will be punished by delivering the same results upon the guilty.” This was the first justice, and so they killed Bolongo. But that didn’t please anyone, who wished again to look upon the Creator.
“How will we regain Langamul?” asked Pamalt.
Aleshmara and Cronisper each tried, but they both failed. Each of them had powerful magic, but only managed to get parts of Langamul back. (spirits)
Noruma then came forward, who was both male and female at once. Noruma instructed Cronisper and Aleshmara on how to work together. Together they did as Noruma said and as a result they burst into flame, but were not burnt. “
Ah, there is Langamul,” the Esiti said, “Here is what he looks like,” and in that way Langamul came back and crawled out of the great conflagration.
But most there didn’t see Langamul the Creator, but only the shape of a great horned serpent. It was so terrifying that everyone except Noruma, Pamalt, Aleshmara and Cronisper were unable to look at him. Many fled.
“Alas,” said Noruma, “Langamul, who we will hereafter call Amuron, Great Horned Serpent, they are unable to bear your witness.”
“Let them instead, then, bear witness to the parts of me which they can bear,” said Amuron. And he then taught everyone how to recognize spirits, and how to summon them, to befriend them and how to command them as well.
This is how everyone learned of spirits, and of the Spirit Plane and how to bear with death, and the pain of death, and the secrets of rebirth.
The Mountains of the South and North
All the Esiti created unique places of great power where they lived when they weren’t visiting each other. Balumbasta erected a tremendously tall and hard mountain that he called Um.
The Esiti decided their favorite place for gathering was Um, where they made a village of huts to live together. The village of Um was on the side of the mountain called Um. In the center was a great sacred stone which was named Um.
Some of the huts were round, some were square and one was long, where Pamalt lived. The huts of the women were made of grass, the mens’ of tree limbs or animal hides. Pamalt’s had a thatch roof and hard earth floor decorated with beautiful designs, but no walls at all.
All of the creatures would come to the village to celebrate, listen to the songs and ask the witnesses about things. These gatherings this included the Fiwan as well as the Esiti and their many children.
Only Bolongo refused to move there. He went and lived far away from Um, in the north. Bolongo and his smelly friends then made imitations of the many landmarks of the sacred lands. Thus, in imitation of Um, the sacred mountain where the gods lived, they made Bandaku. There, on its slopes, were born the monsters of the world. (Bandaku is made from the rock that Balumbasta threw away in the Creation.)
Other inferior imitations went on, too, to make these monsters. In Um the gods could teach the proper and right pathway to live, and to integrate the lost spirits into yourself, to make the world alive. But on Bandaku they lived a life of defilement and took the lost spirits the wrong way, or not at all, or sacrificed to them, and then sent the fetid results southward. It has ever been so that bad things come to Pamaltela from the north. Bolongo and his destructive friends are called the Spirit Makers, because they kill things and make spirits and thereby increase the trouble and difficulty of the world.
A Few Miscellaneous Notes About Pamaltelan Myth
The Grey Ones
The Grey Ones are the Protectors of the four parts of the Doraddi essence. They are:
- Body: Yanmorla
- Breath: Cronisper
- Fire: Noruma
- Mind: Pamalt
Yanmorla is, of course, the body, a sacred but regrettably fragile part of being alive. Nonetheless, only by having such a material body is anything truly “alive,” according to core Pamalatelan belief.
Cronisper is “breath,” or life force. Cronisper can not exist without Yanmorla.
Noruma is sacred Fire, the eternal energy which keeps an entity in contact with the immortal/divine and the living/mundane. Noruma is neither male nor female, but instead transcends duality.
Pamalt is the immortal part of the world, it’s sense of Pamaltelan Self. Pamalt teaches the Right Footpath, which is the way for a person to work best with the cosmos.
A note on relationships between Pamaltelan deities
“In addition to being Pamalt’s Mother-in-Law, Aleshmara is also his sister.”
Among the gods there are all kinds of claims like the above one that are made. The meaning must be made clear: the kinships are absolutely irrelevant, and not just on the “higher plane.” If a story says Pamalt and Aleshmara were brother and sister then the story is about how siblings ought to act with each other, not about the actual relationship between two gods (which is beyond human kinship, after all).
Some deities have very consistent relationship characteristics, such as Cronisper and Yanmorla always being the eldest, and addressed as “Grandparents.” This is not a genealogical relationship, but a divine one.
Pamaltelan Mythic Periods
Like people across Glorantha, Pamaltelans recognize several Periods in their mythology and legends. They are:
- Creation Period – equated by GL with Western Second Action, Vithelan Creation Cycle and Genertelan Creation Age
- Old People Period – equated by GL with Western Third Action, Vithelan High Gods Cycle and Genertelan Golden Age
- Artmali Period – equated by GL with Western Fourth Action, Vithelan Gods Cycle and Genertelan Storm Age
- Demon Period – equated by GL with Western Fifth Action, Vithelan Demigods Cycle and Genertelan Chaos Age
- Now Period – equated by GL with Western History, Vithelan Humans Cycle, and Genertelan History.
Related Pages
- Excerpt – The Affairs At Dusk (2003)
- Extract – How Vith Pacified the Anti-Gods (2000)
- ISS3006 Revealed Mythologies – Index
- ISS3006 Revealed Mythologies – Corrections (2003)
Page Last updated: 2025-05-09 13:16:52