Skip to content
The Well of Daliath
Menu
Menu

Notes on Shamans

Posted on March 25, 2023

Shamans are an “elect” found in many Gloranthan religions. They are often outside but adjacent to the cult structure, although some cults do make use of shaman-priests (for example, Aldrya, Daka Fal, Gorakiki, Hykim and Mikyh, Jakaleel, Kyger Litor, Waha, and Yelm). Such shaman-priests are integral parts of their religion.

More common are shamans that are simultaneously initiates of a given cult and shamans of the Horned God. Such shamans might be known as Earth Witches (Ernalda and other Earth cults) or kolatings (Orlanth and other Air cults), they typically hold no official position within the cult hierarchy and are not supported by the temple (any more than any other initiate is).

Other shamans are tied to no cult except the Horned God and any spirit cults they choose to found.

What all shamans have in common is their ability to interact directly with the Spirit Plane, be it through Discorporation, their Fetch, or other shamanic abilities. A mortal, corporeal being, a shaman can communicate with the dead, “demons”, and other spirits without being possessed or becoming their instrument.

I find the incorporation of shamanism into the Yelm cult (the Golden Bow) particularly fascinating. We have a great celestial entity (the Sun God) who has several sons and messengers who are charged with watching and helping mortal beings. The shaman is an initiate who specializes in dealing with the spirit world, in particular fire elementals and celestial beings, and whose spirit can rise up to the celestial realm.

The Golden Bow is a path for a Yelm initiate who becomes a shaman. It is common among the horse lords, not very common among the Dara Happans of the 7th Wane. It was likely more common in the 3rd and 4th Wanes though…

Jeff Richard

Next
Previous
Golden Bow, shamans, Yelm

Sections

  • Search Tips
  • Current RuneQuest Glorantha Publications
  • RuneQuest Glorantha Corrections and Q&A
  • Catalogue
  • References for Glorantha
    • Gloranthan Canon
  • Gloranthan Documents
  • RPG Systems & Versions
  • Gallery
  • About This Site
  • Get involved!

Latest Posts

  • The Grasslands of Prax

    Something to keep in mind about Prax. The grasslands of …
  • Praxian Kinship Groups

    Praxian tribes are divided into smaller kinship groups or clans, …
  • Lunar Resettlement of Tarsh after 1460 ST

    After 1460, large sections of Peloria (especially east of the …
  • The Spread of the Lunar Way

    In the Lunar Provinces, about 26% of the total population …
  • Gods of Fire and Sky and the Lunar Way

    The Gods of Fire and Sky co-exist alongside the Lunar …
  • How Much Land is a Hide?

    So in RQ, a “hide” is a unit of accounting …
  • Agricultural Data for RuneQuest

    Back in the late 70s and early 80s, Greg‘s only …
  • Farming in Dara Happa

    In anticipation of the Fire/Sky Book, here’s a few notes …
  • Farming in the Big Rubble

    There are some 1600 humans in the Big Rubble, with …

Links

  • Chaosium
  • Chaosium’s RuneQuest RPG Wiki
  • Glorantha on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on BRP Central
  • RuneQuest on Discord
  • Prince of Sartar Webcomic
  • Glorantha G+ Archives on Tapatalk
  • Search mailing list archive

Latest from BRP Central

  • Neutralize Magic and Geomancy
  • creating a spirit cult of Fralar
  • Thoughts on running an Animal Nomad/Praxian game
  • Fillable excel RQG character sheets?
  • Where is there a list of temples in Dragon Pass?
  • Secular and religious hierarchies
  • Subcults vs Associated Cults
  • Gorgorma and Dendara's Chess Game
  • Merged deities
  • Elf plant ships and dwarf stone ships

Popular Tags

Boldhome (large city) Chaosium Colymar (Sartar tribe) Contents Cult demographics Cults of Runequest (preview) Ernalda Esrolia (homeland) FRA Furthest (large city) G+ post Gods Wall Greg Stafford Guide to Glorantha (preview) Humakt Jar-eel Lunar Empire Lunar Pantheon Magazine Malkioni pantheon Map Michael O’Brien Mongoose MRQ1 New Pavis (small city) Old Glorantha Q&A Orlanth Orlanthi pantheon Photo reference Population demographics Prax (homeland) RQ3 RQG Sandy Petersen Sartar (homeland) Spirit Cult Star Subcult Tapatalk post Tarsh (homeland & Lunar province) Troll Pantheon Yelm Yelmalio Yelm Pantheon Youtube

Recently added or updated

  • AH8588 Elder Secrets of Glorantha (Box 11 – 1989)

  • Elder Secrets of Glorantha – Contents

  • Borderlands & Beyond – Contents

  • Yelm Pantheon

  • Troll Pantheon

  • Praxian Pantheon

  • Doraddi Pantheon

  • Orlanthi Pantheon

  • Merfolk Pantheon

  • Malkioni Pantheon

  • Lunar Pantheon

  • Hsunchen Pantheon

  • Elf Pantheon

  • Chaos Pantheon

  • Vormaino Pantheon

  • East Isles Pantheon

  • Kralorelan Pantheon

  • Dwarf Pantheon

  • Lemure

  • AH8587 Troll Gods: The Deities of Darkness (Box 10 – 1989)

©2025 The Well of Daliath | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme