McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Help with my religion!
synobal:
Okay so I'm an atheist I'll say that right now, sorry if it offends anyone but that is where I come from. So writing about religion or creating religion for my fantasy setting is -hard- because almost all my religions tend to end up being extreme in their negative aspects. I'm trying to avoid that and so far I think I've done a decent job. I could be wrong who knows.
So here is my first religion as I've gotten it written in my outline.
(click to show/hide)
--- Quote ---Each major noble family believes that their souls are simply pieces of a deity, sent to earth to inhabit the bodies of their family to experience life and gain knowledge and wisdom. When they die their spirit rejoins the deity with all their accumulated knowledge and experiences. Many hold that the greatest worship they can give their deity is to simply die having experienced and learned the most possible out of life.
The peasants worship the noble families deity, and believe that when they die their spirits are punished or rewarded for the work they did for the noble family.
--- End quote ---
I'm not sure what to call this, I'm leaning towards nobleism? (noblism?) but I dunno yet. Does anyone know if there are any real world analogs to this religion? I'd done a bit of research and nothing seems to really touch upon it. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated.
Snowleopard:
That sounds like a wildly mutated form of ancestor veneration, synobal.
Maybe try the word Patrician instead of Noble. Noblism sounds a bit like elitism.
I hope that helps.
Suggestion: The main rule in this section is to 'not' post your writing so JB sees it.
(If he happens to read something by someone else that he was planning to use in one of his stories - he then can't use it because he wouldn't be able to prove that he had the idea first.)
Just put your idea in Spoilers and that way JB can't accidentally run across it.
synobal:
Hmm Patricianism I dunno when you use a word like Patrician you're sort of promising a certain 'society' to your reader. Yes I have nobles, but do I have Patrician? Which are roman nobles. My fantasy setting doesn't really use Romantic society as a base, it's an idea but I don't want to make a promise to the reader I can't keep.
Snowleopard:
Just a suggestion, synobal. :D
Use whatever word works for you and fulfills your promise to the reader.
MClark:
Here are some thoughts, hidden by spoiler. Is this ok, or is sending a PM better?
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Sorry if I'm too blunt, but here are my comments.
My first thought was why would a deity need human knowledge or experience? They're gods. Wanting or needing human knowledge doesn't sound like Zeus or Odin or Q to me. Then I turned it around and thought of the deity as more of an alien spirit trying to learn about humans. Then the idea became more interesting and believable to me. Tieing the return of souls to a form of ancestor worship (dying might be called Rejoining the Family), may make it more believable also. This is a data point of one, of course, so take it or leave it. You could also include both ideas. Maybe the nobility think of it as more a partnership with this ancestral spirit, but the peasants worship the spirit more as a god?
Questions you may want to consider - (Don't necessarily tell me the answers). 1. Since the spirit wants more experience then I would think killing younger noblepersons is considered a foul crime - robbing the spirit of experience. Then of course killing children is worse and abortions are the worst of all.
2. So would magic spells that extend life be considered a good thing - more knowledge or experience accumulated - or a bad thing - the spirit doesn't grow by your experience the longer you stay alive. Or you could have different sects that each adhere to one of these beliefs.
3. Does the knowledge go back to the spirit anywhere the nobility dies or does the nobility have to die in a temple or the central family temple. the answer feeds back to question 2, also. And question 1, also.
4. What about the peasants? Usually, the male nobility are going to get jiggity with the peasant women, so does the spirit send bits of itself to the part noble-part peasant folk?
5. What about when noble families interbreed? A Bourbon marries a Hapsburg, which noble spirit settles into the progeny? Where does it go when the person dies?
6. If its an alien spirit does it try to screw with the host, just to have new experiences? "So what happens if a Montague falls in love with a Capulet? Lets find out."
I would echo snowleopard, that it sounds like an odd form of ancestor worship but like nothing I've heard of, but then I don't know much about comparative religion.
Very creative.
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