How to Create A Religion?

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

No, it's not what it might sound like.

As some of you might know, the following was my entry for June's 75 word challenge, and it got me thinking about things...

The Price Of Innocence; or The Consequence of Sin

The most favored of the Angels was the Seraphim, who shone brighter than the rest, but her image was too perfect in the eyes of her Creator, so in a fit of rage, the jealous Creator cast her out of Heaven for a sin the Seraphim did not commit, and by doing so, tainted the realm of Heaven by the Creator’s own sin, for all eternity.

- Excerpt from the First Psalm of Gaea



I would like to know if it sounds religious enough to be believable in a religious text, and how you might go about setting a religion up for your worlds, if you decide you want to have one. Would you go a basic, human route where they might go to church every day/week/whatever?

Would it be more like shrines to ancient, various, random god of whoever might watch over them?

And how would you try going about writing the texts for the basis of your world's religion?

[Sapheron]

Depends on the culture and the world. Religions are made by someone (unless you actually have gods taking an active hand, in which case it depends on the gods choice really) so it reflects what that person wants to achieve. A nation in a hot place that gets little water would probably place great importance on water, and possibly believe it, or things to do with it in some manner, sacred. If they live in an area with a single apex predator, than a primitive people are likely to revere it in some way, and there's probably a god that looks like or is one of this animal.

If you start at the beginning and think about how and why the religion developed, a lot of questions such as place and manner of worship are likely to be mostly answered by themselves.

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

The world was created by an actual god, but even gods aren't perfect. The thing is, the world in question, Czastaria, is made of pieces of two other destroyed worlds, and so the god (goddess in this instance, Gaea) isn't all too happy.


I was thinking of trying to go the Christian route, as it tends to be the one modern religion I know the most about, but even so, I don't really know enough about it to get any kind of accurate portrayal. I also wanted to know how others doing the same thing set up their ways.

[Luiglin]

[Apologies if I offend anyone with this, it's not my intention and mods if I do please delete]

Karn, did you mention on the other thread that the country/planet/people were only a couple of thousand years old?

If so then taking real world religions into context most have taken longer than that to develop into the convoluted structures and doctrines that they are today. They've all evolved over time picking out the best bits of other religions as time has gone by. Unless its core to the story to replicate that sort of depth may a touch cumbersome (for me it would anyway).

However if the 2k age is right then you could keep the complexity relatively low and hint that the religion is still evolving. Alternatively, you could drop in the random snippets of text as you have done above which could provide the impression of something greater.

For my own WIP I've gone for an established religion but one that is based on natural powers similar the elements of earth, wind, fire and water. As such I've skipped any requirement for books of worship as they are not required, and and whilst people do congregate at temples for services, I've concentrated more of the practical side of the religion. For example one of the supporting characters is attuned to a certain aspect of the elements that allow her to heal and it is more this practical usage of the religion that I've expounded on.

My aim when I was dreaming it up was to get away from any sort of identifiable godhood(s) and have a world where people do not have to 'believe' in a religion to find succour in their everyday lives.

Sorry for the rambling it's quite late and my brain is two second behind my typing fingers

[Teresa Edgerton]

You mentioned in the other thread that you would like to do something along the lines of writing the New Testament, but the bit you have posted sounds much more Old Testament to me.

If you want something modeled on the Christian religion -- but different -- than you might want to look at Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. He combines Christianity with Norse religion (Odin) and Egyptian (Osiris) and through the themes of the sacrifice (Odin on the World Tree) and resurrection (Osiris/Horus) it works, though the structure of the religion and the church is very close to medieval Christianity.

Also, you might look at Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars, where the church is, again, modeled after Christianity, although with a feminist bent, and complete with various heresies for variety.

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I had read Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, all but the first volume. I remember Ineluki and Usires, kind of funny there.


And yes, Czastaria is only a couple thousand years old, and that is a considering factor. I'm thinking about combining with Greek, I know more on that than modern religions, but it would play a rather interesting combination.


But it's not just about me and my work here. I would also like to hear about how you guys go about your own mythologies and religions that you work on?

[Teresa Edgerton]

Usiris Aedon, yes, that was the Jesus/Osiris/Odin figure. Ineluki was an undead Sithi. The name sounds Finnish to me.

Since you've already read the series, you might skim through it looking for the religious parts, so that you can reread and analyze how he synthesizes the different religions.

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

And so I would if I had my copies.

I am definitely going to try to look at some things though.

[Luiglin]

I did creative a huge pantheon of gods and demi-gods once. Each one had its own write up and religion. I found the whole process fun to do and while 90% of it didn't impact on the story it made the world more 'alive' in my mind.

Equally I've enjoyed the one I've developed in my current WIP. I think it's evolved nicely as I've been writing. Those that have read it haven't pinpointed anything that they think doesn't work. As I said though I've concentrated more on the practical aspect rather than any sort of mythology simply cause it doesn't exist as such.

[MstrTal]

2000 years is a long time relatively speaking. Especially where religion is concerned!

Take a look at Sikhism it is just over 500 years old and is about as modern as you can get without going "New Age". yet in its 500 years it has evolved and expanded through 10 Gurus' from its founder Nanak to today's Adi Granth or Holy text. This is one example.

Christianity that you already mentioned has evolved and split into a number of Denominations. Arguably in just over two thousand years as before Christ it was not technically Christianity. However following this logic the Old Testament alone is taken from the Torah's 1st 5 books. So its history is much longer. Yet if broken down you can see how in those periods of time it evolved and changed. How holidays where added and removed or fell out of favor.

In fact the entire Redaction process inherent to Catholicism and ending with the Bible as standardized today has happened in the last 2000 years.

I could go on and on about the evolution of religion, mythology and how it not only impacted history but was impacted by history but I think you get my point.

Also I mean no disrespect to anyone on these boards or their beliefs and if I have offended please accept my apologize and feel free to have a mod remove this post. I am a History Major with a minor in Sociology and an emphasis on religious evolution.

[Parson]

Karn,

I like the idea of putting little snippets of the text into the book, maybe like chapter themes. I'd let the religion develop naturally in your head. The danger might seem to be in continuity, but Christianity, and every other religion that I know is rife with enigmas and mysteries. One of the more conservative para church groups, the navigators, are really big on Bible memorization. Often they will suggest 2 verses, with one acting as a counter to the first so that Biblical balance can be seen and appreciated.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Originally Posted by Parson

enigmas and mysteries.

Just those three words make me want to sit down and write ... something.

Edit --

Maybe you've inspired my story for the 75 or 300 word challenge next month.
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[Jennifer Cthulus]

Originally Posted by Karn Maeshalanadae

The most favored of the Angels was the Seraphim, who shone brighter than the rest, but her image was too perfect in the eyes of her Creator, so in a fit of rage, the jealous Creator cast her out of Heaven for a sin the Seraphim did not commit, and by doing so, tainted the realm of Heaven by the Creator’s own sin, for all eternity.

- Excerpt from the First Psalm of Gaea



I would like to know if it sounds religious enough to be believable in a religious text,

You should be commended for not defaulting to the language of the King James Bible or some approximation thereof. With that said, though, the word "Psalm" in the citation is creating the exact stumbling block for me that your language otherwise avoids. That's a pretty exotic word for the scriptures in your world to be using. Does your world already have Christianity, the King James Bible, and thus it would make sense for this word to have found its way into your scriptures? If not, you might want to consider calling it the First Paean of Gaea, or the First Lay of Gaea, or something else devoid of the historical context required to call a poem in your scripture a Psalm.

"Seraphim" is plural, so should be "were the Seraphim". Apologies if I seem pedantic by drawing attention to grammar, but, being scripture, it would probably refer to them as such. I'll give you a pass on calling them "Seraphim" even if you don't have Jews or Christians in your world, but mainly because I've always liked the Raëlians calling their alien precursors "Elohim". Others might not be so forgiving and face the same hangup that I encountered on the word "Psalm", however. An easy find-replace to fix if it poses a problem, though.

Overall, though, your passage seems great. Good luck!

[Esfires]

"First Lay of Gaea" might be a little inappropriate for a church environment.

Just sayin'.

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Originally Posted by Jennifer Cthulus

You should be commended for not defaulting to the language of the King James Bible or some approximation thereof. With that said, though, the word "Psalm" in the citation is creating the exact stumbling block for me that your language otherwise avoids. That's a pretty exotic word for the scriptures in your world to be using. Does your world already have Christianity, the King James Bible, and thus it would make sense for this word to have found its way into your scriptures? If not, you might want to consider calling it the First Paean of Gaea, or the First Lay of Gaea, or something else devoid of the historical context required to call a poem in your scripture a Psalm.

"Seraphim" is plural, so should be "were the Seraphim". Apologies if I seem pedantic by drawing attention to grammar, but, being scripture, it would probably refer to them as such. I'll give you a pass on calling them "Seraphim" even if you don't have Jews or Christians in your world, but mainly because I've always liked the Raëlians calling their alien precursors "Elohim". Others might not be so forgiving and face the same hangup that I encountered on the word "Psalm", however. An easy find-replace to fix if it poses a problem, though.

Overall, though, your passage seems great. Good luck!

Yes, it seemed to have been something that slipped my mind. I wasn't at my best putting it together.

And I reverted to the use of psalm simply because I did want it to have biblical undertones. Religion is supposed to be playing a far larger role in Czastaria than it did in Morcalia-in fact, one of the main characters of my little kick-off story is supposed to be the very seraph that was cast from Heaven as my entry told of. Of course, complications are supposed to arise when an repentant demon joins their ranks-one of my own little twists on ideas. It is something I had asked Parson about in the past, whether or not there was anything in the bible about a demon suffering penance and being granted salvation.


That being said, prejudices run strong and wide, and the seraph doesn't trust the demon, and vice versa...


I'm not sure if I should try to include Nephilim or not...I think that might push it a little far.