Invent a religion

Frisbeeterian. When you die, your soul goes up on the roof and you can't get it down.

caw.

There's a coupla different religions in my comic book, generally based on various fragments I picked up in anthropology class, lo these many moons ago, but I think the one I like the most is the weird and creepy little faith of the "skins."

It's not so much a religion as...mm...supernaturally based culture, I guess...? But still!

There's a tribe who believes that when you die, various parts of your anatomy go off to become other animals. Your breath becomes butterflies, your torso becomes a tapir, your shadow becomes a deer. (I lifted this lock stock and mythos from a group in the real live Amazon--to this day, one of the most elegant deaths I've ever heard of.)

My "skins" are an underground lizard species who got wind of this, found it sensible, and now believe that the skins of dead men become sentient underground lizards--i.e. them. 'Course, sometimes you have to help nature along. So each lizard, at birth, gets sown into a preserved skin, and scraps are sewn on like patchwork throughout the creature's life as it grows. Large, complete skins are kept for the highest caste, less quality and fragmentary skins for lower castes.

Whenever they run into anybody, the skins generally try to convince their very weirded out victims to let themselves be skinned, so that they can achieve a weird kind of immortality, being worn by the skins.

The end result is sort of like a cross between Buffalo Bill and a Fraggle.

They're creepy, but they're also a little endearing in how completely they misread people's responses to this behavior--after all, to them it seems perfectly normal, and they're doing the person a favor by offering their skins immortality. When the heroine encounters them, one spends much of the session patting her hand and assuring her that they would be very, very careful.

They're completely non-malicious, but you probably wouldn't want to spend the night.

Kentuk said:

How does this religion play out in your writing. How does it affect the society, economy and culture?

Kentuk

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Probably the most obvious effect it has is that they trace their lineage matrilinially. Which isn't to say that men are somehow second-class citizens or anything-- age is far more important than gender in determining status to them-- but since they believe the first human was female, that's how they track lineage (it's also just makes sense to them, because in the absence of paternity testing, a mother is far more likely to be certain that a child is hers than a father is).

It did present a bit of a problem I had to work around. If the culture believes it imperative that bodies be cremated immediately, their medical knowledge would be very negatively affected (as cadavers are necessary to medical training and development). For other plot reasons, they needed a relatively advanced body of medical knowledge. I had to change it a bit so that unless the person is very important (ie, a king), it's not essential that they be cremated immediately as long as their remains are cremated eventually.

Another technological effect it has is gunpowder, which is a carefully guarded secret of their religious leaders (called firekeepers). As a result, they have a lot of age-of-sail technology, including the printing press, pocket watches, the semaphore(sp?), tins to preserve food, etc, but they're still relying on melee weapons for duels. Cannons are proving problematic.

Oops. Dinner time...

I have a couple of invented religions though most of them are just background stuff that someone alludes to (example: a Vulian might be lighting a candle for prayer to some god or other). One cult that comes to mind though is practiced by some people on the planet Emesh, where they think the world is going to end any minute so they carry fish on their heads so that they'll have food... yeah, I was in a particularly strange frame of mind when I created that one. It doesn't really affect them technologically but it does make them a bit more well, resigned -- so they kind of take disasters for granted when they happen.

DracoMerest said:

http://www.venganza.org/
He's made his name in the Wikipedia and has published a book too.

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That's sort of a BFD, you know. Anyone who can figure out the mark-up
language can add an article to Wikipedia. The trick is making the subject sound important enough to be accepted. An acquaintance of mine who has been running D&D games for thirty years has an entry in Wikipedia. I've been thinking of writing up a brief one for myself, so Google will report it on a search.

But yes, there are thousands of marginal religions out there; so many that it seems like painting the lily to create a new one. There are even people who believe in-- or profess to believe in-- Lovecraft's Ancient Old Ones.

This is too fun to resist.
Five Commandments:
1. Don't waste beer. (e.g. don't abandon half full cans.)
2. Laugh at those who tick you off, then go do something else.
3. When you're frustrated, be patient. Take a Zen moment and count to ten. Imagine you're a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, then have chocolate.
4. Call your Mommy at least once a week.
5. Do not take more than twelve items in the express line, or fifteen if the store is empty.

If you fail to follow these commandments, you may spend all of eternity in the New Jersey headquarters for the Department of Motor Vehicles. There is no greater hell. Dante would agree.

I want to post a warning label with my story- "Please do not take my story as theological truth. History shows how powerful a destructive force misplaced religious zeal can be...any religious metaphors and allegories are merely food for though...think, but do not take this as spiritual truth."

Countless people speak of novel ideas; but when peeled back and held against the "novel ideas" of history, they are often rehashed ideas of something that went before. And there is a reason for this. Mankind has spent generations pondering meaning and truth, and existence, moreso when they were farmers and hunters spending days and nights without the distraction of music, television and therefore forced to sit alone with their thoughts pondering life beyond the stars.

Tolkien was a unique thinker in that he separated attempts to mirror creation with sub-creation. He had very strong spiritual views, and it amazed me how his Creation story blends mythology with a Biblical account. And yet, when it came to Illuvatar/Eru- he really didn't change the nature of God as he saw him. The Valar were a composite of angels/gods of mythology- yet they were subordinate. And still, he had imbedded some deeply spiritual thoughts. I think this is something unique in Fantasy.

Elrond was a metaphor for ancient wisdom. All who came to him left by another direction. Yet he was simply a character in the story for those who didn't know any better. - Tolkien's story allows a reader to read for entertainment alone, or to ponder deeper meaning.

I didn't want to attempt to characterize God in my story. I now say, "God wanted to be written in" because I ended up with a creation story. But the trick of trying to do a Creation Story is that I feel a certain reverence. In using a quasi Gandalf voice, i believe "Mischaracterising God should never be taken lightly, Bilbo Baggins!" - If you place Justice (requiring payment for deeds) and Mercy (unmerrited forgiveness for failings) on a scale, and tip that scale ever so lightly one way or the other, mankind is doomed.

If justice is erroded there is Anarchy, and mercy will become an excuse to justify any action. If Justice is not tempered by mercy then a tyranny is born and all are condemned, because who is without sin/hypocracy?

And so, in trying to define "God" which I think is a mistake; because in fact we can't define God, only try our best to understand God as much as anything is revealed to us about God; the best we can do is actually to do what I think needs to be done anyway; try to portray that there must be a balance between Mercy and Justice.

In Lord of the Rings, God neither micromanages, nor is God indifferent. We are left with thoughts that he is there and somehow rings fall where they were supposed to fall. Yet he is percieved.

And so, the stress of my own story is not "God's will", but rather the free will choices of created beings. God will do what God will, but in terms of any story of value; our consideration is what part do we have to play in impacting this world? What of my choices. Yes, God may want an outcome, work with us- but how does my own free will change anything?

If anything, I wound up with a story that has a deep spiritual side. But knowing that God exists was necessary for the greater structure of the story- to explain why creatures from another realm could not simply come to earth and destroy humankind- setting up the tension that exists. These creatures from another realm now have to outsmart mankind, and will humans be wise or foolish in their choices when they can be either pawns or players?

Kentuk said:

There is an apologist argument that goes something like 'If God didn't exist man would have to invent him.'

Imagine a cult where God actually talked to people, where she granted visions, was ethical and good, where she could be in many places on many worlds at once and had access to nearly all the information technology of man.
This is the Cult of the Lady. The Lady is like a great artificial intelligence, except she isn't artificial, she's a case of spontanous intelligence having arisen in the complexity of mankind's information technology. The information police tracked her down, bottled her up and delivered her to the one being capable of understanding such an entity, the Android Eva Bee.
Eva Bee had a problem, her first big success on Ghaltz embroiled her in the middle of the planets mystical and pacifistic ancestor worship and Bee was being tempted to operate outside of her body, to create localized copies of her personality to deal personally with all who wanted access to her. The spontanous entity is of course non corporal and badly in need of purpose and mentoring. So the Lady of the Tower is born. The tower refers to her original abode a tower full of processors that linked to the organic information technology of the 'wood'.

The Cult of course proves very popular.

comments????????????/

Kentuk

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Fantasy allows for anything. And so entertainment/amusement/political commentary becomes the ends. - A.K.A =George Burns

Two ancient views were that God was the primary cause- montheism; and that God was like Luke Skywalker's force as described by Obi Wan- the energy of all living things- where the Universe creates "The Force" rather than God creating the Universe. In the Force- truth is subjective as much as the Universe is diverse. In the later, God is absolute having initiated all things. And so, in Luke's world, you tap into the force like an electric outlet. Good or Evil didn't matter, because the force didn't really care why you came. It was the cosmic generator. In a sense it is a plastic (as used in the medical term for pliable) god- not having a fixed shape/purpose.

By the way, a matriarchal heritage is possible to trace through mitochondrial DNA. Your mitochondria have a completely separate set of DNA than the rest of the cell. You only get this genetic material from your mother, not the dual chromosomes that design every other part of your cell.

Kentuk said:

Nateskate Harmless Giant



The Cult of the Lady doesn't incorporate either, it recognizes that there is no God although it bends enough to say the matter isn't truely knowable. In other words it is a substitute for true religion. It's advantage is in practicality and its community and personal orientation.

Kentuk

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I see what you mean. In a sense "religion" in stories as a parady of real life, less about what is real or seeking truth, but the absurd extremes people go to to make gods. I think this tact is most interesting as used as a sort of social commentary, as would happen in a Star Trek episode.

The focus isn't really on the god being any god worth a second look, but about religion and human gullibility.

Kentuk said:

Is this just for humans?

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All animals have mitochondria. It is because mitochondria are too big to fit into sperm cells, and the organization that would be required to get that other set of DNA into sperm is not selectively advantageous. Instead, you get your mitochondrial DNA from the mother's egg.

It is commonly thought that the mitochondria/cell interaction came originally from a symbiotic relationship, either evolved or by intelligent design, whichever one believes. The same is thought about chloroplasts in plants. It is the endosymbiotic theory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endosymbiotic_theory

This concept might make for interesting Sci-Fi or religious fiction. The symbiosis that exists in every cell of every plant and animal is compelling.

Just for the record, we role-playing writers/designers invent religions on a regular basis. I'm just wrapping up a 100,000+ word book on religion for a particular setting. Including cults, regional variations, unorthodox and non-standard belief systems, etc, really wiped me out.

There are areas of spirituality that do not fit the mold of "religion".
Zen and Taoism come to mind.
If you want to invent something in that realm, another religion seems
to be missing some of the bigger possibilities.

I was writing up a creation myth for nanowrimo yesterday. (Yes, for the myth system I mentioned on the previous page.) I haven't figured out where in the book it should go yet - as the prologue?

sunandshadow said:

I was writing up a creation myth for nanowrimo yesterday. (Yes, for the myth system I mentioned on the previous page.) I haven't figured out where in the book it should go yet - as the prologue?

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It should go in the story. Not in just one place, however, but all throughout.

Good luck.

I used to live in Clearwater, Florida. I am SO trying not to comment on this thread!

Pthom said:

It should go in the story. Not in just one place, however, but all throughout.

Good luck.

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What, cut the creation myth into pieces? That woun't be right, a myth is like a scene, it has dramatic unity and should be presented in one piece. Besides, the whole myth is less than 1,000 words, I don't think it's so long that it will be obnoxious to read. Or did you mean have several myths throughout the story? That I agree with, I have several myths I want to tell, maybe enough to have one every other chapter.

sunandshadow said:

What, cut the creation myth into pieces? That woun't be right, a myth is like a scene, it has dramatic unity and should be presented in one piece. Besides, the whole myth is less than 1,000 words, I don't think it's so long that it will be obnoxious to read. Or did you mean have several myths throughout the story? That I agree with, I have several myths I want to tell, maybe enough to have one every other chapter.

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If you have a number of myths, you could put them as self-contained non-chapters* in between regular chapters. If you only have a few, you could put each one as a scene where a teacher, priest, or similar character tells the myth to someone, possibly a group of children. But, in my opinion, not a prologue. Get the story going first.

*There's a term for that--it's right on the tip of my tongue...