In the last post of this series, I finished with some comments on the relationship between a given god and his/her worshipers. Motivation, for both parties, allows for an incredible amount of flexibility when designing a religion. The more I think about this concept, the more it sparks my imagination. One of the great questions is, "What does God want from me?" For a writer, the opportunity to answer the question in your own world is almost too delicious, even if your characters never discover that truth.
In polytheistic belief systems, the deities are usually assigned
specific aspects or responsibilities by which they are identified. The
Greek/Roman pantheon are all thought of as, "The God of XYZ."
Catholicism, in effect, emulated this concept with the intercession of
Saints in specific realms of need or occupations. Each being has their
own realm and their own responsibilities. Sometimes these roles have
been designated by the most powerful of the gods, sometimes they're fought over (or
gambled over) and sometimes they are simply essential to the gods'
personalities. These responsibilities then seem to impart motivation to
the deities.
Saying that Ares was the God of War is akin to saying that Einstein was a
scientist. Throughout their existence, both loved and created, had dreams and ambitions. It is awful to limit
your view of any creature to the one thing they are best known for.
Just like Jesus or Mohammed, the Gods of the polytheistic world had (or
have) personalities and faults. Gods have hopes and desires. They have
never been simple archetypes. People did not worship Wisdom, but the embodiment of wisdom. Fully fleshing out the gods of your
pantheon is as important as developing any other character in your tale.
It's important to remember (for me too) that much of the mythology we've
been exposed to is a more final polished version. Some of the gods may
have been formed contemporaneously as complementary powers, like
Earth, Wind and Fire (wait, that isn't right). In all likelihood, most gods developed independently and were later incorporated into the greater pantheon as cultures and populations mixed. Familial connections could be forged at any point. Tales of their deeds would have traveled and evolved in the course of the move. I like to imagine being a believer contemporary with their active cults, following news of my God's movements. I wonder if it would be like hearing people proclaim miracles today.
Ascribing desires to a god can be a tricky business. One method of creating a
motive for a god is to imagine gods as creations of the human psyche.
Through the power of belief (individual or congregation), a god is created in the form believed. These gods would develop independent personalities as time went on, but rooted in the culture that birthed it, establishing similar desires. The power of Fritz Lieber's
gods "in Lankhmar" is based on the number of worshipers each has.
Methods of increasing congregation size in the real world vary wildly and meet with
different degrees of success (don't spill your seed upon the ground). Like any other character, gods need
motivation to do anything. When you have established how the gods came
to be, you're closer to knowing what your gods want/need, then you can start
figuring out how they go about getting it, or convincing their followers
to do it for them.
Trouble is, assuming we
could understand what a god wants/needs, why would they tell us? It might
give us some measure of power over them. What god wants that? The primary way for worshipers to get clues about this is from the directives the gods give their followers. Assuming the task is accomplished, what result do the believers see? Perhaps a boon is granted to the faithful, but is this a result of a power boost or is it simple the whim of the god? What if they fail? Does their God stop talking to them? Has it died? This leads to the maddening question, "How much truth is my God giving me?" This can be supplemented with the question, "Is God just fucking with me?" Gods do seem to like their amusements. This is just a small sample of the sadistic pleasure you can take in making your own world.
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