This week: Nature Religions Edited by: Annette  
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| "Examples of nature religions can be found in modern neo-pagan beliefs, traditional beliefs of many native tribes around the world, and the traditions of ancient polytheistic faiths." ~ Austin Cline |
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Nature Religions
Human beings have come up with ways to understand the circle of life, their immediate environment, and the stars by creating religious systems. The oldest ones are sometimes referred to as primitive, but the word is not describing the complexity of those religious systems. It's a label for how old the systems are.
Some modern day nature religions have sprung up in the Western world. Those are usually a remix of ancient traditions. They incorporate elements from a variety of ancient religions.
Existing nature religions have some hallmarks that can easily be transferred into a fictional religion.
 A bunch of gods.
Nature religions are not monotheistic. They either have several, many, or thousands of gods. Or they don't have gods at all and instead consider the world as sacred in itself.
As a fiction writer, you can invent as many gods as you want. Or you can take Thor, Odin, and Loki and turn them into comic book characters.
No scriptures and no prophets.
While there may be a religious guide or shaman, there is no one living or dead person whose words have been written down. The rules are set up in a way that practices are so ingrained in daily habits that everyone is an independent spiritual practitioner.
For us writers, it makes things a little more tricky. We are called to create a set of rules for our religion in the same way that we have to come up with rules for the use of magic. However, those rules can't be written up in a tome that the characters carry around. In your stories, the practices have to be shown, not narrated.
Equality in leadership positions.
As everything that is not made by humans is connected by an invisible lifeforce, nature religions include humans in that energy web. If any one person stands out of the group, it's likely temporary. They might be performing a specific ritual after which they return to the whole group. Some members of the group may enjoy a higher level of prestige that is based on age or experience.
Creating a religion that is free from hierarchies can be fun as more characters can take part in the spiritual events in the story. All while not being bogged down by the need for education or to commit for life.
Sacred Spaces
Nature religions are more likely to consider parts of the environment as sacred. They might build gathering places, but those would be temporary for a ritual or a season. If anything gets set up, it's likely that stones get rearranged in patterns, but there are no churches or temples for nature religions.
Storytellers can use beaches, forests, the mountains, or other open air spaces as settings for their fictional religion.
Have you invented any nature religions for your fictional worlds? |
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Spiritual: June 19, 2024 Issue [#12596]
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