This week’s blog is a continuing dialogue on fantasy religions from last month. In the Catholic Church, the time from Ash Wednesday to the evening of Holy Thursday is called Lent. It is a time for penance and denying ourselves the things we love for forty days. The third, fourth, and fifth Sunday’s of Lent are scrutiny’s for the Elect, those who will be joining the Faith on the Easter Vigil. Other religions have their own process of welcoming new faithful’s. But how does a fantasy religion welcome new members?
What protocols must you develop so that one of your characters can join the fantasy faith of your world? Or is everyone born into the church? If that is true, then it limits the evangelization mission of the faith, yes no? Does your fantasy faith have high holy days? Does it believe in saints? Did it have a schism? Or maybe it is going through one right now. Did it ever sanction a crusade? What does it do to heretics?
The above questions are based on the history of Christianity. But there are hundreds, if not thousands, of religions across the globe. Does your fantasy religion say you cannot eat certain types of food? Do you have to pray in a kneeling position? If you live a good life, do you get rewarded in the next? Does it even believe in an afterlife?
When my fantasy religions are complete, I may only use one percent of them in my current work in progress. But I plan on staying in this world for quite some time. It behooves me to build the world properly the first time around instead of contradicting myself in future sequels. History doesn’t write itself and in your fantasy world, you truly need to know it’s history.
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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I’m currently reading the second book in Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series, One Corpse Too Many. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.
Fascinating take on developing a faith in your story.