Re: Constructed Religions

At 01:06 PM 12/30/98 +0100, Kristian wrote:
> I'm sure many of you guys/gals have
>created belief systems to accompany the con-culture speaking your
>respective conlangs. So here I am asking, what are your religions
>like?
I actually devised my language, Vogu, to support a religion I was
inventing, so I could make up consistent terminology.  After that,
I liked the people, the Kadane, so much, that I put together the
rest of their culture and the world which contained them, fleshing
out the language as I went along.

The Kadane are enthusiastic polytheists (3000+ gods so far!).  They
worship 3 classes of gods: Sky and Earth Gods (who are similar to
the Greek or Hindu gods of natural phenomena or abstract virtues),
and Mountain Gods (who are similar to Catholic saints in practice).
Sky and Earth gods are the "original" gods of the Kadane, and are
referred to in the Kadane epic scriptures.  Mountain Gods were
originally mortals, elevated to divine status by their devotees
after their death.  Behind them all is the Good God, who is the
ultimate Creator, but who currently takes a "hands-off" attitude
towards the world.

There is a tension in Kadane religion between the good gods, who
serve Arta (the principle of cosmic harmony) and those who serve
chaos (or evil).  Among the Mountain Gods, the god Prabaset,
last Emperor of the Kadane Empire, is the major good guy and
leader of all the forces of Arta.  Mortals can serve Arta by
correct ritual observance and by ethical behavior.

The main ritual places of the Kadane are Wawatranu, or Mountain Temple,
and the nastadurs, or Fire Temples.  Wawatranu is a giant artificial
mountain made up of shrines to all the Mountain Gods (in fact, one
becomes a mountain God simply by having a shrine built on Wawatranu
by ones followers).  Prabaset's burial mound is at the base of
Wawatranu.  The nastadurs are the local temples in which the
Kadane rituals are performed.  The basic ritual is that of the
Fire Sacrifice, where liquids (usually water or liquor) are poured
onto a consecrated fire.  There are also lots of festivals and
private rites.  Many Mountain Gods are the founders of particular
"Ways" of spiritual observance.  The Mountain god Paglatl, for example,
founded a mystical school based on estatic dancing, drumming and
chanting of the Ninety-Nine Virtues of the Gods.

Kadane religion is very democratic (some would say anarchic),
and there are lots of variations on the Ways and rituals, but
these are the general outlines of the shared belief system.

There's more, if you're interested, at

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Corridor/2711/kadrel.html

-- Terry