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18.06.2022

I haven't been very active recently, but today I wanted to make another post related to (fantasy) world building. You can check my post about making a character encyclopedia here, or my other post about making an imaginary country.

Now, onto today's theme:

World building: making a religion

That's right! Religion is an important part of human history and - whether you are or are not religious yourself - you might want to give the people in your country or fantasy world some sort of beliefs or religion.

Today I created my very first imaginary religion and I wanted to share my creative process.

As I did with my country building guide, I will shorten the explanation to four simple steps in order to get started and set the basic traits of your religion. Here we go.

1. Type of religion (general traits)

Before anything else, you must think about what kind of religion you want it to be. These are questions you can ask yourself to get started:

Will it be a monotheistic or polytheistic religion?

If polytheistic, how many gods/goddesses are there? Are they arranged in some sort of hierarchy? If so, make a small diagram to organise it.

If monotheistic, is the god/goddess omnipotent? Are they limited by anything? Did they create humankind and the rest of the species?

Is there any kind of sacred texts, similar to the Bible or so? Or is it a religion transmitted orally?

Is the religion centered on any particular aspect of life (e.g. death, chastity, knowledge...)?

Are there pastors or any kind of religious guides or leaders? Or do the people speak directly to the god(s)/goddess(es)?

Does it give any explanation to what happens after death? Is there some sort of Heaven? Do they believe in Hell?

(I recommend thinking of a name, too, but this is not mandatory.)

2. Develop the ideas written before

This might seem obvious.

For polytheistic religions, try to describe as much as possible about every god/goddess. You can take inspiration from actual religions (always being respectful, of course) or ancient mythology. For instance, I decided to base the religion I created on spirits and natural elements (water, earth & forest, light, night and wind). Give the gods and goddesses some recognisable symbols.

Establish some basic rules, too. Here are some prompt questions.

How strict are the leaders of the religion (if there are any leaders at all)? Are the believers required to do anything in particular in their daily lives? Will there be any punishment if they don't do it?

Are there any forbidden foods or drinks?

Do they have any specific celebrations? Write those down and briefly explain them.

What are some of the legends, myths or stories that are part of the religion?

3. Branches

Of course, this is optional, but it is very likely that a religion will eventually split into different branches or groups.

I would recommend establishing which branch is the most important one. Then you can invent as many smaller groups as you want. Explain why they differ from the main branch of the religion and if they are considered to be a cult by the rest of the community.

Again, here are some more questions you can get inspiration from:

Are they a pacifist group or do they attack other believers/apostates/atheists?

Do all branches live peacefully or are they constantly at war?

What names do these branches receive?

4. Integrate the religion in your world/country

Now you have a solid idea of what your religion is like. It's time to integrate it in your fantasy world.

How powerful are the different branches of the religion?

Have they caused any wars or revolutions? Have they succeed in defeating their enemies?

Did the religion expand across other countries? To which ones? Did they make any changes to it?

This is basically everything I can suggest in order to invent a religion from scratch to use in your stories. I hope somebody finds this small guide useful in some way. Thanks for reading :)

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