Hey there! Welcome back to World Building 101 where I take a look at the steps and layers needed to create a successful fantasy or science fiction universe. Previously I talked about Mythology and the importance it plays in laying out the groundwork for your society. Today I’d like to take a look at an element that is tightly connected to mythology and is just if not more important to the shaping of your fledgling world: Religion.
As I stated last time it’s easy for many people to get these two things confused. Some people think that mythologies are just religions that have gone out of style or are any belief system that doesn’t match their own. I want to reiterate here that this is not the case. Creating a mythology is about creating the stories that explain your world (or at least how your characters explain their world to each other). Religion is different. Religion is about organization, control, bureaucracy. Let’s look at our own world for a second.
Let me start with a disclaimer that this is not to offend, diminish, or mock but rather simply a teaching tool used to illustrate a point. The Catholic Church has been a monolith of western society for nearly two thousand years and it is the perfect example of the way a religion can influence the events of your world. First dismiss the mythology (right or wrong, truth or fiction) of the church. By this I mean Genesis, the Gospels, and Revelations along with any stories about the saints. Now look at the structure of the church.
First you notice that there is a hierarchy, a chain of command if you will, that runs from the newly assigned parish priest all the way up to the pope himself. Members of the church are assigned roles and jobs according to their skills, some participate in society while some do not. Those assignments are usually out of the hands of the members themselves as (at least for a large part of history) they must do as they are told. Structure is important. Is your religion a monolith of bureaucracy? Or is it an ad-hoc collection of denominations and sects? Perhaps it is intertwined with politics in a system where the head of state is also the head of government.
After you have decided on the structure of your religion you need to decide how it’s funded. Even silent monks need to eat. Does it rely on the donations of the masses or perhaps it is funded by the crown through taxes or patrons. Do your nuns sell gin on the side to pay their rent? Money is traditionally a corrupting influence. How the faithful provide for themselves is a crucial component that will inform their effect on your society. A religion whose leaders are mired in poverty will be overlooked by the powerful but have resonance with the downtrodden. If affluence and decadence has seeped into your religion it may wield political power but be seen as an oppressive force by the people.
Now that you have decided how your religion is structured and you know how it is funded there is one more important element that you must invent, your religion’s ritual. Ritual is the umbrella term that covers all the traditions and ceremonies that give a religion its power. Let’s go back to Catholicism. Mass, confession, the rosary, crossing yourself. These all types of rituals. Even the Protestants who claim to have striped the ritual out of Christianity bow their heads and close their eyes when they pray a simple but pervasive ritual. Also included in ritual are the religions holy days. What they celebrate and the traditions a religions followers are expected to adhere to on those days (fasting, gift giving, asking for forgiveness, etc.) Ritual is the texture that incorporates religion into the daily lives of your characters.
So there you have it. If you want to incorporate religion into your world building you’ll need to make sure you’ve decided on your religion or religions structure, funding, and ritual. And if you are not incorporating religion into your world than I would make sure you have a very good in-universe explanation for it not being around.
Next Time we take a look at the people you want to fill your world with. Until then best of luck you aspiring L. Ron Hubbards.