Faith in Fantasy
The Spiritual vs. the Religious
Fantasy is famous for its fake religions — and also famous for doing them poorly. One of the biggest complaints about fantasy faiths is that they are simply the aesthetic of a real religion disguised under a different name. Catholicism is often riffed off for its strict hierarchy. Bishop and Priest are words you’ll often find used in fantasy as well as a similar hierarchical religious structure.
Greek paganism is another favorite with its temples and sacrifices and its polytheism typically simplified; there is a God of the sea, of the dead, of good fortune, etc.
When making up a fake religion you do have to base it off something. I’m not suggesting creating something entirely foreign, in fact when I’ve seen this tried it often confuses readers who are familiar with certain tropes to tell them this is a religion, a religious person, etc. Your fake faith will likely have prayers, traditions, and authorities just like real religions do because they are serving the same purpose as real religions, but you still must do the work of making the faith feel real and unique.
One mistake I see writers make a lot is not differentiating between the spiritual and the religious. Religion is, in this context, the physical and ritualistic aspects of a faith. Its going to church on Sundays, praying in a specific direction so many times a day, its what you can and can not eat. It’s what you wear, what you sacrifice, and what curse first comes to your lips when you stub your toe. It’s all the things that most visible change a culture.
Spiritualism is the belief system itself. It’s one god or many, it’s your conception of an afterlife or rebirth, it’s Heaven or Valhalla.
Faith is both religious and spiritual, but fantasy writers have a bad habit of choosing only one or the other. A classic trope found in fantasy is the High Priesthood; a group of mystics (usually magic wielding magicians) who everyone else fears or worships. But everyone else, Kings and peasants alike, are essentially atheistic. There is no religion beyond this small elite group of people. There are no rituals, to sacrifices, no dietary restrictions — just a fear or respect of the high priest hood for no reason that is apparent to the reader.
On the flip side of that you will find detailed hierarchical religious bodies where all the people must pay, pray, and sacrifice exactly on schedule. There is often a ‘Pope’ or religious head and all the people below him serve different roles. Yet no one seems to believe any of it. Despite the characters entire lives being dictated by their religion they pay it almost no mind whatsoever beyond its physical demands. It just becomes part of the setting but serves no role in the characters decision making or personal and moral beliefs.
To create a realistic religion, it must have both of these things. That’s not to say each character must also be balanced because people aren’t like that. Some people are far more spiritual then they are religious and vice versa, but the world must contain both kinds of characters.
Although the aesthetic of a religion may be the most fun part to create (hats, robes, temples, oh my!) the balance of religion and spiritualism is what will make it feel real. It will add depth and personality to your world and to your characters.
