I've got the following:
- Sun God
- Earth/Nature Deity
- Goddess of Seas
Now, the Sun God also covers Weather in his domain (or portfolio for you RPGers), so after that, what's left in the sky? Clouds, Air, and uh, yeah. Everything else (lightning, wind, rain, etc) could all be covered under Weather.
So my question for you guys is this:
Do I keep my Weather god, or ditch that and have a Sky deity instead? What are your thoughts on this?
(Keep in mind that we're not talking Zeus here where my deities are going to be tagging people with lightning bolts. They're not that demonstrative.)
Now weigh in!
I guess it depends on how complex you want your deity structure to be. My completely unresearched notion of real mythologies in history is that most of them were pretty complex (a separate god/goddess for the sun, moon, wind, rain, lightning, etc.). If it were me writing it, I would probably go that route. But it's not me writing it, and that's a lot of work to come up with all that! :-)
ReplyDeletejosmith42 - Yeah, I'm not into doing any actual work... Seriously, I'm trying to keep my pantheon down to 5 distinct followings (there are actually 6 deities, but one following is a set of twins who work together to administer their responsibilities).
ReplyDeleteI could go the route of many mythologies where one god is in charge of like a dozen different contradictory things, but I'd rather not do that. I mean, Apollo is God of music, healing, plague, prophecies, poetry, and archery; and associated with light, truth and the sun. Eh, healing AND plague? Reaaaally?
So your vote is basically to have as many as I need to cover my people's everyday concerns? So I'd probably have Weather and Sky then or even break it down further. I might end up doing that. Thanks for voting!
I don't know if I would have the Sun god controlling the weather--we have weather at night too. I would take out the Sun god and have a universal Sky god, personally because it covers everything. With Earth, Sky, and Sea, you have every inch of our (or another much like Earth) world covered.
ReplyDeleteJust my opinion though! Love ya! I'm diggin into the Lisa Shearin books (again) today....tryin to do you proud ;). Btw, I haven't heard your review of Dead in the Family yet.
I agree with Penny. It keeps things nice and simple and covers everything - unless you were like me. I'd introduce the greek idea of gods, demi-gods, gorgons etc. I'd use it as an excuse for another story somewhere down the line...lol...x
ReplyDeleteHowever, religion isn't something I've explored with my work - not really. They have superstitious beliefs, but no real religion...hmm...that can't be right. looks like I may be exploring that further. Thanks for bringing it to my attention...
Oh!!! Or...the fact that there is no real religion in my world...there was a revolt thousands of years before, people vs gods, and the gods lost and have lain dormant for all these years. Then (basis for that new story further down the line) the gods begin to uprise once again...oh I'm liking this - although it does kinda sound familiar. Clash of the Titans, anyone??? lol
ReplyDeleteSorry, the topic has got me rambling...
Actually, Penny, your solution is absolutely perfect! It fits in well with some other random quirks I'd given my world. One each of Sky, Earth, and Sea Deities coming up. :)
ReplyDeleteDRC - Glad I could help kick start a new development in your world. ;)