Building a Universe

Religion

This part of the article is about religion. By religion, I mean any belief system that uses a set of rituals and appeals to supernatural powers to cause something to happen or to prevent something from happening. Superstition, animism, ancestor worship, polytheism, and monotheism are all types of religions (more or less).

Every culture has some sort of religious beliefs. Every culture has people who hold those beliefs to a greater degree than other people. Whether your story focuses on religion or not, the chances are pretty good that at some point religion will play a role.

When you are writing about religion, the most important thing to remember is that the people who follow that religion believe in it. When someone says that Isis saved Osiris from his evil brother Set, that person believes that such an event did happen. They are not fantasizing about it.

If you want to create your own religion, the best thing to do is read about ones that already exist. Don't just read about the "big" ones: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism. You should explore all facets of religious belief throughout the world. My personal favorite is Japanese Shintoism. But there are hundreds of different belief systems, each no more or less valid than any other.

Whatever religion you decide to use, or invent, keep these (and other) questions in mind:

What type of religion is it?
What are the core beliefs of the religion? What is the dogma? Where did these beliefs come from? How are these beliefs taught?
What is worshipped (gods, spirits, ancestors, etc.)? How? What rituals are used for worship? When does worship take place and why?
What are the creation myths? How was the universe created? How was the world created? How was earth and sky created? How were plants and animals created? How were humans created? How do humans (or at least the believers of the religion) fit into the grand scheme of the universe?
Who are there religious specialists (priests, monks, shamans, etc.)? How does a person become a religious specialist? What do people think of these specialists. (In some cultures, the religious specialists are thought of as being able to cause both good and evil. If they're caught causing evil, they're dealt with in unpleasant ways.)
What are the rituals related to the religion? Are there any special rites of passage? What are they? When are they performed? Who are they for (men, women, boys, girls)? Who performs the ritual?
Is there more than one religion? If so, where did they come from? How do the religions differ? How are they the same? What does each religion believe about the other? What does each religion say about the other? What do the followers of each religion believe about the followers of the other religions? Are the religions antagonistic? Are the religions cooperative, or at least tolerant, of each other?
What do people think about the supernatural world? Are they afraid of it? Do they feel it's just another part of their life?
How does magic fit into the religion? How does witchcraft fit into the religion? How does superstition fit into the religion. How do supernatural beings fit into the religion? Are there ghosts? Are there spirits for each thing in nature? Are these spirits evil? Do they cause humans suffering? Do the spirits even care about people? Why?