“Why Fictional Religions Feel So Fake”
The ReligionForBreakfast YouTube channel offers advice for science fiction and fantasy worldbuilders towards creating imaginary religions that feel lived-in and real.
Fantasy Faiths
The Clock People (from “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”)
Above: Pat Morita in the godawful film version of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, which omits the Clock People storyline entirely. For your own sake, read the novel instead. The Clock People manage their anarchism (if that is not a contradiction) simply because they have channeled all of their authoritarian compulsions and control mania into … Read moreThe Clock People (from “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues”)
Nunnyunnini
16000 years ago, the Mammoth Skull God Nunnynunni accompanies his tribe across the land bridge from Siberia to a new world in this mesmerizing sequence from American Gods.
“Pop Culture – a New Source of Spirituality?”
Pavol Kosnáč writes for the Abide University and Institute website – AUI itself being the laid-back academic branch of the Dudeist faith – on the subject of pop-culture religions; As Terry Pratchett once said, religion requires believers – if there is no religion, the god is not believed in, and ceases to be ‘god’ to … Read more“Pop Culture – a New Source of Spirituality?”
Meanwhile City
A re-cut of the “Meanwhile City” storyline from the 2008 movie Franklyn, in which private investigator/masked vigilante Jonathan Preest – the only atheist in a fantastical metropolis of bizarre religions – pursues a vendetta against a shadowy cult leader known as “the Individual”.
“To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape”
Death explains the human necessity of belief in fantasies in this scene from the television adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel The Hogfather.
“Tutorial: How to Create Your Own Religion?”
Rémi Sussan’s 2014 article for Tryangle (here translated from French into English) explores many avenues and possibilities of CultPunk/Poetic Faith: The creation of mythological pantheons is therefore the first step towards a true DIY religion. But it is very rare to encounter entirely original pantheons, with no link to the past. In general, it is … Read more“Tutorial: How to Create Your Own Religion?”
The New Religion Wiki
The New Religion Wiki is: (…) a free online encyclopedia where contributors edit, converse about religion, philosophy, ethics, or life in general. Since our reformation of 2014 we’ve maintained 139 articles about religions formed by our contributors (along with articles on currently existing new religious movements). Serving as both an encyclopedia and hangout, contributors have … Read moreThe New Religion Wiki
“Lapine Faith: The Importance of the Quasi-Religious Structure in Richard Adams’ Watership Down”
Click here to read Benjamin J. Benefiel’s 1999 honors thesis: This discussion of Richard Adams’ contemporary classic novel Watership Down, a tale of survival for a group of wandering rabbits, analyzes the importance of the quasi-religious structure of the characters within. Through the lapine mythological storytelling tradition, the characters of the novel can understand the … Read more“Lapine Faith: The Importance of the Quasi-Religious Structure in Richard Adams’ Watership Down”