Creating Gods from Literature and Pop Culture

A reader asks, “I’ve been reading a very popular series of novels, and really connecting with some of the characters in the story. In addition, the books include a fictional religion that gives me a strong sense of belonging–it’s not a real religion, with gods that aren’t real, created in this author’s head… but it actually WORKS for me, on a spiritual level. Is it possible to consider something a religion that’s just made up for this series? Is this even valid? What are your thoughts on this?”

That said, let’s break this down a bit. You say that you’re feeling a connection to the gods and religion in this particular series of books, and wondering if it’s valid. Here’s an interesting bit of information you might want to keep in mind.

In 1977, the movie Star Wars was released. It included, as we all know, the concept of the Jedi–a spiritual warrior class that follows a strong moral code, supporting the light side of the Force.

Fast forward a couple of decades, and all of a sudden a small group of people who self-identify as Jedi Knights are popping up on census records. Now, most of them say that while Star Wars has some influence on their belief system, that modern Jediism is based more on eastern spiritual principles. Regardless, though, in 2001 nearly 400,000 people in Britain marked themselves down as “Jedi” on census records–and this is a belief system that, at its core, is rooted in fiction.

Many pop culture films and books–science fiction and fantasy in particular–delve deep enough into philosophy that one can indeed start wondering if there’s a religious aspect to them. PBS, not long ago, put together a video questioning whether the British show and cult classic Doctor Who is in fact a religion.

In Neil Gaiman’s amazing novel, American Gods, the concept is explored of what would happen to gods if people stopped believing in them–and how new gods are developed as technology develops and expands. The basic theme of the novel is that gods exist because people believe in them. This begs the philosophical question of how many believers it would take to make a god “real” in the context of this discussion.

It’s also important to keep in mind that many works of fiction–particularly those that delve into fantasy, and span numerous books–are perfectly capable of having complex and well-thought out religious structures within them. A great example of this is George RR Martin’s series, A Song of Ice and Fire, which begins with Game of Thrones and continues through four more novels (that’s as of 2018–there are supposed to be at least two more books in the series). Martin has created several different religions, all of which parallel contemporary faiths to some degree but also stand alone as spiritual paths unique to his fictional world of Westeros.

In Martin’s books, the northerners follow “the old gods,” who are deities of the land and nature–rivers, forests and the skies. The seagoing denizens of the Iron Isles follow the Drowned God, a being whose theme seems to be primarily drowning and then resurrection. The dominant religion of Westeros is the Faith of the Seven, which honors seven different archetypes–including the Warrior, the Mother, the Father, and the Smith–all of which could easily be interpreted into a modern Pagan perspective.

So, what does this mean for you? Can you follow a belief system that is rooted in an author’s fictional world? You can, although it should be pointed out that because of its uniqueness, you need to make sure you don’t call it something it isn’t. For instance, using the Game of Thrones example, you probably don’t want to start announcing that you practice Westeros Wicca, or that you’re a Drowned God Druid. Because Wicca and Druidry–again, just using these as examples–both have very specific beliefs and practices, and George RR Martin’s gods and entities have nothing to do with them.

It’s also important to recognize that what may be resonating with you is in fact the concept of archetypes. If you’re reading a novel that features, say, a warrior deity or a goddess of the hearth… well, those are not uncommon archetypes. We see those often in modern Pagan religions–you’re just assigning a different name to your version of this particular deity.

So, can you honor deities found in fiction? Sure. Should you? There’s no definite answer to that, because it’s going to depend on who you ask.

In general, we follow the spiritual path that resonates with us the best. If you’ve found some strength, comfort, and a sense of belonging in a series of novels, then more power to you. You can do as the modern Jedi movement has done, and take what works best for you and expand on it, turning it into something that is uniquely your own.