Celestial Bodies

[Queshire]

So in my story one of the major religions / factions is the Celestial Pantheon, Gods of the Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars. This isn't exactly a new idea, but I want to get you guy's opinions on severl things;

1) Traditionally, there's a Sun God and a Moon Goddess. What do you think of these gender roles? Do you think they're traditional for a reason, or would you like to see somebody make a Moon God and a Sun Goddess for once?

2) What about other planets in your solar system? Do you think it's better to go with the same planets as in real life for simplicity's sake, make up new planets for your setting with corresponding new gods, or just not mention other planets?

3) Ditto with constellations, same, different, or unimportant?

4) In such a pantheon, should there be a god for whatever planet the story is on? And in either case, what do you think that god/planet's role in the pantheon be?

I look forward to your opinions.

(NOTE: In my setting, the gods are very much real and active, they or their servants can be physically summoned by their priests and priestesses with the stronger the god/angel/spirit the harder they are to summon, and while the Celestial Pantheon is currently the most famous/powerful pantheon, there ARE plenty of other Pantheons/Gods in the world)

[shangrila]

1. I don't like any kind of gender stereotype, so go crazy. Also, I've seen what you're suggesting done before. In Dark Souls, the moon god is a guy (androgynous, but still a guy) although apparently because he was born so close to the moon, his father raised him as a daughter. I have no idea how that works, and maybe it's a way of being traditional and different at the same time.

2. Not sure about this one. Would they serve a purpose in your story? Would there be a reason for the people to worship a god from another planet, and would those gods have any reason to interfer in the worlds of the others? To be on the safe side I probably wouldn't mention it at all but, if you did, I'd make up new planets.

3. I like the idea of constellations better than the other planets. Constellation gods seem, to me, like they could be pseudo overlords, which would give them a good reason to meddle in the affairs of the "lesser" gods. I would probably base them on real life examples but call them something different. Having a hunter constellation called Orion, for example, would probably stick out in a fantasy story.

4. I think so, it makes sense for the world to have a guardian angel, so to speak. Although, in the hierarchy, I'd have them above the Moon/Sun gods but below the Star ones. Their role could be to watch over the planet, to keep balance on it, to protect the environment...I'm not entirely sure, there's a ton of possibilities.

[Queshire]

Hrm, just thought I'd mention, the heirarchy would go Sun>Moon>Planets>Stars

[Addison]

1) I'm not so crazy about the gender stereotypes either. It's your story do what you want. People want something new and different.

2) That's really up to you. Do you have ideas of planet names, appearance, and their God/Goddess already? If so then go ahead with it. If not then don't. Let it come naturally.

3) I'm with Shangrila about the constellations.

4) You mean how our Earth has God? How he's only here and then there's Mars with....I forget who. Isn't it the Roman version of Athena or someone? If that's what you mean then yes. As Shangrila said this God would be at the very top of the Hierarchy.

[Shockley]

There is no real gender stereotype as to what gender the moon/sun divinities are, as far as I'm concerned. While the Greeks/Romans definitely followed the idea of a moon goddess (Selene/Luna) and a sun god (Helios/Sol Invictus), that ceases to hold true outside of that. Note that, for my definitions, I'm using the term to apply only to the physical aspect of the sun/moon, and not gods associated with the moon/sun (which is why, for instance, I didn't mention Apollo or Artemis in the above break-down).

The Egyptians saw the moon as a male god, Iah. The sun was Ra/Horus/Amun/Amun-Ra/Ra-Horakhty/etc., all male. The Japanese had a sun goddess (Amaterasu) and a moon god (Tsukoyomi).

Make it your own thing, and don't worry about traditions or even breaking said traditions.

[shangrila]

Hrm, just thought I'd mention, the heirarchy would go Sun>Moon>Planets>Stars

Is there a reason for this? It seems like a weird ordering

[Saigonnus]

Just a thought, having an array of moons instead of just one could allow you more gods/goddesses. I also agree with Shangrila with the order; seems a bit off to me. "the sun is the prime god/goddess, the planets his/her royal court, the moon(s) are servants and the stars beyond are merely spectators to the feast."

[Queshire]

Order from most unique to most common, there's 1 sun, 1 moon, a handful of planets, and a bunch of stars. 'Course it doesn't help that this idea is inspired by MLP where there's a sun princess and a moon princess.

[ThinkerX]

As part of the basic world building bit - and in keeping with ye olde time mythology - I included some celestial bodies.

My 'second world' boasts two moons, commonly thought of as 'brother' and 'sister'. Some cultures see the brother as evil and the sister as good.

Another object in the same system as the second world is a large ringed gas giant - the next world out. Because of the inclination of its axis, it sometimes appears to resemble a distant 'eye', and that is exactly how it is thought of mythologically - the eye of a distant God, watching from afar.

A third object in that system is a much smaller gas giant, orbiting well past the Eye. The sky watchers know it is a planet because of its movement, but it is on the faint side, not bright at all. Mythologically, it is associated with dark secrets.

-----

The main world in the main solar system boasts only a single large moon, much like earth. Some cultures identify it as male, others as female.

Orbiting inward from the main world is a double planet, appearing in the sky as two close set stars, one red, one white. In modern terms, one is roughly comparable to Venus, and the other to Mars. In the old mythologies they were identified as the deities of Love and War - two sides of the same coin.

Of much greater concern to the inhabitants of the primary world is the so called 'Demon Star', an object with a highly erratic orbit which appears at rare intervals in the night sky, but is otherwise absent. Magic and mayhem come to the primary world while the Demon Star is above: old magics work erratically, existing mages often find their powers enhanced, and the number of those born with magical ability spikes. Strange substances appear in odd locations. People vanish, people go mad. Fortunately, it is rare for the Demon Star to appear more than once a century or so.

[Benjamin Clayborne]

Order from most unique to most common, there's 1 sun, 1 moon, a handful of planets, and a bunch of stars. 'Course it doesn't help that this idea is inspired by MLP where there's a sun princess and a moon princess.

It also orders by brightness. The sun is by far the brightest object in the sky, then the moon (when it's waxing/full, anyway), then the planets, then stars.