Black God - God of the Taboo: Madness, Chaos, Freedom, Sex, Magic, Death
Grey God - God of the dead: Peaceful ends, mourning, funeral rights, king of the spirit world
White God - God of the Moon: God of mercy & forgiveness, emotions, healing
Red God - God of War: God of battle, sword play, fury, and wrath
Brown God - God of Animals: Livestock & Farming, Game, the hunt, the Harvest, home, Prosperity
Green Goddess - Goddess of life: childbirth & pregnancy, plant growth, goddess of the spring
Silver Goddess - Goddess of Wisdom: strategy, writing, travelers, adventure, weather, Winter
Gold Goddess - Goddess of the Sun: love, compassion, beauty, spiritual connection, music, Summer
Indigo Goddess - Goddess of Secrets; mystery, the unknown, shape-shifting, Language, curses, Autumn
Lilith - Goddess of Feminine Power: Freedom, sex, personal power, bravery, individuality
**Lilith is known to insert herself into pantheons and go where she damn well pleases ***
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More notes:
Societal structure:
There are two main temples (The temple of light and the dark temple) - each with a “high” priest or priestess who is able to commune with different deities within that temple. However the ability to channel them is not a common skill; usually a high priest can only channel their primary deity.
There is a shared space where all can come together for celebrations and rituals - “temple”
High priestess/priest - can hear/commune with multiple deities from their temple
Priest/Priestess - chosen by a deity and able to commune with them
Acolytes - people who wish to dedicate their life to the worship and service of a deity
The lay person doesn’t know the name of a deity other than the color associated with them. Every person comes to temple at least a few times a year for holidays but many people come for a variety of reasons.
High priests are always on site and always on the look out for budding priests/priestesses…
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A girl is cast out of her village, a heretic, a witch for not following the prominent religion. A dark goddess speaks to her and helps her migrate to a neighboring kingdom.
From there she stumbles into a host family and begins to live with them. One day she goes with them to temple; and she begins to learn their pantheon.
One random random temple, with a potential war on the horizon the dark priest (high priest of the dark temple) from the capital comes Is invited to bless the troupes in the name of the Red God. A few people protest against him because he is actually a priest of the Black God and this particular village rejects that god completely. All are frozen in place by his spiritual power when he begins to channel his god, putting them in their place.
Except her. Her dark goddess helps her resist. That’s the first time they meet. The local priestess then sponsors her to go into training to be a priestess herself.
Once she begins schooling they begin to essentially do various methods to see what deity has chosen each new budding holy person as well as attempting to find out a base line power level of each. What abilities are more natural for them , etc.
she is chosen by the golden goddess - she hears the goddess answer the prayer of someone whois in the temple near her and she felt compelled to speak the answer. But then in another test, her dark goddess helps her. So she is considered in the running for being a “high” priestess because she has the ability to commune with multiple deities.
However there is pressure for her to choose light vs dark and she isn’t comfortable with it. Neither of the goddesses are asking her to choose; both of them happy to support her and empower her. So she is given counseling, different light and dark priests/priestesses try to advise her. This creates a lot of anxiety. She starts struggling. Her abilities are manifesting but without a teacher to help temper them and show her how to use them; she begins to feel a bit mad.
But without choosing a side she can’t be given a mentor. Priests/priestesses learn best with apprenticeships.
Her host family; her “sister” decides to try something reckless. As part of the training budding holy people travel around the kingdom visiting different temples - some specific to a particular god, some dedicated to several and deemed “light” or “dark”, some shared with both sides represented. The budding holy people travel so that perhaps they can find a mentor.
While in the capital… the sister takes her to see the Dark Priest. The capital is the only city to have a dedicated temple to the Black God. He is considered the most powerful priest. Also considered one of the most profane and “evil”… he’s a cannibal. He practices dark magic. He is seen as a monster; but he is also known to be incredibly wise. Not all other holy people hate him; he has friends.
Most hate him out of jealousy - he is able to commune with not just one or two deities but ALL of them. He can also channel his god, not a common ability. While there is much fear and disgust regarding the black temple and its high priest… he is also affectionately called the father of misfits.
The acolytes are mostly run aways, criminals, or people who do not fit into the mold society tries to force on them. They have taboo and unconventional worship methods. The sister thinks for a time at least… perhaps being an apprentice here would help the main character grow her power. He is 100% on board and says “fuck the rules. Add your goddess to the shrine of dark gods. Why not?” Thus he literally carves a spot for Lilith into the official sacred tome in the capital temple. (And no one stops him because they’re all terrified of him. He *technically* just committed heavy but no one wants to fuck with the black gods wrath for messing with his priest)
And that’s where it all starts. Her battle between her light and dark; processing trauma; self acceptance; healing; shadow work; seeing how love and rage can coexist; feminine power.
(Spoiler alert; the golden goddess is fond of the black priest. She actually helps the main character through the “sister”. Sister is not an acolyte or a holy person. She’s actually atheist. But she’s a sensitive & takes direction really well haha).
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