Baba Oom, The Rite of Binding, the Blessing of Death, and the Zombie God.
Since most of you don't know this, I'll let you in a little open secret. I like writing. Specifically, I like writing fantasy and sci-fi. My current obsession is a fantasy story I started in my first year of university. It actually started just after I finished reading The Stand by Stephen King. And I mean JUST after. I put the book down, started thinking, and in about an hour I had the basis of what would become the Nanshiir Empire.
But this post isn't about the Nanshiirites. This is something that I was thinking about earlier, and finally came together last night around midnight.
Baba Oom is an empire on the far side of the Razorback mountains. They are a loosely associated confederation of city states, with the defacto capital being Baba Oom itself. The Babaese, as they are called, are polytheistic, and believe that a god's power comes directly from their worshipers. The more followers a god has, the more powerful he, she, or it is. The hierarchy of the pantheon has shifted over time, with the two most worshiped (and therefore most powerful gods) being Baba Son, Patron god of Baba Oom, creator of life and bringer of death, and judge of souls. The other god is Romoko, the Zombie God and God of Undeath. I'll write more on them at a later date.
(As a side note, religion and its effect in people and their actions plays a significant role in the story I'm writing, and many of the culturally practices are at least tangently related to religion.)
At thirteen all Babaese, male and female, go through the Rite of Binding. This is a rite of passage into adulthood (kinda like a bar mitzvah). The youths spirit is bound to their body with aid of a spirit guide (or guides, often more than one is required) sent by the gods. The ritual is performed by the Priestess of Life, the followers of Baba Son, and the nature of the spirit guide determines the individuals fate in life. They also start using their guide as part of their name. For example, until the he undergoes the Rite, Rabane is simply known as Rabane. After the ritual, the Priestess determine that the gods sent three tigers to help bind his spirit. Rabane is know known as Rabane Three Tigers. Tigers are the guide of warriors, and three of them means that Rabane had a fierce spirit, and will be a great warrior, both before and after his death.
The spirit is bound to the body so that it will not pass back to Baba Son immediately after death. In certain cases, the person will be gifted with undeath, and will retain all of the memories of their previous life, but will now have supernatural strength and speed. It is usually just warriors that are brought back form the dead, but sometimes exceptionally wise scholars or gifted artists will be given the chance to practice their art after death.
Before someone dies, or shortly after if they dies suddenly, the Priestess of Life will preform the Blessing of Death, giving control of the individuals spirit to the followers of Romoko, the Priests of Death. They will decide, after death, whether or not the person shall be brought back. If they decided not the bring them back, the body is cremated, and the spirit is free to return to Baba Son and be judged.
That's all for now. Funny thing about writing, some of the stuff up there I made up on the fly. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to use Rabane in my story, and I know just the place for his zombified corpse.
Since most of you don't know this, I'll let you in a little open secret. I like writing. Specifically, I like writing fantasy and sci-fi. My current obsession is a fantasy story I started in my first year of university. It actually started just after I finished reading The Stand by Stephen King. And I mean JUST after. I put the book down, started thinking, and in about an hour I had the basis of what would become the Nanshiir Empire.
But this post isn't about the Nanshiirites. This is something that I was thinking about earlier, and finally came together last night around midnight.
Baba Oom is an empire on the far side of the Razorback mountains. They are a loosely associated confederation of city states, with the defacto capital being Baba Oom itself. The Babaese, as they are called, are polytheistic, and believe that a god's power comes directly from their worshipers. The more followers a god has, the more powerful he, she, or it is. The hierarchy of the pantheon has shifted over time, with the two most worshiped (and therefore most powerful gods) being Baba Son, Patron god of Baba Oom, creator of life and bringer of death, and judge of souls. The other god is Romoko, the Zombie God and God of Undeath. I'll write more on them at a later date.
(As a side note, religion and its effect in people and their actions plays a significant role in the story I'm writing, and many of the culturally practices are at least tangently related to religion.)
At thirteen all Babaese, male and female, go through the Rite of Binding. This is a rite of passage into adulthood (kinda like a bar mitzvah). The youths spirit is bound to their body with aid of a spirit guide (or guides, often more than one is required) sent by the gods. The ritual is performed by the Priestess of Life, the followers of Baba Son, and the nature of the spirit guide determines the individuals fate in life. They also start using their guide as part of their name. For example, until the he undergoes the Rite, Rabane is simply known as Rabane. After the ritual, the Priestess determine that the gods sent three tigers to help bind his spirit. Rabane is know known as Rabane Three Tigers. Tigers are the guide of warriors, and three of them means that Rabane had a fierce spirit, and will be a great warrior, both before and after his death.
The spirit is bound to the body so that it will not pass back to Baba Son immediately after death. In certain cases, the person will be gifted with undeath, and will retain all of the memories of their previous life, but will now have supernatural strength and speed. It is usually just warriors that are brought back form the dead, but sometimes exceptionally wise scholars or gifted artists will be given the chance to practice their art after death.
Before someone dies, or shortly after if they dies suddenly, the Priestess of Life will preform the Blessing of Death, giving control of the individuals spirit to the followers of Romoko, the Priests of Death. They will decide, after death, whether or not the person shall be brought back. If they decided not the bring them back, the body is cremated, and the spirit is free to return to Baba Son and be judged.
That's all for now. Funny thing about writing, some of the stuff up there I made up on the fly. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to use Rabane in my story, and I know just the place for his zombified corpse.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
that was a pretty good story by stephen king. he's a good writer, he's the type that'll make you want to read more of his horror/ sci-fi stuff.
you know that isn't a bad idea for a fictional story.
death. zombies. religion. priests.... what's not to love? pure sci-fi!