Every civilization requires three components to properly function - a political hierarchy, a system of beliefs, and a collection of cultural customs. Today, we will be focusing solely on my personal favorite topic - our civilization’s religious beliefs!

1. What are the religious beliefs of the first civilization?

Now, before you come at me with pitchforks and torches, let me clarify: you can have a civilization without religious beliefs. But Jake! You just said our civilization needs those to function! I did, and I stand by it. What I mean is that not taking a religious stance in society is still setting a system of beliefs in place. Atheism and Agnosticism are still perfectly acceptable systems of belief for your civilization, even without a specific deity to believe in.

Of the three components we will be discussing today, religion is tied most deeply into how your world was created. If your world had any divine intervention whatsoever, your people are going to feel a certain way about it, be it positive or negative. If your deity doted on their creations, then the first civilization likely would worship the. If your deity scorned his creation (or vice versa), then atheism would likely overtake the formerly monotheistic beliefs. Or, if there’s a whole slew of gods, maybe our new civilization will pick one for a monotheistic view, or worship them all and support pantheism!

It’s important to remember that a civilization does not necessarily require a deity to be worshipped. Humanity can be deified, plants can be deified, animals can be deified, magical inanimate cow statues can be deified (I’m looking at you, Israelites)! In my fantasy series, Kingdom Come, one society reveres all facets of nature as their individual gods, while another has had every noble ascend to godhood solely by royal decree. Don’t be limited by divinity - humans aren’t always that limited with their glory-giving (or seeking).

2. How do these beliefs affect the lifestyles of the civilians?

What our civilization places its faith in plays a pivotal role in how it functions. Everything from a civilian’s daily routine to their thoughts about the end of the world are affected by religion. Certain societies schedule everything in their civilian’s lives to revolve around religious activities!

What daily, weekly, monthly and yearly religious activities does your civilization engage in? This early on in history, there likely would not be massively-celebrated festivities like we have with Christmas or Hanukkah. However, these civilians could celebrate the day of their creation by a deity, or the day they liberated themselves from a deity’s control.

But that would only be once a year. What do they do every day? Do they stop at a certain time and pray as a community? Are the daily tasks they accomplish solely for their own sakes, or do they offer these up as acts of sacrifice and glory to their creator? What about every week? Do they gather at a church, a temple, a patch of dirt at the center of the square and sing a cappella worship songs? 

What do your civilians place their hope in? Do they turn to a deity when their crops wither and their storehouses run empty? Do they entrust their health to man, to nature, to the universe, or to a god? Perhaps even more importantly, who do they blame when things go wrong? If our society is ruled by a priest, for instance, that priest could easily shift the blame onto the anger of their deity or the sin of their people. However, if our society maintains an atheistic stance, then the people only have one scapegoat for their pain - the government.

3. How do these beliefs affect relations with other civilizations?

The primary problem with foreign relations is that truth seems malleable to one’s own beliefs. At this point in time, we cannot definitively say how the world was created or what created it because none of us were there. Herein lies the problem for us worldbuilders: at this early point in our world’s history, everyone remembers the dawn of time. Everyone would remember how and when they were created or how they evolved! Anyone attempting to disagree with these universally-known facts would seem nothing short of a liar and/or a lunatic.

Thus, we must devise another way to create tension between civilizations: instead of disagreeing on how the world and its inhabitants came to be, civilizations can disagree with the reason behind their creation and the intention of their creators.

Perhaps one of our civilizations worships a benevolent deity. Another civilization could claim that the same god only put them there to act as their puppets. A third civilization could claim that their creator god was only one in a large number of gods that make up a divine pantheon. See? It’s so easy to twist the truth juuuust enough to make it similar, but still divisive. Learn from this, kids - you’ll spare yourself a lot of grief if you learn how to see through twisted truth.

Now, how do these conflicting views affect society? The first would be the claiming of territory. If one civilization believes that a deity gave them this land to tend to, their atheistic neighbor is not going to sit there and be like “oh that makes perfect sense! Let me surrender all this territory that I’ve taken the time to cultivate over to them because clearly they heard from god.” No, they’re going to fight over it. They might fight with words or with swords. They might agree to compromise - even fi that compromise sews seeds of discord and breeds grudges within the hearts of these two societies towards their neighbors.

The second effect of differing religious beliefs between societies would come in the form of trade. Unless your world has an endless supply of natural resources, even the early world would require trade between societies. It’s likely that humanity has not yet learned all of the ins-and-outs of resource management as of yet. Not to mention, a permanently settled civilization does not have access to every resource. A coastal settlement would not have as much clay or stone, while a mountain civilization would not have the most fertile soil. As such, civilizations would need to trade.

Would the need for resources be enough to force two societies of differing opinions to trade? Perhaps a monotheistic society trades with the pantheistic society because they both at least believe in gods, but not with the atheistic society. Could they feed all of their citizens without the resources from the atheistic society? Would they have materials to build houses?

These trade agreements stretch beyond the immediate affectation of inhabitant’s lives. This could create conflict for generations still to come. Two civilizations that start out at odds could easily stay enemies forever. Or, somewhere down the line, peace could be attempted, even if it is not kept forever. Does this clash spark a war, now or later on? Does it physically or relationally distance the societies? Or do they respectfully disagree about their problems?

Author’s Note: Before we begin, I’d like to make a minor addendum to all upcoming posts (starting with today) - these posts will now be considerably shorter than before! But Jake, does that mean the quality will lessen? Not at all! In fact, it can only help to improve it. You see, the original concept of “OYOW” was to have bite-sized chunks each person could do on a daily basis. You know what most people can’t do every day? Set aside three hours reading and responding to my posts! From now on, these posts will be broken up into sections to help us all accomplish our daily goals. Sound good?

1. What does the average person’s day look like?

Put yourself in the shoes (or their bare, hairy feet if, you know, shoes haven’t been invented yet) of the most plain jane or average joe citizen you can think of within your first civilizations. This is not the man leading the town, running a business, or even known to most of society. This is the one human being Belle neglects to mention in a song literally about how mundane everyone in her village is.

When does this person wake up? At the sound of the rooster, who crows every morning at dawn? Do they decide to sleep in most days? Does the town come alive at the beginning of the day, while tending to chores; at the middle of the day, while gathering water from a well; or at night, when all the day’s chores have been tended to? When does activity in the town die out because the common citizen is heading to bed?

What are their daily tasks? Does their society assign them a task, or can they act as they please? Do they need to secure resources such as food, water, and shelter for themselves (and their family) on a daily basis, or can these resources be stored for long periods of time? What happens if they cannot accomplish this mission? Can they share with others, or are they punished by the law?

How well does the average citizen get along with their neighbors? The government? The animals? The environment? Do they like their roles, or are they frustrated that they’re forced to herd sheep, grow crops, or forage in the nearby forest?

What is the relational status of most citizens? Do they get married? When, young or old? Do they stay single and focus on the needs of the society or of themselves instead? Do they have children? How many? And if so, do they have kids directly after marriage, later on down the line, or do they not even wait for marriage?

1. What laws, rules, codes, or guidelines govern the first civilization?

Every single society has a set of values or beliefs that guide their lives. It’s important to know what is and is not allowed within your society so as to establish the culture and how it clashes with or complements neighboring civilizations. It is entirely possible that, even at this early stage of worldly development, the first civilization could develop a set of laws to be adhered to. That being said, remember that the invention of paper might not yet exist (and, if so, perhaps not in substantial quantities), and thus, the rules would need to be spread via word of mouth. 

What does your civilization value above all else? If you can narrow it down to one concept - greed, charity, communal living, the environment, piety, respect - then you can easily craft a set of rules that fit this theme. For instance, a community designed to reflect the nature of a benevolent deity would likely not condone theft. However, a society centered around personal gain might not necessarily condone it from a political aspect, but it might not necessarily outright condemn it either.

Just as you have determined the most important aspect of your community, consider the least important aspect or aspects in your society. Does your society care about violence but not about harassment? Does your character demand offerings to a god but overlooks the needs of the poor?

2. Who creates these laws and how?

Most likely, this duty will fall upon the head of leadership within the society. However, such is not always the case. Oftentimes, power is shared amongst parties so as to ensure a system of checks and balances. In modern-day America, we have a two-party political system and three branches of government to organize and enforce the law. In fantasy, power oftentimes defaults to the lone monarch of a kingdom to do as he or she pleases. Determine whether or not the head of the head of the community passes every law or whether they delegate such a responsibility to another member of society.

Beyond determining who creates the laws, we need to determine how these laws come to pass. Is every desire of the monarch an official decree just because they want it their way? This might lead to some (potentially valid) accusations of tyranny amidst the community. Or does the ruling authority need to present their proposed laws to a council of elders in order to pass their rules? This would seem much more just in comparison, but could also lead to potential stalemates and require considerable amounts of time to accomplish anything.

The final point to consider is what causes laws to be passed. Does the society only respond to crime after the fact? Is the society attempting to be proactive against potential problems? If so, do they accomplish this task, or do they waste their efforts on less important problems while neglecting to tackle the crucial issues?

3. Who enforces these laws and how?

Let’s face it: if a ruler set boundaries in place but refused to enforce them, no one would follow their instructions. Just look at The Purge - the entire premise is that mankind cannot resist the temptation to do as they please, even if it is seemingly problematic, if they know there will be no repercussions. Nowadays, we view fear as this terrorizing, paralyzing problem. But fear can be healthy when it is borne out of respect and not out of abuse. Let the people realize there is a punishment to fear if they break this code of conduct.

1. Who formed the first civilizations?

If your world is only made up of one to two people, well then, congratulations! You only have one option this step. We’ll see you again in step two.

Civilizations require a source of creation. Unlike the world itself, which could theoretically be created by a force, such as energy or the universe itself, civilizations require a sentient creator. After all, how can a civilization even exist without people to occupy it?

Now, I had initially typed all of this out under the assumption that humans made these civilizations. But that doesn’t need to be true, necessarily! Mount Olympus qualifies as a society, and the Greek Gods first formed that. So before you decide who of your world’s first inhabitants made a civilization, consider if they were the ones who made it at all! Consider humans, gods, aliens, and spirits of any sort as those who can create civilizations.

Once you decide on the type of person who will create your first civilization, decide who from your cast of characters will lead the way for the first society. In order to determine this, think of the types of peoples who form societies, and why. Generally, charismatic leaders are the ones to rise up above their peers. However, a disagreement between two people or two groups of people could just as easily let someone sly and secretive split apart from the primary group and form their own civilization instead.

2. Where was the first civilization formed?

Since we spent time hashing out the different regions in our world yesterday, we now have a general selection of places to choose from where the first societies were made. 

The origin of society would likely stand the test of time, even if only in legend. Certain civilizations could continue to exist, given the proper circumstances. However, most original civilizations eventually dissipate due to political discord or even natural disasters. Consider whether these locations would be revered or feared long after they’re gone, either as sacred or cursed ground. Has humanity tried to recreate the original settlement? Do people even know where it is located? Is one place said to be the original settling place of humanity, only for it to truly be located elsewhere?

When considering locations, take into account the preferences and characteristics of the civilization’s founder. If your founder hates the cold, they’re probably not trekking out to the tundra to form a society. Unless, of course, they’re doing it in secret to surprise potential enemies!

3. What level of power do the first civilizations possess?

Nowadays, we look at areas like medicinal, technological and political advancements in order to determine how civilized a society is. Thus, people do not typically correlate the first civilizations with superior forms of power to the present. And maybe the days of old were not superior to the power of the present! Maybe everyone survived in straw huts and ate mud.

Or maybe not. Maybe magic was much more powerful at the beginning. Maybe the original humans knew how to build technology from the beginning, and the knowledge was lost over time. This could considerably advance the progress of early society’s civilization levels. What would take a modern-day human years to build could be created in the blink of an eye if the first humans had unlimited magical potential. Your objective is determine whether society has since regressed or progressed from this point, and in what areas.

For all of my friends and followers who happen to be closet druids, surprise! This entire segment of worldbuilding will be right up your alley! But for anyone like myself out there who would literally rather die than even think of engaging in outdoor activities, this might be a struggle. Regardless of your passion, pace yourselves. There is a LOT to work through with geography, and not all of it needs to be done at once.

1. How was the world divided, if at all?

The first question to determine is whether your world started off divide or unified geographically. Some people subscribe to the theory that our present-day world was once one, a continent known as Pangaea. Did your world begin as one, or is still one giant continent?

If it is one unified continent, are there other geographical features besides oceans that divide the world, such as mountains or forests? Are there still diverse ecosystems within this world, and where does one environment blend into the other? Do they function in perfect isolation because of a magical force, or do the two environments naturally blend together in the transitionary stage between the two nations?

If the world is geographically divided, how many continents exist? How far of space lies between them? Were there forms of transportation to travel freely between continents at the beginning of time, or was everyone stuck where they spawned? What general ecosystems and environments exist in each continent (desert, tundra, rainforest, etc.)?

Regardless of geographical division, how is the world divided relationally? If humans rule this world, they are going to divvy up the land sooner or later because they need space to live and have a family! Did one human claim a continent and another a separate continent? Did two opposing groups of the first humans divide up the space of one continent and create kingdoms? Humans can cause geographical division just as much as nature can.

2. What general environments existed within this world?

Although this subject has been touched on here and there before, it’s important to dedicate time specifically to this topic. Now, before you go and give me the high and low temperatures of each during the second month of the fourth season of every other year in both Fahrenheit and Celsius, let me preface this by saying that today’s task is to generalize the environments. You don’t need to know specifics as of yet - we’ll get to that later - but it’s best to start brainstorming now so as to have a head start when hashing out the details later on. You’re painting broad strokes onto the canvas of your world. Leave the shading for later.

What do I mean by “environment”? I mean that we need to determine the overall physical atmosphere of each specific region. The most obvious factors in this process would be determining the climate, weather, animals, and plants that make up your region.

For climate, determine the general range of temperature. Do you live in the arctic or in a rainforest? For weather, consider the different types of weather patterns. Does it snow eternally in one region, or never in another? Does it rain for three months straight on one continent and then never again for the rest of the year? Make sure these weather patterns relate to the type of region - snow in the desert is rare, if not altogether impossible. For animals and plants, there’s no need to determine the specific species as of yet. Just think of what types of each thrive in what environment. Your brain will likely link together the fact that polar bears would survive in the tundra and not in the swamplands.

But all that sounds pretty boring, right? It’s so...cliche. It’s all been done before! This is where you can really have some fun with it. Your world is still essentially a clean slate. The rules of the world are flexible, malleable to your dreams. How can you put a twist on something commonplace?

Maybe your world starts out with one country being nothing but arid desert, when a spell gone wrong or the actions of a divine being cause it to freeze over forever! Or, conversely, maybe your winter wonderland experiences a draught that drowns the land in water and turns the once-gorgeous landscape into swamplands. Your present-day characters will only see one of these landscapes, but what you determine that area of the world started as can not only add some unique lore to their stories, but physically affect them in the future.

3. What major landmarks or geographical features existed then?

In Judeochristian lore, God made the Garden of Eden, which acted as the home of humanity throughout their first days on earth. Perhaps our new world does not have a headquarters, for instance, but perhaps there is a landmark where humanity was created! A beacon of light, a crater, or simply sacred ground with an inexplicable level of spiritual activity. As with before, keep in mind how this will be remembered (and/or manipulated) in future generations. 

Every race and religion possesses a distinctive variation of the typical creation story. For example, Christianity tells us that the Trinity created the world - and everything in it - over the span of seven days through divine power alone. On the other hand, Japanese mythology claims that the movement of particles gave birth to both Heaven and Earth, in a similar manner as the Big Bang Theory. No matter one’s personal belief system, people of all cultures and creeds can agree that the world in which we live came into being one way or another. So too, then, must the worlds we make - and we need to know how.

Let me make this simpler for you: you do not need to know every detail of your creation story (yet, anyways). You don’t need to know what god gave life to what, which particles created the sun and which atoms were used for the moons - stop and simplify. All we need to determine for now is the general concept of how the world came to be. 

The most common creation methods come in the form of divine intervention or cosmic circumstance, meaning that either a deity made the world and all within it or that matter/atoms/particles/etc. came together at the right time in the right way to form the world. If these fit the theme of your world and the message you chose to send your readers - perfect! Use them! There’s a reason that authors utilize these ancient methods: because people already relate to and understand them. But, if you want to write about a giant cyborg who popped out of the nearest sun and invented a world out of some loose screws he had lying around - go for it!

The important part of deciding how one’s world came to be is how it will affect the narrative you plan to tell. For instance, my series Kingdom Come discusses faith and religion more often than almost any other topic. Obviously, deific creation was the way to go with me. But it’s not for everyone! For instance, a science-fiction novel might necessitate a “Big Bang”-esque occurrence.

Key Points to Consider: ↳ You need to know how your world came to be - not the reader. If it doesn’t play into your story, don’t use it. Feel free to mess with your readers, too. Maybe they’re led to think it came to be one way before revealing that it was actually created in a similar, but still different, manner. ↳ You need to know how your world came to be - not your characters. News flash: history is, oftentimes, irrefutably and irreparably wrong! People not only perceive history differently over time, but the wrong people can twist historical truth to suit their personal beliefs and pursuits. Just because your characters think the world was made one way doesn’t mean it actually was. ↳ On that note: your characters should have different views of the world’s creation, especially if they come from different cultures. Feel free to make as many creation myths for your world as you wish. Just make sure you know which one is real.

The last thing we need to determine is why your world came into being. If we follow the example of divine creation, did a benevolent god create the world or a sadistic one? Did they create it out of a longing for human companionship or a desire to trap humanity in an impossible game? 

No matter how your world currently perceives its creator, the relationship between Creator and creation will change the way in which that Creator interacts with their creation throughout history. A sadistic Creator would continue toying with their puppets throughout time, whilst a compassionate Creator might try to save their children from their self-inflicted destruction. As for science? Well, it’ll hold the world together...for a time. In truth, the lack of a higher power and a supposedly accidental creation might leave the inhabitants of your world feeling apathetic, hopeless and purposeless - and terrified of death.