Do eskimos pray to a Snow God or a God Who Stops the Snow?

[vizzle]

Thinking question. Not meant to spark a religious debate. This isn't about being pro or anti religion, this is a discussion on how people view themselves in relation to theism.

So let's pretend that we don't know anything about eskimos. We don't know their culture or religion; the only thing we know about these specific eskimos in this hypothetical is that they live in a very snowy land, and they've lived there all their lives. Let's not even think of them as eskimos, as to remove any notions that you might already have of them. Just think of them as a random tribe of people, disconnected from the modern world, who live and have always lived in a snowy snowy land.

So firstly, it can be safe to assume that these people have at some point developed religious beliefs (since most if not all existing cultures around the world have gone through belief systems). Without any technology or modernization, they would develop their own god/s. Since they live in snow land, their god would undoubtedly be related to snow.

The biggest problem these people would have would be the cold. The cold would make it harder to live, harder to catch food, harder to do anything. The cold, the snow, the blizzards, all of that is their worst enemy; but since it's also the only thing they know and the greatest power that they know, and if we go back to context and remember that most/all cultures have their own "gods", then the god these people would make would be the main source of their calamities, wouldn't it?

So why would it be their god?

But the other path they could've taken is believing in an entity that stops the snow. Maybe sunlight, when the blizzards clear and the sun is brighter, they might believe in a sun god. But, in this hypothetical, they live very high up north, so their bad times outweigh their good times. They have more snow than sun, which means they'd be praying to an inadequate god, a god who's weak, a god the snow usually defeats.

So why would it be their god?

These are the two options. In this situation, do the people believe in a strong, mighty Snow God who usually gives them hardship and only raises his hand for mercy for a short while every time, or do the people believe in a weak God Who Stops the Snow? What does that say about our psychology if you believe that we would rather pray to a weak god who can't help us most of the time, or if we'd rather pray to a strong god who chooses not to help us most of the time? Are we submissive by nature or not?

And how in turn does that change the culture? If they believed in the Snow God, would they be a more humble people, and if they believed in the God Who Stops the Snow, would they be more aggressive?

And the final question, one you shouldn't answer in this thread but just to yourself... how does it compare to what you believe in?

[Reeve]

Why not both? The Nordics had the Frost Giants, who brought the cold, and the rest of the Pantheon, who stopped the Frost Giants, until Ragnarok, where the Frost Giants end up killing the more prominent members of the gods.

[vizzle]

Why not both? The Nordics had the Frost Giants, who brought the cold, and the rest of the Pantheon, who stopped the Frost Giants, until Ragnarok, where the Frost Giants end up killing the more prominent members of the gods.

Why would they pray both to a bad god of snow and a good god of stop-snow? Wouldn't they worry that praying to one might piss off the other?

[Reeve]

Why would they pray both to a bad god of snow and a good god of stop-snow? Wouldn't they worry that praying to one might piss off the other?

Not necessarily. The Romans used to pray to both Jupiter and Pluto, for example. Even in cases where people have a strong almost Zoroastrian tradition of god of light vs. god of dark, they may pray to a god of light, but not deny the power of the god of dark.

[Deleted]

Too hard! Cannot decide.

[Elite Peon]

This is a religious thread good try though .

[MerinPally]

inb4 we're not allowed to call them Eskimoes anymore because that's "racist" we have to call them "inuits"

Interesting question really, but they could do both? To counter your point of "Why they'd pray to both incase they piss each other off" I'm pretty sure there are other religions which have done both but altered who they'd pray to based on something like the time of year, to increase harvest or something. Seeing as a lot of south american religions a long time ago used sacrifice to please their gods (and others, even to this day in europe) surely it would cross their mind at some point to anger their god to create better conditions for themselves and then just plead through sacrifice for forgiveness?

[Reeve]

This is a religious thread good try though .

Not so much a thread about existing religions, though, as a philosophical/hypothetical thread about non-existing people/religion.

[Reg]

Why would they pray both to a bad god of snow and a good god of stop-snow? Wouldn't they worry that praying to one might piss off the other?

Doesn't Hindu have deities of opposing forces? Isn't Shiva the destroyer and Vishnu the creator? My knowledge of Hinduism isn't very expansive, so maybe I am incorrect.

[Kuniku]

why would they have only one god, you're roughly comparing it to and older belief system like the greeks/romans/egyptians had.

They would probably have several gods, yes there would be a harsh snow god, they would probably pray to this god to ask for easier times, or to thank the god for making them strong as a people.

The sun god they might pray to to thank for the breaks in the weather, or they might get more metaphorical.

They could also pray to a hunting god, to either provide a good bounty, or to thank for a good bounty.

They could pray to a fertility god for easy child birthing.


But you could then go further, and say there are not just 1 tribe in the hypothetical land, but a group of tribes. This is where your hypothtecial questions could get more interesting. what if while all the tribes believe in all of the 'snow folk' gods, but some worship some more than others. You might get a tribe that primarily worships the snow god, thanks this god for making them strong, they ignore the sun god's influence, because the sun god is for the weaker tribes who cannot survive the ways of the snow god.

Another tribe might primarily worship the sun god, perhaps they naturally live in a sunnier area, their lives are easier because the 'sun god' blesses them more.

(this could lead on to an interesting book.... *takes notes* lol)

[ripponesan]

google "Eskimo religion".

you should get pretty decent information.
If your story is not about eskimos, which i think, why did you mention them in the first place?

[Howard Moon]

I think their god would be a Fire god.

Like you said, the sun comes too seldomly and is not even strong enough to warm them up.

Fire on the other hand, would be something powerful which they don't understand, but which brings them warmth, light, cooks their food, etc. I reckon they would build big fireplaces and dance around them chanting and throwing various artifacts into the fire as "gifts".

[solvexx]

inb4 we're not allowed to call them Eskimoes anymore because that's "racist" we have to call them "inuits"

That's not very nice.
That's very reasonable. It's like black people not wanting to be called the N word by others.

OT: Most cultures have a God of light as well as a dark.
Some pray to both, some have Gods for absolutely everything, praying to all.

I don't see why they wouldn't pray to both.

[vizzle]

Yea you guys are right that they would worship more than one god. I still think it's interesting that people would pray to dark gods, and it makes you wonder how your view of the world changes when you grow up learning that the good god is weak and the bad god is strong. It would make you a much different person than growing up without that learning.

[Reeve]

Doesn't Hindu have deities of opposing forces? Isn't Shiva the destroyer and Vishnu the creator? My knowledge of Hinduism isn't very expansive, so maybe I am incorrect.

I believe they're all aspects of the same divine being, are they not?

[Lucifer Morningstar]

God of Snow , and God who stops the snow can be the same "God".
Humans by nature look for a God to pray to if nobody programs them otherwise.

[MerinPally]

I think their god would be a Fire god.

Like you said, the sun comes too seldomly and is not even strong enough to warm them up.

Fire on the other hand, would be something powerful which they don't understand, but which brings them warmth, light, cooks their food, etc. I reckon they would build big fireplaces and dance around them chanting and throwing various artifacts into the fire as "gifts".

Would the sun or fire even be worth it then? Because it's not like they grow crops so all they actually need is protection from polar bears and killer whales, and then decent hunting for seals and other types of whale. Surely the gods you would pray to in that circumstance (because Eskimo translates as Raw Meat Eater so cooking not exactly required, they do a lot of freezing and curing) would be for protection and good hunting, rather than long daylight hours or fire? Or maybe a god for shelter from the wind, because they can keep "almost" warm enough from the skins of what they hunt.

[Reg]

I believe they're all aspects of the same divine being, are they not?

*shrug* Religion is one of my weak spots in knowledge lol

[vizzle]

God of Snow , and God who stops the snow can be the same "God".
Humans by nature look for a God to pray to if nobody programs them otherwise.

They can be, yea, but you have to think about him in different ways. If you believe he's a God of Snow, then you're accepting the fact that your god is an asshole and wants your people to suffer. If you believe he's a God who Stops the Snow, then you're going with the idea that he's constantly battling the snow and working for your happiness.

I think whichever you'd choose of the two, if you did choose or your culture chose one, it'd show your personality distinctly.

[Frozenbeef]

i would say it's a god that brings balance rather than one or the other...