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When did D&D gods first rely on their worshipers?
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<blockquote data-quote="Ruin Explorer" data-source="post: 8269559" data-attributes="member: 18"><p>The idea that worship empowers spirits or small gods is certainly pre-historic. There's a lot of evidence of it in gatherer-hunter cultures, including ones contacted only relatively recently. If often sits comfortably alongside the idea that they need to be propitiated too. It's basically a somewhat animistic view. As for the idea that full-on Greco-Roman-type gods or even more powerful ones need worship, I'm again going to go with pre-historic. Even the Old Testament hints at it, though at one point god explicitly claims that, unlike the other gods, he doesn't need sacrifices or worship, he just wants them, but at other times, it kind of seems like he does benefit from them or need them (that whole thing is a bit misty, sometimes he seems like he's the only real god, sometimes he seems to be saying other ones are real but evil and so on).</p><p></p><p>Whether it was true that the Gnostics actually believed this is sort of beside the point, because the idea/concept was already knocking around before then, and I think whilst the entry isn't explicit about it, I half-recall an element about Gnostic theology which could be understood this way (hoping I remember it properly later! It's on the edge of my mind).</p><p></p><p>Most likely, Pratchett read a book or met someone, who explained Gnostic theology in that way.</p><p></p><p>I know that I was familiar with the view prior to meeting it in RPGs and long prior to Small Gods (though that was the place where it was most well-explained!), so I was aware of it somehow before I was 10, but I have no idea where exactly that idea came from. I read a ton about mythology, cults and so on, so it was probably in there somewhere.</p><p></p><p>Looking at TVTropes is unexpectedly fruitful as Plutarch (AD46-AD119) relates a story of this nature regarding the death of Pan, so that gives us a minimum of about 1900 years. It also claims it's part of various belief systems - including Shinto animism - I'd say it's part of a lot of animism.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ruin Explorer, post: 8269559, member: 18"] The idea that worship empowers spirits or small gods is certainly pre-historic. There's a lot of evidence of it in gatherer-hunter cultures, including ones contacted only relatively recently. If often sits comfortably alongside the idea that they need to be propitiated too. It's basically a somewhat animistic view. As for the idea that full-on Greco-Roman-type gods or even more powerful ones need worship, I'm again going to go with pre-historic. Even the Old Testament hints at it, though at one point god explicitly claims that, unlike the other gods, he doesn't need sacrifices or worship, he just wants them, but at other times, it kind of seems like he does benefit from them or need them (that whole thing is a bit misty, sometimes he seems like he's the only real god, sometimes he seems to be saying other ones are real but evil and so on). Whether it was true that the Gnostics actually believed this is sort of beside the point, because the idea/concept was already knocking around before then, and I think whilst the entry isn't explicit about it, I half-recall an element about Gnostic theology which could be understood this way (hoping I remember it properly later! It's on the edge of my mind). Most likely, Pratchett read a book or met someone, who explained Gnostic theology in that way. I know that I was familiar with the view prior to meeting it in RPGs and long prior to Small Gods (though that was the place where it was most well-explained!), so I was aware of it somehow before I was 10, but I have no idea where exactly that idea came from. I read a ton about mythology, cults and so on, so it was probably in there somewhere. Looking at TVTropes is unexpectedly fruitful as Plutarch (AD46-AD119) relates a story of this nature regarding the death of Pan, so that gives us a minimum of about 1900 years. It also claims it's part of various belief systems - including Shinto animism - I'd say it's part of a lot of animism. [/QUOTE]
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