#and yes ororo is still worshiped throughout kenya. the religion actually caught on more once she became a public figure

[fierceststorm]

META TOPIC: RELIGION AND ORORO’S GODDESS STATUS

while ororo often celebrates a variety of religious holidays, she is doing so because she wants to show respect for other cultures/religions, not because she practices those religions. she often practices elements of  christianity, judaism, catholicism, islam and so on... but she does not believe in these religions. she fell into the habit of doing this once she came to the states and became an x-men. it was a way of bonding with her fellow teammates and enjoying/respecting parts of their life that were important to them. later she continues to do so because she’s a teacher/headmistress/leader and wants to make the students of the mansion feel welcome. you will often find her happily accompanying kurt to mass, reading the quran, or observing hanukkah with kitty when she doesn’t go home for the holidays. ororo believes all religions are worthy of respect and that it would be ignorant of herself to not be knowledgeable concerning them. 

but what does ororo, a deeply spiritual woman, believe in? ororo actively believes in a polytheistic religion ( started and mostly isolated to kenya ) that much resembles the egyptian and greek pantheons. she came across this religion in her travels across africa as a young girl. it peaked her interest but it didn’t begin to mean anything until she came across the village she would live in until charles xavier would recruit her years later. it was here that she became spiritual and began to think of herself as a goddess. 

but where did this belief that she was a goddess come from? it obviously spawned from the fact that the villagers worshiped her! wrong. the villagers worshiped her because of their pre-existing religion and the fact that ororo very much seemed like the living embodiment of their weather goddess. up until ororo’s arrival all the villages in that area had been suffering from droughts. it was believed that the goddess of rain and sky had grown angry with them. ororo’s arrival was seen as proof that she had forgiven them and was sending them a blessing, this strange girl with the gift of her magic. 

in my canon the villagers did not pretend to worship her ( like marvel said they did in later years ). she was initially seen as a precious gift from the gods. eventually, as her powers grew and matured, she was seen as one of them/a living embodiment of the goddess of rain. when ororo says ‘ goddess! ‘ she is referring to this god who she still feels a deep connection to. her faith in her religion is deep. throughout her life and times of sorrow, when she has lost faith in everything else, she has never believed her gods have turned their back on her.