#sorry if this is incomprehensible its been one of those weeks im not sleeping well

[trickstarbrave]

polytheistic practices are kind of a moot point i feel like because trying to apply them to the aedric worship simply Doesn't Work. the aedra are supposedly all just part of a centralized church that never seems to have schisms or disagreements (except for some weird shit in the first era not rly elaborated upon) despite it being a manufactured fusion of both elven and nord gods (the nord gods thrown in because they needed to ally with the nords to escape slavery, the elven gods bc thats what their people worshipped being enslaved by elves even though it later goes on to say some of the ayelids worshipped daedra????) and when we hear about rituals it is almost always priests doing it or some people picking an aedra and just praying. in contrast we see more in depth engagement with the culture in the dunmer who have rituals, scriptures available to everyone, pilgrimages so important and numerous they have cities built for it. where as the imperial cult is like a thin veneer of fantasy christianity not even given the depth of actual christianity around that approximate time period

even in monotheism there are frequent religious schisms. you mean to tell me for literally thousands of years there hasnt been any schisms? any people who start offshoots bc they like their interpretation more? because they claim to have had a divine revelation like that monkey did? that worshippers of dibella and mara dont have serious issues with both of their gods representing love and discrediting one or the other as having a lesser form of love?

also you can't really talk to the aedra like you can the daedra or tribunal. and even then the aedra worshipers just complete forsake or actively try to go to war with daedra worshipers like theyre satanic cults when their gods are much more active and capable of personally knowing who you are. in polytheistic practices in the past there were gods ppl didnt like. the ppl in greece by and large did NOT like ares, but he was a god. a kind of important, powerful one. what are they gonna do, piss him off??? no, theyre going to do the rituals to appease him.

but the empire also does as imperialism does which means you have to either adopt gods into the pantheon as gods or saints or completely try to erase and destroy the religion of the people you are trying to colonize. it seems like they either try to enforce it as needed in tamriel or just dont seem to care because their either cant or it doesn't benefit them as much. and when they are forced upon others its not given any depth. before the events of skyrim the empire actively suppressed the worship of the nordic pantheon which they considered different enough to warrant suppression in order to make a stronger united cultural front against the thalmor (no idea if they did this to other territories tbh) and a few decades after this no one thinks to revert back to the old way. why the fuck does ulfric give a shit about talos, the god of the empire, even if he is conflated with a nord hero or they believe he was a nord? he should be started a cultural revolution of bringing back the nord pantheon bc religions are socio-political forces and well within recorded history this was artificially forced upon his people through violence to fight a war they didn't even fucking end up winning. he should be rallying to purge all imperial temples from skyrim and bring back the old ways as that was when skyrim was at it's glory and using it to build up the nord identity and rally people behind his cause, people who likely still remember the stories of the old ways of worship, old statues, temples that were renamed or destroyed, etc etc. instead its just "the empire lost the war and then let talos worship be banned". and even then he doesn't even talk that much about talos??? like as big of a deal as it is for him, what does he mean for ulfric or the people of skyrim besides the obvious. what are his rituals like, what are his nord specific holidays, what has changed for them as a people by banning the worship?

and thats not even getting into WHY IS THE EMPIRE OKAY WITH TALOS WORSHIP BEING BANNED WHEN THAT HELPS SOLIDIFY THEIR RIGHT TO RULE? are the medes planning on making a new fucking emperor to ascend to godhood??? what the fuck. i can see them being strong armed into it but i cant see the imperials not CARING. they seem to be just all way too comfortable with going along with it for the sake of peace like this doesn't shake the foundation of their identity.

there should be way more holy wars is what i'm saying. bc there are conflicts of belief. the gods are real but no culture has an exact same understanding as even the aedra as each other. in the nordic pantheon mara is kyne's handmaiden and shor's concubine. to the elves and imperials mara is married to akatosh. there is no akatosh equivalent in the nordic pantheon except alduin, but they have insisted alduin is NOT akatosh, the imperials are just being stupid claiming bc hes a dragon god they would give sacrifices to to appease he must be THEIR dragon god. and we learn that is technically true. and then there is the MASSIVE differences in the khajiiti patheon we dont have time to get into that mixes aedra and daedra. and the elven gods unaccounted for in the imperial pantheon. and the fucking redguard faith which is extremely unique. and the fucking reachmen. people care a lot about their religious practices and if you come in invading their lands and trying to impose their own religious names, customs, holidays, etc on you saying you are worshipping your gods incorrectly that causes a lot of conflict.

or maybe i am insane idk. if they're gonna make multiple versions of the catholic fucking church can they at least throw in a couple of holy wars instead of just race wars or presuming the imperials are always right

i tried to examine the cult of the 8/9 divines in TES from a polytheistic lens and then immediately got annoyed bc what the fuck am i talking about. the cult is just the christian church. the daedric princes are supposed just be demons.