Red Sun - Religion in Story
Originally posted during my Red Sun book tour.
With this book, I did something I don’t normally do… and included religion. While its inclusion is minor, it is an important part of Raphael’s identity. He was raised by a single father who is Catholic, as well as a professor at a university. While his father isn’t extreme in his beliefs, they do color his understanding when Raphael starts to manifest shifting abilities. And due to his faith, he assumes that Raphael is possessed by a demon. And since Raphael also identifies as Catholic, he believes that as well. It adds another layer to the conflict within the character(s) as well as the story, and rounds out Raphael and his father’s characters.
Now, I’m not a religious person myself. I consider myself an agnostic (though, for a hot second in high school, I was a wiccan goth), and so I know little about the rituals and core believes of many of the Christian sects. I know the broad strokes but none of the finer details. That is why I made Raphael’s father a bit more of a progressive Catholic, which helped Raphael be more open with being gay when he reunites with his father.
I was quite pleased with how the religious aspects wove through the story and enhanced both Raphael and his father. I wasn’t quite expecting how well it would work. At first, Raphael thinks he’s cursed, and then blessed when Ahmes finds him. Then he considers his trials and rewards as God’s will and that gives him a measure of peace and certainty in his course in life. Now, whether he’s correct or not isn’t the point. Needless to say, our beliefs influence our perspective and world view, and when Raphael realizes he’s not possessed and that he’s actually a shifter and there is a community who wants to help him, why wouldn’t he believe that he was on a righteous path? Plus, he found love with a compassionate, loyal man. Truly his cup overfloweth!
Within The Shifter Chronicles, I have created my own religion, of sorts. Different shifter clans (packs, herds, clowders, etc.) sometimes “worship” or believe in an animal god or spirit of some sort. Many believe in Phoenix, the firebird of myth. Many consider “her” their ancestor, the original progenitor of all shifters. Others follow the path of Fenrir (large wolf in Norse mythology) or for Ahmes’s clowder, it is Bastet, the cat goddess, and her dual personality, Sekhmet, the lion goddess. Including these figures gives a more rounded view of the shifter community as a whole. They are as diverse as humans with their own sects, prejudices, and beliefs. A few do follow human religions, such as Christianity, Buddhism, and others. But, to be honest, I rarely include real-world religion because I don’t want to misrepresent or insult a whole bunch of people through ignorance or malice. I don’t set out to malign folks with my stories. I’m here to write about love and acceptance and finding a home, whatever that might mean. Yet this time I took a chance for the sake of the story and the characters, and showed the positive aspects to faith and to loving and supporting those around you. I enjoyed watching Raphael become his own man, and I hope you will as well!
May dragons guard your dreams,
M.D. Grimm
