Polytheism
the faith of the Lords of Kobol
Polytheism was the dominant religion of the Twelve Worlds, originating on Kobol and worshipping many deities known as the Lords of Kobol. Its faith shaped Colonial politics, ritual, and community, and stood in long opposition to the Monotheist belief in a single God.
Polytheism was the main religion of the Twelve Colonies, traced back to Kobol. Polytheists believed in many gods of varying prominence, each tied to different aspects of human life. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1")
The Lords of Kobol#
The gods of the pantheon were called the Lords of Kobol, among them Zeus, Aphrodite, Artemis and Ares. Zeus was treated as the foremost of them, and Kara Thrace kept small figurines of her gods to pray to. According to the Sacred Scrolls, the gods once lived alongside humanity on Kobol, until events forced the tribes to leave for the Twelve Colonies. Believers who led a good life hoped to reach the Fields of Elysium after death. (Battlestar Galactica, "Flesh and Bone"; Battlestar Galactica, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1"; Battlestar Galactica, "Faith"; Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance)
A faith woven through Colonial life#
Prayer was part of everyday life, from Kara's private prayers to Corporal Venner asking Laura Roslin to pray with him while Galactica was under attack. Children were dedicated to particular Lords in a temple ceremony, as Cally and Galen Tyrol's son was dedicated to Ares. Funeral services called on the gods for the dead, from the chaplain's words at Zak Adama's funeral to the service for the dead sung by the priestess Elosha after the fleet escaped the Colonies. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "Act of Contrition"; Battlestar Galactica, "Scattered"; Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance)
Religion also reached into Colonial politics. Elosha swore Roslin in as president and stayed on as one of her advisors. (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1")
A communal faith#
Colonial faith was communal in character. On New Caprica the settlers built a temple of Artemis, with an altar, idols of the Lords and prayers written on paper and burned, and Galactica had a room set aside as a temple for services. Even the fleet's best-known affirmation was spoken as a group: "So say we all." (Battlestar Galactica (miniseries); Battlestar Galactica, "Collaborators"; Battlestar Galactica, "Escape Velocity"; Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance)
Priests and oracles#
Several kinds of clergy tended to the believers. Priests such as Elosha led prayer and services and could take on advisory roles. Oracles were sought out for prophetic insight: Dodona Selloi counselled settlers on New Caprica, and Kara visited the oracle Yolanda Brenn about her dreams. Galen Tyrol said his father was a priest and his mother an oracle. Oracles used chamalla, a bitter-tasting hallucinogenic extract, and Selloi took hers with sweets to mask the taste. Roslin took chamalla as an alternative treatment for her cancer, to Doctor Cottle's scepticism, and the visions that followed were dismissed by some as mere hallucinations, though hers proved strangely accurate. (Battlestar Galactica, "Act of Contrition"; Battlestar Galactica, "Flesh and Bone"; Battlestar Galactica, "Resistance"; Battlestar Galactica, "Exodus, Part 1"; Battlestar Galactica, "Maelstrom")
Frequently asked questions
- What is Polytheism in Battlestar Galactica?
- Polytheism was the main religion of the Twelve Colonies, traced back to Kobol. Its followers worshipped many gods, the Lords of Kobol, each tied to different parts of human life.
- Who are the Lords of Kobol?
- The Lords of Kobol were the gods of the Colonial pantheon, among them Zeus, Aphrodite, Artemis and Ares. According to the Sacred Scrolls, the gods once lived alongside humanity on Kobol before the tribes left for the Twelve Colonies.
- How did Polytheism shape Colonial life?
- Children were dedicated to particular Lords in temple ceremonies, priests led services for the dead, and the priestess Elosha swore Laura Roslin in as president and went on to advise her.
- What is the difference between priests and oracles in the Colonial faith?
- Priests led services and prayer and could hold advisory roles, as Elosha did for Roslin. Oracles such as Dodona Selloi and Yolanda Brenn were sought out for prophetic insight, and they used the drug chamalla.
- What is chamalla in Battlestar Galactica?
- Chamalla was a bitter-tasting hallucinogenic extract used by oracles and, as an alternative medicine, by Laura Roslin for her cancer. Doctor Cottle was sceptical of it, though Roslin's visions while on it proved strangely accurate.
Sources
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica (miniseries), Miniseries (2003)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Act of Contrition", Season 1, Episode 4 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Flesh and Bone", Season 1, Episode 8 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Kobol's Last Gleaming, Part 1", Season 1, Episode 12 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Scattered", Season 2, Episode 1 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Resistance", Season 2, Episode 4 (2005)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Exodus, Part 1", Season 3, Episode 3 (2006)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Collaborators", Season 3, Episode 5 (2006)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Maelstrom", Season 3, Episode 17 (2007)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Escape Velocity", Season 4, Episode 4 (2008)
- EpisodeBattlestar Galactica, "Faith", Season 4, Episode 6 (2008)
- SerialBattlestar Galactica: The Resistance, Webisode series, Sci Fi Channel (2006)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Twelve Colonies of Kobol
The United Colonies of Kobol, also called the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, was the interplanetary state that represented humanity from the Cylon War until its dissolution upon the settling of the second Earth.
Zeus
Zeus was a vast gas giant in the Cyrannus star system and the largest planet in Cyrannus. Two of its many moons, Hebe and Nike, possessed breathable atmospheres.
Elosha
Elosha was a Colonial priest who swore in Laura Roslin as President during the Fall and became her spiritual guide as the Fleet sought Earth. She read Roslin's visions against the prophecies of Pythia, and even after her death on Kobol she returned to Roslin in vision.
Galen Tyrol
Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol kept Galactica's flight deck running through the long flight from the Colonies, a respected and fiercely protective deck chief who learned that he was in fact one of the Final Five Cylons, descended from the Thirteenth Tribe.
Kara Thrace
Kara "Starbuck" Thrace was the finest Viper pilot in the Colonial Fleet, a gifted and self-destructive officer whose attitude often thwarted her own advancement. After her death over a gas giant, a figure bearing her identity returned to guide humanity to its new home.
Kobol: humanity's lost homeworld
Kobol was the ancestral home of the Twelve Tribes, abandoned for two thousand years. The fleet found the Tomb of Athena there, and with it the way to Earth.
Mentioned in3 entries
Battlestar Galactica Timeline: every major event from Kobol to the arrival on Earth
The Reimagined Series chronology in order, from the exodus from Kobol and the death of the first Earth to the Fall of the Twelve Colonies and the fleet's arrival 150,000 years ago. A shorter section at the end covers the separate 1978 series and Galactica 1980.
God: the One True God of the Monotheists
God, or the One True God, was a metaphysical entity especially concerned with the evolution of humans and Cylons. Its worshippers, called Monotheists, held it to be the only deity worthy of worship, setting their faith apart from the polytheistic belief in the Lords of Kobol.
Monotheism
Monotheism was a human religion teaching of a single omnipotent and omniscient deity called the One True God. A minority faith across the Twelve Colonies, it was often treated as zealotry, yet its largest colonial home lay on Gemenon and its conflict with Polytheism recurred throughout the Cycle of Time.
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