Unclean! Unclean!
In this column I am going to introduce a useful religious concept that, despite being near-universal, is something pretty foreign to the average western mind. This concept is that of ritual purity and impurity. Ritual purity an idea the average person in post-Christian western culture usually has some trouble understanding. However, it is an important part of world religions, and is a common psychological feature in human religious experience. I also believe that this would be a useful and interesting concept for role-playing religion, and in fact is supported by the pre-existing D & D game mechanic of positive and negative energy.
But is My Room Really “Dirty?”
The religious concept of purity and impurity can be best understood by looking at the very idea of cleanliness. When we talk about “cleaning” our house, we generally don’t mean there is actually dirt, but that it is disordered. Things in the house are not where they are supposed to be.
All religions teach that you are supposed to live a certain way, and when you do not it is a problem. In western culture, we tend to think of this as being a purely moral or spiritual problem- your soul is in danger. However, for many cultures (especially those that see less of a split between body and spirit) there is a sense of physical contamination that comes from not living they way you are supposed to, especially from contact with something unholy. After that contact, you have a sort of corruption about your person, and you can spread that corruption through your physical presence. It’s almost like a disease, or a stain. You track it and spread it wherever you go.
A contaminated person is not just a danger to themselves, but to the whole community. This idea offers any number of interesting role playing opportunities both as a metaphysical and a psychological concept. For example, many cultures require a quarantine of those believed to be tainted until they are purified.
PC’s are usually on the edges of good and evil, coming into regular contact with the corrupt and unholy. Suppose they return from clearing a cavern of zombies covered in gore, and are forced into quarantine for weeks while a high-level cleric is sent for. In the mean time, their rivals in the city could run amuck, forcing them to consider sneaking out. If they are caught out of quarantine they will be driven out of the city, and they can’t seek shelter or help with anyone for fear of contamination. What is the risk they then pose to the very people they are protecting? And what effect does that experience have on their own sense of faith and identity? The pre-existing game concept of negative energy mimics the religious concept of ritual purity surprisingly well. The main way I can see to make it more real-world accurate is to expand the sources of negative energy. Right now, it seems you get negative energy from the most obvious sources of evil- evil creatures, spells, or artifacts. However, in many religions, negative contamination can come from any number of seemingly harmless sources.
- Physical contact with the unholy. This can range from the obviously evil (death cult sacrificial dagger) to the religiously forbidden (eating taboo foods). In many societies great prejudice comes from their perceiving certain races or classes as “profane.” This could be an excellent source of social tension for a GM.
- Profaning holy things. When you take something sacred and use it in an unholy or even just a casual way. Eating holy animals (clan totems, animals reserved for sacrifice, animal sacred to your god), using ritual vessels or artifacts for casual eating/drinking, or interrupting rituals/disrespecting sacred space could also cause contamination.
- Contact with something ritually potent. Certain substances are connected to life force in a psychologically powerful way, and contact with them can bring ritual impurity. Blood and sexual fluid are the most obvious examples, but a creative GM could come up with more, especially for non-human races.
- Medically dangerous things. Many cultures have ritual taboos about contact with dead bodies or disease victims, and those taboos have fairly obvious practical functions. Once again, this type of contamination has plenty of possibilities for worlds of non-humans, magic, or other alien elements.
Adding negative energy element to any of these types of contamination could make in-game religious life richer, more imaginative, and unique. Of course, you can use these ideas without even changing the mechanics of negative energy, simply by role playing a belief in the contaminating powers of certain ritual impurities. If the PCs or NPCs believe that eating the sacred cows of Pelor is just as contaminating as touching a demonic artifact, it doesn’t matter so much for role playing if they are right or not.
Of course, in a world where things like negative energy have obviously physical properties, religions might believe in different levels of corruption. Actual negative energy contact might be seen as ultimate corruption, and require something like quarantine followed by more stringent (and potentially painful) purification, whereas eating taboo animals or touching a member of a “tainted” race may require a ritual washing. Use your imagination.
Every Vile Thing
It is hard for someone that does not come from this sort of religious or cultural framework to imagine and thus role play the visceral disgust that ritual contamination provokes in believers. A Muslim co-worker of mine was trying to explain why he would not store his food in any refrigerator that also had pork products, and settled on the example of rotting food. It would have been like putting your lunch box in a refrigerator full of decayed meat. Your own lunch would just seem contaminated by proximity to something so vile.
For a believer, ritual impurity violates their fundamental sense of self and of their place in the universe. It should be described and role played as the most revolting corruption and filthiness. This also applies to contact with negative energy from traditional D & D sources. The PCs’ first in-character reaction should be as if their skin had just caught a festering, rotting disease, not concern about level adjustment. As I mentioned, broadening the concept of ritual impurity can produce powerful psychological effects on a character, even if no rules are changed. A paladin who is constantly in contact with the impure and the unclean walks a fine line between seeing his or her self as a vessel of purification or as a victim of corruption.
I have mentioned in previous columns the importance of designing rituals if you are going to use religion in a campaign, and one of the most important should be a purification ritual. Contact with negative energy or ritual contamination should have not only status effects but psychological ones as well. Restoring the character to wholeness is not simply a matter of fixing their level, but healing a violated sense of self. It should be done through a symbolically powerful ritual.
This does not just apply to clerics or paladins, but to all religious characters. A fighter or rogue with a strong sense of faith would be just as disgusted and horrified at contact with an evil being, or violation of religious artifacts as any cleric, and need a purification ritual. Clerics and paladins will, however, play a crucial role in these sorts of healing/purification rituals, and part of their self-image will be as instruments of the divine restoration of the world. Purity and corruption should play an important part in every aspect of their lives. This goes beyond throwing holy water around and talking in a churchy way. A well-developed theology of purity and impurity will offer religious PC’s a core part of their character’s identity, no matter their class.
Sticking Your Finger in an Electric Socket
It is not just the negative energy mechanic that matches with real-world religious concepts, but positive energy as well. In religions around the world, holiness is seen as a force. This means that, like in D & D, holiness can be incredibly dangerous. Religions across the world are full of stories of the lethal danger of entering a sacred place unprepared, or of seeing the faces of the gods.
Once again, this is not a concept that western culture has much understanding of. We tend to see divine power or presence as something that the good should not fear. Why would too much holiness be dangerous?
In other religions and cultures, the danger is simply that it is too much power for us to bear. If you are hit by lightning, it doesn’t really matter whether the lightning bolt wanted to hurt you or not. If you get to close to holiness/positive energy, you are overwhelmed, and you die.
Ritual purity is good not only because it protects you from corruption, but because it prepares you to receive holiness. Many religions feature purification rituals before entering sacred places or handling sacred objects. These rituals act as a sort of grounding for the energy. If you don’t do them correctly, it is believed you can be harmed or killed by the holiness you are coming into contact with. This also has interesting consequences for PC’s that contact or channel positive energy. Adding a sense of danger and ritual to positive energy will help religious actions feel more real to the players. Laying on Hands should carry a sense of worship and danger, as you channel the power of your god into your frail mortal body. It should not be just a low level cure spell.
Beyond Alignment
Right now the main way that religion affects in-game action is almost purely ethical, in alignment changes based on actions. However, by adding a sense of ritual purity and impurity you connect the teachings of the character’s religions to parts of life, such as their physical contact with the world, their dietary limitations, the way they treat blood or corpses, and indeed to every aspect of life. It is also a way to add more of a visceral sensibility to role playing religion, whether it is vomiting in disgust at touching an evil being or a thrill of fear and power that comes from divine magic. Ritual purity and impurity adds an organic religious presence to your world, and gives new role playing possibilities to religious PC’s.
I have been focusing on D & D specifically because I believe that the pre-existing positive/negative energy game mechanic is easily adaptable to support this religious concept. However, the idea of ritual purity/impurity would be a good addition to any game of any system where religion is going to be a major part, whether as an actual metaphysical mechanic or just a psychological presence.
Questions? Comments?
