Religion in Earthsea
The people of the Archipelago do not worship any gods. While there is a creation myth involving Segoy raising up the lands from the sea, Segoy is known as a powerful wizard and is not worshipped. At the end of "Tehanu", the child Tehanu addresses Kalessin - oldest and wisest of the dragons - as "Segoy", raising the possibility that Kalessin is identical with Segoy or is manifestation or incarnation of him. This point, however, is never taken up again in the series.
There are the "Old Powers" of the Earth, which existed since before Segoy raised up the lands. These include "The Nameless Ones" in Atuan and the Terrenon in Osskil. It is revealed in Tales from Earthsea that once, the women of power spoke with and learned from the Old Powers, but in Ged's age, they are considered evil. In The Tombs of Atuan, Ged states that the Old Powers are not evil in themselves, but that it is wrong for humans to interfere with or worship them.
Gods are revered in the Kargad Lands. The oldest are "The Nameless Ones", who are worshipped in Atuan. However, the reverence given them has gradually been usurped by human beings. The God-Kings were the mortal rulers of the Kargad Lands. The dynasty began with "priest-kings", but over the years they promoted themselves, until finally they declared themselves to be gods. The last God-King is overthrown in a civil war by Thol of Hur-at-Hur and flees to Atuan, where he is killed by a priest-eunuch.
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Famous quotes containing the words religion in and/or religion:
“There’s no reason to bring religion into it. I think we ought to have as great a regard for religion as we can, so as to keep it out of as many things as possible.”
—Sean O’Casey (1884–1964)
“Christianity as an organized religion has not always had a harmonious relationship with the family. Unlike Judaism, it kept almost no rituals that took place in private homes. The esteem that monasticism and priestly celibacy enjoyed implied a denigration of marriage and parenthood.”
—Beatrice Gottlieb, U.S. historian. The Family in the Western World from the Black Death to the Industrial Age, ch. 12, Oxford University Press (1993)