Yet another read of Mistborn 1.

[SkyRunner]

Kelsier asks Saze to tell him about a lot of religions during this particular book. Saze also educates Vin on religions. I find it interesting that Trell came up. (As we all know) And on this most recent read I find myself looking deeper into every other religion Saze mentions and their beliefs looking for possible cosmere clues. Is Trell the only one standing out?

[Honorless]

Hmm, lemme try to list them out:

0) You mentioned Trelagism, the religion of the Nelazan, a dualist religion named after the god Trell. Trell's opposite was Nalt, and the two were believed to be brothers. Trelagists believed that night was beautiful and daylight was profane. During the night, Trelagists were able to see the "Thousand Eyes of Trell" (the stars) watching over them. Jealous of the worship given to his brother, Nalt would shine his single eye (the sun) on the land during the day, blocking Trelagists from seeing Trell's eyes. Despite Nalt's attempts to outshine his brother, the Trelagists believed that Trell continued to watch over them during the day. Their beliefs concerning the afterlife are described by Sazed as "almost whimsical," and their doctrine in general was left intentionally ambiguous on many issues in order to allow followers to "discover truth for themselves." Adherents were encouraged to pray to Trell, and believed that their god would respond to petitions. Their star charts allowed Sazed to restore the planet's orbit.

1) There were a group of people before the Ascension known as the Astalsi. They claimed that each person was born with a certain finite amount of ill luck. And so, when an unfortunate event happened, they thought themselves blessed—thereafter, their lives could only get better. The Astalsi followers mixed religion with science. They developed a detailed scale to express different colors, and thought that these different colors were indications of different kinds of fortune. Sazed preached this religion to Vin stating that she'd already been through a lot in life

2) The Dadradah believed that there was only one God, and that practicing art was the only right way to draw closer to that God, being an artist even was a higher calling than being a priest. Dadradah followers had a fascination for color and hue, and were fond of poetry that described this. Sazed tells Clubs about Dadradah, noting at the end that this was the "last religion he ever taught", and used it to put everything back to its natural color.

3) It focused on discovery and knowledge—to these people, the making of maps was a reverent duty, describing the Bennet religion, Sazed uses their maps to rebuild the continents to their original forms.

4) The Cazzi or Canzi people followed an unnamed religion that focuses on the form of the human body. Sazed uses it to restore the nobles and Skaa back to their original biology from before Rashek's Ascension. Sazed mentions this religion early on, praying over a dead body using a Cazzi prayer. Rashek modeled the lives of the skaa after Cazzi slaves. 

5) Larstaism is the religion that Kelsier's wife followed. In HoA, Sazed mentions that of all the religions he knew, he spent the longest time considering if this one was "true", because there were no inherent contradictions in it. It had focused on art, not the sacred in the usual sense, and had centered around donating money to support monks so that they could compose poetry and paint and sculpt works of art.

6) the Terris religion - were aware of Realmatic Theory to some degree

~Emperor's Soul spoilers~

Spoiler

The MaiPonese belief system, is another example of similar awareness, they understood the Three Realms

This is the religion which carried Preservation's prophecy

7) Duis, a god once said to watch over wearied travelers. Sazed prayed to him when he got caught by the Koloss army

8) HaDah, a southern religion with an agricultural diety. Sazed performs a HaDah funeral for a Skaa that was killed by the Deepness

9) Valla lasted a long time, including long after its leaders died out. Kelsier often asked Sazed to talk about this religion, claiming that he wanted a reminder of their perseverance.

10) Jaism was founded by a man called The Ja by his followers. Jaists believed "that they earned happiness proportional to their overt devotion, and they were known for frequent and fervent professions of faith". They also ended most of their sentences with the phrase, "Praise the Ja." Jaism was destroyed shortly after the ascension of the Lord Ruler; its adherents were not difficult to find. However, every last one had to be killed, according to the Steel Ministry belief, as not a single Jaist would accept the Lord Ruler as a deity. Sazed told Kelsier about Jaism when the latter asked to hear about a religion with power

 

This was a rush job so I might've missed some of the religions, so please point them out

Why isn't there already a list somewhere? I had to look for them individually

Edited February 26, 2020 by Dreamer