Do Horses Have Religion?

[Daring_Do 552]

For a long time, my headcanon was that Equestria just plum didn't have a concept of religion or gods. They were simple, nontheistic critters, going about their lives grazing and partying and whatever it is friendly little ponies do.

 

Now, I know there's some fanon some folks have, of Celestia and Luna being their gods, but that doesn't really hold water for me; The ponies seem to treat them like mortal royalty, not like divine beings to be worshipped.

 

But then I heard about something. Who here remembers how in the song sequence in Hearts and Hooves Day, Sweetie Belle pranced/pronked/whatever through a funeral at one point, even on top of the coffin, saying "This one's too old" about an old pony who was speaking there? (The look on his face...)

 

Weirdly dark humor for MLP aside, I always thought he was a friend of the deceased speaking at the funeral (so being reminded of his own mortality would be horrible).

 

Then a while back, I learned something.

 

 

I didn't notice - He's wearing a clerical collar in this scene.

 

Now, that little thing probably shouldn't tip the scales for me. The animators or whoever really weren't thinking about it, I'm sure; It's me who's overthinking all this. Heck, even though that pony shows up again (Pinkie calls him "Mr. Waddle" in that one episode), it might just be a case of recycled assets instead of thinking of him as a coherent character. We sure don't ever see him wearing a clerical collar again.

 

But since hearing about this, I guess I've had the vague idea that "Okay, I guess they do have religion"... but haven't really thought into it much. (Well, okay, I might have a *couple* ideas)

 

But what do y'all think about this?

Edited June 23, 2016 by Daring_Do

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

If you remember in "Make New Friends but Keep Discord", Tree Hugger had the reincarnation religion. It was kind of subtle, but it was very clear she believed in reincarnation. I guess it could be that there actually is reincarnation, but there has been no evidence in the show pointing to that.

[Daring_Do 552]

If you remember in "Make New Friends but Keep Discord", Tree Hugger had the reincarnation religion. It was kind of subtle, but it was very clear she believed in reincarnation. I guess it could be that there actually is reincarnation, but there has been no evidence in the show pointing to that.

Huh, no, I don't remember. Can you refresh my memory?

[Malinter 3,064]

Tree Hugger asked Discord if she had met/knew him in a previous life. The reincarnation thing as also been brought up in relation to the star-plane where Celestia and Twilight met when she ascended.

 

As to the question. The ponies don't have a religion but they do have a sense of spirituality.

 

Applejack believes her parents watch over her and her family.

 

Zecora believes in spirits and Luna often fights them in the dreamscape, namely negative spirits made from fears.

 

Theres also the fact that the sisters being over 1000 years old are not considered Gods even tho they haven't aged and have the power to raise the sun/moon as if it were as easy as eating a sandwich.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Malinter

[Daring_Do 552]

Tree Hugger asked Discord if she had met/knew him in a previous life. The reincarnation thing as also been brought up in relation to the star-plane where Celestia and Twilight met when she ascended.

 

As to the question. The ponies don't have a religion but they do have a sense of spirituality.

 

Applejack believes her parents watch over her and her family.

 

Zecora believes in spirits and Luna often fights them in the dreamscape, namely negative spirits made from fears.

 

Theres also the fact that the sisters being over 1000 years old are not considered Gods even tho they haven't aged and have the power to raise the sun/moon as if it were as easy as eating a sandwich.

Huh, yeah, would fit into Tree Hugger's whole hippie thing. New Age stuff, or Buddhism or something. But I don't think it was brought up in Magical Mystery Cure...

 

But your other stuff. Is this your view on canon, or pure headcanon? Your lines about AJ, Zecora and Luna, that is.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Daring_Do

[Malinter 3,064]

AJ believing her folks watch over her was alluded to during one of the episodes where she looks up to the sky and sees two falling stars shoot over head, she seems to take this as a sign from her parents but doesn't say anything about it.

 

For Zecora, the spirits are to do with the masks in her hut. Some cultures believe in spirits for different things, One to protect you, one to protect your home. Welcome people in or keep them out. The masks serve as totems for spirits. The fact Zecora can do magic with no horn points to her powers being shamanistic in nature and shamans are known for using special plants, brews and totems to commune with spirits.

 

Luna can literally enter the dreamscape and from the things she says about her duties in this regard, it obvious that their are other beings besides her that lurk within it.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Malinter

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,307]

It is probably more in line with spirituality rather than organized religion. There doesn't seem to be churches or any kind of ceremonies other than funerals.

[Goat-kun 2,527]

Tartarus>Underworld>Deity>Cult

 

It is reasonable. All dead need a home. All dead deserve an impartial judgment.

 

It is improbable. All fans have their fanon. All writers shrink from lore.

[cmarston1 5,959]

Judging by the nature of the show and its intended demographic, I am pretty sure that the characters in the show don't have any sort of religion.

[silvadel 1,393]

If you remember in "Make New Friends but Keep Discord", Tree Hugger had the reincarnation religion. It was kind of subtle, but it was very clear she believed in reincarnation. I guess it could be that there actually is reincarnation, but there has been no evidence in the show pointing to that.

 

This would definitely add to the fear of Tree Hugger.  If she were thrust into a different universe by discord, she would be coming back in her next incarnation as a sock puppet.

[Thrond 3,263]

We don't know anything about it, but yeah, sure there's religion. I don't think it revolves around alicorns, and it might be more limited because ponies control their surroundings more and thus need fewer answers, but I don't see why there wouldn't be religion. 

[RDDash 19,161]

The constant running joke in my own head cannon is that ponies are self aware of their Hasbro overlords. They, ponies do have some kind of panteon of show writers as some kind of minor gods

[Foxy Socks 2,599]

It would make sense, but obviously due to the tone of the show it would not be appropriate to mention directly. 

[sweetolebob18 728]

In Milli Filli, Apple Jack calls Fluttershy's singing a "slice of Paradise".  Several places ponies say, "By Celestia" like the Catholics call on saints

 

[Brightbart 268]

Not necessarily religion but in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" definitely dealt with the topic of belief. 

Just take the friendship lesson from that episode: "I am happy to report that I now realize there are wonderful things in this world you just can't explain, but that doesn't necessarily make them any less true. It just means you have to choose to believe in them. And sometimes it takes a friend to show you the way."

As well as this quote from Twilight once she stopped trying to disprove Pinkie's Pinkie Sense: "Just because I don't understand, doesn't mean it's not true."

So while not explicitly dealing with an organized religion in Equestria, it does show that the ponies do have opinions about religious matters such as belief and faith. Of course since it hasn't been shown in the show it is unknown if those though processes extend to organized religion. Of course, given that some ponies possess supernatural powers perhaps not as much as in our world. 

[EpicEnergy 23,153]

I can't think of any instances where it would be clear that some ponies worshipped an entity, so I don't think that the ponies in Equestria have a religion.

[Splashee 28,563]

The way the TV-series is promoted to children, it wouldn’t be a good idea to let the ponies have a religion.

[Tom Gallagher 33,581]

I very seriously doubt it.

[ExplosionMare 18,061]

If they did, the religions would have to be made up

[Sparklefan1234 169,643]

They hold the Summer Sun Celebration/Festival of the Two Sisters which, sounds like a special celebration for their pony Princess deities. 

[SharpWit 2,611]

Season 8, Episode 7 Horseplay.

While Princess Celestia is practicing through a game of charades, Methid Mares theatre troupe member Raspberry Beret makes a guess of "Antidisetablishmentarianism" before giving up.

Its meaning is of a position that advocates that a state church should continue to recieve government patronage, rather than be distestablished. It's specifically in regards to a movement against removing the Church of England as the state church for England, Ireland and Wales.

From here I think we can look at Princess Celestia in the same equivalence as Queen Elizabeth II currently being both the head of state and head of the Anglican church.

So Equestria much like the real world has religion present, though playing a smaller role in today's society.

[dead account 2,710]

I haven't met religious horses yet, so I doubt it.

[They call me Loyalty 1,948]

It was probably just a scene and you are overthinking it. Besides, a little bit of dark humor never killed anybody, except for that corpse which was expressly created for the purpose of the joke. But, no. They do not seem to have a religion, though there can be allusions to aspects of real life in this show, with the use of stereotypical situations and characters. These are merely references intended for the viewers most of the time.

Edited May 24, 2022 by They call me Loyalty

[Steve Piranha 29,415]

I’m sure there’s a religion or two in Equestria believing in higher beings and such… which might put their status as religion into question if those, like most other myths and legends in Equestria, turn out to be real