Bajoran Worship Customs (Voyager)

[Dingo]

I've been using DS9 as well as Memory Alpha as my main sources for my research on Bajoran customs and religious traditions, but I've still got a few questions. My upcoming fanfic will feature Tal Celes (the time of my story is after the Good Shepherd) as one of the principal characters. I know on Voyager there are at least three Bajoran crewmembers I've seen.

I'm curious if it was ever mentioned if there was a small space set aside as a temple or if it would be some concession that wouldn't be made on a starship? Has it ever been shown that a gathering site or a 'chapel' if you will is neccessary for Bajorans to practice certain parts of their faith?

 

[iguana_tonante]

Well, I suppose that the ship would have an "all-faith" chapel that would be used for religious ceremonies by the crew. The original Enterprise had it (Balance of Terror), so I would think that Voyager could have it, too. And for bigger gathering, I'm sure they could use the mess hall.

 

[Tachyon]

First, there were at least Tabor and Gerron from Bajor.

Second - your question about a Bajoran chapel is most intriguing one. I never thought about such a thing before, but knowing Bajorans, there would definitely had been some way for them to practice their religion on some level. Voyager was relatively small ship, however, so I don't thinkt here would have necessarily been any specific space onboard assigned for a Bajoran temple. Perhaps they had some "miniature" version of it to put up on someone's quarters when it was time for spiritual gathering, like there was in Kira's quarters on Deep Space Nine. There were only handful of Bajorans so the room for their religious gathering would have not needed to be very big. Of course the holodecks might also do because of their unique circumstances.

It was never mentioned on the series that such a place existed on Voyager.

 

[Brit]

I don't think one was mentioned either, but bearing in mind that their journey was supposed to take years, I don't think it would be unreasonable to believe that there would have been a small space available to the Bajorians (or to anyone else that might practice a specific religion.

Brit

 

[Dingo]

Nice. If a space were to be designated, in my ficciverse I imagined the ex-drone Marika Willkarah to have started the thing (she was Bajoran if I remember correctly). The inpiration for that turn of events is based on my great-grandmother who became rather religious in her latter years.

That idea is still in its infancy, though. As far as Voyager Bajorans, these are the ones I recall minus the altered Seska:

- Gerron
- Tabor
- Marika Willkarah
- Tal Celes

Since there's no Vedek onboard, I assume the Bajoran faith has someone like a 'lay leader' like in our modern Navy (a buddy of mine on my old ship was a lay leader and we practiced our services on the mess decks).

 

[StarryEyed]

I think it's likely that the holodeck would be used rather than a makeshift temple. Worf used the holodeck for at least one Klingon ceremony and I think Torres did too.

 

[Dingo]

I think it's likely that the holodeck would be used rather than a makeshift temple. Worf used the holodeck for at least one Klingon ceremony and I think Torres did too.

Sounds good.

I know from Kira's quarters on DS9 she had a small shrine in the bedroom. I wonder if Bajorans have other requirements for their religious beliefs. I know incense and candles are used in some rituals, but any evidence on rituals in daily prayers?

 

[StarryEyed]

I think it's likely that the holodeck would be used rather than a makeshift temple. Worf used the holodeck for at least one Klingon ceremony and I think Torres did too.

Sounds good.

I know from Kira's quarters on DS9 she had a small shrine in the bedroom. I wonder if Bajorans have other requirements for their religious beliefs. I know incense and candles are used in some rituals, but any evidence on rituals in daily prayers?

Nothing that I recall.

Keep in mind that there is probably going to be a pretty big difference between a Bajoran raised off-world regarding religious observation than one who grew up on Bajor. Not that we know anything regarding Tal Celes' background but my impression is that she is an off-worlder. So many Bajorans we saw had a lot of pent-up hostility and bitterness - perfectly understandable for anyone who grew up under the occupation. Tal Celes didn't show a trace of that. She doesn't act at all like someone who experienced a traumatic upbringing. She acts like someone who was raised in the Federation.

 

[Dingo]

Good point. I think I'll expound on her background being that she grew up with an expatriate Bajoran community somewhere in Federation territory after her parents died at a refugee camp. They were able to send the toddler Tal to the Federation where adoptive Bajoran parents raised her. That would give her enough of a grounding in her own culture, I think, yet keeping in the spirit of Voyager where she appeared to be Federation raised...

 

[Dingo]

Keep in mind that there is probably going to be a pretty big difference between a Bajoran raised off-world regarding religious observation than one who grew up on Bajor. Not that we know anything regarding Tal Celes' background but my impression is that she is an off-worlder. So many Bajorans we saw had a lot of pent-up hostility and bitterness - perfectly understandable for anyone who grew up under the occupation. Tal Celes didn't show a trace of that. She doesn't act at all like someone who experienced a traumatic upbringing. She acts like someone who was raised in the Federation.

I just thought about something while re-reading this post and you bring up a very interesting point StarryEyed. Would such a viewpoint be something that might sent her apart from fellow Bajorans?

 

[StarryEyed]

Keep in mind that there is probably going to be a pretty big difference between a Bajoran raised off-world regarding religious observation than one who grew up on Bajor. Not that we know anything regarding Tal Celes' background but my impression is that she is an off-worlder. So many Bajorans we saw had a lot of pent-up hostility and bitterness - perfectly understandable for anyone who grew up under the occupation. Tal Celes didn't show a trace of that. She doesn't act at all like someone who experienced a traumatic upbringing. She acts like someone who was raised in the Federation.

I just thought about something while re-reading this post and you bring up a very interesting point StarryEyed. Would such a viewpoint be something that might sent her apart from fellow Bajorans?

Oh, sure - especially amongst those who actively fought in the resistance. Tal herself would have been way too young to make the decision to flee Bajor herself so I doubt she would be looked on with prejudice but she is also not part of the "us" that tenaciously and heroically stood up to a superior enemy and bloodied its nose.

It's not fresh in my mind but I recall Kira being luke-warm at best for Ro Laren in the relaunch novels related to that - and Ro fought in the Marqi. At least part of that was because Ro was agnostic concerning the divinity of the Prophets. Of course, Tal Celes could easily be too if she was indeed raised off-world.

 

[Dingo]

Oh, sure - especially amongst those who actively fought in the resistance. Tal herself would have been way too young to make the decision to flee Bajor herself so I doubt she would be looked on with prejudice but she is also not part of the "us" that tenaciously and heroically stood up to a superior enemy and bloodied its nose.

It's not fresh in my mind but I recall Kira being luke-warm at best for Ro Laren in the relaunch novels related to that - and Ro fought in the Marqi. At least part of that was because Ro was agnostic concerning the divinity of the Prophets. Of course, Tal Celes could easily be too if she was indeed raised off-world.

That's interesting, because I never saw her as entirely religious nor entirely atheistic, perhaps agnostic or never actually thinking of the Prophets.

That would also depend on upbringing. I was considering having her raised by a Bajoran expatriate family, middle class, living farther from the Bajoran frontier than average for my fanfic, that would seem about plausible with what we've seen of her in cannon, right?

 

[StarryEyed]

There's very little cannon concerning her. My speculation of her being an off-worlder is based on her innocence and zero indication of trauma. She does wear the ear ring so it's safe to say she has some connection to her culture and the religion of the prophets. My gut feeling is that it's a tenuous one (because of being raised away from it) and that's the way I would write her.

 

[Dingo]

There's very little cannon concerning her. My speculation of her being an off-worlder is based on her innocence and zero indication of trauma. She does wear the ear ring so it's safe to say she has some connection to her culture and the religion of the prophets. My gut feeling is that it's a tenuous one (because of being raised away from it) and that's the way I would write her.

More or less that's my intention to for writing her. Because of her tenuous connection I'll say she had at least one Bajoran adoptive parent but maybe a generation removed from Bajoran space.

I wonder what immigrating to Federation Worlds is like? Would it be as hard or easy as immigrating to the US? And I wonder how large of a community the Bajoran ex-pats would be? I imagine rather large.

 

[Timo]

Since there's no Vedek onboard, I assume the Bajoran faith has someone like a 'lay leader' like in our modern Navy

However, would the Bajoran faith actually require a leader?

When we saw Bajorans practice their religion aboard DS9, they went to the small chapel on the Promenade, but they didn't require the assistance of a clergyman to do so. There was a specific, ceremonially clad officiator present during some larger ceremonies and festivities, but he may have been a random layman rather than a clergyman.

Vedeks and the Kai provide religious guidance to their flock, but the former seem to only do so when specifically asked, while the latter offers it outside ceremony, principally to serve her political ambitions. Perhaps there is no actual clergy in the Bajoran faith, but more like a slightly hierarchial system of monks who exist as a separate spiritual community that does not exert any sort of "reign" upon the general populance. Buddhist overtones, perhaps?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[StarryEyed]

The Bajoran religion definitely has a hierarchical component like Catholicism but I never got the impression any kind of leader or intermediary was required for worship. The vedeks controlled access to the orbs; that's the only thing one of the flock would need a vedek for.

There were the prylars, who may have been temple-keepers among other things. I imagine the average bajoran would be far more likely to have interaction with one of these than with a vedek.

 

[Dingo]

However, would the Bajoran faith actually require a leader?

I figured then, for larger ceremonies like the Gratitude Festival or Time of Clensing, a lay leader would be required. Day to day worship not so much. I know they have services and the like and anyone can lead them.

Guys, thanks for the responses.

 

[kimc]

Star Trek: Voyager (sometimes abbreviated ST:VGR, ST:VOY, ST:V, VGR, or VOY) is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. The show was created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor and is the fourth incarnation of Star Trek, which began with the 1960s series Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry. It was produced for seven seasons, from 1995 to 2001, and is the only Star Trek series to feature a female captain, Kathryn Janeway, as a lead character. It ran on UPN, making it the first Star Trek series to air on a major network since the original series which aired on NBC. It was the only TV show on UPN to have seven seasons.
____________________
benjonson

free atms
faster computer

Were you going somewhere with this? Your post is looking spammy...

 

[Lynx]

As for Bajoran crewmembers, I've found the following members in the episodes (the episode named in brackets is the episode where they first showed up).

Gerron (Learning Curve)
Tabor (Nothing Human)
Tal Celes (Good Shepherd)

And the following Bajorans have showed up in the Voyager books:
Bereyt (Ragnarok)
Kayla (Chrysalis)
Trexis (Her Klingon Soul)
Tala (Violations. My personal opinion is that Tala and Tal Celes is the same despite the fact that the book was published long before Tal Celes did show up on screen!)

As for any space for a temple or something similar, I would suppose that an an "all-faith" chapel is located somewhere on the ship. OK, they were only supposed to be out there for a three weeks mission and of the Bajorans, only Bereyt and Tal Celes (and Tala if she isn't Tal Celes) were Starfleet. But since there probably were other Starfleet crewmember with different religious beliefs on board, I guess that even Voyager had some room which could serve as an "all-faith" chapel.

And if there wasn't, I'm sure that someone did bring it up to Janeway and she arranged something in some un-used place on the ship.

It's also possible that the Bajorans could have gathered in someone's quarters to practice certain parts of their faith, just like Chakotay often did in his quarters.

Voyager crew list: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Park/1964/crew_manifest.html

By the way, who's Marika Willkarah?

 

[Dingo]

By the way, who's Marika Willkarah?

She was a former Borg drone and Starfleet officer that 7 of 9 forcibly linked with two other drones when their ship crashed during the episode Survival Instinct...