I created a magic system that involves saying a god's true name or name in general.

[u/Qualeshia3]

In my story Project Evergreen, there are two magic systems, one deals with some elements due to the environment. The second is an ancient magic that is practiced by a select few people. The second magic system deals with gaining temporary powers from a god by saying their name (true or alias). However there are down sides to this power. Too much usage can damage the body and mind. You can only use one name at a time and you can only use it once. Trying to use the same name again can cause severe problems to the person's body and mind. The only people who use this ancient magic are priests or people with deep connections to religion. Though there are special cases where people tried to use the ancient magic without having a connection to religion, only for those people to be driven insane and later die. The power of the gods is different depending on the god. Saying their true name gives a person plenty of power while saying their alias gives a person a little bit of their power.

The ancient magic isn't widely used across the world, just in small places that still practice it.

I am still figuring out this magic system, but things are slowly making sense.

What do you think?

[u/ShenGahMing]

Maybe god's true name is just waayyy too long.

[u/Qualeshia3 → u/ShenGahMing]

That could be true.

[u/Nerdn1 → u/Qualeshia3]

There is also the possibility that the name was not made with a single human mouth in mind (the deity might have multiple mouths and heads). Perhaps you need a few people speaking different layered parts of the name are once, possibly while using custom instruments. The speakers need to practice the pronunciation, avoiding saying too much of the actual name, but making sure they can pronounce the alien tongue. Using part of the name can work like using an alias. Mispronouncings the name might give lesser power or may offend the deity and/or garble the power gain, increasing the negative side effects and/or reducing/eliminating the benefit.

[u/Nerdn1]

Is saying the name or alias sufficient to gain the power, or is there more to it than that? When you say "alias" do euphemisms count? If so, how do people talk about the gods/pray? How does the priesthood pass down the name/aliases of a deity and the proper pronunciation if they can only safely say the name once? Can they say different aliases to reduce/eliminate multi-use backlash?

Do written names have any power, like for protective wards? Even if the written names don't have power, do people believe that they do?

If somebody lacks a deep connection to the formal religion, yet embodies much of the god's values, would they have less difficulty with using divine name magic?

How do religious schisms work? Two people could be devoted to the same god with all of their heart, but believe the other to be a heretic because of differences in specific tenants. Is there a divinely ordained "right" answer for everything or is faith more important?

[u/Qualeshia3 → u/Nerdn1]

If you want to gain the gods' power, you need to speak their name, whether true or alias. For saying the alias, no euphemisms (though that can change when I flesh things out).

Priesthood is passed down from master to apprentice. Every priest has an apprentice who must learn the way of Priesthood and understand the magic system. There are ancient books that are like bibles, but meant for understanding the magic. Apprentices are taught how to learn the name of the gods through mentorship. As for who wrote the ancient books, are the ancient priests who had a celestial meeting with the gods who granted them powers and for the power to be given to others.

The magic works better when there is a voice to name, meaning speaking the name brings the name into reality. Writing the name does not have the same effect, actually it does nothing.

Embodying the values of the gods without being connected to religion could still work for the person, because they are still sharing some closeness to the gods.

I'm working on that schism thing because the only thing I can think of is that schisms work when the two parties or people try to prove who has the stronger faith and loyalty to their god. There's nothing else just yet.

I hope I answered this right. I really had to think about things. LOL!

[u/hatabou_is_a_jojo]

Is there a term or class divide for the priests who have said a name vs those that haven’t? Maybe more reverence for those who’ve said it or seniority.