- 6 days ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
An Assassin’s Creed Religious System
Community Interview - @Naamahifur
Interviewed by Adam
Website Concept Art by @BolukbasiGuner
Throughout my time playing the games and being a member of the Assassin’s Creed community, I’ve seen a lot of excellent theories, interpretations and viewpoints regarding the franchise; but in publishing my article: Katana Vs Longsword: Told Through Assassin’s Creed; I was introduced to a project being created by @Naamahifur, a religious system built around Assassin’s Creed.
Now, I’m not religious, but I do find religion fascinating from a psychological and a human standpoint and this is one of the most unique projects I’ve ever come across based on a franchise that I love and means so much to me. So, naturally, I had to find out more about this project and Naamahifur herself. Check out the interview below!
1. First off, could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I have been a practising Pagan and Luciferian witch for almost a decade. I follow what's known as the Left Hand Path, which essentially focuses on self-deification, a spiritual path which adheres to self-growth, empowerment, and building an understanding that you can create the world around you, control your own destiny, enlightenment of sacred knowledge, and encourages freedom of choice, equality, and that ultimately everyone is responsible for their own actions, and the consequences of our decisions.
In addition, I'm a huge nerd! I am an enormous Star Wars fan, so much so I am a trained LED sabre martial artist and compete in international LED combat sports. Sword combat, but with lightsabers! I also love Marvel, and I'm a huge Disney fan; everything from the movies to the theme parks.
More recently, I've been studying warrior ethos and combining it with my love of history so that, hopefully, soon, I can move from LED sabres to real steel sword combat, with maybe some archery thrown in! My sabre academy recently started evolving into LARP themes and I've been training with various types of LARP swords and engaging with LARP events. A huge part of this also involves cosplay. I'm a regular veteran on the cosplay scene, and you can usually find me at various Comic Con events around the UK.
2. Please tell us which Assassin's Creed game is your favourite and why?
Valhalla. For me, I completely fell in love with AC Valhalla almost instantly. It wasn't my first AC game. But I played it at a time in my life when it was providing more to me than just any old game. Eivor Varinsdottir struck something in me. I resonated with her in a way I haven't before with a character, which is saying a lot considering how many other franchises and characters I love. But Eivor was different; she stood for everything I either admired or wanted to be. With her resilience, determination, compassion, and courage, she is the perfect warrior.
Eivor, England’s Landlord - Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Coincidentally, I was going through a huge Viking theme in the things I was watching at the time: Vikings, Vikings Valhalla, and The Last Kingdom, to name a few. So, Assassin's Creed Valhalla was right on theme, and I loved it, I even delved deeply into Norse mythology. A few months later, I took a DNA ancestry test and was stunned to find I actually had Norse heritage. So Eivor wasn't just a fictional character to me, she was something so much more, something that called to me, my ancestry, and my spirituality.
This deepens even further as the game progresses when Eivor travels to some very obscure places like Chichester, somewhere which is very special to me, as well as Stonehenge, and London, all places I have a connection to. In addition, when Eivor travels the open world, through forests and fields, I was so in awe of the landscapes; they just deeply connected with me, my paganism, my love for nature, and my homelands.
3. When did you get the idea for this project, and what motivated you to create this religious system?
Because Eivor, and the whole of AC Valhalla generally, was connecting to me on such a deep level, I felt I wanted to go even deeper, and I knew straight away I was connecting on a spiritual level. The warrior ethos, the resonance with the locations, a deeper appreciation for Eivor, my own Norse heritage, and the very prominent Norse deities and mythology involved in the game, all made me think about what it meant to connect to the things around us, what makes us who we are.
The Left Hand Path looks at deities as archetypes. This means a deity is not something we kneel to, they either represent something we can empower ourselves with by following the example of their legends, even if you were an atheist, or they become a guiding force through which we can invoke certain attributes to develop our own personal growth and development.
So I started to look at Eivor as more than just a character but as an archetype. To me, she is the perfect warrior and someone I can aspire to be, someone I can invoke the spirit of to guide me through life's hurdles.
Right-Hand Path religions kneel, prey, essentially submissively, and ask for deities to intervene and help. On the Left Hand Path, we do no such thing; the only force that helps us is ourselves, though emboldened by the archetype deities that symbolise our strengths.
So the idea was in my head, but then I went to a LARP event. I spent 5 days camping in the woods with over 1000 other people, essentially role-playing real-world dungeons and dragons. It was a lot of fun, and I themed my character around Assassin's Creed, especially aesthetically. There were some really testing times in that week, exhaustion especially, but actually, genuine social anxiety created massive hurdles for me. I had a lot of moments where I'd take myself away in the woods and say to myself “What would Eivor do?" and I was for all intents and purposes praying to her, calling on her spirit, her example, this archetype character was now something I was leaning on for guidance, for strength, she was like an archetype deity to me, and thus, this whole religion idea was born.
4. Could you explain the process of creating this system?
I had to deconstruct a lot of the fundamental elements of the games (books, too, and the movie) and look at the core pieces of the story arc. The Isu and the Apple of Eden, the differences between Assassins and Templars, and try to redefine these into real-world tangible things. The Isu were the easier part - the idea of an ancient advanced alien civilisation isn't new, in fact I've often wondered whether Assassins Creed was inspired by a book called Chariot of The Gods which theorises religions, deities, myths and legends are actually human retelling of an actual advanced ancient species to which early humans had no other way to interpret than as Gods. It is something which, for me, as a former atheist, had some scientific grounding to it; even if far-fetched, it's no more far-fetched than rainbow bridges or a man with a big white beard floating on a cloud controlling everyone's lives. The key is to be open-minded enough to ask "what if?".
Certain things have to be merely symbolic. Such as the Apple of Eden. While real-world relics hold power on a placebo level or psychodrama level, there are no actual apples or pieces of Eden we can find. So, for a real-world religion, they become symbolic. They represent our evolution, technological advances, knowledge, power, illumination, and even instincts such as rebellion or desire for freedom.
The process also involves a lot of trial and error with existing magick systems but reimagining them with an Assassins Creed theme. So, for example, a lot of witchcraft and magick rituals have a fairly set formula, ritual tools, incantations, ingredients, and symbology. The set-up, although always unique for each practitioner, is usually fairly consistent, and I have years of ritual magick and spellcraft experience to draw upon, to recreate a ritual but to involve an Assassins Creed mantra or a symbol.
A screenshot from the Assassin’s Creed Hexe teaser - Ubisoft
5. For those unfamiliar, could you explain the basics of this system?
I think for anyone unfamiliar with magick, the first thing to understand is we are not talking Harry Potter-type stuff. The system emphasizes self-empowerment. It taps into the principles of Assassins Creed but looks at it spiritually.
The basics involve ritual, whether daily, weekly or just ad-hoc. For me, it's a daily moment for meditation, or just as with my experiences at that LARP event, it's drawing upon the energies to help find strength in certain situations. The great thing about the system is that it's so open-ended. Assassin's Creed is so wide-ranging that a practitioner could really make it their own. But the key principles are calling upon the archetypes to strengthen ourselves, to find our power and courage through the characters we connect to. For me, it's Eivor; for others, it could be Ezio or Kassandra; it could be any character that resonates, that carries a deep meaning, or a character that represents an archetype whose energy and spirit are needed in a situation.
Altars are an important component for magick practitioners. And an Assassin's Creed religious system is no different. So a basic ritual in this religious system could simply be to take 10 minutes out of your day to sit at your altar and meditate. Think of your preferred archetype and call upon their energy, their spirit, to guide you. Contemplate what it means to be an Assassin. Imagine the hidden blade ritually cutting through your life struggles. Visualise fighting against the Templars, fighting for control of your own destiny, for your freedom. You are not bound by an Order or restricted by tyranny; you are the light that fights in the dark, and you will overcome whatever challenges you face.
6. When it's all said and done, what do you wish for this system to achieve?
I know from my own experience that a witchcraft-based spirituality can be truly empowering, and I feel Assassins Creed is so rich in characters and stories that it's got so much potential to really help people in this way. My hope is that people look at their favourite parts of Assassin's Creed and see it as something so much deeper than just a game. Because it's never "just a game". These stories and these characters mean so much to people, they are a hugely important aspect of people's lives. My hope is that people open their hearts and minds to look at it one step further. What if Desmond was someone you could talk to? What if you really could call on Eivor's spirit in a time of need? Looking at Assassins Creed through a spiritual lens enables this to happen. And it can help give people that extra bit of strength, or that tiny piece of extra confidence they need, to go out and achieve something great for themselves. My hope, truly, is that maybe one person out there might be inspired enough by the idea that they try it, and find themselves enriched because of it.
7. Do you have any other Assassin's Creed-related projects in mind?
At the moment, I just want to continue developing the system and creating rituals. Maybe one day I'll be able to create a written grimoire for it. But for now, I'm continuing the journey of creating this system. In addition, I'm still working on my Assassins Creed-inspired LARP costume! Also, I am using Eivor's warrior ethos to continue my sabre training and move into some real steel combat!
8. How do you want people to engage with this system?
It will depend on people's beliefs of course. For anyone who takes a "witchy" path in life and enjoys Assassins Creed, it would be amazing for them to try the system for themselves, take part in ritual magick and embrace Assassins Creed as a spiritual system and not just a fiction. For many, I expect it would be an atheist approach, but there is still something they can gain from this, whether it's relaxing with meditation or engaging with martial arts or strength and conditioning training; there is still something for anyone to take away from this.
Assassin’s Creed Hexe, Ubisoft ‘experimental’ next entry into the franchise -Ubisoft
I hope eventually to have a written grimoire for the system so that people can experience the various rituals and connect to Assassins Creed in a way that they never have before, which will empower and strengthen their spirit, and turn fiction into a tangible and important element of their lives, far beyond anything that has ever been done with a franchise in this way.
Having said all that... Assassins Creed Hexe could change everything!!!
Once again, thanks to @Naamahifur for allowing me to interview her and giving us her incomparable insight! I, for one, am looking forward to hearing more about this fascinating and unique project!
If you enjoyed this article be sure to follow Scholars of the Creed on BlueSky for more content on the art, history and science of the Assassin's Creed Universe. Safety and peace be upon you.