Priests in the Witcher universe

[Scryar]

Priests in the Witcher universe

Watching the recent trailer I thought about the role of priests/priestess in the witcher universe and witcher 3.
I never really understood who they are . They seem to have magic abilities but according to the books (don't remember who exactly said this) their magic is different from the one the sorcerers/sorceress are using. Is their magic really different or are they just saying this to distinguish themselves from the mages?

Another point how spread magic is between priests. Nenneke seems to have magic powers as she us much older than Geralt and no ordinary human could live that long. The priestess in Skellige also used some magic on Yennefer if I remember correctly. Other priests like the guy from act 1 witcher 1 were just ordinary humans.
So are some of the priests just regular mages, who decided to become priests or is there more to them?

This brings me to another point. There seems to be a lot of hate for sorcerers/sorceress from coming priests. We read about it in the books, heard it from the guy in the recent trailer and the priest(or preacher) in act 3 of witcher 2. Where does this come from? Was it explained in the books why they stir up hatred against mages, especially considering that some of them also have magical abilities?

And my last question. Considering the trailer, do you think the conflicts between priests and mages will play a bigger role in witcher 3?

 

[vindafarna]

It appears that the majority of priests in the Northern Kingdoms either follow the Cult of Melitele or the Eternal Fire, the latter of which has openly expressed its hostility towards magic users as they believe magic to be unnatural and dangerous. They play a huge role in the Witcher 1 through the Order of the Flaming Rose.

According to game lore, they were supported by Redanian intelligence in order to counter the growing influences of magic users, primarily the Lodge of Sorceresses, and have sought to suppress them.

 

[GuyNwah]

Though Melitele is the most popular, a priest of Kreve was prominent in TW2 Act 2. There are known to be human priests of Coram Agh Ter (the Lion-Head Spider) and the Water Lords (Vodyanoi), and it's presumed that there are priests of other cults (Freya, Veyopatis, et al). The Cult of the Eternal Fire is hostile to all of them and seeks to suppress all rivals, including mages, and all worship except that of the Eternal Fire.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Plus there are druids who are friendly towards magic.

 

[Paranor.603]

I think that the difference between mages and priests with magic abilities is that the priests are taking control over their power with their willpower motivated by their faith. Thats just an conclusion that i got after rereading "The Last Wish" short story. Here's what the dialog with a priest called Krepp of a church that sadly wasn't named in the book. Actually this was also what Triss said about the magic abilities of the Grand Master de Aldersberg.

Spoiler

-Can you cast a spell to stabilize the portal?
- A spell? - the priest proudly raised his head.
- I am not a godless sourcerer!
- I am not casting spells! My power comes from faith and prayer!
- Are you able to do this or not?
- I can.

 

[sfinx]

Is their magic really different or are they just saying this to distinguish themselves from the mages?

It's hard to say .. I think it's always partly a secret of each cult. But if you want to search exact differences, I recommand you to read parts, when Yen was in shrines (Skellige, Ellander).

Another point how spread magic is between priests. Nenneke seems to have magic powers as she us much older than Geralt and no ordinary human could live that long. The priestess in Skellige also used some magic on Yennefer if I remember correctly. Other priests like the guy from act 1 witcher 1 were just ordinary humans.
So are some of the priests just regular mages, who decided to become priests or is there more to them?

I think they are partly mages, but that is just about terminology - they sometimes don't want to be called as mages, because their power comes from faith.
In fact - they can be just like mages - they can collect Power from the same sources, but mages call it "collecting power from air/water/..." and they call it "gift from Melitele (for example)".

Witchers are also "mages" - maybe they don't need to gain power to cast spell and they are using just simple spells, but still, they are doing magic.

This brings me to another point. There seems to be a lot of hate for sorcerers/sorceress from coming priests.

Sometimes probably yes. I think that is because mages are atheists for them, but it's not rule. Yennefer and Nenneke weren't probably the best friends, but I think each one would help the other and did not hate each other

Spoiler

(when Ciri weren't bleeding from nose )

Also on priestess Sigrfrida (Skellige) appreciated Yennefer behaviour in harbour and helped her.
Sigrfrida: "Už nikdy nebudu věřit pověstem o bezcitných a vypočítavých vědmách.“ ~ I will never trust to legends about heartless and calculating witches.

And my last question. Considering the trailer, do you think the conflicts between priests and mages will play a bigger role in witcher 3?

I hope not. I'd like sorceresses to be powerful and respected - that is my personal wish, but it's hard to predict that.

 

[Doomjoon]

It was sorta explained in the books at Skellige that priests/priestesses simply gain power through concentration and meditation (prayer), probably the same magic as sorcerers/sorceresses would gain. It can even be more powerful, at least in certain ways, than that of sorceresses as you saw all the illusions/nightmares that Yen gained from the experience at Skellige, although it is unclear how she actually got them. Even bigger mystery is how that big diamond (forgot it's name) fell from the statue. Maybe there are existing gods in The Witcher's world, or maybe the priestess was simply playing a game.

 

[SMiki55]

Though Melitele is the most popular, a priest of Kreve was prominent in TW2 Act 2. There are known to be human priests of Coram Agh Ter (the Lion-Head Spider) and the Water Lords (Vodyanoi), and it's presumed that there are priests of other cults (Freya, Veyopatis, et al). The Cult of the Eternal Fire is hostile to all of them and seeks to suppress all rivals, including mages, and all worship except that of the Eternal Fire.

In fact priests rather rarely serve only one god - as I remember, expressions like "priestess of Melitele" or "priest of Kreve" was rather exceptionally used in books, Andrzej Sapkowski often used simply form "priest"; and many of them say about gods altogether, without specifying.

Also, the hostility of priests of Eternal Fire to others was rather CDPR invention. In the "Eternal Fire" short-story, Chappelle said that people in Novigrad can believe in whatever they want (if they rightly worship the Eternal Fire of cours ).

Where does this come from?

Priests believe that their own powers come from gods, powers of mages come from Chaos.

 

[TheDespondentMind2]

The hate against mage's I kind of understand. The hate against witchers is still incomprehensible to me, to this very day after reading all the books and playing games.

 

[SMiki55]

Well, simply no one likes witchers. In our world also some clergymen of many religions are prejudiced in relation to various minorities which are hated by the majority of population.

 

[Doomjoon]

Not only that, but possibly also because they're freaks - originally made by the freaks they hate.