Worship

Worship was the act of religious devotion to a figure or object. One who worshiped was known as a worshiper.

This devotion was so important to many cultures that it was said even rulers as powerful as Genghis Khan could not hold his power if he didn't allow the people he conquered to worship the gods they chose. (DIS: "Terra Firma, Part 2")

Worship of Persons

Various lifeforms were worshiped in many cultures and throughout time. Animals, individuals, or groups could be the focus of worship. Sometimes these lifeforms were perceived to have greater power or technology than the worshipers, and were sometimes known as gods.

Brothara was the name of a deity worshiped by a species in the Delta Quadrant. (VOY: "Survival Instinct")

The ancestors of the Fabrini came to be known as the Creators and were worshiped aboard the generational ship Yonada. The ship's central computer, called the Oracle of the People, was treated similarly, and its directives were expected to be obeyed. Any individual that wished to join the community would have to abide by its rules. (TOS: "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky")

The Founders from the Gamma Quadrant were worshiped as gods, particularly by the Vorta and the Jem'Hadar, both genetically-engineered by the Founders to fulfill certain tasks. (DS9: "Treachery, Faith and the Great River", "To the Death")

A group of multi-dimensional lifeforms were worshiped on Rubicun III as god by the Edo. The lifeforms called the Edo their children, and considered the Edo's worship both expected and harmless at their current developmental state. (TNG: "Justice")

Mintakans, proto-Vulcan humanoids of Mintaka III had a variety of spiritual beliefs, including multiple gods. Despite having abandoned these beliefs in favor of empiricism, they mistook Jean-Luc Picard for the Overseer, the supreme god, and began to worship him for supposed miracles in 2366. (TNG: "Who Watches The Watchers")

The Prophets, a non-linear and non-corporeal lifeform that lived inside the Bajoran wormhole, were worshiped by the Bajorans and communicated with them via artifacts called Orbs. Pah-wraiths, Prophets exiled from the wormhole, also had worshipers. Gul Dukat would become one of these Pah-wraith worshipers in 2375, attracting a cult to join him on Empok Nor. (DS9: "In the Hands of the Prophets", "Image in the Sand", "Covenant")

The Son was worshiped on the planet 892-IV in a minority religion that called themselves Children of the Son. (TOS: "Bread and Circuses")

The Sphere-Builders were venerated by the Xindi such that their devotion was akin to worship. (ENT: "The Council")

At times, powerful beings would demand worship, either as a condition to grant gifts or to remove negative treatment, as was the case with the Greek god Apollo in 2267 or the Arretan Thalassa in 2268, both of whom demanded worship from the crew of the USS Enterprise. Apollo promised a life in paradise as simple and as pleasureful as it was thousands of years before on Earth. (TOS: "Who Mourns for Adonais?", "Return to Tomorrow")

In 2377, a hologram named Iden created by Hirogen engineer Donik hoped to create a new culture and religion for holograms like himself, and proposed deifying The Doctor as "The Great Healer, the Father of us all." Ultimately, Iden was deactivated and his religion was not established. (VOY: "Flesh and Blood")

A god named Landru was worshiped by the Betan of Beta III. Landru enforced strict peace with the caveat of a 24-hour "Festival" of violent crime. In 2267, Captain James T. Kirk uncovered that Landru was a computer, and disabled it. By 2380, Landru had been reactivated and the Betans had returned to worshiping it. (TOS: "The Return of the Archons", LD: "No Small Parts")

The angelic being worshiped by the inhabitants of Terralysium had transplanted them onto the planet during Earth's World War III in 2053. (DIS: "New Eden")

In 2381, a Mizarian named Malvus professed to worship gods. (LD: "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers")

Worship of Things

Objects and concepts were also worshiped by some cultures.

The Teplan, suffering from the Teplan blight disease in 2372, came to "worship death" according to a Teplan woman named Ekoria: to look forward to it, wish for it, and even pursue it purposefully rather than continue living. (DS9: "The Quickening")

The Kelpiens were said to "believe in" the Great Balance, and that the Ba'ul were the keepers of the balance. It was unclear if they termed the awe with which they viewed the Ba'ul as "worship," but it gave them mastery over the Kelpien people. (DIS: "The Sound of Thunder")

Vulcans were said to worship peace above all. (TOS: "Return to Tomorrow")

Some cultures worshiped planetary bodies, though worship of the sun was thought to be a sign of primitive superstition. The moon of Mixtus III was considered sacred by some of its inhabitants who worshiped its dust. (TOS: "Bread and Circuses", LD: "Cupid's Errant Arrow")

Words or concepts like freedom were called worship words by the Yangs of Omega IV. They employed a system of hierarchy, with specific phrases forming high-worship words. TOS: "The Omega Glory")

As a Figure of Speech

The term worship was commonly used as a figure of speech to illustrate adoration from one lover to another, or, less commonly, platonic admiration or devotion to someone.

An actress named Lenore Karidian once compared Captain Kirk to a "Caesar of the stars" and herself "the Cleopatra to worship him" in this context. (TOS: "The Conscience of the King") Grand Nagus Zek characterized the relationship between himself and Ishka as mutually worshipful. (DS9: "Ferengi Love Songs", "The Emperor's New Cloak") Deanna Troi remembered her father as having worshiped her mother, and Beverly Crusher used the term to describe her feelings for a soccer player she once knew. (TNG: "Manhunt", "The Host") William T. Riker similarly employed a metaphor of attraction, in a flirtatious roleplay with Guinan for Wesley Crusher's benefit, as to "dream of a galaxy where your eyes are stars and the universe worships the night." (TNG: "The Dauphin", "Shades of Gray")

B'Elanna Torres described her attitude toward her father as being worshipful before their relationship disintegrated. (VOY: "Lineage")

See also

External link

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