Chastity

Chastity involves not engaging in sexual relations. A priest could be celibate but not chaste; one could even be chaste but not celibate, though that would be pretty strange.

Priesthoods require chastity as a sacrifice to the god, or when its priests are supposed in some way to be spouses of the god (either in a symbolic or genuine sense).

In some faiths, chastity is required of its priests except for during specific events or times of the year. For instance, priests of an agricultural deity might be required to remain chaste except during the planting season, when chastity is revoked in order to magically "encourage" the fertility of the fields.

Table of Contents