“Theo-fiction”: why? (An essential need?) The idea of “Theo-fiction”... a form of protection? But what exactly is it? “Theo-fiction” or “Deo-fiction”? New or not? Could the terminology alone be new? Déjà vu? This text explains my perception of “Theo-fiction.”

The name “Theo-fiction” came to me spontaneously, without any deliberate effort of thought. “Deo-fiction,” however, would have been more accurate, since it is entirely Latin in origin. I admit that I did no research to determine whether this compound term already exists in any kind of text.

“Theo-fiction” can just as readily precede as follow the “Sacred Game.” These ideas are intimately connected. A parallel can be drawn with dreams, for it is human to want to exalt one’s heroes, one’s guides, those who dare. “Theo-fiction” is born from these initial ideas.

Just as with the “Sacred Game,” “Theo-fiction” is within the reach of anyone with a good imagination.

I make no claim to be a theologian. I am an artist who reflects on spiritual life. Religion was very important in my childhood and, even today, it continues to stir my thoughts, because it shapes, informs, and distorts all at once. It has prompted me to act as much as react in my creative work. It is like a kind of interplay between religious principles and my creative work, hence the expressions “Sacred Game,” “spirituphile art,” and “Theo-fiction.”

Let us imagine the world of creation as a region or a country of the imagination, a world where we can create whatever we want. There are images or three-dimensional models there that inspire us. These are our lived experiences and what we have acquired. But... there are also henchmen, guards who hinder us whenever we stray from the laws of those places. These are the problems of conscience caused by the religious and social principles accumulated from our childhood to the present day. Yet some artists have made it through this wall of guards. I will naïvely name Madonna here.

“Theo-fiction” is also a distortion of legends or dreams told around a fire: structures, complex or otherwise, imagined by human beings to answer their existential questions, from the beginning of humanity to the present day. But it can also be as simple as a science-fiction story describing divine worlds—their origins or their structures—without being conceived with the intention of applying it to a “Sacred Game.”

“Theo-fiction” may be conscious or unconscious. It is conscious in the sense that the divine structure is thought out, imagined, and suggested. One need only think of various doctrines that have emerged in different countries. “Theo-fiction” may be unconscious if its central idea stems from a subconscious need.

But is “Theo-fiction” indispensable?

There is “Theo-fiction” with a serious, even stern purpose, serving certain religious organisations. There is also humorous, even innocent, “Theo-fiction,” as in versions 1.0 and 2.0 of my comic book. That is a fact! I got caught up in the game. Like many other people, I created “Theo-fiction” (“Deo-fiction”), but I did not engage in the “Sacred Game,” except a little, at the margins. To conclude... let us all be heroes, each at our own level, and if their descendants or contemporaries decide to create “Theo-fiction”... well, too bad for them, because they will be playing with other people’s consciences! What I forgot to tell you... is that, at home, I have two crucifixes that remind me of my upbringing and to which I am very attached. Now you can laugh!