Elven Religion

The Elves of the World, spread out as they are--and often isolated from each other in important ways---follow varying religious patterns, but there are threads.
Outsiders wonder at the great variety of Elven deities, even at how such an eclectic group could fit into the same pantheon. The key to understanding this is the overall Elven outlook on the world: It is all One Cosmos, and ultimately nothing can be “opposed” to anything else, for Everything is, well… Everything. The deities are all a part of the Whole, and the Elven people are as well. For Elven spiritual practitioners, a certain deity may be followed and revered, but the deity’s power is ultimately the One Power, and their powers are aspects of the One, just differentiated. The practitioner’s goal (for those who are serious about this line of practice) is to merge psychologically with the One, through reverence for individual deitie(s), or for a widened and all-inclusive vision of the Cosmos itself.
There are Elves who are dedicated to one deity over all the others, drawing power from that aspect of the Whole, and there are Elves who draw on the divine energy of the Nature of the Mystery. Elven Druids are often followers of (simply put) “Nature Herself,” without following--or with a mere nod to--the other aspects of the Divine. Druidic religion can indeed get incredibly esoteric, with different definitions, narrow or wide, of what constitutes Nature in the first place, or with relationships (highly nuanced to very simple) with the Fey, or with nature spirits.
(More about the Druid)
Elven spirituality leaves room for a very wide conception and expression of the Divine, which may partly explain their open-ness to diversity and equity, at least among themselves.
Overall, Elves given to spirituality are always conscious of the Oneness--or strive to be--which they touch every night in meditation, and recognize that their religious practice is an expression of the whole rather than a separate, isolated, dualistic, or exclusive relationship.
Elves like trinkets and holy symbols of their deities, often worn as jewelry, or represented by certain styles of dress, makeup, armor, or weaponry. Some deities have a particular dialect of Elven spoken only by the group. This is particularly true of Elven Druids, whose language could be counted as its own. In any case, Elves do not shy away from idols, statues, altars, or other physical representations of their spiritual affiliation. These items too will represent and express the energy of their subject, and can hold real power as such.
Some “Deep Elves” (with attributes and history as those of High Elves), live far into wild lands, and some groups never have any outside contact, even over the course of a century or more. These groups are known to be purely animistic, responding religiously to the spirits (fey or “nature spirits” of varying types) of their environment.

Overall Deity List: Elven Deities and Divinities

Elven Deities, Specific
Tenare
Desna of the Singing Spheres

ORIGINS of ELVEN MYTHOLOGY and DIVINITIES

Elven mythology, despite the current geographically static state of the overall ancestry, is a mythology of migration. The original myth–so similar among all forests–tells the story of the split between humans and elves so incredibly long ago. The One became Two, and there was a great weeping and lost-ness. But the next levels of myth tell of migration, of movement outward into and across the world and the cosmos. A voyage of discovery and expansion, and adventure.
From there, more specifics come to light in deity and story. At all levels, there are remarkable similarities among the different forests and their deities. The list of “minor deities” might be an important exception to this, as Elven religion takes on an almost animistic approach in the particulars.
It is uncommon for an elf to follow and champion one deity exclusively, but it does happen often enough, especially around temple worship and secret/mystery orders.

General Concepts in Elven Religion:

The Elven pantheon is sometimes envisioned as “The Elaborate Court,” in a great spiraling elven castle, where Elven deities from all the places in the multiverse can meet in conference, council, feast, music, poetry, etc. Some of the greatest heroes claim to have visited this place and received blessings.
Elven deities of nature, the ones representing specific aspects of the natural world and its cycles–are likely to have mystery cults among some of their followers. The specifics of these cults different from place to place, and very few know what, where, when, or why they do things.
There are often strong similarities among pantheons of the different Elves. Sometimes a deity will be basically the same as one from another pantheon. This is true especially with the forest elves. The desert waste elves have a distinctly different mythology.
Stories and deities and pantheons of the Elves will usually reflect in some way the local details of their specific setting, the animals and fey that live there, and whatever history might be different. Fey are often referenced in Elven myth, or even among the deities themselves.
“The Pink” usually shows up in one or more myths, usually personified in some (often interesting) way, a deity in itself. It is often a trickster deity, and always linked with the fey in the stories.
Wood Elven religion has a deeper, more subconscious and direct link to the natural world, which always means for them the forest. Their mythology is less elaborate and based more on the spirits (brendela) of the forest, as in animism, of both “living” and “non-living” things. Their mythology tends to follow more strongly the evolution and nature of their particular forest. The brendela can be helpful, indifferent, harmful, or some combination thereof.  (For more Wood Elf lore see Wood Elves .
Elves do have temples, and in fact they are fairly common among the High Elves, located in places that match the theme of the deity. Most temples have a priesthood of some kind, and possibly a presence in the overall community. The behavior of temples and temple-Elves is widely variable. (Of course, there are plenty of deities that would never ever condone temple-building in their name.)