Eparkhos
Well-known member
Religion
Nahanik religion and cosmology is extremely complex and intricate, but is a keystone of society and vital to the survival of its society and social order. Their cosmology is less important than its practical side, and so will be covered briefly.
The earth and the sun have always existed and always will. The sun is an immense lode of spiritual power (reflected as light in the material world) that became semi-sentient as Natanik, the sun goddess. The ideas within Natanik’s mind had so much spirit power that they became beings in and of themselves, the avatars of Natanik (kashunatanik). One of the avatars, Hakhinikt, created mankind and for this was destroyed by the other avatars, who envied him. Hakhinikt’s soul was split in half but survived as Tsakukts, the avatar of growth/harvest and Wukhut, the avatar of water and life, who together are the patrons of humanity. True humanity, that is, as the Nahanik are the only ‘real’ people, with all other nations created as half-finished imitations by the other avatars. Tsakukts and Wukhut are opposed by Tsatsikhuk, the Lord of Dryness, who wishes to destroy true humanity through invasion, drought and famine. Tsatsikhuk is much stronger than Tsakukts and Wukhut, and humanity’s survival can only be guaranteed by cooperation under the tsanwik (the reincarnation of Ktikamtuk, a demigod sired by Tsakukts and founder of Tsanwikan), sacrifices and living ‘pure’ lives to strengthen them and hold off drought and death.
The dominant forms of worship are practiced through folk beliefs and their evolution into the state religion. The aforementioned spiritual warfare between Tsatsikhuk, Tsakukts and Wukhut dominates the world, but on a more personal level the most common source of help are ancestral spirits. The Nahanik believe that the human soul is divided into two parts, one of which would ascend to the spiritual plane upon death and another which would remain trapped in the body, necessitating careful burial rights and death taboos to placate. The ‘ascended’ soul would fight the lesser ‘evil spirits’ created by Tsatsikhuk and the other evil avatars to protect their relatives and villages, and were strengthened through dancing and singing rituals and the ritual burning of pinyon. Also of extreme importance is ‘righteous’ living, which basically means being extremely scrupulous and wasting nothing, helping relatives and clan members and obeying the orders/duties of local and imperial rulers. Also of note is the caste system, which functions on more of a social than a spiritual level but still has a great deal of overlap, in which people bring benefit by following the duties of their caste and endanger themselves and their entire community by not doing so, expanding social pressure to conform.
On the village or city level, spiritual life is dominated by priestesses. The Nahanik priestly caste are exclusively female (or, on occasion, eunuchs) and continue themselves only through adoption. Many groups also believe that priestesses are reincarnated over multiple generations and in multiple families, hence the adoption. The precise roles of the priestesses vary greatly from region to region, rising from differing folk traditions and substrates, but generally consists of leading rituals (animal sacrifice, ritual burnings of pinyon and effigies) to ward off evil spirits and strengthen local ancestral spirits to bring benefit. On a social level, they are usually co-leaders of villagers with local headmen and mediate between clans and villages to maintain a peace and prevent intrusions of evil chaos. As priestesses are believed to be responsible for the survival and prosperity of their villages or towns, they are given a great deal of respect, but if they fail in their duties of ensuing good harvests and catches they are often lynched and replaced with adjuncts or ‘reincarnations’. The process of state creation coincided with priestly ‘stacking’, with smaller villages’ priestesses being hauled away to ruling cities to serve as spiritual ‘boosters’, for lack of a better term, for the spirit powers of the dominant cities, thus expanding their alleged power in the spiritual realm and increasing their power on the material plain by allowing cities to kill shamans whose lands rebel and thus leave them open to attack by demons of drought and famine, a very real possibility to the Nahanik.
The state cult is most powerful religion in Tsanwikan. The tsanwik, the sole male priest, is revered as the reincarnation of the demigod Ktikamuk, who had been given material dominion over all Nahanik by Tsakukts himself, with orders to maintain spiritual unity and order and to keep the armies of the barbarians at bay. Simultaneously, the tsanwik is the priest of priests, with every vassal city obligated to send their priestess to the imperial capital at Pahapkwik, increasing the spiritual power of the united empire and undermining any potential revolts at the same time. Through a complicated system of belief, all prayers among the Nahanik must pass through the tsanwik to reach the heavens and be heard by Tsakukts and Wukhut, so he has a reciprocal amount of power and influence, holding his subjects in mortal terror of being cut off from the benefactions of the avatars and being overrun by evil spirits and barbarians. Upon death, the spirit of Ktikamuk passes on to the next generation of tsanwik, ensuring that the providence of Tsakukts and Wukhut will forever be upon the Nahanik.
The exact beliefs of the system vary, but the overarching themes that are hammered upon by the imperial government are simple; do what the government says and you will receive good things. This, needless to say, is not a strong basis for a system of belief, and over the centuries a secondary code of conduct for righteous or ‘beneficial’ living has emerged, which is the prime spiritual influence for most of the Nahanik people and has broadly merged with the official state cult to produce something resembling a philosophical religion, called Sukishkahuk or ‘That Which Brings Benefit’, focused on doing good deeds, obeying the duties of one’s caste and making sacrifices to the ancestral spirits and avatars.
The largest spiritual tradition outside the state cult in Tsanwikan is Hashikhak, or ‘The Manner of Being’, which originated in the mid-10th century in Pentopotamia. Following general beliefs in a bifurcated soul, a priestess named Tsikntiwik began teaching that it was possible to ascend beyond the spiritual plane after death, joining directly into the spiritual oculus of Natanik and passing eternity essentially in catharsis (Not much by outside standards, but better than fighting demons for eternity). This could be done by transferring all negative emotions into the part of the soul that became trapped in the corpse, freeing the ascended soul to zoom on up to join Natanik. This in turn was accomplished through meditation, performing good deeds and brief periods of animalistic chaos, during which negative emotions were vented and positive emotions freed. This practice became briefly popular before being cracked down on by the tsanwik, who feared that the idea of souls ascending would weaken belief in ancestral spirits and thus their power. Tsiknitiwik was dragged to Pahapkwik and then sent over the falls with a number of her followers, but despite this Hashikhak survived in secret communities scattered across Tsanwikan and in many smaller communities beyond the edges of the empire.
Nahanik religion and cosmology is extremely complex and intricate, but is a keystone of society and vital to the survival of its society and social order. Their cosmology is less important than its practical side, and so will be covered briefly.
The earth and the sun have always existed and always will. The sun is an immense lode of spiritual power (reflected as light in the material world) that became semi-sentient as Natanik, the sun goddess. The ideas within Natanik’s mind had so much spirit power that they became beings in and of themselves, the avatars of Natanik (kashunatanik). One of the avatars, Hakhinikt, created mankind and for this was destroyed by the other avatars, who envied him. Hakhinikt’s soul was split in half but survived as Tsakukts, the avatar of growth/harvest and Wukhut, the avatar of water and life, who together are the patrons of humanity. True humanity, that is, as the Nahanik are the only ‘real’ people, with all other nations created as half-finished imitations by the other avatars. Tsakukts and Wukhut are opposed by Tsatsikhuk, the Lord of Dryness, who wishes to destroy true humanity through invasion, drought and famine. Tsatsikhuk is much stronger than Tsakukts and Wukhut, and humanity’s survival can only be guaranteed by cooperation under the tsanwik (the reincarnation of Ktikamtuk, a demigod sired by Tsakukts and founder of Tsanwikan), sacrifices and living ‘pure’ lives to strengthen them and hold off drought and death.
The dominant forms of worship are practiced through folk beliefs and their evolution into the state religion. The aforementioned spiritual warfare between Tsatsikhuk, Tsakukts and Wukhut dominates the world, but on a more personal level the most common source of help are ancestral spirits. The Nahanik believe that the human soul is divided into two parts, one of which would ascend to the spiritual plane upon death and another which would remain trapped in the body, necessitating careful burial rights and death taboos to placate. The ‘ascended’ soul would fight the lesser ‘evil spirits’ created by Tsatsikhuk and the other evil avatars to protect their relatives and villages, and were strengthened through dancing and singing rituals and the ritual burning of pinyon. Also of extreme importance is ‘righteous’ living, which basically means being extremely scrupulous and wasting nothing, helping relatives and clan members and obeying the orders/duties of local and imperial rulers. Also of note is the caste system, which functions on more of a social than a spiritual level but still has a great deal of overlap, in which people bring benefit by following the duties of their caste and endanger themselves and their entire community by not doing so, expanding social pressure to conform.
On the village or city level, spiritual life is dominated by priestesses. The Nahanik priestly caste are exclusively female (or, on occasion, eunuchs) and continue themselves only through adoption. Many groups also believe that priestesses are reincarnated over multiple generations and in multiple families, hence the adoption. The precise roles of the priestesses vary greatly from region to region, rising from differing folk traditions and substrates, but generally consists of leading rituals (animal sacrifice, ritual burnings of pinyon and effigies) to ward off evil spirits and strengthen local ancestral spirits to bring benefit. On a social level, they are usually co-leaders of villagers with local headmen and mediate between clans and villages to maintain a peace and prevent intrusions of evil chaos. As priestesses are believed to be responsible for the survival and prosperity of their villages or towns, they are given a great deal of respect, but if they fail in their duties of ensuing good harvests and catches they are often lynched and replaced with adjuncts or ‘reincarnations’. The process of state creation coincided with priestly ‘stacking’, with smaller villages’ priestesses being hauled away to ruling cities to serve as spiritual ‘boosters’, for lack of a better term, for the spirit powers of the dominant cities, thus expanding their alleged power in the spiritual realm and increasing their power on the material plain by allowing cities to kill shamans whose lands rebel and thus leave them open to attack by demons of drought and famine, a very real possibility to the Nahanik.
The state cult is most powerful religion in Tsanwikan. The tsanwik, the sole male priest, is revered as the reincarnation of the demigod Ktikamuk, who had been given material dominion over all Nahanik by Tsakukts himself, with orders to maintain spiritual unity and order and to keep the armies of the barbarians at bay. Simultaneously, the tsanwik is the priest of priests, with every vassal city obligated to send their priestess to the imperial capital at Pahapkwik, increasing the spiritual power of the united empire and undermining any potential revolts at the same time. Through a complicated system of belief, all prayers among the Nahanik must pass through the tsanwik to reach the heavens and be heard by Tsakukts and Wukhut, so he has a reciprocal amount of power and influence, holding his subjects in mortal terror of being cut off from the benefactions of the avatars and being overrun by evil spirits and barbarians. Upon death, the spirit of Ktikamuk passes on to the next generation of tsanwik, ensuring that the providence of Tsakukts and Wukhut will forever be upon the Nahanik.
The exact beliefs of the system vary, but the overarching themes that are hammered upon by the imperial government are simple; do what the government says and you will receive good things. This, needless to say, is not a strong basis for a system of belief, and over the centuries a secondary code of conduct for righteous or ‘beneficial’ living has emerged, which is the prime spiritual influence for most of the Nahanik people and has broadly merged with the official state cult to produce something resembling a philosophical religion, called Sukishkahuk or ‘That Which Brings Benefit’, focused on doing good deeds, obeying the duties of one’s caste and making sacrifices to the ancestral spirits and avatars.
The largest spiritual tradition outside the state cult in Tsanwikan is Hashikhak, or ‘The Manner of Being’, which originated in the mid-10th century in Pentopotamia. Following general beliefs in a bifurcated soul, a priestess named Tsikntiwik began teaching that it was possible to ascend beyond the spiritual plane after death, joining directly into the spiritual oculus of Natanik and passing eternity essentially in catharsis (Not much by outside standards, but better than fighting demons for eternity). This could be done by transferring all negative emotions into the part of the soul that became trapped in the corpse, freeing the ascended soul to zoom on up to join Natanik. This in turn was accomplished through meditation, performing good deeds and brief periods of animalistic chaos, during which negative emotions were vented and positive emotions freed. This practice became briefly popular before being cracked down on by the tsanwik, who feared that the idea of souls ascending would weaken belief in ancestral spirits and thus their power. Tsiknitiwik was dragged to Pahapkwik and then sent over the falls with a number of her followers, but despite this Hashikhak survived in secret communities scattered across Tsanwikan and in many smaller communities beyond the edges of the empire.