Aa'sente Doctrine - Post Aarukuaten (as of 262 AR)
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Enaaru
First amongst these beliefs, is belief in Enaaru. Adherents of Aa'sente believe the Enaaru is a distant and transcendant supreme God. This supreme god created the universe, and continually sustains his creation through the Gesa, which proceeds from him like rays of light from the sun. Enaaru is worshipped and has first place in every ritual, but is never evoked in prayers so transcendant and unreachable to mortals he is considered to be. His name is enigmatic, meaning both He who is the origin of the Supreme truth, and is at the same time that same truth. Enaaru is best conceived of as a cosmic first principle, ie the ground of being and sustainer of existence proper, rather than as simply a larger and more powerful Ainye.
Creation
Aa'sente holds that eternal Enaaru emanated from himself the four great gods, whos interactions with eachother in turn brought about the emergence of the numerous Ainye and the material world through their interactions. This creation was a paradise, in which was placed mankind, who was fashioned by Enaaru himself and given possession of material body and a spiritual soul akin to the gods by the supreme being. They were immortal and everything in existence was in perfect harmony. However eventually certain Ainye for their own designs acted contrary to the purpose ordained to them wrought the first instance of Shaarug (in this case being the first defiers, in the sharugic sense [see below]). This void of evil compounded and grew ever more pervasive, resulting in the fall of various Ainye into the demonic state, and the collapse of the perfection of the beginning into the current state of imperfection, discord, and human mortality within the bonds of gesic cause and effect. This belief that one act of evil resulted in a compounded calamity for all creation is reflective of the ancient Aarugae belief in the abomination of sin, and the extreme importance of right practice and truth in maintaining order and goodness, and averting disaster.
Gesa, Eschatology and the Afterlife
The Gesa is both the power underpinning the universe, and the harmonic cosmic order identifiable in immaterial laws and truths (moral and physical) which this power establishes and continually generates and sustains. The Gesa underlies all being and existence, and defines the proper place of all beings and things. This establishment is providence, so to is it the 'order of things' of reality as it is, that indubitably and undeniably governs existence. That which is anathema to the order of nature and is as such in opposition to the divine will inherent to gesa, to the followers of Aaru is grave abomination and evil (Shaarug... that which is anathema to truth) in its purest sense. Evil disrupts the order of things as they ought to be and risks cosmic disaster and divine wrath, as every act of evil constitutes an irrevocable annihilation of that which ought to be according to gesa. This conception of the monstrosity of Shaarug, drives the Aa'sentai imperative of harmony with gesa, and correct practice.
Nonetheless, while evil renders permanent harm by creating a void where "things" ought to be. The followers of Aaru believe that gesa is all consuming and inevitable in its effect, and that it is impossible to escape the law of gesa. While one can sin and by acts of sin cause the void of evil within the universe to be compounded, the Aarugae believe that this sin will always meet appropriate recompense through the power of gesa through general divine providence. Each discordant note and disruption in the divine order, while sinful, is subsumed in the greater harmony of the Gesa and returns to the sinner the punishment he is due through the providential will of the great Enaaru be it now or in the future through the cycle of ages upon generations down the line. This process of providence in response to acts and gesic consequences as present in real history and cause and effect, which is inevitable and inescapable, is the conception of the Cycle of Fate as understood by the faithful. This belief is similar to the wheel concept held by the Marugae and Nemori, although distinct in that the wheel is conceived of as actual history (ie: cause and effect made manifest) and the effect of gesa (underlying cosmic order/power of existence), rather than being a governing power in and of itself.
Teleologically, the pervasiveness and eternal consequences of Shaarug and the providential gesic response to all actions, are believed to pre-sage an ultimate renovation of the world by Enaaru himself, in which the universe is destroyed and refashioned into a new and perfect form, in which the righteous and the pure shall know eternal bliss and the corruption of shaarug is extinguished. With this renovation the wheel of fate will finally and irrevocably be broken as perfect harmony in accordance to the purity of the gesa is made manifest in everlasting perfection.
Prior to this final renovation by Enaaru however, gesic providence still dictates just consequences for the souls of the dead. At the allotted time of death as ordained by the Ainye Vash (allotter of lives), the souls of the dead are severed from the body by the Great God, Dhotar (death) and conveyed to the court of Maro'sen (righteousness) by Ain'heshte (herald of heaven). Maro'sen judges the soul by illuminating it in the lights of the gods Sen'an and Senaisen (purity and holiness) which reveal any corruption within it. A soul found wicked is cast to the void of Shaarug by Ainta'shem (avenger of heaven) where it suffers torment, followed by oblivion upon the renovation of the world. One deemed not yet pure but not yet wholly irredeemably is said to be given to the keeping of Aurin (god of the afterlife), who purifies the soul before sending it back to the world of the living to once again. A soul that is righteous is conveyed to Taruk'e who grants it immortality and opens unto it the gates of heaven wherein the soul is raised to the divine state to intercede for mortals and participate in the court of heaven. This fate is believed to be particularly true of the divine kings, who are believed to truly become Ainye who can act in the mortal world (the most well known example being god Ilyanden, who is revered as a patron god of the Aarugae peoples, and even respected as a defier by the Nemori)
The Wheel and Defiers
The Wheel is defined in Aa'sente as the reality of changes in the world, made manifest by the gesic consequences rendered unto all actions that occur (ie: the effect of the power of gesa as evidence in objective reality). It is often conceived of as a water-wheel, where gesa flows from the perennial and super-abundant spring that is Enaaru, which turns the wheel of time, and in turn the wheel of fate as it applies to individual lives which turns as one with the passage of ages.
In this conception, Defiers (a concept which entered the religion by way of the Nemori) come in two types. One type is believed to be an instance of Shaarug corrupting the natural order be it at a demons behest or as a permutation caused by the void of what should have been. These defiers are considered great forces of evil, and heralds of calamity to be everywhere opposed. The chief example of a such a defier is (although it is a matter of dispute) Vechi (Ve-ll) who by the Aarugae at least is considered to be the sharugic herald of the calamity that befell Aarukuaten as a consequence of its sins as it grew fat and arrogant in its power and neglected the gods and the right path. The second type is considered to be a gesic consequence to correct Shaarug, ergo such a being is a corrective agent cast into the wheel of time to amend a rupture or void evil has caused to become pervasive. The chief example of such a defier (god to the Aarugae) is Ilyanden, who brought order to the Aarugae people, built up a great and prosperous realm and spread by his actions the right worship of the gods to the nations of the world.
The distinction between the two types, can best be defined of that a gesic (divinely ordained) defier is one who builds up good or corrects an evil. That is to say, such a being is a light which guides the world closer to the perfection ordained for it as its ultimate purpose. A Sharugic defier on the other hand is a destroyer, who by the destruction wrought expedites the spread of Shaarug by the void wrought by their agency. Such a being is an abomination to the followers of Aa'sente, and a sure sign of further calamities to come.
Ainye
The Aarugae deities (Ainye) are believed to be active in the world, unlike the transcendant and ineffable Enaaru. It is these deities that are prayed to and invoked in prayers for the benefit of the people. The Aarugae believe that maintaining good relations with these deities through correct practice is essential to maintain peace and order between man and the divine, harmony with nature and in general to avert calamities. Scorning the gods is believed to invite their wrath and result in disasters and prodigies, which when they appear must be expiated with sacrifices.
god list
Aside from the higher Ainye, Kings (particularly amongst the Aarugae peoples) are believed possess Ainen (divine power) and to be intimately connected to the flow of the gesa as upholders of truth, law and order and intermediaries between men and the Ainye. In Aa'sente, kings are worthy of worship as gods not only in death but in life. For their ruling power is comprehended as mediation and execution of gesic law, providence, and the dominion of the heavenly gods over the world at large and as such an instantiation of divine authority and power. Their descendants, while exalted in status, are not considered to be gods in their own right, as Kings alone receive apotheosis (conceived of as the ignition of the divine spark within them inherited through their sacred blood) through contact and infusion with the divine upon their enthronement and presentation to the gods.
After death, some kings are believed to become particularly exalted amongst the Ainye (beyond the role as benefactors for the people they play after death) with individual cults being raised to them as powerful divine beings in their own right. The Archetypical example of such a king believed to have become a major deity is Ilyanden.
Also of note is the belief in nature spirits who abide and protect individual mountains, rivers and the like, heavenly messengers, demons and hallowed ancestors and sages exalted to the status of avatars of the gods. Such sages, such as the Senjao lineage and the ancient Haidzoela sages (believed in these cases to be avatars of Vahishte) are treated with extreme reverence and worship. They act as gurus and religious authorities for believers across the whole spectrum of religious belief and practice, and provide a vehicle for legitimising temporal rule and providing spiritual guidance for the people as a whole.
Worship and Moral Doctrine
The gods are propitiated and given due honour by various priesthood (the higher ranks of which are reserved to nobles, or are hereditary), with worship being conducted in temples and shrines, through sacrifices (including, rarely, human sacrifice of a noble in times of crisis), libations and offerings, and through the recitation of ritual chants and the conduction of music. There are also maintained regular public religious festivals, feasts and processions.
The most important of these festivals are those of the summer and winter solstice, in which sacrificed are held to Enaaru himself to expiate for the sin of the human race, and where the gods Senvirai and Authundir are beseeched to grant many years and prosperity to the people and Vahishte is implored to render their sacrifices effective and pleasing to heaven.
Of particular religious importance is the Temple of Heaven and Earth. This is the sole temple devoted to Enaaru himself, and is located in Aarutar, the former capital of Aarukuaten. Here constant worship is offered to Enaaru day and night through chants known only to the holy priests of that temple much as it was in the days of the kingdom. Their worship is believed to expiate the sins of wretched humanity before the most high god, and be absolutely essential (for in this worship mankind faces the supreme god, in its absence all of mankind is turned away from the supreme god)
In the home fathers act as maintainers of the family cult to ancestors and tutelary gods, in accordance with patriarchal principles with father as priest and king of his household. The ancestors are believed to protect their descendants and demand filial piety and familial harmony from their descendants, the lack of which merits their wrath in the form of their vengeful spirits.
In terms of morality, Aa'sente forbids murder and the usual obscenities as offensive to the gods and contrary to the gesa and favours hard work, purity, maternity (lots of children) and manly virtue believing that in fulfilling these (And other) virtues the utterly wretched and sinful nature of man can be purified by conforming to the divine intentions of human nature, and brought closer to understanding of truth.
Truth, together with tradition and ritual correctness is considered of paramount importance in Aa'sente. The continual journey towards human perfection in concord with gesa is dependant upon correct practice and understanding of this same gesa. Correct practice and ritual are the means by which man with his finite intellect can reach this comprehension through the use of signs, symbols and acts that manifest and tangibly represent the cosmic order. Tradition then is the means by which these signs and symbols, and the understanding of the truths they represent are transmitted without error and in their fullness down the generations. If understanding of the gesa through correct practice and contemplation is successfully obtained, devotees believe it is possible for a human to ascend to the divine order at the time of judgement, and ultimately obtain oneness with the supreme being in the final state of perfection that follows the renovation of Enaaru.
Priestly Hierarchy
The Senjao (Keeper of Holiness) is a highly respected sage lineage in Aarutar. He functions effectively the High Priest of Enaaru for the surrounding region, and is responsible for maintaining the constant chant of worship towards Enaaru at his temple in Aarutar served by the Aarujao (Keepers of Truth), the silent (save for worship) priests dedicated to Enaaru alone who constantly offer sacrifices and worship to the supreme being day and night. The Senjao is consulted by the neighbouring polities when some grave matter concerning religion is in dispute (which hardly ever happens given the traditionalism of the religion), but he does not otherwise run the religion or involve himself with the priesthoods of the Ainye or the divine kings in any way or form. The Senjao tends to be treated with holy awe and fear by the people, since he is believed to possess great spiritual power through his comprehension of the ineffable Enaaru and personal holiness, this perception being enhanced by his remoteness. Amongst the priests, he is considered to be an avatar of Vahishte.
Each god has an Aingavar, a First Servant of the god, with each polity or regional centre usually having an Aingavar for each major god worshipped therein. The Aingavar of the major heavenly gods in council usually oversee the collective expression of local religion as a whole, apart from the specific worship of their respective gods.
Each temple as a distinct unit is governed by Tasenvar, a High Holy priest, responsible for overseeing that temple and its estate, served by Senvar priests responsible for worship, Vargaer acolytes who assist the priests, and a host of musicians and religious specialists who are necessary for correct ritual practice.
Aside from this temple hierarchy, also exist the Sengae (sages apart from those considered as avatars of certain Ainye) wandering holy men who spend their time in mystical practice in the worship of the gods, preaching truth to men wherever they are and taking up disciples to induct in the secret ways to apotheosis. They have great authority amongst the commons by virtue of the belief that they have a special connection to the divine order and to the mediation of gesa. Alongside them can be found Arsavenyar oracles, who act as mediums to the gods and convey messages and divine answers to the queries of petitioners. These are usually attached to temples albeit apart from the ordinary hierarchy, although some do wander form town to town and village to village to convey the common folks petitions to the gods and convey back the gods answers.
Scriptures
The chief religious scriptures of Aa'sente are the Divine Records (
Ainanta Hondai) compiled by Ilyanden, which elucidate the ancient Aarugae creation myth, an account of correct religious practices, a history of Ilyandens religious epiphany (wherein he received divine guidance from Arsatos) and reign, and contain indigamenta (godlists) describing the ainye and the circumstances in which they should be invoked Additionally the Oracles of Senna (Senna Venyata) are used as a secondary scripture. This scripture contain an outline of mystical practices, as well as a collection of oracles and prophecies, and lists of omens and heavenly signs and their meanings.
Additional religious works are often used in local contexts and for the cults of specific gods, where specific rites, beliefs pertaining too, and practiced regarding a temples patron god are kept and recorded by said gods temples. An example of the use of such appending writings in local contexts is the use of writings attributed to the seven sages amongst the Haidzoela adherents of Aa'sente. These are believed to be revelations from Vashtai (Vahishte) the divine priest, and are a touchstone to correct religious practice amongst those devotees who revere the sages upon the steppes of Xwda.
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notes
Phew, glad I just made the deadline.
