Elestaarianism

Elestaarianism is the worship of the God of Good Thought, considered by Its followers to be the highest and most righteous of all divine beings. It is a strongly dualist faith, with an emphasis on promoting Good and combating Evil through a combination of good deeds, correct thoughts, and truth-speaking. Elestaarians have an overall positive and energetic worldview, considering themselves true partners of the God as they help It to bring about the ultimately inevitable triumph of the Good upon Avaria.

Elestaarianism

Deity	The God of Good Thought ("Hama Zabadi")
Texts	The Burning Word
Founder	Elestaari
Community	Elestaarians
Symbols	A flame set within a triangle
Origin	Irzal
Ritual Language	Irzali
Focus	Truth, good deeds, order, illumination, fire
Most Sacred Site	Nalu Hamzada, the Eternal Flame

Scripture

The Burning Word

The collection of prayers, hymns, and meditations called The Burning Word is the chief scripture of Elestaarianism. It is not a text of strict revelation like the Song of God followed by the Azadi, whose verses were revealed in their fullness to the Prophet al-Azad and which is considered to be the word of the One True God as directly conveyed to mortalkind. The Burning Word is considered instead to be inspired -- written with the true knowledge granted by Hama Zabadi, but according to the mode of expression devised by its mortal writers -- thus perfectly illustrating the classic Elestaarian partnership between the God of Good Thought and Its helpers.

Much of The Burning Word was written by Elestaari herself, but other portions of it were composed by her disciples, and by their disciples in turn. Its prayers and hymns extoll the Goodness of Hama Zabadi and the world It created, praise truth and good works, and exalt the necessary partnership between God and humankind. Other portions of the text describe various Elestaarian rituals, outline proper belief and practice, and tell of the ultimate triumph of Good.

Unfortunately significant portions of The Burning Word have been lost to posterity due to periodic bouts of suppression of Elestaarianism following Irzal's conquest by the Sirdabi Caliphate, and more generally due to the decline of the faith as a whole over the centuries.

Philosophy & Beliefs

According to Elestaarian belief the God of Good Thought is neither all-powerful nor all-knowing, but rather relies on a willing partnership with humankind to promote all that is good in the world and to strive against the evil in it. Hama Zabadi is not the only divine being in the world, only the greatest and most powerful of them, as well as the embodiment of Truth and Goodness. So while Elestaarianism is not strictly monotheistic, it considers the God of Good Thought the creator of humankind and the only god worthy of worship.

Elestaarianism takes an overall positive and optimistic view of humanity, perceiving mortals as worthy partners of the God and fully capable of overcoming evil in themselves and the world around them, even if it takes continual striving. They also believe that while the true nature of the God may be unknowable to mortals in life, they are able to fully understand the will of the God through their reason and their innate knowledge of good, which has been granted by Hama Zabadi to all people. Since each individual has it in themselves to distinguish between good and evil, and between truth and lies, each is fully responsible for their own words and deeds and therefore also for any failure to do what is right. This can make it a somewhat exacting faith and intolerant towards those who display lapses in doing what is Good, but it nevertheless holds out the hope that all those who fail are still capable of perfecting themselves.

Since the God is neither omnipotent nor omniscient, Elestaarians need not struggle with the question of why the God might permit evil to be in the world, or allow terrible things to happen even to good people. Instead, evil forces are acknowledged simply to exist in the world, and the God has created humanity to aid in combating it. Elestaarians believe that the actions of virtuous humans are necessary to the struggle, and to create the most beautiful harmony of creation.

Tenets

• Both good and evil exist, and they are in opposition to one another.
• The God of Good Thought is the ultimate embodiment of Good.
• Humankind has been created by the God of Good Thought as a helper and partner in the struggle of good against evil.
• Good will triumph ultimately over evil, and each good act performed by a mortal brings the victory closer to hand.
• Although there is duality between good and evil, these are not represented in any duality between the flesh and the spirit, or between the earthly world and some heavenly one. Matter and spirit are both equally important, and the earthly world, having been created by the God of Good Thought, is likewise good.
• Life is to be lived and enjoyed, because happiness is one of the greatest aspects of Good.
• Celibacy, asceticism, fasting, and self-mortification are proscribed, because these embody some manner of suffering and are therefore aspects of Evil. The only exception is during the days of purification leading up to the start of the annual Fire Festival.

The Afterlife

Like other peoples in Avaria, Elestaarians accept that the Otherland is the realm to which souls travel after death. Elestaarians believe that when a soul arrives in the Otherland, it must pass across a vast body of water by means of a series of stepping stones, and that each stone they set foot upon will reflect like some dim mirror an important event or decision in their life, where they had to make a choice between good and evil. The balance between good and evil choices will determine the destination at which they arrive upon the other side of the water, which in turn may be nearer or further from the God of Good Thought. Those who made too many evil choices may fall off the path entirely, and be swallowed up by the waters.

Elestaarians tend to focus very strongly on the purifying aspects of passing through the Otherland, but they also have a great dread of straying or being hurled into the Land That is Not, the dark heart of the Otherland where truth becomes obscured and strange torments abound. However, if a believer makes their way to the true heart of the Dream, they will meet the God of Good Thought there and may become as one of Its most powerful helpers, beings of pure light and mind who assist the God in fighting against evil and darkness. Other souls are allowed to slumber, either for a short while until they too are called to help the God, or until the great victory of light over darkness is achieved and the material world is perfected, at which time all souls are resurrected into the now-perfect world.

Worship

The most important act of "worship" an Elestaarian can perform is to do a little good each day. Many Elestaarians see each useful thing they do as a small act of worship, and therefore see themselves as worshiping by doing throughout the course of their day.

Positive Acts

• Choosing to tell the truth over a lie
• Starting or tending a fire, especially for cooking or for warming others
• Saying a kind word to someone
• Comforting someone in distress
• Being hopeful in bad times, and helping others to be
• Tending and harvesting cropfields or gardens
• Feeding others
• Giving to the needy
• Tending to the sick
• Making medicines
• Killing snakes or vermin, including insect pests
• Feeding a stray dog
• Exposing a lie or an act of corruption
• Righting a wrong done by oneself

Prayer

Prayer is a simple and generally sporadic thing among Elestaarians, at least outside the priesthood. Again, many Elestaarians consider their good acts to be in themselves a prayer to the God of Good Thought, and sometimes they will also offer up additional words of prayer or devotion -- or even conversation -- to the God as they perform such acts.

If any time of the day is considered the hour for "formal" prayer, this would be at noon, when the sun is highest in the sky. Sometimes the person wishing to offer prayer will write it out upon a scrap of paper, then use a special small lens called an atrasha to kindle the paper and burn it away. The atrasha may be kept in a pouch or pocket, or worn suspended from a chain or thong around the neck.

Holidays

The traditional Elestaarian religious calendar is strewn with holidays and festivals of all kinds, but many are no longer observed. Those that remain focus on the planting and harvesting of crops, and on the seasonal cycles of growing and diminishing daylight. The primary Elestaarian holiday is the Fire Festival, which consists of a number of days of fasting and feasting and the kindling of bonfires, all centered around the winter solstice. Despite its origins in Elestaarianism, the Fire Festival has been adopted by the Azadi as well and is observed throughout the caliphate.

Organization

Priesthood

Although common worship is fairly simple and unstructured, Elestaarianism has over the centuries developed an extensive priesthood with a complex system of rankings and duties. Most of this system is impenetrably opaque to those outside it, and even lower-ranking priests may find its intricacies difficult to fully grasp. Even the most senior clerics, however, struggle with the loss of many of their traditions of their faith, and even in its current complexity the priesthood is much reduced from what it was in its prime during the height of the Irzali Empire.

The priests of Hama Zabadi are, like all Elestaarians, dedicated to doing Good, but their means of doing so tend to keep them at a remove from the laypeople. Called magi by most, these priests have a reputation for being deeply learned and are rumored to be able to call upon the powers of the Good of God Thought through Its element of flame. The magi are responsible for maintaining the fire temples of the faith, keeping and renewing the divine flames, and conducting careful rituals meant to reinforce Order in the world. Some are itinerant priests who travel through the lands where the faithful dwell, chanting hymns and carrying out rituals for the common folk at weddings, funerals, feasts, and festivities. Many others keep closer to the bounds of their temple complexes, where they meditate upon the nature of Good, make hymns and offerings on behalf of laypeople, and immerse themselves in studies of things arcane and divine, including attempting to recover some of their lost knowledge. They also care for the special temple dogs, the shurvat, and often distribute food to strays as well as to human beggars.

The magi of the Elestaari are also responsible for conducting funerary rites, though these now vary from place to place. It was once the custom for all Elestaarians to have their bodies given over to the temple dogs after death, with the remaining bones then gathered up and interred in collective pits or vaults. In those days burning a corpse was typically considered a desecration of the sacred flame, and burial an abomination of uncivilized peoples. In the modern resurgence of the faith, however, many Elestaarians have come to view the ancient practice with a distaste doubtless influenced by the Azadi religious communities among which many of them now live. As a result, it is now common for Elestaarians to be cremated after death, and the ashes placed in special urns that memorialize the deceased. Elestaarian traditionalists consider this to be even more of an abomination than burial, but this has done little to make the practice less commonplace.

Structures & Sites

Nalu Hamzada

Nalu Hamzada, the Eternal Flame, is the most holy site of the Elestaarian faith. It is located in the land of Nishkol, in a deep valley in the southern Tin Chalun Mountains. The land is stark and spare, though brightened by splashes of brilliantly colored lichen and the succulent tendrils of firetongue that trail across the naked stone, and it is in the middle of this otherworldly place that flame seems to rise eternally from crevices in the rock. The brightest and most enduring flame has burned continuously for millennia, and this is known as the Eternal Flame, the sacred manifestation of the Hama Zabadi's divine light. Although such flames may be found scattered in other parts of Nishkol and Irzal, this is the only one that has burned without cessation, it is said since the beginning of creation itself when the God of Good Thought ignited it to serve as a beacon to humankind.

Nalu Hamzada is the destination of many pilgrimages, despite the remoteness of the site and the fact that pilgrimage does not hold the same central importance within Elestaarianism as in Azadi or Kalentism. It is more common for priests to make the journey than laypeople, and they sometimes will undertake a pilgrimage on behalf of Elestaarian communities who feel themselves in need of special guidance and blessing from the God.

Fire Temples

Fire temples are the chief sites of formal worship and veneration of the One True God. Each temple contains its own sacred flame, ideally lit from the Eternal Flame itself, though many lesser temples settle for lighting the flame from that of another temple, which itself was drawn from the Eternal Flame. Many fire temples are built in the style of a stepped ziggurat, while others more closely resemble large beacon towers. In the former it is more likely for the sacred flame to be housed in the interior of the temple, whereas in the beacon style temples the flame usually resides at the apex of the tower beneath a sheltering roof.

Highly complex rituals are carried out in the temples, along with the making of offerings to the flame and the chanting of hymns to Hama Zabadi. They are also sites of scholarship, meditation, and observation of the heavens and the fiery stars that are believed to exert their own influence upon the sublunary realm. Priests generally live close by the fire temple in which they serve, and often have spouses and families as well, so there is often a sizeable complex grown up around the central temple.

Relationship with Other Faiths

Azadi

Elestaarianism's relationship with the Azadi religion has been fraught since the conquest of Irzal by the Azadi forces in 61 B.D. Although the two faiths first coexisted in relative peace, growing tensions resulted in Elestaarianism being largely wiped out throughout the province of Irzal by the start of the 3rd century N.D. Resentment on the part of the remaining Elestaarians, and strong distrust on the part of Azadi, has lingered between the two since that time.

This mutual dislike based upon history has only been exacerbated by the differences in the religions themselves, which have tended to mix as poorly as the fire reverenced by the Elestaarians and the water beloved by the Azadi. Elestaarianism remains a religion rooted in the land, centered on agriculture and domesticity, and structured by a peculiarly Irzali sense of order and hierarchy. Azadi, for its part, is a religion born of wilderness-wandering nomads and bred within the complex and ever-changing chaos of the city. Even a thing as simple as the Elestaarian's cherishing of dogs as the great helpers of humankind has clashed strongly with the Azadi's preference for cats. All told, there is very little about either faith that does not serve as an irritation to the other.

That said, toleration for Elestaarianism has grown since the days of its persecution, and individual Elestaarians and Azadi often find common ground in their fundamental ideals of charity and aid for the weak and suffering. But many of their other values as well as their conceptions of God differ strongly enough to cause tension, as does the Elestaarians' renewed reputation for rebellion. Many Azadi still scornfully refer to Elestaari as "sparks," not just for their love of fire but also for their perceived tendency to be always kindling insurrection and trouble.

Kalentism

Elestaarianism and Kalentism share powerful elements of their history, in particular the connection between the Prophet Kalen and the magi of the Elestaarians, and the love that common Elestaarians once held for the wandering prophet. Today there is little mingling of Kalentians and Elestaarians, in part because of the relatively small number of practitioners of either faith within the Sirdabi Caliphate. But there also tends to be mistrust on either side, with the Kalentians remembering that it was the "fire mages" of Irzal who were responsible for Kalen's death, and the Elestaarians recalling the way in which the Kalen controversy resulted in the splintering and weakening of their own faith. Much has been forgotten about the early ties between Elestaarianism and Kalentism, or in some places actively repressed, so between the two a muted misunderstanding and suspicion tend to prevail.

History

Beginnings

Elestaarianism is a millennia-old religion that was established late in the lifetime of its eponymous founder. Not a great deal is recorded about the early life of the great sage Elestaari, but it is known that she came from a wealthy family residing somewhere in the east of the old Irzali Empire, probably in the vicinity of Nishkol. She seems to have led the ordinary life of a woman of her time and class, being well educated according to the standard of her day, marrying well, and successfully raising several children. It was only after her children had themselves grown up that she found time to reflect deeply upon matters of philosophy and spirituality. She devoted herself as a priestess to one of the many deities of Irzal, but gradually arrived at the belief that only one of these gods was truly worthy to be called God, and that others were in their benevolent aspects merely the spiritual helpers of what came to be known as the God of Good Thought.

Elestaari did not give up an active interest in the world when she became a priestess; instead, she became ever more involved in the lives of ordinary men and women and spent much of her time aiding the needy and teaching the ignorant. At the same time she gave them a sense of value and purpose by her message that, like the demigods of the land, all humans likewise had the capacity to be essential helpers of the God if only they committed themselves to doing good wherever and however they could. Elestaari became much beloved by the common people of the empire, who embraced her teachings and elevated her spiritual philosophy into a popular and widespread religion that persisted even after her death.

Official Acceptance

When Emperor Ezhul consolidated the eastern and western halves of Irzal in 1616 B.D., he was able to triumph against his rival Seshgalit only with the aid of the common people, many of whom were by that point Elestaarians. As a sign of thanks for their assistance, and in recognition of the power of Hama Zabadi who had aided in the triumph of the Good, Ezhul adopted Elestaarianism as the official religion of the mighty new empire.

After this point the faith evolved from one chiefly of the common folk to one embraced by the noble and powerful as well. This resulted in the exaltation of the priesthood and their increasing involvement in affairs of state, and also led to a great elaboration of ritual and the spread of large fire temples throughout the realm.

The Kalen Controversy

Elestaarianism was a flourishing religion that touched the entire Irzali Empire when the Yehani prophet Kalen arrived in the land ca. 580 B.D. It is known that, during his time there, Kalen studied at some length with the magus Erzanna and that there was at first mutual respect between Kalen and at least the more open-minded among the priesthood. The common folk of Irzal, for their part, held Kalen in the greatest love and esteem, and on account of the indisputable goodness of his deeds as well as the wonders that he was able to work, he was likewise called Magus by the people.

Official views towards Kalen began quickly to sour as he preached his message of peace and the meaninglessness of worldly empire, and increasingly called for the common people of all lands to lay down their arms and stop fighting against others like them for the sake of the mighty and cruel lords who oppressed them. The Elestaarian priesthood also came to be envious of the influence Kalen held over the laypeople, and the fact that he was acclaimed Magus by the people only added fuel to the fires of their rage. Such feelings united the powerful of the Irzali Empire against Kalen, and led to him being first declared outlaw, and then captured and burned as a sacrifice at the Fire Festival in 565 B.D.

This, however, was a hugely controversial act which would serve to divide the Elestaarian faith against itself and greatly weaken it for the centuries ahead. Many among the common people were horrified by the murder of one whom they considered a man of holiness and Good, and turned against a priesthood which they saw as increasingly elitist and disconnected from the ordinary folk of the faith. Even among the magi themselves there was controversy and division. Some of them had also held Kalen to be, if not a true magus, at least a man who embodied their God's Goodness and Truth. Others, less fond of Kalen, were nevertheless horrified by the fact that this impure mortal had been burnt by the fires of the Sacred Flame, which for them constituted a terrible desecration.

Many people turned away from Elestaarianism at this time, choosing to join with the disciples of Kalen and shaping what would eventually become Kalentism. Others chose still darker paths, forsaking the idea that a world that allowed the murder of Kalen could be considered a place essentially good. Even so, Elestaarianism endured, even as it became more and more a religion of ritual and empire rather than a faith of popular appeal.

After the Sirdabi Conquest

In the first years following the conquest there was little friction, as followers of local religions were mostly ignored and left alone. Many among the scholarly Elestaarian priesthood, who had long served as scribes and advisors of the Irzali empire and formed an important political class of their own, were allowed to stay on and continue to fulfill these roles in the new Sirdabi provincial court.

Over time, however, tensions between the two religions increased. More and more among the common people of Irzal converted to Azadi, driven by resentment of the elitism of the Elestaarian priesthood and drawn by the egalitarian ideals of Azadi. These recent converts initially constituted a zealous bastion of antagonism against their former faith, and were largely responsible for initiating the first backlash against the Elestaarian religion which they felt had abandoned them in its decadence.

The new Azadi government was at first little interested in such interfaith conflicts among the native Irzali, having far more pressing matters of administration and taxation to deal with. But when Elestaarianism began to increasingly be used as a banner under which the battle for Irzali independence might be fought, the caliphate began to sit up and pay close attention to it. This movement was initially driven by the same Elestaarian elites who made up the political class of scribes and advisors, and easily spread to members of the former nobility who had had much of their domains and their power taken from them by the new government. It was only many decades later that the common people of Irzal turned to this movement as well, angered as they were by increasing corruption within the Sirdabi government and the growing exploitation of their land and people.

As the movement gained strength, it gained likewise in threat to the provincial government and the integrity of the Sirdabi caliphate, and it was this that led to extreme measures to root out and crush the Elestaarian faith in the late first and second centuries N.D. By the start of the third century little remained in Irzal of the organized Elestaarian religion, save for isolated pockets of territory where both priests and commoners continued to practice their ancient traditions. But much had been lost.

Recent Developments

Elestaarianism, though still strictly illegal to practice within the Sirdabi Caliphate, has nevertheless seen a resurgence in the past several decades. With Elestaarians sufficiently decimated to remove the threat they posed to either provincial or caliphal governance, their religion came to be tolerated in the middle years of the caliphate despite the official laws of the land. However, the religion has seen many changes since its heyday and continues to be affected by the loss of so much knowledge and ritual over the centuries. The practices that remain are a patchwork of the original practice of the faith, and not all Elestaarians observe their religion in the same way.

Perhaps the most striking development of recent centuries is an increasing personification of the force of Evil. In classical Elestaarian dogma, the God of Good Thought struggles only against the general manifestation of evil in the world, and there is no true antithesis to the God, no divine antagonist consciously opposing him. Over time, however, it has become increasingly accepted by many practitioners of the faith that the Unbeing is the supreme evil force against which the God of Good Thought and his followers must fight. Although this is a deviation from the actual teachings of Elestaari, the majority of Elestaarians now accept this personification of the world's evil, perhaps in part influenced by followers of the One True God and their belief in the archfiend.