Algazi religion

Algazi folk religion
Type	Syncretic
Classification	disputed
Associations	Association of Algazi Temples
Region	Algazi Union, Letzia, Ebo Nganagam
Origin	11th Century Hafsighi Kingdom

The traditional Algazi religion, also called Aghanism or Quuro-Argeyazic religion is a collection of syncretic beliefs and practices that serve as the ethnic religion of the Algazi people and the state religion of the Algazi Union. The religion originates from the hybridization of Argeyazic animism with Quurožarq (particularly Temyarq) and, to a lesser extent, Iovism. There is no wide consensus as to whether the religion should be classified as a continuation of ancient Argeyazic religious practices, a highly divergent denomination of Quurožarq, or a distinct faith, especially considering the wide variation in beliefs and practices.

Practitioners of Algazi religion believe in four principal deities and many minor ones, as well as malignant spirits. Most also believe in reincarnation and the spiritual life of plants and animals. There is no central organization beyond an association of temples, which serves to create a loose consistency of practice and liaise with the Algazi Ministry of Culture.

Origins

Argeyazic and Hafsighi Religion

While little is known about Proto-Argeyazic religion, some information has been pieced together through archeology and comparative work on early Algazi and Hemeshi religion. The religion was animist, contrasting higher deities (*axa) of natural forces and phenomena, such as the sky, rain, the ocean, and fire, mid-level deities (referred to as "fathers" and "mothers") representing each species of plant and animal, and lower deities (*tahen) of places and geographic features. The spirits of the dead (*motyur) were believed to persist on earth, possibly in the Baredinian Desert.

These beliefs and practices became more standardized during the Hafsighi Kingdom as a result of the emergence of a centralized, hierarchical clergy centered on Hafsigh.

Quurožarq

Following the political and religious shifts that re-christened the Adzamasi Empire as the Holy Adzamic Empire, Quurožarq was officially adopted by King Jir II in order to please Hafsigh's patron state. This prompted a mass conversion of the royal family and the Hafsighi court; as the motivations were primarily diplomatic, however, no efforts were made at converting the general populace and many previous practices persisted. This also meant that, in spite of heavy investment in the construction of Quurožiri institutions and religious infrastructure in Hafsigh, the aristocracy and the state continued to patronize indigenous temples, and no legal privileges were granted to Quurožarq. In spite of the lack of promotion, however, Quurožarq did spread to some extent among the upper ranks of the commoners, particularly the educated.

Development

The persistence of animist beliefs and practices among the Quurožiri elite and the downward percolation of Quurožarq already began to blur the boundaries of the two religions during the Yurek period; however, their formal institutions remained separate and competing, and served to maintain distinct identities and a certain degree of orthodoxy.

Following the conquest of Hafsigh by Bızigh Ankesh, Serimism was made the official religion of the Hafsighi Kingdom until Ankesh and the Yurek Dynasty were overthrown by Dareb I Sadhas. Backed by both Quurožiri and animist clergy, Dareb chose not to reinstate either as a state religion. Subsequent Sadhas rulers largely maintained this policy, practicing both faiths and attempting to balance their competing interests. This official neutrality accelerated the existing trend towards hybridization, legitimizing the simultaneous practice of both religions and hampering clerical efforts to maintain standardized, exclusive worship.

The collapse of the Hafsighi Kingdom after 1078 led to the complete breakdown of centralized religious institutions in Hafsigh. In the breakaway provincial cities, there generally remained only low-ranking clergy associated with individual temples. Without any central authority, religious beliefs and practices were increasingly defined by the general population, who had no qualms about incorporating beliefs from multiple sources, and by clergy who were closer to them. This popular mixture of two religions had largely coalesced into a single (albeit heterogeneous) religion within two centuries of the collapse of the Hafsighi Kingdom.

Present Day

Though efforts at codification and standardization starting in the 18th century have been largely unsuccessful, the cultural integration of the Algazi Union and the relationship between temples and the state have created a broad consensus regarding certain core tenets of Algazi religion (largely those discussed in this article).

The overwhelming majority of ethnic Algazis continue to practice their traditional religion, though Iovists and Serimites make up a sizeable minority. Temples remain important centers of social and cultural life both in Algazi cities and in Algazi communities abroad, associated with worship and communal events. They provide very few social services, however, unlike those of many other religions; in Algazi society, these functions are traditionally handled by charities and institutions associated with aristocratic families.

Dieties

The Algazi pantheon consists of four high-ranking deities (Algaz: aghan), the result of Argeyazic gods being mapped onto Quurožiri ones, and a multitude of minor spirits (tayinan). These are generally considered benevolent, generous, and protective, but easily angered by failure to show respect or gratitude. There is also a (nameless?) and genderless deity of the earth, a clear combination of the Argeyazic earth goddess with the genderless and (particularly in Temyarq) inactive creator Quuros. This deity is generally believed to have comprised all tings before destroying itself creating the aghan, tayinan, and all living things, with its corpse remaining as the Earth; it is therefore rarely worshipped directly.

Aghan

The four aghan are as follows:

Priests of Idjud performing a ritual of thanksgiving following major rainfall.

Idjud is the god of the sky, wind, and rain, originating as a composite of several Argeyazic deities and the Quurožiri deity Karne. He is believed to be the father of the Sun and Moon, and is usually depicted with two faces: one awake, representing day, and one asleep, representing night. He is associated with time, communication, prophecy, and dreaming, and, like Teli, with strength, protection, and wisdom.

Teli or Athir is the goddess of the sea and the mother of all bodies of water. She is a combination of the Argeyazic sea goddess and the Quurožiri goddess Tali. She is associated with travel and commerce, and, like Idjud, with strength, protection, and wisdom.

Rashun is the god of animals and livestock. Rashun appears to have been the Argeyazic goat deity (he is still often referred to by the epithet "Father of Goats") whose role expanded to cover all livestock and, eventually, all animals. He is typically depicted as a man with the head of a goat. Rashun is associated with the social sphere and the family, and, like Amit, with healing, fertility, and wealth.

Amit is the goddess of plants. She appears to have been transposed almost completely from Quurožarq as a replacement for the Argeyazic plant deities, as evidenced by the preservation of her Quurožiri name. Amit is associated with childhood and beauty, and, like Rashun, with healing, fertility, and wealth.

Tayinan

Tayinan are minor deities, representing the Sun, Moon, stars, bodies of water, and some geographical features (mostly mountains and islands). Most Tayinan are associated with an agha, to whom they are considered subordinate. Unlike the aghan, they are bound to what they represent, as they are considered to be the object's soul. The gods of the Sun and Moon are considered to be the children of the sky god Idjud, with the stars in turn being the children of the Moon; similarly, all bodies of water are considered to be children of Teli/Athir. Tayinan associated with landforms are generally held to be children of the deceased Earth. Worship of tayinan is generally on a small scale, except for the Sun, Moon, Ekuos River, Lake Wadan, Lake Heshov, and island of Gêlnos (home to the city of Varij).

The majority of tayinan are most likely inherited directly from Argeyazic religion, with the Sun and Moon deities having been demoted from full-fledged gods. While there is a close correspondence with the Quurožiri concept of nakuvah, this may have already been the case before the two religions came into extensive contact.

Death and Afterlife

Reincarnation

Most Algazis believe that souls are reincarnated in a fixed cycle of lower plants, higher plants, lower animals, higher animals, and humans. This appears to be a synthesis of the Iovist concept of reincarnation with the animist tendencies of ancient Argeyazic religion, which displaced earlier beliefs regarding death and the afterlife.

Mazuran

Most Algazis believe that souls have an inherent drive to create and reproduce, and that those that violate this impulse (i.e. by killing for reasons other than survival) will shatter and fall apart instead of being reincarnated. Each of these fragments becomes a harmful spirit called a mazur, seen as being degraded and incomplete. They can no longer create or reproduce, instead causing decay, disease, and pain in living things. Some practitioners of Algazi religion believe that mazuran exist only in a spiritual state, while others believe that they, too, experience cyclical reincarnation as fungi and, for some, viruses. Mazuran are traditionally seen as eternal, creating a sense of inevitable decay ending in an apocalyptic world of mold. However, many, beginning with self-styled Hafsighi prophet Serīm and his millenarian sect, have adopted a Iovist-influenced belief that the world will eventually be purged of mazuran to create an earthly utopia, or that mazuran can be healed or destroyed.

Practices

Dedication

Newborn children are brought to a temple to be dedicated to one of the four aghan, to whom they are expected to show additional devotion in exchange for their protection and blessings. When a person dies, their funeral is held at a temple of their patron agha and their ashes left as an offering. Twins are traditionally dedicated to the Sun and Moon, but children are not otherwise dedicated to tayinan.