Aroism

Aroism is a Mapo-Aedamic religion widely practised in Mermelia. It is a monotheistic religion with Aroe as its deity.

Etymology

The term Aroism comes from the Maponic word for the number one "Aeru", this word will later become "Aroe" or "Ero". The term Aroe is often used among the maponic population, while Ero amongst the aedamic population.

Theology

Aroe

Aroe could be described as "The One, from who we all came and towards they we shall go", it is unusual to represent they by an anthropomorphic figure. Aroe is the only deity venerated on the religion, it is considered to be an omnipresent being, as well as the gaver of live and the master of the universe. In most branches of Aroism, the nature and the universe are venerated, and have their special places on temples, as they are seen as different manifestations of Aroe.

Universe Guardians

The Universe Guardians are manifestations of Aroe, they are, mostly, natural phenomenon, like the wind, day and night, seasons, rain, etc. Their main function, according to the The Book of Teachings, is to keep the natural order and flow, along side with the Guardian of the Law, in order to the universe to work according to Aroe's will. These guardians come also from Aroe and they can desappear at any moment if they don't follow their espefic rule in the universe.

The creation myth

There are several creation myths due to a late standarisation of the religion. The creation myth described here belongs to the Reformist Aroism movement, the largest in Mermelia, and it can be found in the Book of Enlightenment 2:4-22.

₄ In the beginning there was nothing, but a tiny Pearl of light, a source that gave birth to me, The Universe. ₅ Then out of my soul I created three realms: the spiritual realm, where all spirits and souls inhabit, ₆ and everything is light, and it is a good place. ₇ Then I created the material realm, the very one realm that you are currently at, ₈ but this realm was a dark one, ₉ so I created the first Reality Guardian, the Sun, ₁₀ but the realm suddenly became light, and there was nothing, but light, ₁₁ but this could break The Natural Balance, ₁₂ so I created the second Reality Guardian, the Moon. ₁₃ After that the realm became a mixture between brightness and darkness. ₁₄ Then came the World, as a product of the interaction between the Sun and the Moon. ₁₅ From the Moon essence I created water, and from the Sun essence I created the dirt.

₁₆ Out of the dirt and water, I created every creature of the world, but you. ₁₇ Then I created the third realm, a real where there is nothing but darkness, ₁₈ so The Natural Balance would not break, tearing apart our reality, and became an evil place, where demons and evil spirits inhabit.

₁₉ I saw that the second realm became a neutral ground for the two other realms to interact, ₂₀ but those spirits began fighting each other disrupting the second realm, ₂₁ henceforth out of the water, dirt, good and evil spirits, and my soul, ₂₂ I created you all, the third Reality Guardian.

Practices

Sacrifices

It is well known that sacrifices are a big deal for Aroists, as they represent, how Aroe created the world and the universe, and how he became The One. Before the modern spiritual sacrifice was practiced, a more phisical one was. The human sacrifices where a common thing amongst the old maponic people, who practiced an archaic version of Aroism. During the human sacrifice ceremony, the priest will offer the soul (blood) of the sacrificed one and then, the priest would open the chest, with a ceremonial knife, and take the heart and place it on an ceremonial bowl, and all the blood from the heart and the body would be recollected to later been used on to water some fields, in order to be more productive. Not all of the blood was used to water fields, the remaining blood would be mixed with soil and ashes. The dead body would be burnt and the ashes collected to be mixed with some soil and blood, once the mixed is done, it would be used to plant a tree. Trees were used as a way to be easily reintegrated into Aroe. Nowadays, human sacrifices are not practiced, instead, the believer would simply donate some blood or their organs (once they are death). Another alternative is to get a bald haircut and mix the hair with soil, water and saliva to plant a tree.

Burial

When a person dies, Aroist usually cremate the body, as a way of purification. Then, they mix it with dirt, water (some denominations add blood) and a seed, so the body of the person is used by the tree to grow and to proyect the soul of the person into the realm of souls, where, if the person managed to become a righteous one, also known as a Worhty One, will complete return to Aro, but, if the person didn't became a Worthy One or deviated from the Eight virtues will stay in the realm of souls for eight months to complete the Eight virtues; if the soul couldn't complete them, then the soul would be returned down to earth as a gentile.

Some cannibalistic ceremonies are performed instead of the cremation, for the same reason, purifying the deceased one.

Burial forests

A common practice among most Aroism denominations is the practice of Burial forests, where the bodies of the diseased are buried under a tree, generally a tree where the bodies of their ancestors where already buried. It is very common to find burial forest across Mermelia, even in urban areas like in Opmaha, where the largest burial forest is located on the Opmaha Great Temple.

Aroists believe that the trees are some sort of bridge that connects the spiritual realm with the material one, so, when a diseased is buried under a tree, its soul can migrate to the spiritual realm, where its fate is yet to be determined, while its body remains on the material world, ready to be reintegrated into the same realm that gave it live. It is very common for aroist families to look after their burial tree by watering and decorating them, as well as placing offerings and altars honouring the forest spirits and the diseased, especially during the Death Festival, during in which, families stay for one night celebrating and remembering their dearly diseased ones by throwing big parties in the forest and lighting up candles on the temple.

It is highly controversial to chop these forests, as they are sacred spaces protected by The Charter of Nations of 1978 (also known as The Mermelian Constitiution) under the Law of Free Religious Practices, which also protects the right of religious minorities across the Confederation. Within the competence of this law, the logging of these protected sacred areas is illegal and can be punishable by death penalty. To avoid this situation, the Ministry of National Resources constantly surveys the protected areas and draws up maps indicating the areas where logging can be carried out in a regulated and legal manner.

Culture

Treatment of animals

Some Aroist are vegans, because they say that eating animals is a way in which the evil spirit is winning terrain in our souls and therefore they won't return to Aro. In contrast to this point of view, some say that eating animals is a purifying act, because we are sacrificing ourselfs in order to save the gentiles and evil souls, therefore we would be becoming an even more righteous person.

Tolerance of other religions

According with The Book of Teachings, Aro contacted with a group of eight righteous humans and tell them that the role of the human beign in the universe is to manage to erradicate the evil spirit through a series of virtues that those humans had. The virtues can be present in any human, therefore, according to The book of Guardians and supported by The book of Teachings, any human no matter the religion can achive the erradication of the evilness inside them and with that, they contribute to the erradication of evilness.