Difference between revisions of "Serimism"

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Old Order Serimite communities are typically agricultural, with most or all land held in common. Most schools consist of one or two communities linked to a single nearby monastery; larger schools can consist of many more communities, though only the largest or most geographically dispersed schools have more than one monastery. While residents of a community are almost exclusively from one school, intermarriage is widespread among witnesses and it is not uncommon for initiates to leave and join a different school for religious reasons. Elder messengers of different schools and lineages often meet to discuss theological issues and new revelations.  
Old Order Serimite communities are typically agricultural, with most or all land held in common. Most schools consist of one or two communities linked to a single nearby monastery; larger schools can consist of many more communities, though only the largest or most geographically dispersed schools have more than one monastery. While residents of a community are almost exclusively from one school, intermarriage is widespread among witnesses and it is not uncommon for initiates to leave and join a different school for religious reasons. Elder messengers of different schools and lineages often meet to discuss theological issues and new revelations.  
===Modern Schools===
===Modern Schools===
While some Modern Serimite schools maintain the tripartite organization of Old Order schools, most have modified or rejected it. The most common structure expands initiation to a larger share of the laity (up to 70% of adults in some schools) and replaces messengers with a priesthood that serve as active leaders in the community. Modern schools are also more liberal with restrictions and obligations and allow most or all of their texts to be read by the laity, with some even making them available to non-Serimites. While shamanic practices are also opened to the laity, these generally must be performed under the supervision of a priest and and are not open to non-initates. Other schools have abandoned tripartite organization, either dispensing with initiation in favor of a simple clergy/laity system like that of Algazi folk religion or forgoing a formal clergy in favor of a more democratic structure with initates elected to leadership positions.
While some Modern Serimite schools maintain the tripartite organization of Old Order schools, most have modified or rejected it. The most common structure expands initiation to a larger share of the laity (up to 70% of adults in some schools) and replaces messengers with a priesthood that serve as active leaders in the community. Modern schools are also more liberal with restrictions and obligations and allow most or all of their texts to be read by the laity, with some even making them available to non-Serimites. While shamanic practices are also opened to the laity, these generally must be performed under the supervision of a priest and are not open to non-initates. Other schools have abandoned tripartite organization, either dispensing with initiation in favor of a simple clergy/laity system like that of Algazi folk religion or forgoing a formal clergy in favor of a more democratic structure with initates elected to leadership positions.


All major Modern Serimite schools are members of the Ekuosian Serimite Conference, through which they consult each other on theological and organizational issues and collaborate on academic and political projects.  
All major Modern Serimite schools are members of the Ekuosian Serimite Conference, through which they consult each other on theological and organizational issues and collaborate on academic and political projects.  

Revision as of 06:02, 8 June 2020

Serimism
RegionWest Ekuosia
FounderSerim
Origin653 CE
Hafsigh, Hafsighi Kingdom
Branched fromAlgazi religion, Iovism
Members5.2 million (est.)

Serimism (Algaz: Thirimi /θi.ɾi'mi/, Serimite Algaz: Serime /se.ɾi'me/) is a polytheistic syncretic religion rooted in Algazi folk religion and Pashaism, with additional influence from Iovism and Qurosism. Serimism was founded by 7th century Hafsighi religious leader Serim, whose millenarian teachings emphasized mysticism, shamanic practices, and opposition to secular authority.

History

Serim

Pilgrims visiting the Tomb of Serim in the Koklates foothills.

Serimite War and the Legation

Following the riots, Serim and his followers went underground, beginning a six-year campaign of assassinations, arson attacks, small-sale uprisings, and raids. By YEAR, Serimite forces in the Koklates mountains had become sufficiently large and well-equipped to wage open war on the Hafsighi Kingdom, seizing control of much of the countryside north of Lake Wadan. In 668, Serim expanded westwards, conquering several former Letsatian cities with the assistance of local sympathizers; these would serve as a base to consolidate Serimite power before taking the city of Hafsigh, from which it was believed that gods would establish their rule.

Following Serim's death in 673, most of his disciples rallied behind Bızigh Ankesh, a disciple and adept commander who firmly advocated for continuing the campaign for Hafsigh and believed Serimite control of Hafsigh would set in motion the cleansing of the world and the beginning of the rule of the gods. A large minority of disciples opposed Ankesh, either for his militaristic stance or belief in the imminent beginning of the new age; many departed for the Koklates or the desert with their followers, while others remained in spite of religious and political tension.

Ankesh succeeded in capturing Hafsigh in 678, granting himself the title of Legate to reflect his perceived role to consult with the gods and convey their will in preparation for their reign from Hafsigh. As Legate, Ankesh came to wield nearly absolute temporal power, with the defeated King Benhafin II reduced to a figurehead. Ankesh's refusal to depose or kill the king alienated more radical Serimites however, and subsequent political and theological conflicts fostered an increasing degree of factionalism. This undermined Ankesh's attempts to establish central authority over the Serimite faith and spread it to the general population. Laws aimed at enforcing Serimite morality were typically ignored or met with riots, while the nobility and clergy outside of Hafsigh largely prevented Ankesh from establishing effective Serimite control over the provinces. In 694, Legate Ankesh and King Benhafin III were overthrown in a coup led by military leader Dareb Sadhas, who crowned himself king and began persecuting Serimites. The vast majority of Serimites converted or were killed, though many fled to neighboring countries or joined the earlier dissident Serimites in the Koklates and the desert.

Reformation

Following the demise of the Legation, the dissident and refugee Serimite communities became more insular, abandoning proselytism and rejecting the outside world in favor of living in a manner deemed pure or in accordance with Serimite principles. By the 17th century, however, Serimite communities became increasingly integrated with the Algazi League economy, producing cash crops and craft goods in lieu of pure subsistence farming. Some Serimites, particularly craftsmen, also began relocating to cities, establishing substantial communities in Tagra, Hafsigh, and Farigh. While these initially duplicated the closed, insular nature of other Serimite communities, close contact and engagement between Serimites of different schools and between Serimites and non-Serimites fostered new ideas of Serimite religion and identity by the early 18th century. During this time, a movement of mostly younger, urban Serimites emerged that rejected endogamy and isolation favor of participating fully in society and welcoming members from outside the community. This movement, known as Modern Serimism, grew substantially in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as more non-ethnic Serimites were attracted to the movement.

Present Day

Modern Serimism has continued to grow since its emergence, and Serimites are now the second largest organized religion in the Algazi Union behind Iovism, having surpassed Pashaism in the early 20th century. Unlike Old Order Serimites and, to a lesser extent, Iovists, Modern Serimites are fully integrated into broader Algazi society and do not necessarily maintain a distinct religious identity. As they believe in the same deities as most Algazis, they often worship at temples and participate in religious ceremonies that are not explicitly Serimite, though formal Serimite places of worship remain the center of their religious practice.

Theology

Unlike Algazi folk religion, Serimism is strongly dualistic, believing in a polar universe undergoing division into good and evil. Serimites share many beliefs with most other Algazis, including a monistic deity whose self-destruction created the universe; the four principle deities Idjud, Teli, Amit, and Rashun (Serimite: Ejjıd, Tali, Amet, and Rasshın); and minor deities (Serimite: tayenın) and malicious spirits (Serimite: mëzzırın). Unlike most Algazis, Serimites see the four deities as unambiguously good and benevolent, and the mëzzırın as inherently and knowingly evil. They also believe that the death of the creator deity was not a suicidal act of creation but the result of a process of internal conflict stemming from the mixture of good and evil; the universe therefore broke apart, with the good becoming the gods, the evil becoming the mëzzırın, and the rest becoming the material world. Being of mixed nature, humans can become one with the gods or become mëzzırın after death depending on how they lived, though most are simply reincarnated. Serimites believe that the gods will eventually purge the world of evil and destroy the mëzzırın, bringing about a utopian age in which the four primary gods will rule from Hafsigh and humanity will be freed from suffering, death, and reincarnation. Some Serimite schools believe that this utopian existence is the closest possible approximation to the universe's primordial monism and treat it as their end goal; others believe the freedom from evil and mëzzırın will allow all humans to eventually become one with the gods, restoring unitary existence without the presence of evil.

Scriptures

The primary scriptures of Serimism are accounts of Serim's life or teaching as related by his disciples. While all Serimite schools accept and study all of these texts, most believe that the the founder of their lineage has given the most reliable account. Additionally, initiates often record visions and revelations they experience; those that come to be regarded as highly significant are often disseminated among different schools, though they remain closely guarded.

Organization

Serimism is made up of a number of different schools, which hold distinct beliefs or emphasize certain ideas or practices. Most of these schools place themselves within a broader lineage, tracing their foundation back to one of Serim's disciples and their teachings; many Modern schools reject formal lineages, however, drawing on multiple sources within Serimism.

Old Order Schools

Old Order Serimism is characterized by a tripartite division based on degrees of religious initiation. The majority of adherents, known as witnesses, are not given access to the primary texts, which describe the teachings of Serim and are restricted to initiates. The witnesses therefore rely on initiates to inform them of religious laws and obligations. This is primarily the role of lay initiates known as readers, who study the primary texts and, in many schools, can perform some minor rituals. Readers are expected to follow stricter religious obligations such as abstention from rich or strongly-flavored foods, regular ritual purification, and daily prayers, but remain among the laity and participate in most of community life and labor. The highest level of initiate, known as messengers, live a monastic lifestyle apart from the community and in accordance with strict rules; they may not marry or have children, though widowed readers may become messengers if their children have reached adulthood. Messengers devote their lives to communication with the gods through prayer, dreams, and trances, with many schools also using hallucinogens or other mind-altering substances; they also engage in close study and interpretation of the primary texts and accounts of visions and revelations experienced by other messengers. While most schools allow both men and women to become readers, only schools from the Asaghi and Karıshi lineages allow both men and women to become messengers.

Old Order Serimite communities are typically agricultural, with most or all land held in common. Most schools consist of one or two communities linked to a single nearby monastery; larger schools can consist of many more communities, though only the largest or most geographically dispersed schools have more than one monastery. While residents of a community are almost exclusively from one school, intermarriage is widespread among witnesses and it is not uncommon for initiates to leave and join a different school for religious reasons. Elder messengers of different schools and lineages often meet to discuss theological issues and new revelations.

Modern Schools

While some Modern Serimite schools maintain the tripartite organization of Old Order schools, most have modified or rejected it. The most common structure expands initiation to a larger share of the laity (up to 70% of adults in some schools) and replaces messengers with a priesthood that serve as active leaders in the community. Modern schools are also more liberal with restrictions and obligations and allow most or all of their texts to be read by the laity, with some even making them available to non-Serimites. While shamanic practices are also opened to the laity, these generally must be performed under the supervision of a priest and are not open to non-initates. Other schools have abandoned tripartite organization, either dispensing with initiation in favor of a simple clergy/laity system like that of Algazi folk religion or forgoing a formal clergy in favor of a more democratic structure with initates elected to leadership positions.

All major Modern Serimite schools are members of the Ekuosian Serimite Conference, through which they consult each other on theological and organizational issues and collaborate on academic and political projects.

Culture

As a result of their remote location and insular lifestyle, Old Order Serimites comprise a unique ethno-religious group with their own dialect of Algaz. Though it shares a high degree of mutual intelligibility with standard Algaz, there are a number of substantial grammatical, phonological, and lexical differences between the two. Some Modern schools use Serimite Algaz as a liturgical language, while others have relegated it to the realm of scholarship.