Bowism

Bowism (Basaqese: Perizîna Bow, transl. "Bow Worship") is a religious tradition native to the Basaqastan region of Liberto-Ancapistan. The largest religion in Basaqastan by adherents, it has no formal institutional structures and encompasses a variety of practices and beliefs, influenced by saints, scholars and regional traditions.

Bowism is characterised by the veneration of a monotheistic creator god, most commonly referred to as Bow. Bow is considered the creator of the Siyen Zindi (transl. "Living World"), the world of humanity, within a wider cosmology. Bow is not eternal or omniscient, and originates in the space outside the Siyen Zindi, called Netem, the nature and contents of which differ between Bowist schools. While Bow as a whole entity is said to be imperceptible, interactions between Bow and the inhabitants of the Siyen Zindi can be made through the Siyenidi (transl. "Living Shadows"), worldly manifestations of Bow's being. Bowists also believe in the existence of lower divine beings, called eriden (transl. "spirits"). Bowist worship typically involves offerings of food and water to particular Siyenidi or eriden, in an attempt to elicit favours or prevent conflicts.

According to most scholars, Bowism is a development of pre-existing polytheistic Basaqastanian religion. Between the 2nd millennium BCE and 5th millennium CE, deities worshipped in Basaqastan were gradually re-interpreted as Siyenidi of Bow or individual eriden. The origins of the deity of Bow are heavily debated by scholars. The causes of Bowism's development have been debated, with some scholars positing that the development of Bowism can be attributed to attempts at religious consolidation by the Nizmstani and Santian empires, and others emphasising popular origins. Throughout its history, Bowism has been strongly influenced by saints, revelatory scholars of Bow, giving their names to interpretations or 'schools' of the religion. The largest school of Bowism, Kevirozian Bowism, emerged in the 9th century CE based on the activities of the saint Shamaqoli ji Zinar, whose sayings and poems were collected posthumously in a book, the Isahd.

Bowism is primarily found in Liberto-Ancapistan, among ethnic Basaqastanians and some other groups in the Basaqastan region. Most practitioners outside the country are part of the Basaqastanian diaspora. Numerically, it is the largest religion in Liberto-Ancapistan, followed by Santian Folk Religion and Christianity. Aspects of Bowism have been incorporated into the Basaqastanian Christian tradition Nivin Christianity.

Beliefs

Cosmology and Bow

The foundational feature of Bowism is the belief in a monotheistic, transcendent creator god, known as Bow. Bow was responsible for the creation of the Siyen Zindi, the world inhabited by humanity and all life, from a lifeless exterior world, Netem. Most Bowist schools hold the nature of Bow to be fundamentally creative, with the creation of the Siyen Zindi an act of creativity, rather than something with a specific moral or material purpose. Bow has no mateiral presence within the Siyen Zindi, and is thus invisible and imperceptible to its inhabitants. However, different parts of Bow's being are held to manifest themselves individually within the Siyen Zindi as Siyenidi, where they act as independent beings with their own personalities and desires. Siyenidi have differing levels of benevolence and connections to the Siyen Zindi's inhabitants, without the driving creativity of Bow.

The universe in Bowism is divided into the Siyen Zindi, the world of life created by Bow, and Netem, a larger, lifeless expanse. In some schools, notably Kevirozian Bowism, the contents of Netem are thought to be unknowable, and thus its lifeless nature is held only as a presumption. The makeup and fundamental being of the Siyen Zindi is thought to be similar to that of Netem, with the exception of the life-giving substance of water, held to be an essential component of life created by Bow exclusively within the Siyen Zindi.

Within Bowism, a distinction is made between the material and the divine, with the former acting as the fundamental matter of the universe and the latter a product of Bow's divinity. All life possesses a soul independent of the material body, imbued by Bow, who is wholly divine and lacks a material basis. The souls of all life, whether in a human, animal or eriden, are held to be fundamentally similar, based on the original divine spirit of Bow themself. As a result, all life is held to possess intelligence and wisdom, though this may be used or developed in different ways. In the Kevirozian school of Bowism, as well as other prominent schools, the soul is considered immortal, with the death of the body resulting the emergence of the human soul as an eriden.

Siyenidi and eriden

All forms of Bowism involve belief in eriden and the Siyenidi of Bow, which together form the primary focus of Bowist ritual. Siyenidi are worldly manifestations of parts of Bow's being, while eriden are forms of life created by Bow with a variable or partial material basis, giving them a greater dependence on their divine aspects. Both are appealed to by Bowists in their worship.

Siyenidi, as constituents of Bow, hold immense power and wisdom, and may greatly shape the world with the acceptance of Bow as a whole. Unlike eriden, they do not permenantly exist in the Siyen Zindi, and can be appealed to from any geographic location. Siyenidi occupy a similar space to polytheistic gods, and are associated with specific names, appearances, personalities and mythologies, though these are only rarely held to be entirely true. Most Bowist schools do not identify a specific number of Siyenidi, though some are more widely appealed to than others. As Siyenidi have the wisdom of Bow, they are almost the exclusive focus of Bowist divination. The most well-known Siyenidi of Bow are Paleyî (transl. "Harvest"), associated with luck and agriculture, and the Mirovê Stêran (transl. "Man of the Stars"), associated with prophecy.

Eriden, unlike Siyenidi, are independent beings created by Bow, with many Bowist schools holding them to be souls separated from their former material bodies by death. They are distinguished by their inconsistent materiality and greater emphasis on divinity and magic in comparison to material life. Like Siyenidi, eriden have no fixed form and may influence the material world, but vary in their actual abilities and lack the wisdom afforded to Bow. They are usually restricted to a single geographic location, and exist in unknowably large numbers. As the divine can influence the material, but the material cannot influence the divine, human interaction with eriden primarily takes the form of appeals. While eriden are less powerful, benevolent and wisdomful than Siyenidi, most Bowists believe that they are much more likely to answer appeals. Many eriden are though to be actively malevolent, and have historically been blamed for natural disasters including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Their danger can be reduced by giving offerings or calling upon a more powerful benevolent eriden to expel them from an area.

Practices

Bowism is generally focused on ritual rather than religious doctrine, to the extent where it is often difficult to distinguish between Bowist customs and wider Basaqastanian customs.

Religious structures

Most Bowist ritual worship is centred around religious structures, subcategorised into shrines and temples. These are separated by the presence of a shrine-keeper, or priest, and typically other religious staff, in a temple, and the lack of such in a shrine. There are up to 60,000 public shrines in Liberto-Ancapistan, ranging from temples with multi-building complexes to small canopied platforms.Traditionally, shrines and temples are dedicated to a single local eriden or Siyenidi of Bow, but larger temples may have a broader dedication or multiple patrons.

All shrines involve a canopy, even if the they do not take the form of full buildings. This is typically made of stone, and supported on at least two sides. On either side of the gate of a shrine or temple are two stone steles, on which the original dedication of the shrine is inscribed. In most shrines, especially those more than two centuries old, this dedication is written in the old Nivin script, which has fallen out of use in most Basaqese writing. The interior of a shrine is centred around a pool of water, beneath a hole in the canopy used to allow rainwater inside. In a small shrine, this may simply be a wooden bowl. The pool is used exclusively for divination, and other messages from divine sources. Around the bowl are raised platforms for the placement of offerings.

Offerings take the form of anything considered to be valuable by Bowists, though food is by far the most common offering and individual eriden are traditionally held to have certain preferences. Most offerings take the form of fruit or prepared meat - historically, animals have been killed and presented on-site in temples and larger shrines, but this has fallen out of common practice. Some Bowists will leave a note or whisper their requests to eriden, but others believe that this is not a requirement.