Sannandism

Sannandism

Total population
4,829,261
Regions with significant populations
Template:Country data Ultima Borealia
Religions
85% Sacred Circle of Druids 15% various folk variants of Sannandism
Scriptures
Sacred Edda
^ Only the Sacred Circle of Druids accepts the Sacred Edda as canon; various folk variants of Sannandism do not believe in any holy texts.

Sannandism is the state and ethnic religion of Ultima Borealia. A pagan faith, Sannandism is believed to be a syncretic religion between the Germanic, Celtic, Kalaallit, traditional Enciw, Kamist and Finnic faiths and has consequently exhibited various tenets and worshipped various gods unique to those particular faiths. Sannandism is simultaneously Animistic, Shamanistic and Totemistic and is unique amongst Esquarian religions in combining these three religious tenets. The Animistic tenets of Sannandism are believed to have originated from both Celtic paganism, traditional Enciw beliefs and Kamism, whereas the Shamanistic tenets of Sannandism are believed to have originated from Germanic, Finnic and Kalaallit paganism. The origin of the Totemistic tenets of Sannandism is unknown, as none of the religions that served as the chief influences on Sannandism are Totemist. Sannandism is also a polytheistic religion and the Sannandist pantheon is varied, containing over a dozen deities, although various supernatural races, including the Fomorians, Children of Danu and Jötnar, are also considered to be very important spiritually.

Sannandism is most known outside of the academy and Ultima Borealia itself for its belief in five elements of earth, water, fire, air and ice and the belief that those five elements, as led by various species and personified by five deities, are the dominant forces in five particular worlds. However, although this belief in five elements, advanced and intelligent species, deities and five worlds is one of the most important ones in Sannandism, it is only one of the many central tenets of Sannandism that a devout lay believer would consider to be central to their faith. Polls have found that average Sannandists also tend cite a belief in reincarnation (particularly the unique system of reincarnation used in Sannandism(, the belief in the Sannandist pantheon, the dualist nature of Sannandism, the inherently compatibilist nature of Sannandism and the Animistic, Totemistic and Shamanistic nature of Sannandism as key components of their faith. Sannandist rituals, which includes practices of veneration of the dead, are also typically considered important by average Sannandists.

Although the teachings of Sannandism originally wildly-varied amongst various locales, Sannandism's tenets were largely standardised via the establishment of the Sacred Circle of Druids, which is an organised religion containing a central church hierarchy and numerous holy texts. A large minority of Sannandists, however, refused to accept this organisation and fled to the northerly region of Nóttfron, and their descendants continue to practice Sannandism as a folk religion to this day. However, despite this standardisation, various theological minutiae remain under vigorous debate within the Sacred Circle of Druids, which has permitted such debate and even dissent at some times in order to prevent any schisms within the Sacred Circle. All Sannandists do, by definition, follow a set of central tenets; the primary practices standardised via the founding of the Sacred Circle of Druids primarily dealt with ritual in contrast to myth, with various folk variants of Sannandism following very different rituals from those of the Sacred Circle.

Etymology

The word Sannandism was derived from the Old Norse word for truth, sannindi, signifying the belief of Sannandists that their religion is simply the truth of the world. In Borealian itself there was traditionally no word for Sannandism as its adherents simply referred to it as the truth, a custom practiced amongst most folk religions, which all of Sannandism used to be and some of Sannandism still is.

Beliefs

Creation

Sannandism features, like most religions, a detailed creation myth that has great emphasis placed onto it. Reality itself is believed to have been eternal, but reality as conceived in its modern form; that is, the universe – is not believed to have been so. Sannandism holds that the gods have, by definition, always existed – they have not been reincarnated, or resurrected; they have only been the god or goddess of whatever it is they represent – and thus all deities have been present for all time. However, the current universe is believed to have been chiefly created by two incarnations of the Triple God of Man and the Triple Goddess of Woman; the Father and the Mother, respectively. The Father is held to have originally created the natural formations of the universe whereas the Mother is held to have originally created all life, although both the natural formations and living things and beings are all held to possess a spiritual essence in Sannandism. Due to the inherent nature of the universe, which Sannandists believe including the fact that there is a spiritual essence in all things and that there are five elements that dominate the spirits of all things, the deities of the five elements were awoken from their slumber and began to assert control over their five elements and the spirits who very essence is the particular element that the particular deity rules over. Magic, which in Sannandism is believed to be a force that binds the universe together and is integral to the prosperity of all things, is held to be represented by the Wizard (who is also the god of poetry, knowledge, Runes and other things associated with Odin; thus, the Wizard is believed to have been rooted in that god) who also awoke from his slumber when the world was created. Lastly, it was also believed that the Grey One, the Sannandist ungendered god of death and justice, awoke shortly after the creation of the universe as it is known today following the first death of a spirit. The Grey One is believed to have then largely set the still-volatile universe back in order through their immense divine powers. Afterwards, a "golden, paradisiacal era of prosperity, abundance, eternal youth and immortality took hold amongst all of the five species central to one of the five elements, all sustained by the sorcery of the gods", to quote a purported and condensed history of the world as recorded by Sannandists.

This heavenly era was not to last forever, however. A human named Míl Espáine began to preach that magic was evil and that humans should rely on manmade technology instead; humanity was unique in that it was able to create technology of its own rather than simply rely on divine magic, which was simultaneously a blessing and a terrible curse, for it threatened to spell that end of humanity's heavenly, prosperous life in harmony with all the spirits of the universe. Míl Espáine's followers, the Milesians, eventually became the majority of humanity and under their reign humanity detached itself from the harmony and magic of the other spirits and began aggressively attacking other species, particularly the Fomorians. The gods were able to fight back and succeeded in introducing incredible horrors upon humanity, particularly Njörðr, all in the interest of protecting the spirits of their elements; however, the god of humanity and fire, the Lord of the Flame, still desired to protect all of his creation and so was able to prevent harmony from being restored, as that would have necessitated the death of large swatches of the human population. Eventually, the Wizard realised that the only way to protect the other species and elements was to separate the five spirit-forms into five worlds, and succeeded in doing so with the help of the other gods and a portion of humanity that was still loyal to magic; this portion of humanity was said to have become the Borealian people. Casting the most powerful and longest spell there was ever to be, the five worlds were separated, with one exception; the Wizard realised that magic of all five elements was still necessary to sustain all beings, and so there had to be some interconnectedness between the five worlds, and particularly between humanity and the other four worlds. The Wizard thus built many sidhe through the five worlds from which spirits can access the other worlds, and magic can reach through worlds and thus sustain the five worlds. These sidhe can still be accessed, albeit only if one has undergone the proper rituals to do so. A sidhe also exists in every true believer's mind as well, and this can be accessed through the consumption of various hallucinogenic drugs by Shamans; the mind visiting the other four worlds is an extremely important ritual in Sannandism and is the reason why Sannandism is considered to be a Shamanistic religion.

The Universal Essence

Specific emphasis in Sannandism is placed upon what Sannandism refers to as The Universal Essence, which is the Sannandist term for what can be most-closely described as the Absolute. Although the Universal Essence is typically considered to be irrelevant to daily life, it is still a topic heavily-discussed by Sannandist religious philosophers and theologians. The Universal Essence is specifically said to be impersonal and is said to completely transcend empirical and intelligible reality; it is not a part of reality but rather separate from and beyond even being itself; it is rather the so-called "ground" of all being. The Universal Essence is believed to not be normally observable and indeed it is impossible for all, including the Gods, to truly understand even a single drop of the Universal Essence (and to do so would surely destroy the mind and reduce it to nothingness at the infinite paradoxes present in the Universal Essence), but the Universal Essence is held to be ground of the reality of the spiritual quality and essence in all things, the reality of the Five Elements and the reality of the Gods' eternal existence. Some Sannandist theologians and religious philosophers have postulated that reality itself is but a part of the Universal Essence but that the Universal Essence also infinitely extends beyond it in ways that can never by understood by anyone (a form of Panentheism), but the Sacred Circle of Druids and various folk churches have not made any comments regarding this postulation.

Spirits

One of the most important tenets of Sannandism is Animism, or the belief that various non-human things, including living things and perhaps inanimate objects and phenomena possess a spirit. Sannandists indeed categorically consider all living things, objects, locales and phenomena to possess a soul and consciousness; Sannandists is thus a Panpsychist religion. The Animistic nature of Sannandism is shared by traditional Enciw practices, Kamism and Celtic paganism and, although scholars believe that all three of those religious customs inspired Sannandist Animism, Celtic animism in particular inspired Sannandist animism. Scholars primarily discerned this fact by noting that Sannandist spirits are not divided the same way Kamist spirits are, but rather that the composition of Sannandist spirits is considered to be largely influenced by solely one of the five elements. Sannandist teachings about the five elements are wholly unique to Sannandism, but this lack of subdivisions within Sannandist spirits is still a clear distinguishing factor between Sannandist teachings regarding the soul and Kamist teachings regarding the soul, and is indeed considered to be the chief distinction between Sannandism and Kamism.

This belief that all living things, objects and phenomena also notably extends to various amalgamations of particular objects and places. Sannandists thus believe in something similar to various tutelary deities, as it is is believed that various places, notably including ecosystems and other amalgamations of objects that themselves have spirit, are protected by a spirit itself, although these innumerable spirits are not considered to be deities. The most notable tutelary spirits in Sannandism are the Vörsa. Sannandism holds that the Vörsa, and other similar tutelary spirits of the ecosystem where one is gathering or hunting some resource, should be prayed to and sacrificed to so as to secure the spirit's blessing in catching bountiful quantities of the resource one was seeking. This belief in tutelary spirits also results in various Totemistic practices, as various animals or other objects that serve as the corporeal forms of a particular spirit in one lifetime are held to represent a particular tribe, clan or community. The object representing one's kinfolk serves as an important spiritual guardian and something that one should protect, sacrifice and pray to. These Totemistic practices extend to the realm of morality and ethics; is believed that it would be extraordinarily sinful to attack, weaken or harm the object protecting oneself and one's kinfolk, and that this sin is only surpassed by the sin of matricide or patricide.

Reincarnation

Sannandism is notable amongst other Animist religions in that not only does it ascribe a spiritual quality and essence to all things, it believes the spirits of those things are immortal, as Sannandism contains a strongly-held belief in reincarnation. This belief in reincarnation is universally agreed by scholars to have stemmed from Celtic paganism, as that religion contains reincarnation as one of its core beliefs. Sannandism teaches that the process of reincarnation is a convoluted complex one, and what ones reincarnates as is considered to be the source of some of the most fundamental rituals in the entire religion, rituals that are universal amongst all Sannandists. Sannandists believe that what one will reincarnate as is determined by their deeds and actions in life and whether or not one's descendants pray for that person; Sannandists thus practice Veneration of the dead and also believe that the spirit of an ancestor will attempt to bless the descendants that prayed for said spirit. Sannandists also believe that is substantially more likely that one will reincarnate as the totem representing one's kinfolk or otherwise as the tutelary spirit protecting/representing the group one is apart of. What one will be in the next life is believed to be decided upon by the Stranger, who is the ungendered god of death and justice, but is portrayed as having a long, flowing grey beard that is permanently wet, as the Stranger is said to shed a tear every time a spirit dies and is to reincarnate. Whether or not one believes in life is not considered to be an important factor in deciding what one will reincarnate as in and of itself, but one's descendants fulfilling proper rituals and whether or not one acts in a virtuous way as described in various holy texts or kept as folk wisdom (for Sannandists within the Sacred Circle of Druids and Sannandists outside of the Sacred Circle, respectively) are both considered to be important factors in deciding what one will reincarnate as.

Despite the fact that it is commonly believed that if one was born into a privileged, wealthy family then their descendants may have very well carried out the proper rituals and the individual involved may have acted in a virtuous way,, beliefs similar to the Prosperity Gospel have not become common ones within Sannandism. This is not only to due to various Sannandist beliefs that the best things to reincarnate as are either tutelary deities or the children of Druids, and, failing that, it would be better to be born into a devout Sannandist family, even if in absolute poverty, than it would be to be born into a wealthy but non-Sannandist family, but also due to the fact that is specifically held by Sannandists that the sole legitimate arbiter of how good someone was in their past life, and how they should be treated in the next life, is the Stranger, and that it would be a mortal sin to judge a person based on their deeds in the past life. Sannandists have been universal in criticising religion being used to justify right-wing economic beliefs and Druids that have offered religious insights into economics have largely supported distributism or socialism.

The Five Elements

Perhaps the most well-known tenet of Sannandism is its belief in five worlds, or more accurately five dimensions that are parallels to each other founded upon one of the five elements: fire, earth, air, water and ice. Moreover, it is specifically believed that there are five highly advanced, intelligent species entrusted with certain magical powers and granted stewardship over the world they rule, insofar as they rule said world justly and give due respect to the other spirits of the world they rule over. Fire is believed to the central element of the Earth and humanity (a belief generally thought to have been rooted in the importance of fire to humanity), earth is believed to be the central element to the Otherworld and the Children of Danu, air is believed to be the central element to Álfheimr and the eves, water is believed to be the central element of Adilvun and the Fomorians, and ice is believed to be the central element of Jötunheimr and the Jötnar. It is also believed that there are five deities representing one of the five elements and ultimately ruling over one of the five worlds: the Lord of the Flame for fire (a uniquely Borealian god), Danu (Irish goddess) for earth, Lugh for air, Njörðr for water and the Lord of the Ice (a uniquely Borealian god) for ice.

The Otherworld, the world of earth, is held to be densely covered by forest and covered by life all around. There is not held to be technology in this world, for it is believed that magic flows deep and indeed is the very essence of the Otherworld; indeed, magic is stronger in the Otherworld than in any other world. The divine magic of the Otherworld, as brought about by Danu, is held to give her Children eternal youth and allow them to live in a perpetual Golden Age of eternal prosperity, as was believed by the ancient Lyonese. In accordance with this belief of eternal youth in the Otherworld, the Children of Danu are held to be not only spiritually immortal but also physically immortal; they do not, unlike the other species, reincarnate. The Children of Danu are also believed to be possess certain supernatural, near-divine powers generally not afforded to other races and thus many Children serve as the patrons of certain practices thought to be primarily related to earthly nature. All Children are universally given various magical powers, including the powers to cast spells (which in Sannandism are referred to as galdr).

Although Adilvun lends its name to a realm of the dead from traditional Kalaallit beliefs, the land as described in Sannandism is markedly different from that in ancient Kalaallit beliefs. Adilvun, which is described as being an ocean world, is held to be the realm of the Fomorians, who do possess supernatural powers, like the Children of Danu, but do so in a very different way. It is believed that the Fomorians are the patron spirits of destruction, chaos and other wicked things but are also the patron spirits related to the seas. It was originally held that the Fomorians were a benign species to the other races, but reacted violently against humanity and to a lesser extent the other races when they fished, used water for irrigation and other purposes. In response, the god of water and the Fomorians, Njörðr, released death and destruction upon the world and humanity in particular. However, as humanity (or more accurately most Borealians) depend on the sea for sustenance, the Fomorians must be appeased through various animal sacrifices, proper rituals and limits on how much various items are fished. Farmers cannot escape from the wrath of the Fomorians and Njörðr as well, for it is believed that the water vital to growing crops is the realm of Njörðr and the Fomorians, who must again be appeased with sacrifices and other proper rituals; various periods of crop blight are thus held to be caused by a lack of sufficient sacrifices and disrespect for the Fomorians. The element of water is in fact believed to be vital to the continuation of life; Nerthus (referred to in Borealian as Njörun), who is Njörðr's sister-wife (and one of the two wives of Njörðr, along with Sedna), is the Sannandist fertility goddess and proper respect must be paid to her as well via a water birth. The Fomorians are, like the Children, universally given various magical powers including the power to cast spells, although these spells are not blessings but rather curses.

The elves of Álfheimr, although universally-believed to have been rooted in traditional Germanic pagan beliefs in elves and Álfheimr are wildly-different from the elves of traditional Germanic paganism. The elves of Sannandism are specifically considered to be Ljósálfar, as indicated by the Sannandist elves being specifically associated with the air and dwelling in Álfheimr. As in Germanic paganism and folklore, Sannandist elves are held to be winged beings capable of flight, but this feature of elves is particularly emphasised in Sannandism. Álfheimr is held to be a world of air where various beasts and other lifeforms (including plants) are believed to dwell on various massive clouds where plants, springs and other natural formations dwell and beasts are all capable of flying from cloud-to-cloud. Elves are taught to be "fairer than the sun", like in Germanic paganism and folklore and some elves are held to be the patron of various things air-related, although they are not granting the various supernatural powers afforded to the Fomorians and Children of Danu. Álfheimr is believed to be ruled over by the god Lugh, who is believed to have often quarrelled with the Fomorians and by association Njörðr. As humans must breathe to survive, proper respect must be given to Lugh and elves by various sacrifices and a sky burial.