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Usilism

Usilism Usilismo (Maroudian)
A statue of Usil atop the Usileo Grand dule Naçonas, Farros
Type	Ethnic religion
Classification	Mystery cult
Scripture	Classics
Theology	Henotheistic
Origin	Maroudia
Members	XMILLION
Other name(s)	Solarianism, Sol worship, Usil worship

Usilism is a henotheistic religion centered on the worship of a solar deity typically known as Usil.

Today, Usilism is largely practiced in the northern and eastern parts of Maroudia, though significant communities exist across Veleda.

History

A classical depiction of a male Sol, Tombs of Gautecca, c. 1st century CE

Usilism as a religion found its origins in the Kastorian Empire of late antiquity. Intially, what is today known as Usilism was merely one of many cults of deity worship common across the !Mediterranean world. The first recognizable forms of Usil worship come from the XCENTURY, when Kastorian legionnaries in modern-day eastern Maroudia began constructing secret usilea (singular: usileum). This initial worship drew from disparate sources, namely a longstanding Rasnian cult of worship to a solar god of the same name. Being Kastorian troops, these initial worshippers brought elements of worship from across the empire to this faith, namely Gionian conceptualizations of a solar deity and how to worship one. Nevertheless, crucial Rasnian elements remained, such as the male and female facets of Usil and XYZ. The first usilea appear to have been secret affairs, though Usil worship at this time augmented, rather than conflicted with, the imperial cult of the time. The first century of Usil worship saw a limited spread across Kastorian lands; initial membership seems to have been restricted to an invitation basis, and the first members were solely imperial legionnaries. As Usil worship gained traction, the conservative imperial elite began to fear the implications of their military worshipping its own deity rather than giving primacy to the imperial cult. A brief wave of religious persecution followed, which saw Usil worship's influence wane dramatically; in the long term, however, those groups which remained had become more close-knit as a means of survival, ensuring that whatever survived the crackdown had a much more unified dogma than the disparate, unit-based worship of before.

As the Kastorian Empire entered its final decades, religious diversity increased rapidly and new religious movements competed to replace the cult of Dionysian worship and the near-singular grip it once had on public life. Usil worship saw its ranks similarly enlarge, with membership opened to men of high standing such as merchants, politicians and members of elite families. Usil worship reached wider segments of the Kastorian population, which began a second period of crackdown as more conservative emperors saw the threat of an Usil-worshipping empire as an existential threat. Unlike the first wave of persecution, the empire lacked the resources to suppress a more strengthened Usil worship. After a few short decades of half-hearted attempts at suppression, freedom of open worship for Usil devotees was secured by [SOME EDICT OR ANOTHER].

After the fall of the Kastorian Empire, numerous local leaders rushed to fill the power vacuum and claim legitimacy over former imperial provinces. In the decades following Kastorian withdrawal from Maroudia, the remnants of the !Etruscans were swiftly conquered by proto-Maroudian !Latin chieftains, ending their cultural independence and beginning their assimilation into Maroudian culture. In order to establish a sense of legitimacy, some Maroudian leaders adopted Kastorian stylings and titles to establish a sense of continuity. Among these, some went as far as to establish Usil worship as their main royal cult as a ready-made institution of state power. This official recognition, combined with the collapse of support for other deity cults at the same time, ushered in a period of dramatic transformation for the religion. Usilist temples were rapidly elevated in status from relatively minor and unrecognized mystery cults to being the main state-sponsored faith of numerous early medieval polities. As a result, a dramatic theological transformation took place in Usilism, seeing the role of other gods gradually diminish and a more involved and concrete theological tradition take shape. These changes may also have been inspired by the rising specter of Manichaeism, another religion which had begun arriving in force from trade routes to the east. Usilism, under the patronage of the early post-Kastorian monarchs, coalesced many diverse ideologies into several distinct schools of thought, often determined just as much by the state backing said school as by the convictions of its members.

Beliefs

The Usilism of today is by and large defined by its henotheism. While other gods do exist in the Usilist pantheon, they rarely (if ever) receive devotion in their own right—typically, these minor deities receive worship in the hopes of divine intercession with Usil on the subjects to which the minor god is associated. These supporting deities are rarely, if ever, canonized; some schools treat Usilism as effectively a monotheistic religion, while other worshippers will simply refer to local tradition when choosing which minor deities to uphold.

Usilism has been described as a highly transactional religion; good favor from Usil is expected in exchange for dutiful maintenance of the ritual calendar and a regular schedule of offerings. The height of the Usilist religious calendar is December 25th, the traditional festival of Usil's birthday. Derived from the Kastorian calendar date of the winter solstice, the holiday today (known as Çornu de Nadal in Maroudian) is the most important day of Usil worship. Typical means of celebration include donating alms to the poor, visiting temple ceremonies, and burning votive offerings such as wishes for the new year and prayers for Usil's good favor. Temple festivities often feature costumed pageants depicting myths and didactic fables, as well as the distribution of talismans to the faithful blessed through ritual purification in fire.

Direct prayers to Usil, done through ritual, are typically handled by temple priests. Prayer ceremonies outside of the typical prayer calendar are rare and saved for major events, such as before a local person's major surgery, or on behalf of groups on matters of state and communal importance. Membership in the temple staff remains on an invitation-only basis for the vast majority of Usilist temples. Typically, these temple priests will be community notables that work or volunteer part-time supervising rituals and maintaining the temple grounds. Some temples, especially famous ones, will solicit donations from visitors to support their upkeep. Outside of major festivals like Nadal, temples maintain the rituals deemed necessary to honor Usil on behalf of their local community. This is in contrast to domestic ritual worship, which often sees household shrines maintained through incense, candles, and other small offerings. These shrines will typically contain small heirlooms, photographs, or other trinkets of deceased ancestors alongside items venerating Usil.

Ritual theater plays a major role in Usilist temple practices... A consequence of Usilism's evolution as a state apparatus in the post-Kastorian period was the establishment of the priesthood as dispersers of mythic knowledge and keepers of folkloric stories.

[HOLY SITES, COMMUNAL MEALS]