Astąhvism

Astąhvism (Veltrian: Apšvietimas meaning "Illumination," or alternatively Apšviedeivas meaning "Those who are seen by God") is a monotheistic religion based on the theological teachings of the Prophet Salhim of Serephai, chronicled in the primary Astąhvist holy text, the Atklāsma (“Revelation”). With almost 782 million followers worldwide (primarily concentrated on the continent of Aslaria), Astąhvism is the third largest religious movement on earth, and the oldest organized religious movement currently in active, widespread practice - tracing its lineage back to the early Amlaíite Dominion in the 5th century B.C.E.

While various Astąhvist sects have developed a variety of spiritual traditions and principles, followers of the “Illuminated Faith” generally believe in a single, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and benevolent creator deity (referred to as Astąh by worshipers) who sustains all existence, and has guided humanity over the ages through a succession of prophets and revealed scriptures. For most of their history, the largest and oldest Astąhvist sects have professed beliefs in a final judgment of the soul after death, the divine gift of free will, salvation through penitence and deeds, and a divinely “ordered purpose” for humankind. Most have also embraced (with a few notable exceptions) an understanding of the afterlife ordered around the importance of individual righteousness – with the virtuous rewarded in an eternal union with Astąh in paradise (Shai’al), and the immoral suffering an eternal separation from the Creator in Inanis (the “void,” “divide”). Practitioners of Astąhvism are referred to as “Astąhvists,” and less often (in the Isransid denomination), “Astąhiri”.

Surviving historical accounts of Astąhvism's origin date back as far as the early 5th century B.C.E., depicting a movement that emerged out of widespread discontent with the complex and increasingly cumbersome pantheon of the rapidly expanding Amlaíite Dominion.

Almar Salhim (XXX-XXX B.C.E.), a high priest of Ianis (the Amlaíite god of doors, transitions, beginnings, and endings) in the holy city of Serephai, was one of several religious reformers to emerge in the early Dominion period. According to Astąhvist tradition, the “Creator” – Astąh – revealed the “truth of His singular divinity and the Order of His universe” to Salhim in a series of encounters and visions, which in turn became the foundations for Salhim’s ministry and writings as the first Astąhvist Prophet. Though initially persecuted by the Amlaíite state, Salhim’s movement and its message of universal salvation and individual accountability to the divine converted widespread portions of the Dominion’s growing population, and eventually supplanted the polytheistic pantheon. Swearing allegiance to an unbroken line of Prophets following Salhim, the early Magisterial teachers (“Skolotāi”) and Apostles (“Apustuli”) of the early Astąhvist faith convened a series of councils throughout the late 4th century – which established general principles of the faith (like the unitary nature of Astąh) and expelled "unorthodox" movements from the wider Magisterium.