Kāichrén Folk Religion

The Kāichrén Folk Religion, also known as the Origin Faith (Hiakemirian Constructed Language: Kigen no Shinkō) is a religion originating amongst ethnic-Kāichrén groupings in both the territory of what was Jungg'o and upon the Nán Yánshēn. It is regarded as the indigenous and, to an extent "natural" religion of the Nán Yánshēn, and for an enduring period of time was the primary religion of such - until the colonial period, which would see its practitioners associate with other religious which had developed a reputation of support for the colonial occupation, and as such it became gradually less and less popular amongst the populace. Cultural traditions from the religion continue to exist into the modern period in a secular context, and within the Exiled Kāichrén grouping the religious has continued to be practiced in an altered fashion. The general term for a practitioner of the KFR is a Kigenist, with the associated label of "Kigenism" sometimes being used as a shorthand.

Kigenism is, as a religion, both Polytheistic and Autotheistic, believing that numerous "little gods", or Chīshinsei exist - covering almost every action that could be taken in life, and possessing both malevolent and benevolent characteristics. While the Chīshinsei do not inhabit the world at all times, by taking actions favorable them it was believed one could "mantle" (the technical term, Ōu, also has implications of being covered or enveloped by the Chīshinsei) the deity (becoming closer to said deity through mantling them), and through such gain the ability to accomplish whatever goal they called upon the deity in question for. Public worship was generally saved for large-scale festivals or in relation to the starting or ending of a conflict, involving sacrifices of both personal items of note and favorable crops and meat portioned equally, in an attempt to gain favor with the majority of the Chīshinsei at once. Private worship was usually focused on a small spectrum of the divinities, whom would have a room dedicated to a shrine and some items of favor.

Kigenism can be argued to have emerged around 230BCE, around the time of the Bun'ya Wars, emerging as a more acceptable religion than the previously-dominant Jungg'oan faith of the period. It would fracture greatly throughout history, with the most notable conflict being between supporters of State Kigenism, a state-focused attempt at "centralizing" the faith developed during the Sabi Republic, and those variants of the faith which had pursued limited fusionism with the Kylarnatian religion of the Sacerdotium. In the modern period, it is primarily descendants of the Sacerdotium-favoring segment of the religion who continue to practice such, owing to State Kigenism collapsing as a result of the collapse of the Sabi Republic.

Definition

While a universally-agreed upon definition of Kigenism was pursued during the period of State-Fusionist struggle, it was never successfully achieved owing to internal dissent. As it currently stands, the best definition for Kigenism is that of one who believes in and attempts to mantle the Chīshinsei when faced with a struggle, or at least pays reverence to them in some fashion. It has sometimes also been extended to include following of festivals or other organized worship events, although this has been controversial amongst groupings who lack the funds to make sufficient offerings.

Terms and Practitioners

A major role in Kigenism is that of the Chīshinsei no Utsuwa - or "Vessels of the Little Gods" - individuals who did their level best to mantle the majority of the little gods at one time, accomplished through journeying throughout the continent of Hiakemiria and linking themselves to what were perceived as key locations where the little gods expressed themselves. These wandering figures would provide aid and advice to members of the communities they wandered through, similtaneously spreading the faith as they deepened their own understanding of such. Additionally, they would often establish small shrines in these communities.

While the ideal of Kigenism was for all of its truest practitioners to be involved in the journeying process, this was realized to be relatively unreasonable - especially for those practitioners of an elderly age or those possessed by sickness. With this in mind, it became general tradition for these members of the faith to become involved in the organizing and upkeep of a larger shrine - training future journeyers, tending to injured or sick individuals in surrounding communities, and storing and passing down knowledge on religious minutiae or other points which could assist in journeying.

Beliefs

Theology

As mentioned, Kigenism is both polytheistic and autotheistic, believing that one could become closer in nature to one of the Chīshinsei, and thus closer in nature to the little divinities, by mantling them. The Chīshinsei are capable of both malevolence and benevolence, and are in many ways similar to humanity - excluding their connection to a work or path in life which they perform to an extent far greater than any human. There are an infinite number of Chīshinsei, but 600 were commonly (in the sense of general knowledge) referred to or worshipped, while the remainder mainly existed to serve edge cases or fields which were not covered by previous Chīshinsei.

The Chīshinsei are not regarded as omnipresent, omniscient, or immortal, a series of traits which have historically caused issues with syncretism, with even important members of the 600 grouping being supplanted over time when divinities representing the character of the nation better than they were capable of emerged. The Chīshinsei have been venerated since the early history of the Yanshen, with the first recorded signs emerging around 1750BCE. Objects inhabited by Chīshinsei were said to exist, but were destroyed upon the death of their owner to allow for the Chīshinsei to return to a state of freedom and communion with nature.

Mantling

The secondary major belief of Kigenism is that it is possible to "mantle" a Chīshinsei - becoming closer to such through incorporating aspects of the Chīshinsei in one's daily life or activities. It was expected that mantling would occur in an on-and-off variable process, owing to the fact that the majority of practitioners were not in an active enough state to constantly have the capacity to engage in mantling. With this stated, it was still expected that offerings would be given to those who were most commonly mantled by an individual, in an act of reverence for that figure and as a way to thank them for providing the capacity to be mantled.

The Utsuwa, the most dedicated practitioners of Kigenism, did not have this understanding - their role was to dedicate themselves to the process of mantling the vast majority of the Chīshinsei at once, in order to be spiritually pure enough to fulfill the role they had placed upon themselves. Failing to do this, or mantling one Chīshinsei for too long a period, was seen as a viable reason for communal censure and the demanding of verbal penance.

Afterlife

It was believed that the dead, upon the end of their lives, would wander the world for a fair period of time - working through issues which had existed in their lives and watching over their relatives for a number of generations, before eventually becoming one of the Chīshinsei themselves given enough time. These spirits were not considered harmful, and gifts of fruit or other materials would sometimes be placed in specialized shrines for them by members of the family.

Kigenism did not believe in the existence of "sin" as a negative action - owing to the nature of the Chīshinsei incorporating the capacity for malevolence as well as good. It was believed that indulgence in negative actions was necessary to be a completed human being, and that rejecting such would be equivalent to shutting out a key part of the nature of the Chīshinsei. With this in mind, there was however a belief in the avoidance of long-term "impurity" (Gaidoku), which would poison the mind against the proper following of Chīshinsei if indulged in for too long. The means to remove Gaidoku were through communication with Utsuwa, renewal of belief in more positively-associated Chīshinsei, and the elimination of actions which brought excessive Gaidoku (such as murder, with soldiers being historically associated with Gaidoku to a great extent).

Morality, Philosophy, Ethics

Kigenism does not take an overt moral stance on many issues, but instead prioritizes, in general, the health of the community over that of the individual - alongside associating the purification of Gaidoku through the means of speaking with others, compromising on key issues, and working to bolster both yourself and the community at once. Additionally noted is a belief that thankfulness as a whole is a virtue in some sense, although this is not the most crucial aspect of Kigenism.

In the sense of morality relating to relationships as a whole, it is believed that sexual and romantic relations between individuals of same or differing sexes are equally natural - and that such relationships should hold greater value than any other form of loyalty to another, including familial or loyalty-based bonds. To some extent it was believed that holding the capacity to experiment with the personal role of an individual in the gendered sense provided one with the capacity to mantle the Chīshinsei to a greater extent - which played a role in the Utuwa generally presenting in a gender-ambiguous fashion.

Practices

"Priesthood" / Chīshinsei no Utsuwa

The Utsuwa played two major roles in the Kigenist religious structure - the young and capable being those who would travel across the land to develop their understanding of the Chīshinsei, while the elderly and less-capable would play the role of holding shrines, training practitioners, and building a rapport between Kigenism and the town surrounding them. There were several distinctions within the Utsuwa - including the Seshū-Teksuwa, who were hereditary practitioners of the Chīshinsei, and the Tetsuya-Utsuwa, younger practitioners who watched over shrines upon the death of an elder shrinekeeper until one could be provided to replace them. Some Tetsuya-Utsuwa would be direct descendants of the shrinekeeper, who would not go on a journey or be replaced, but instead go through the recorded library of the elder shrinekeeper to learn their personal knowledge and take up their role.

This hereditary aspect was distinctly controversial throughout history, owing to beliefs that it was more proper for the descendants of practitioners to be removed from the influence of their ancestors in order to have a more completely developed system of personal belief - but issues with transport and the lack of capacity to staff every shrine without some level of support made these dissenters unable to enact policy on the matter. It was generally expected that relationships would form amongst journeymen Utsuwa, and these pairings were often encouraged to travel with one another.

To become a practitioner, one had to study with a veteran Utsuwa for an approximate four years, learning the basics of the channeling process and how to elaborate on their personal faith. Additionally, it was expected that they would do work around the shrine for the period of their studying.