Badi

Badi is a religion which reveres knowledge and holds that the world is composed of fundamental and holy essences or elements. It originated out of the organisation of traditional beliefs in central Dezevau in the mid-first millennium CE, and is today the most practiced religion in Dezevau, Cavunia and xxx, with notable minorities in xxx, xxx, and xxx. The Association of Badi Churches estimates around xx million around the world follow it.

Elemental theory

Similar to some other cultures' conceptions of the natural world, Badi holds that everything can be reduced to its component, indivisible parts. This was historically held literally, but has shifted to a more conceptual, metaphorical ideal with the advent of modern chemistry.

These basic elements are thought to be divine in nature, their physical forms the essence of a higher entity which tends to be conceived of as sentient but not human-like; all existence is thought of as a manifestation of these forms, with one embodying each element, and to a limited extent possible to interact with, perhaps even influence or contact. Their characters tend to be based on the understanding of the associated earthly element; for example, the fire elemental being is conceived of as energetic and destructive.

The conceptualisation of the basic elements developed over time, and varied in different areas which had different exposures to certain schools of thought. Generally speaking, over time, more elements were discovered. Experimentation and research, of a kind, were conducted by religious practitioners to solve or understand the elemental nature of the world, though changes in the widely held doctrine tended to be slow and rare. In the modern day, the Association of Badi Churches has standardised the essences, though some disagree with its standardisation.

The Association of Badi Churches standardised elements are:

• Water
• Heat, or fire
• Oxygen, or breathable air (typically referred to as air)
• Non-breathable air (typically referred to as gas)
• Silicon, sand, stone or rock (non-metallic, non-soluble minerals generally)
• Metal
• Oil
• Time
• Movement
• Wood, or vegetation
• Meat, or animal
• Lightning, or electricity
• Light
• Sound
• Salt

Human beings are more or less conceived of as being a particularly remarkable, diverse, refined combination and configuration of the elements; lifeforms in general are conceived of in much the same way, to a lesser extent.

Practice

Badi churches in the modern day tend to have weekly gatherings; because the seven-day week was not native to the region where Badi originated, the traditional day of gathering varies geographically. These gatherings involve study of doctrine, socialisation with members of the community, doing good deeds in the community and other activities organised by priests. While historically they were more structured, they today tend to begin with a single service before rituals and activities are conducted in smaller, variable groups.

Some of the activities traditionally part of gatherings or outside of them include experimentation, the writing of texts, the reading of texts, discussion and doing work in the community. Experimentation was much more common before modern science, as it was seen to be familiarising adherents with the divine nature of the world; it was not conducted in the way familiar to the modern scientific method. The writing and reading of texts are seen in a similar light, but also often incorporate fiction or mystic texts, which were seen to relate to the unveiling of the unknown parts of the world; dreams are considered holy for this same reason. Discussion tends to be of texts or religiously relevant matters, such as dreams or experiences.

While not necessarily based in a secure or traditional theoretical doctrine, religious organisations and gatherings today tend to place emphasis on doing good in the world; in the past, this may have been more directly relevant to religious matters, such as preaching, helping other adherents or the church, or spreading education, today this has broadened to community service more generally, in accordance with the communitarian realignment of Badi after its crisis of modernity and collapse in the mid 20th century.

Distribution

Badi has x% in Dezevau, blah blah blah

History

Badi as an organised religion originated around the middle of the first millennium CE in the city-states of central Dezevau. Fetishist and other materialistic, mysticist religious practices dominated the region as well as most of neighbouring Bahia at this time; however, unlike in Bahia, large, agricultural city-states had appeared in Dezevau. Some had been founded in religiously significant locations, while in others the priesthoods gained influence through other means. In any case, superstitious practices and generally accepted ideas about the world began to be codified and organised, with a priest class developing to oversee and understand these things.

The city-states of the time tended to have relatively egalitarian cultures; this fostered a more widespread participation in religious practices, and doctrines tended to reflect, in a sense, common sense. They also tended not to be dogmatic, but changed as technology developed and conditions changed; for example, it is likely that the greater presence of oils in the economy caused by development enabled oil to become an element, rather than being considered part of water.

Over time, cities found themselves with one or a few temples which would collect from the populace or government to conduct rites and activities. The nature of the religion generally precluded them from having wider political influence, but rather these institutions had a stabilising, acculturating effect. Over time, they came to specialise, with, dependent on culture and history, certain temples being dedicated more to certain elements. This process was likely spurred by the economic interconnection of the region, enabling specialisation of a sort, and pilgrimage.

With the presence of influential scientist-priests from time to time, Badi took on an institutionalised shape. Conflicts arose over the validity of certain elements, as well as their powers and significances. Cities often adopted elements to invoke its qualities, either temporarily (say, during a famine or war) or permanently, which might be because of the city's location or cultural practices. This variation within a more widely accepted framework tended to promote smaller conflicts between the Dezevauni city-states, but were robust enough to resist foreign practices which began to appear on the scene, notably Satyism earlier on, and Irfan later on.

In later antiquity, the religion spread with the cultural and economic influence of the Dezevauni city-states. Its nature allowed for syncretism, and it was also promoted where Dezevauni conquered foreign lands; it, in a sense, replaced the traditional agricultural smallholder fabric of state where it did not exist for Dezevauni regimes. Most significantly, Cavunia became majority Badi, but the religion's pragmatic practices saw it spread and seem compatible in a much wider sphere.

Incursions by Ndjarendie from the north in the medieval era as well as the continued spread of Satyism hemmed the religion's spread in. Later, colonial Gaullica would aggressively attempt to convert Dezevau to Sotirian Catholicism. However, it remained a dominant religion, losing ground during centralised Bureau for Southeast Coius rule until it became a symbol of Dezevauni nationalism.

During he 20th century, however, around the time of Dezevauni independence and afterwards, it went through somewhat of a collapse in its exposure to modern science. The rapid expansion of the periodic table and the introduction of secular ideologies from much more developed societies saw the followers of Badi plunge in number, some saying it would be extinct in a generation. However, the establishment of the Association of Badi Churches saw a greater level of institutional control and organisation, and the reorientation of the faith towards community gathering and engagement rather than its older doctrines. The government of Dezevau also to some extent, generally only implicitly, approved of the religion; while earlier on, the communist policy was that religion was essentially cultural foible and incompatible with scientific socialism, later postcolonial thought considered it a distinctively local type of culture, and preferable to imperialistic religions such as Catholicism.