Massanism: Difference between revisions
(Created page with "300px|thumb|right|A 10-pointed star with a gust of wind in the centre is the most common symbol of Itmassan-ddin. '''Itmassan-ddin''', or ''...") |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
Itmassan Faith has been practiced in some form by Amaziɣ people along the coast of the Periclean since at least the fifth millennium BCE. The faith was repressed under the Latin occupation from the first century BCE onward. Adherence to the core sect waned more heavily during the Azdarin conquests in the tenth century CE, though ''Ishnti n Bbalbhr'' (Children of the Ocean Father), a syncretic sect, gained relative prominence. In the latter centuries of Azdarin rulership and early Aɣmatian independence, the faith was increasingly reclaimed by the Amaziɣ population. | Itmassan Faith has been practiced in some form by Amaziɣ people along the coast of the Periclean since at least the fifth millennium BCE. The faith was repressed under the Latin occupation from the first century BCE onward. Adherence to the core sect waned more heavily during the Azdarin conquests in the tenth century CE, though ''Ishnti n Bbalbhr'' (Children of the Ocean Father), a syncretic sect, gained relative prominence. In the latter centuries of Azdarin rulership and early Aɣmatian independence, the faith was increasingly reclaimed by the Amaziɣ population. | ||
Worship in Itmassan Faith centres on prayer and reference of the {{wpl|Solar deity|sun}} and {{wpl|Veneration of the dead|ancestor spirits}}. Chief among these ancestor spirits is the [[Kaharna|Great Saint Kahina]], the legendary ancestor of all Amaziɣ people and the daughter of the sun. A particularly faithful, dutiful, or righteous ancestor may be venerated as a saint, or ''tmassa'', though all adherents of the faith are considered to become spirits and carry influence on the physical world after their deaths. Religious leaders are most often the eldest members of traditional clans and tribes. Younger members may rise to leadership positions if they are judged to have followed an accelerated path toward sainthood. | Worship in Itmassan Faith centres on prayer and reference of the {{wpl|Solar deity|sun}} and {{wpl|Veneration of the dead|ancestor spirits}}. Chief among these ancestor spirits is the [[Kaharna|Great Saint Kahina]], the legendary ancestor of all Amaziɣ people and the daughter of the sun. A particularly faithful, dutiful, or righteous ancestor may be venerated as a saint, or ''tmassa'', though all adherents of the faith are considered to become spirits and carry influence on the physical world after their deaths. Religious leaders are most often the eldest members of traditional clans and tribes. Younger members may rise to leadership positions if they are judged to have followed an accelerated path toward sainthood. An antagonistic figure, the Sulwr (stillness), exists in the faith and is relevant to both the {{wpl|cosmogony}} and {{wpl|eschatology}} of the faith, but has little bearing on daily worship and experience in the present for Itmassan faithful. | ||
==Beliefs== | ==Beliefs== | ||
===Core understandings=== | ===Core understandings=== | ||
Itmassan faithful believe that Mmafukt, the Sun, is the mother of all life and carries away the spirits of the dead into the wind. According to tradition, Kahina was born into the world to bring unity and peace. Kahina was born with a splinter of the Sun's soul in her body and passed the splinter on to her descendants - the Amaziɣ people. | |||
Following the path of great figures from the past, no ancestor spirits, leads a practitioner on a path to sainthood. A few select individuals who have emulated saints of the past and led righteous lives may be declared and accepted as saints within their lifetimes. The majority of saints are recognized after their deaths. Working towards sainthood is considered to elevate the spiritual health of an entire clan or kinship group. | |||
===Cosmogony=== | ===Cosmogony=== | ||
According to oral histories and stone tablets dated to the fifth millennium BCE, Mmafukt the Sun Mother lived together with Bbalbhr the Ocean Father and Xaliddunit the Earth Aunt/Uncle (Xaliddunit was genderless). One day, the Sulwr arrived and murdered Bbalbhr and Xaliddunit. Mmafukt escaped from the Sulwr and carried the souls of Bbalbhr and Xaliddunit away. After a long time, the two souls begged Mmafukt to return to their bodies to create the world and sacrifice their souls to create life which could protect Mmafukt and ward off the Sulwr. | |||
Mmafukt created a world from the body of Xaliddunit and the blood of Bbalbhr. She created all life both plant and animal. The first among all creatures were the humans. However, the first humans were territorial and warlike. They fought and killed one another and even their clans collapsed into infighting and kinslaying. Seeing that her creations would inevitably destroy themselves, she tore a splinter of her own sould away and created Kahina, her only child and daughter. | |||
Kahina united a great tribe and shed her blood into them, birthing the Amaziɣ peoples. After creating her people and leading them to survive the turbulent world, Kahina passed on to the spirit world where she resides as the greatest saint. Those of her bloodline who pass on from the physial world join her as spirits riding on the wind. Those who are not imbued with a splint of Mmafukt's soul are doomed to be enslaved and eaten by the Sulwr. | |||
===Eschatology=== | |||
According to later tablets from the first century CE, the end of the world will come about when the winds are so saturated with spirits that the planet is consumed by a massive vortex. All who remain will be carried away by the wind, led by the Great Saint Kahina, to become Itmassan or will fall to the Sulwr. All the Itmassan will do battle with the Sulwr and its slaves. After one thousand years of war, the Sulwr will be vanquished and its slaves will be freed. The spirit world will be united with the physical world and every generation will live in peaceful harmony with every preceding generation for eternity. | |||
===Roles of the Sun=== | |||
=== | ===Roles of ancestor spirits=== | ||
==Practices== | ==Practices== | ||
Revision as of 02:15, 14 April 2021
Itmassan-ddin, or Saints' Faith, is the traditional religion of northern Amaziɣ peoples, particularly in Aɣmatia. It is distinct from, but related to Kaharnism which is associated with the southern Amaziɣ peoples, or Tamashek, in Charnea. Kaharnism and Itmassan Faith share heliolatrous aspects and a founder ancestor figure in Kahina and Kaharna. However, there are major difference in cosmology and religious practices between the two faiths.
Itmassan Faith has been practiced in some form by Amaziɣ people along the coast of the Periclean since at least the fifth millennium BCE. The faith was repressed under the Latin occupation from the first century BCE onward. Adherence to the core sect waned more heavily during the Azdarin conquests in the tenth century CE, though Ishnti n Bbalbhr (Children of the Ocean Father), a syncretic sect, gained relative prominence. In the latter centuries of Azdarin rulership and early Aɣmatian independence, the faith was increasingly reclaimed by the Amaziɣ population.
Worship in Itmassan Faith centres on prayer and reference of the sun and ancestor spirits. Chief among these ancestor spirits is the Great Saint Kahina, the legendary ancestor of all Amaziɣ people and the daughter of the sun. A particularly faithful, dutiful, or righteous ancestor may be venerated as a saint, or tmassa, though all adherents of the faith are considered to become spirits and carry influence on the physical world after their deaths. Religious leaders are most often the eldest members of traditional clans and tribes. Younger members may rise to leadership positions if they are judged to have followed an accelerated path toward sainthood. An antagonistic figure, the Sulwr (stillness), exists in the faith and is relevant to both the cosmogony and eschatology of the faith, but has little bearing on daily worship and experience in the present for Itmassan faithful.
Beliefs
Core understandings
Itmassan faithful believe that Mmafukt, the Sun, is the mother of all life and carries away the spirits of the dead into the wind. According to tradition, Kahina was born into the world to bring unity and peace. Kahina was born with a splinter of the Sun's soul in her body and passed the splinter on to her descendants - the Amaziɣ people.
Following the path of great figures from the past, no ancestor spirits, leads a practitioner on a path to sainthood. A few select individuals who have emulated saints of the past and led righteous lives may be declared and accepted as saints within their lifetimes. The majority of saints are recognized after their deaths. Working towards sainthood is considered to elevate the spiritual health of an entire clan or kinship group.
Cosmogony
According to oral histories and stone tablets dated to the fifth millennium BCE, Mmafukt the Sun Mother lived together with Bbalbhr the Ocean Father and Xaliddunit the Earth Aunt/Uncle (Xaliddunit was genderless). One day, the Sulwr arrived and murdered Bbalbhr and Xaliddunit. Mmafukt escaped from the Sulwr and carried the souls of Bbalbhr and Xaliddunit away. After a long time, the two souls begged Mmafukt to return to their bodies to create the world and sacrifice their souls to create life which could protect Mmafukt and ward off the Sulwr.
Mmafukt created a world from the body of Xaliddunit and the blood of Bbalbhr. She created all life both plant and animal. The first among all creatures were the humans. However, the first humans were territorial and warlike. They fought and killed one another and even their clans collapsed into infighting and kinslaying. Seeing that her creations would inevitably destroy themselves, she tore a splinter of her own sould away and created Kahina, her only child and daughter.
Kahina united a great tribe and shed her blood into them, birthing the Amaziɣ peoples. After creating her people and leading them to survive the turbulent world, Kahina passed on to the spirit world where she resides as the greatest saint. Those of her bloodline who pass on from the physial world join her as spirits riding on the wind. Those who are not imbued with a splint of Mmafukt's soul are doomed to be enslaved and eaten by the Sulwr.
Eschatology
According to later tablets from the first century CE, the end of the world will come about when the winds are so saturated with spirits that the planet is consumed by a massive vortex. All who remain will be carried away by the wind, led by the Great Saint Kahina, to become Itmassan or will fall to the Sulwr. All the Itmassan will do battle with the Sulwr and its slaves. After one thousand years of war, the Sulwr will be vanquished and its slaves will be freed. The spirit world will be united with the physical world and every generation will live in peaceful harmony with every preceding generation for eternity.