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.