Four Apprentices

In Beoin theology and ecclesiology the Four Apprentices (also known as Four Magi) were the primary students of Beo according to the Diash and Silit'ena. During the life and ministry of Beo in the 1st century BCE, the Four Apprentices were his closest followers and became the primary teachers of the gospel message of Beo. There is some debate as to who the four were, although it is known, and stated in Beoin texts, that the Four Apprentices certainly included Gaspar, Karsudan, and Oraster. It is questioned whether the fourth was Armidas or Althea, a pair of twins who both followed Beo. The Verro Beoin Church recognizes it to be Armidas whereas the Hephsat Church recognizes Althea.

After their tutelage and missionary work under Beo, and prior to his death, the Apprentices would be designated as his successors. They are recognized as being responsible for having created texts of Beo's teachings and gospel, what would become the Diash. Each Apprentice also kept their own written account of the time of Beo's life and afterwards, all four of which would later be compiled together as the Silit'ena.

Following the death of Beo the Four Apprentices would become Magi, the first after the Anidena Magi. The four would separate from each other and migrate in different directions to spread the word of Beo and establish churches. This early decentralization of the Beoin religious structure is where much of the sect based differences in belief stems from. Each of the Four Magi would establish their own different interpretations of the gospel and traditions of the faith. The divergence in opinions of these first Magi would later come to a head in 52 CE at the Council of Beomas.

History

The Four Apprentices each came from different walks of life and began following Beo for a variety of reasons. The first to become a devoted follower was Gaspar, a Zebedenite scholar and astrologer. According to Beoin tradition and his chapter in the Silit'ena, Gaspar attached onto the travels of Beo early into his time spent preaching. Gaspar was the son of Gizbar, a wealthy Zebedenite merchant. He disowned his family wealth and inheritance in order to devote himself to Beo and the gospel he preached. Proving to be a natural organizer and promoter, the pair would garner a larger following that they would take to the northern coast of modern day Tamazgha.

Some years later (circa 80 BCE), during Beo's time in the Nisba territory of the northern shores, he would gain two more of the final Four Apprentices; Karsudan and Oraster. Karsudan was the son of a chief of a large, migrant Nisba tribe. His father, Surenan, would capture Beo, Gaspar and retinue upon their arrival to his hunting grounds. As documented in the Diash, Travels (3:36-4:14), Karsudan would become enlightened by Beo during his captivity. Surenan, at the behest of his son, would release Beo and his entourage and allow him to present his faith. Karsudan would submit his unending allegiance and faith to God and the teachings of Beo. Before departing to travel alongside Beo, Karsudan would first convert his father and then his tribe.

The Diash infers that Beo found Oraster on the streets of M'Kadesh. A coastal, urban center infamous for a treacherous, immoral population, Beo believed that it important to preach there; "Where is God not more needed than in the most depraved nooks of the earth" (Diash,Travels 8:22). When Beo first encountered Oraster, he was homeless and living on the streets of the slums outside the walls of M'Kadesh. Oraster attempted to pickpocket Beo but was caught by Karsudan. When he and Gaspar went to enact a punishment upon Oraster for his attempted theft, Beo stopped them and instead gave Oraster the fruit he had tried to steal. Beo then chastised the two other Apprentices for being unable to see past the poverty and incapable of empathy. Oraster who was moved by Beo's mercy committed himself to him and soon gained a seat among Beo's most trusted followers.

It is unspecified exactly where and when Armidas and Althea came to be apart of Beo's travel companions. However they were present at the Diash accounting of Beo's mass healing sermon during his first trip to Uru'Baal, the future Beoamedia. Armidas and Althea were both named to be present for that trip however after that, and throughout the rest of the Diash, the names are used interchangeable which lends to the confusion as to who was actually the Apprentice.

Diash, Travels 18:27 states that Beo, after some time spent traveling as a group, sent out these four apprentices to towns throughout the Imazigen lands. The text states that their initial instructions were to heal the sick and drive out demons. They are also instructed to "take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse, but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics".

Later in the Diash narratives the Four Apprentices are described as having been commissioned to preach the gospel to "all the nations", regardless of whether they embraced one god or many. In the Book of the Magi from the Verro Cannon of Beo, Magi Melchior II emphasized the important role of the Four Apprentices in the church of God when he said that the household of God is "built upon the foundation of apprentices and prophets, Beo himself being the cornerstone".

They would all reconvene in Uru'Baal some years later where Beo would continue his ministry with the apprentices alongside him. This is when Beo would call upon them as his Messengers, and note of their achievements as Apprentices having earned them the right as Magi following his death. The Beo and Four Apprentices would continue their spiritual journey and convert people throughout northern Meridiq until his eventual martyrdom. Over the course of this time, some unknown disagreements or personality clash caused a straining on the relationships between the apprentices. After the death of Beo, the Four Apprentices would assemble in Uru'Baal to create and publish a work of Beo's teachings, including his personal writings of his travels, that would lead to the Diash and the Zefeni. Following the conclusion of creating the Beoin literature, the four Magi would part ways to continue to spread the faith and build churches.

Traditions

Armidasian and Althean

After the creation of the Holy Texts, Armidas and Althea are stated to have traveled southeast through the desert gathering a following from Imazigen tribes. They would continue into the Tibarian Mountains where they converted highland Ramazigen tribes. The siblings are documented to have then traveled to the more fertile opposite side of the mountain range where they would gain and gather a large population of faithful and establish a church. Althean and Armidasian tradition was the first to establish the possibility of two Anidena Magi, one male and one female, and that the latter was Beo's twin sister, Theo. The theology of the practice asserts that neither Beo or Theo was divinely charged, merely messengers of God, much like the succeeding Magi. The Beoin Church founded by Armidas and Althea quickly became well established and with an expansive flock of devout.

This line of apprentices adhered to a strict policy of a duty to follow the rules and laws of God as presented by Beo. This was enforced through the syncretization of a local religious practice of sacrificing and burning wrongdoers alive on pyres. A tradition that arose from the unclear nature as to who was the Magi, Armidas or Althea, lead to continuing the unbroken line of apprentices, that would come to stylize themselves as Grand Magi, with two apprentices; one male and one female. Analogous to the confusion over Beo or Theo, the Althean tradition asserted that they were two halves of one whole and that the single unbroken line could only be best represented by two people. Armidasian teachings stressed the nature and the importance of balance. Specifically in the assertion that this world, albeit Hell and punishment for past lives, would go through cyclical light and dark phases.

Gaspardic

Gaspar spread the Beoin faith to the southern and western coasts of Tamazgha, forming a diocese that encompassed the Bnnuvian Empire. The Gaspardic tradition established by his teachings contained a strong regard towards Beo. According to Gaspardic thought, Beo was divinely chosen and spiritually charged; not God or of His relation but a direct speaker for His word. Gaspar, specifically in his section of the Silit'ena, would only explicitly mention Armidas when referring to the other Magi. The Gaspardic tradition, including its view on Beo's teaching, direct line of apprentices, and church hierarchy would become the foundation of the theology of the Verro Beoin Church.

Karsudanic

The Karsudanic tradition was rooted in Northern Meridiq in and around the homeland of Karsudan. The tradition focused heavily on the more temporal aspects of the Anidena Magi's teachings surrounding society and politics.

After departing from his fellow Magi, Karsudan returned to his homeland on the shores of the rosel. From there he converted his family and his tribe to Beoin. It is said that his father on his death bed converted to Beoin and asked his wayword son to carry on and asked him to lead their people. Karsudan attempted to refuse the trnsfer of power but it is said when he attempted to do so his Brothers got down on one knee and refused to take the title. Karsudan unwilling to yeild begged another man from the tribe to take up the position but none took the offer instead taking a knee. Between his fathers wishes and that of his Tribe Karsudan relented amd agreed to become the chief of his tribe and was proclaimed Menashiq or Wise Ruler. The tribe had attempted to bestow upon him various titles including Anidena Magi but Karsudan threatened to slit his own throat if such a title was proclaimed.

Karsudan went to work converting other Nisba tribes by [date] he had either converted or conquered all 7 major tribes and 12 Minor

Orasterean

Orasterean tradition followed a much stricter adherence to Beo's teachings and contained a immolating motif to it's thought. Orasterean practice firmly upheld that life on this plane was Hell and retribution for previous failures to live a moral life. Stated as much in the Oraster chapter of the Silit'ena, in order to ensure as much sin from this lifetime as possible was punished before death that one must not only accept hardship but sometimes seek it out. Orasterean practice contained the belief that the word of the gospel was the pillar of the faith and that aspects such as personal details about Beo was of less importance. The teachings and traditions of Oraster are less substantial than that of his counterparts, with significantly less record of his post Beo life available. There is speculation that, following the death of Beo and the compilation of the Holy Texts, Oraster succumbed to an injury during his travels from Uru'Baal and passed. This is generally accepted as fact as there was no Orasterean apprentice or succeeding Magi. There have been claimants to the Oraster line of Magi since, however there is no direct line of apprentices.