White Path
The White Path, Sacbe, or Sakbe, is a religion of Mutulese origin and both the traditional and state religion of the Mutul that focuses on ritual practices to be carried out diligently to establish a connection between a vast pantheon of gods and mankind.
The first archeological proof of the White Path existence go back as far as the Paol’lunyu Dynasty, in 1000 BC, and elements of the religion can even be found in anterior periods of time, such as the Wayeb. Still, these earliest Mutuleses writings do not refer to a unified religion, but rather to a collection of native beliefs and mythology. This patchwork of rarely written, often orals, traditions was first unified during the rule of Tecuman II the Wise, and were henceforth written down in the Bitzk'uh. From there, the state-mandated approach to the religion became the norm, while other form closer to shamanism slowly disappeared or became marginal.
Today, the White Path is the official state religion of the Mutul and is found in all aspects of its society, from the political class, to the health services, to the scientific fields, to education… the very word for “citizenship” doesn’t exist in Mutli. The inhabitants of the country are referred as “Faithfuls” in official documents instead. It has been theorized that the Mutul is not actually a “country”, but a collection of various nations that do not share the same languages, ethnicities, but are unified by a common religion, under its divine-like figurehead, the K’uhul Ajaw.
Between the 14th and 16th centuries, the White Path knew its first expansion through the conversion of Norumbian kingdoms opposed to the Latin Empire. To this day an important White Pilgrim community remain in Belfras, especially in the south where it has known an important revival during the seventies among minorities. But the real development of the region came after the 17th century and the installation of the Mutulese Ochran. To this day, important White Pilgrims communities remain in all the high places of the old Mutuleses colonies, such as Kahei, Barriset, and Ankat. From there, the White Path managed to gained followers in other countries that never were under direct Mutulese influence, like Charnea, Enyama, and Uluujol. Politics and missionary efforts from the "Prophets of the Desert" notably led to the inclusion of most Charneans beliefs into the Sakbe framework, leading to a steady growth until the 20th century.
Currently, the two largest denominations include the Mutulese Divine Throne, which is officially both a Church and a State, and the Sudu Margaya of Ankat with an estimated 58 millions believers inside the socialist republic plus communities in Ayvana and other countries of Southern Ochran. Other important communities include the P'al of Scipia, the various Belfrasians K'uhnah, and the Monastery of 10 Manik, the most recent Sakbe organization to have emerged during the 21th century, after the Tikalese civil war.
Etymology
The use of Sakbe, the Mutli for "White Path" is a fairly recent construction that emerged somewhere during the 18th century in the Mutulese Ochran after repeated contacts with local polytheists faiths. The distinction was made to classify local clergies and their communities depending on their set of practices. In places such as the Yajawil of Kahei, as specific practices such as bloodletting, sacrifices, and using the Cholk'in calendar were the only reliable way of distinguishing the different sects.
In the Ozeros Sea, the term "Blood faith" (Mutli:"Kik' K'uhunak") was coined, as part of a classification including the two Azdarin sects, the Sahb and Iifae, were respectively referred as the "Oil faith" and the "Water faith" ("Bil K'uhunak" and "Ja K'uhunak"). Once again, the classification was based on which liquid was the most often used during rituals. This classification fell into disuse, instead borrowing local names such as "Zaitan" for the Sahb, and "Manake" for the Iifae while "White Path" came to replace "Blood religion" as the official name for the religion.
Beliefs
The White Path is a polytheistic religion, with many kind of gods, themselves with different, independent, aspects. Most gods are associated with a cycle, be it the phase of the moon, the rain, or the winds. For example, every local gods of the rain are considered parts of a larger “rain god” entity, itself part of a larger “water” entity with the gods of the rivers and oceans. Different kind of rain gods exist, such as the “Enraged Chaac”, “Nuturing Chaac”, “Majestic Chaac”, “Silent Chaac”, and so on, all representing both different kind of rain but also different natures and feelings associated with the god. When Chaac grow older, turning in the god of Rivers, Mamlab, he also has various aspects, generally one associated with each river and its particular “temperaments”, up until its death in the ocean.
Contrary to monotheists or even pantheistic religions, the White Path doesn’t recognize a single entity as a Creator God. Instead, the White Path texts teach that the Cosmos was created by Thirteen different Creator Gods, who awaken in the middle of the original creation, and it’s through their attempts to communicate with one another and to name everything present in the original formless void and to order them that they created the Divine Language and the first laws, and that it’s only since then that the days are counted, because things before didn’t count. These thirteen gods aren’t considered part of any larger cycles, and they are “individual” entities in their own rights, but they are almost always invoked together, as one group.
Cosmology
The Cosmology of the White Path is cyclic. it is based on the cycles of birth, life, death, and rebirth of various elements, such as the rain and the rivers, the sun, or the moon. Even human beings and living creatures in general are considered part of these cycles of death and rebirth, spending time after death in the Aquatic Flower Paradise (Janab’witz) before being reincarnated. It is also possible for humans to reach godhood, generally through achieving an extremely deep and personal understanding of the Cosmos and of one’s own nature but also through dedicating their life, and death, to the gods.
Once divinized, human join one of the Thirteen Heaven which form the celestial portion of the universe. There's also the Xibalba, and Underworld divided in Nine Levels ruled by the many aspects of the god of death and cohort of legions, with two rulers per level. The Xibalba is an important part of the White Path Cosmology, serving as both a source of illness, a place for those who broke the Covenants to be punished, and an important step in the journey of every hero that they need to face and go through, at the peril of their lives.
Divine Lordship
In the Mutul in perticular, the concept of Divine Lordship play an important role as it is from it that the Divine Monarchy derive its legitimacy. A Divine Lord (Mutli : "K'uhul Ajaw") is the mortal aspect of a divinity. This incarnation is possible because the Divine Lord share the same blood as its ancestral divinity and can thus serve as a vessel for the divinity after the correct rituals. Said rituals in the Mutul correspond to the coronation ceremony. Because of the important political role the concept has, Sakbe theologians and legists have spent centuries debating and defining the ins and outs of what a Divine Lord is and how it is transmitted. These rules were written down and recorded in the "Yax Tz’ibich Chaakal Chakun", published in 1844. This text also serve as the Constitution of the Divine Kingdom.
Beyond the various dynasties of the Mutul, considered to be the same unbroken line of avatars since the days of the Paol'lunyu Dynasty, the White Path have recognized other lineages of Divine Lords. The Heavenly Sovereigns ("Tenno") of Tsurushima are also considered by most Sakbe scholars to be an unbroken lineage of Divine Queens going back to the days of Mika, the first shaman-queen to be considered an Heavenly Sovereign. Another Non-Mutulese to be considered a Divine Lord by Sakbeists was Mesfin. This is a point of contention for Sakbe communities in Scipia has they only recognize Mesfin's direct descendents as potential Caliphs, a line that was broken with the death of his only son. As a result, the Almurid Caliphate and all the following empires are considered to be illegitimates.
Practices
Covenants
At the basis of the White Path is the idea of the existence of “Covenants” or “Pacts” between mankind and superior entities. These Covenants can either concern the entirety of mankind and of the Pantheon, or only a specific group or even a specific individual and a single spirit. Offerings and sacrifices are required to maintain a Covenant, as well as performing specific rituals or following religious rules. It is the respect of the Covenants in all aspects of life that ensure the good balance of the world.
Prayers
Prayers accompanies almost every ritual acts, from offerings to sacrifices. They are generally written in verses and while they greatly vary in length, they generally follow the format of long litanies where the names of personified days, ancestors, heros, gods, features of the landscape connected with historical or mythical events, and mountains are particularly prominent. Classical prayers show a dyadic couplet structure and while it has known variation, this structure remain the most commonly used in prayermaking. "Prayermakers" are a specialized kind of priestly-artists, akin to poets, who continue to develop new prayers or adapt old ones to different circumstances. Famous Prayermarkers have been the source of some of the Mutul most celebrated literary works.
Writing down prayers on papers or other formats is also considered to be an artform performed by Prayermakers, Scribes, or Stonecutters. Detailed glyphic writings of prayers and mantras generally serve ritual purposes of their own, from bloodletting and dedication rituals to divination. Burning a pre-written poem in an altar's fire is considered to be the same as reciting it, if not even more powerful if said writings had artistic values. On special holidays, Temples and Sanctuaries can be covered in prayer-papers, both symbolizing the special religious nature of the event and serving as seals against evil spirits.
Offerings and sacrifices
Sacrifices, either of animal or of human blood, is ubiquitous of the White Path. Offerings serve to establish or renew Covenants, to thank or ask for forgiveness the gods or the ancestors. the choice, number, preparation, and arrangement of the offered items obey to stringent rules which is why numerous rituals can only be performed by specialized members of the priesthood, even when it comes to the cult of the ancestors.
The forms sacrifice might take vary considerably given the time period or the region, but only the Mutul currently still practice human sacrifices, as a legal and religious form of eihter capital punishment or abortion, and is therefore relatively uncommon. In all countries with White Pilgrims communities, sacrifice usually consist of animals such as deers, dogs, quails, turkey, and fishes.
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the ritual self-cutting or piercing of an individual's body. It serves a number of religious functions within the White Path. It can be performed in a wide variety of activities, from the most mundanes acts to those performed only by the K'uhul Ajaw and his family. At its core, bloodletting symbolize the renewal of divine energy and, in doing so, the continuation of life. This symbol is based on the Sakbe notion that the Creator Gods sacrificed parts of themselves in the creation of the Universe, and as a result a portion of Divine ("K'uh") can be found in everything, manifesting itself in the form of "Existence" and "Life". It's in the body fluids of living beings that this Divine Essence can be found. Thus, giving blood to the divinities is a manner to empower them and to show one's devotion in the service of his titular divinities or appreciation of their services.
One of the most common form of devotion for White Pilgrims is thus to cut one's palm with a knife and drop blood on an idol. Such idols can be found at the altars dedicated to the gods or the ancestors or alongisde significant pilgrimage roads. In more important circumstances, a rope with attached thorns or obsidian flakes is pulled through the tongue or earlobes. The bloody rope is then thrown directly in an holy fire in front of the altar or the blood from the wound and the rope are left to drop on Amate paper which is then burned. Blood from the genitals is considered especially potent as a symbol of fertility and important rituals may require barbed ropes to be pulled through them. Generally, this serve as a dedication ritual or is related to the cult of the Earth or of the Fertility gods.
Jewelries are often inserted in the opening left by a bloodletting barbed rope. Such emplacements include the ears, nose, the cheeks, lips, the tongue, and genitals.
Human sacrifices
As seen, human blood is considered to be a potent offering to the gods. People with an abnormal quantity of "K'uh" in their blood, such as priests, nobles, and semi-divine creatures such as a K'uhul Ajaw and other rulers, are considered to be exceptional offerings worthy of the gods. This is why people destined to be sacrificed go through various ritual and symbolic steps transforming them into idols and representations of certain divinities as part of the representation of the cycle of death and rebirth even gods go through.
Historically, only high status prisoners of war were sacrificed, as the ultimate offering of blood to the divinities. In the modern Mutul, the practice is greatly limited and is tied either to the "Question", the country's version of the capital punishment, to abortion, or to euthanasia. No prisoner of war has been sacrificed by the Mutul since 1930, with the Belfrasian Navy Captain Stefanos Mutilis being the last known case. Outside of the Divine Kingdom, the Hands of Thunder were accused of having performed human sacrifices during their insurection against the Tikalese junta.
Dedication
White Pilgrims use dedication rituals to sanctify their living spaces and family members by associating their physical world with the supernatural. Before occupying a newly built house or the opening of a recently constructed public building, Votive Caches are buried following a specific rituals. The materials they contain is often related to household tasks, such as preparing food or working a field. They also include mantrras and written prayers, alongside sometime object of specific symbolic value. When multiple Caches are placed, their locations in relation to one another play a significant role. For example, Ballcourts are dedicated by building three caches, one at the northern extremity of the court, the second at the southern extremity, and the last one at the exact center. All are covered by an highly decorated circular stone mark. The two Caches at the extremity must contain eight obsidian blades, while the one at the middle contains nine. Such dedication rituals, while requiring a priest or more to perform, are open to the public and play an important role in the religious life of the White Pilgrims.
White Path tombs often have an altar with an easily accessible Cache in front of them, where the family of the decease can come and place food and tools in it, alongside performing a Blooletting ritual on the altar. Under House Altars, Sakbeists families may bury one of their ancestor's urn in a Cache, linking the Altar to the Otherworld.
Dedication rituals for Temples can be quite elaborate, involving a great number of caches containing animal sacrifices, ritual objects, and blood-soaked prayers. Sacred writings can be engraved on the Temple, generally repeating Dedication prayers and the Glyphic name of the god to whom the Temple is dedicated. This is done as a way to give permanence to the ownership, and to create a powerful bond between the god and the place.
As a counterpart to the Dedication, Terminations rituals also exist and serves to destroy the link between a structure and its deity. They generally requires to find all the Caches to scatter and destroy all of their contents on the Temple's floor. This include any Cache hidden inside the Temple's idols or remote places. It's only one that all Votive Caches have been profaned that the Altar can be set on fire or covered in ashes if it's made out of stones. if the Temple is also a burial places, the bodies need to be unearthed and burned on the altar, to leave only the bones behind. All engraving must also be found and destroy alongside any engraved prayer.
Purification
Purificatory measures such as fasting, sexual abstention, bathing, and confessions generally precede major events and represent the initial phases to almost every rituals. They aim at exorcising a place or an individual of any evil spirit that could've taken a hold of them. Generally, purification is needed before entering areas inhabited by deities. Depending on the circumstances, Bloodletting might play a role in the purification process, especially if it was advised by a Confessor.
Entering a forest or the wilderness in the White Path also requires specific purifications rituals to render them "virginal". For example, hunters must drink standing water from a rock depression at the first opportunity upon entering the forest. The water is then spat on the ground, which makes them free to carry out the business of humankind in the sacred forest.
Not respecting a Covenant or known religious rules also requires purification. The first step is then to Confess the fault, preferably on a day favorable to forgiveness, and then perform the tasks given by the priest. These can include the repetition of a serie of mantras or prayers at fixed hours, special offerings to specific idols which can include animal sacrifices, and bloodletting.
Pilgrimages
Pilgrimages play an especially important role in the White Path, materialized both by its name, which is the same as the sacred roads connecting Temples and Sanctuaries to the rest of the world, to the Mutli name of the religion's followers : "White Pilgrims". Sakbeists may make a pilgrimage at any time of the year and to multiple places. Pilgrimage is a part of everyday life and it creates networks that connect people and places over long distances, so as to transcend the limits of the local community as well as time. Generally, Pilgrims make these travels to appeal to the gods for assistance, or as part of an inititation process. The exact destination of a Pilgrimage may either be a personal choice, or be calculated by a priest through the use the Calendar and knowledge of the Ritual Topography of the region.
Despite companies or temples providing transportation for certain pilgrimages, some still opt for the traditional walk along the ancient Sakbeob. If one cannot make the trip, they can also donate money, food, or other goods to actual participants, thus making the pilgrimage in spirit, and they can expect to have their name read in front of the shrine. Sometime, it's the object of worship itself that take the pilgrimage, being moved from shrine to shrine depending on the ritual calendar.
Schools and Traditions
Because of its polytheistic nature, the White Path has little in the way of doctrinal authority and many practising pilgrims do not claim to belong to any particular denomination or tradition. The Divine Throne in the Mutul is generally recognized in Oxidentale as the formal "Spiritual Leader" of the Sakbeists communities, but this status is not granted in other countries. In Odarba-Halad and Qulchanaa for example, White Pilgrims such as the P'al do not recognize the K'uhul Ajaw as their guide, but instead wait for the revelation of the Kallu as they believe themselves tied to the Line of Mesfin instead of the Line of K'o.
Demographics
The White Path is followed by an estimated 250 millions as of 2012. The Mutul is the country with the largest population of White Pilgrims, as it is a requirement for citizenship. This lead to an official 100% of the total population being adherents of the White Path. The Divine Kingdom also represent just less than an half of the total White Pilgrims population in the world. Other countries with important Sakbeists minorities are Charnea, Ankat, and Belfras.
The countries with the largest White Pilgrims densities are:
| Country | Estimated White Pilgrims population | White Pilgrims as % of total population |
|---|---|---|
 Mutul
|
120,000,000 | 100% |
 Charnea
|
12,090,000 | 93% |
 Ankat
|
58,144,450 | 90% |
 Belfras
|
34,100,000 | 31% |
| Template:Country data Odarba-Halad | 8,000,000 | 20% |
| Template:Country data Qulchanaa | 3,000,000 | 13.2% |
 Uluujol
|
6,010,400 | 4,5% |
 Ayvana
|
4,975,000 | 3% |
| Template:Country data Ruam | 1,500,000 | 3% |
 Pulau Keramat
|
1,600,000 | 2% |