White Mountain Society
Sak Witz kuch సక విజి కుచ | |
 Glyph-Emblem of Sakal Witz, used for both the city and the organization | |
| Abbreviation | Sa.Wi |
|---|---|
| Formation | 20 April 1304 BC |
| Founder | Mam Lakam Chen |
| Founded at | Sakal Witz |
| Type | Order of White Pilgrims Diviners and cleric officials |
| Headquarters | Hearth Stones Temple, Sakal Witz, Mutul |
Patron gods | Mam Lakam Chen Yax K'ak Mo Hun Hunahpu Yaxal Witz Batz and Max |
The Society of the White Mountain (Mutli: సక విజి కుచ, Sak Witz Kuch) is the oldest still existing branch of the White Path. It is unknown when the school in its current form was formed, but traditions date the organization' origins back to 4.11.13.0.0 8 Pax 4 Ajaw, or 20 April 1304 BC in the gregorian calendar. After the invention of printing, the various legends and myths that existed surrounding the creation of the organization were merged into one single narrative, involving twelve of the original pupils of the First Priest being guided by the First Priest' way to the site of the modern city of Sakal Witz where Mam Lakam Chen, "Grandfather of the Great Cave", an avatar of Chaakh, was residing. Mam Lakam Chen continued their formation and further honed their knowledge of the world which the twelve men recorded using the script taught to them by the First Priest. They also discovered the "holiness" of the valley they had been guided to, and made themselves the guardian of the valley's and nearby mountains' holy sites. Since then, the population of Sakal Witz claim itself to be the direct descendents of the twelve priests' lineages, and the priests of the White Mountain to be the last link of a 3325 years old unbroken line of succession.
Governance
The White Mountain is headed by the Sak Ajaw K'in (సక అజో ఖిని), one of the Mutul's White Path's "Cardinals" whom have a seat at the Religious Court. The Sak Ajaw K'in also cumulate the mandates of Batab of Sakal Witz and of the city's head-judge, making it one of the few clerical positions in the Divine Kingdom to be legaly involved in all branches of the Mutulese State, beside the K'uhul Ajaw himself. The Sakal Ajaw K'in is elected by the Cloister of the Offices for life or until he resigns and is confirmed by the Divine Lord. The Sak Ajaw K'in has absolute authority in running the society, even if he's still under the oversight of the Yajaw of M'owitz and his Board of Grievances when it comes to his decisions as a city mayor.
Like the K'uhul Ajaw, the Sak Ajaw K'in is helped by four ministers called "Grandfathers". They serve as general advisors and a sort of inner council. Other ministers are called "Officers" and are not limited in number. Each Officer lead an "Office", which is either a geographic area or an area of ministry. Along with the Grandfathers, the Officers form the "Cloister of the Offices" which serve as the outer council of the organization, but also as Sakal Witz city council.
After centuries of existence, the organization has expanded well beyond the border of its Yajawil of birth and can now be found all across the Mutul, especially in its central and eastern provinces. To better organize the society, the White Mountain has been divided into geographic areas that comprise all the temple personnels, teachers, and other religious officials of Sakal Witzun' obedience in a given region. These region are headed by an Aj K'in K'ab, chosen by the Sak Ajaw K'in.
Because of their long history and deep ties to the Divine Monarchy, the clergy of the White Mountain has been more than just an influence on the Mutul culture. Signs of its age, it possess a very strict hierarchy, with each rank being distinguishable through a complex vestimentary code, with an extensive collection of rituals to perform and religious rules to follow.
Philosophy
Dedicated to the art of Divination, the Sak Witzun have developed at least since the Paol'lunyu Dynasty the ideal of a strict observation of Nature to refine their predictions. Central to their practice is the observation of astronomical objects (stars and meteorites) and the use of the calendar. With time, at the latest around the end days of the K'uy Dynasty, their divination were purged of all methods that involved the direct intervention of the Divine through posession or revelation, leading to the common expression of "there are no Oracle on the White Mountain".
In their teaching, the Organization cultivate mathematics and numbers, engaging in a combination of philosophic theorizing and deductive provable methodology. They engage especially in Geometry and Statistics to improve the quality of their observations and to correct their deductions.
The most significant contributions of the early White Mountain Society was the systematic development of the theory of logic and methodology, as well as the production of many treatises on epistemology. To this day, the worldview promoted by the organization can be said to be that anything that really exists is in principle humanly knowable, which isn't limited to anything past or present, but in the future as well. It is the "Great Plan" of the White Mountain to acquire perfect knowledge of the future, no matter how distant.
History
The early days of the Society is inseparable from the history of Sakal Witz. During the Paol'lunyu Dynasty, the city was the smallest of the principalities that accepted the K'uhul Ajaw of Kaminyajunlyu as their hegemon. However, it was an important cultural and religious center for the Paol'lunyu civilization, and most written records from this era and the next have come from Sakal Witz sources.
During the Chaan Dynasty Sakal Witz and its clergy was greatly favored by the K'uhul Ajaw of Yux, to the point that ordination from the Hearth Stones Temple was the most valued after certificate for anyone desiring to pursue a career in the Chaan administration.
After the establishment of the K'uy Dynasty, the Clergy of Sakal Witz was only one of many other sects competing for the attention of the new lineage of Divine Lords. It's only during this era that the Society proper began forming itself, as a form of reaction to the introduction of western cults such as the clergy of the Great Goddess or the Serpent Cult. Thourough the K'uy era, the White Mountain pursued its mathematical and astronomic researchs as a way to separate itself from concurrents and attract both public and state supports. By the end of the Dynasty, they had once again returned to a dominant position in the Mutulese society, only for the Cousins War to shatter all of their progress.
When the K'iche began their conquest of all the competing Mutals, Sakal Witz surrendered to the Kumakah Kingdom without a fight, preserving its libraries, observatories, and guaranteeing its clergy a privilegied position in the future Nimabal K'iche Dynasty. As the K'iche Dynasties devolved into civil war and palace conflicts, Sakal Witz grew to become the most important religious and administrative city of central Mutul, and an unavoidable intermediary between the State and the populations of the region. By the time the Ilok'tab Dynasty established itself, Aj K'inob from all of the central valleys and hills were said to be of the "White Mountain School".
While not the only source of inspiration behind the text, their dominant position meant that Sakal Witz' clergy played an important role in the selection, re-writing, and harmonization of the texts that would serve as the basis of the Bitzk'uh.
During the following centuries, the White Mountain Society remained an important part of the Mutul' administrative structure, especially when it came to education and the formation of scribes. By the 19th century, it had become very difficult to distinguish the Sa.Wi from the Divine Throne, which is when the Sajal War happened. Sakal Witz and its priesthood immediately sided with Itzamnaaj B'alam and the royalists. Sakal Witz and it's valley even became a battlefield in 1829, forcing the Cloister of the Officers to flee the city, while the Sak Ajaw K'in Itzamnah Nabil III was captured during the defence of the city and sacrificed at a later date by the Noble Republic.
The very early support to Itzamnaaj B'alam and his son' cause led to the Sa.Wi being greatly rewarded by the Ilok'tab Dynasty. Its position within the Mutulese hierarchy was strengthened, the position of Sakal Witz Batab and Sak Ajaw K'in were merged, and the Society was allowed to handle the nominations (even if it still has to be approved by the K'uhul Ajaw) of the Yax Imix Ajaw, the governor of the Yajawil of M'owitz where Sakal Witz is located.
During the 20th century, the Society would quickly fall into the opposition against the Orientalists and played an active role in their downfall. In the following Cohabitation (1955-1964), they were the most represented Oniyist faction within the government and the legislature of the country. This continued until the Purge of the Oniyists of 1965 when these same Sa.Wi policians and legislators were forced to abandon any power within the central government by the Divine Throne and their Occidentalists allies.
The development of Machine learning was of a special interest to the Organization. Since the 1990s, the higher echelons of the Sa.Wi are said to have been touched by a "religious fervor unseen since the invention of printing" and the new generations of Sak Witzunob have slowly shifted away from the sphere of politics where the organisation had become ubiquituous to return to pure mathematical and scientific studies.
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