Tamddaism
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Tamddaism, also known as the Cult of Ishel, is a syncretic sect of Sakbe originating in eastern Charnea in the early 18th century. It is one of the youngest major religions in the world and among the major branches of Sakbeism with more than 40 million adherents in Charnea and elsewhere in central Scipia.
The Tamddaist sect emerged as an offshoot of the P'al community in eastern Scipia that migrated into the cities of the Ninva desert. The early years of the sect were overseen by the Desert Oracle, an enigmatic Mutulese religious figure regarded by modern Tamddaism as an immortal prophet. As a splinter strand of the wider movement of Sakbeism in the Ozeros, Tamddaism retains versions of Mutulese myths, deities, philosophies and religious practices introduced to the Charnean peoples by the Oracle. The Desert Oracle also incorporated the existing ancient Deshritic pantheon and the ancestral Tenerian beleifs into his teachings, integrating entire cults of existing Charnean deities into Sakbeic practice. In particular, the popular cult of Nekhbet in the east Charnean city of Azut was converted by the Desert Oracle and their vulture goddess was syncretized with the Sakbeic Ix Chel, worshipped in modern Tamddaism as Ishel. The Cult of Ishel in Azut formed the basis of the Tamddaist strand of Sakbe and enabled its rapid dissemination across the desert cities including the Awakari imperial capital at Agnannet where the first true Tamddaist holy site, the Tazzarat, would be established.
Name
The term "Tamddaism", derived from the Tamashek Tamdda meaning "vulture", is the widely accepted name of the sect and religious movement internationally. However, it is not the most common endonym. In Charnea, Tamddaism is most commonly referred to as Ashnitan Addin (Tamashek: ⴰⵛⵏⵉⵜⴰⵏ ⴰⴷⴷⵉⵏ, "Blood Faith"), based on the archaic Mutulese term Kik' K'uhunak which was used to refer to Sakbe in the Ozeros at the time that the Tamddaist offshoot developed, while use of the term Tamddaism is generally found among non-Tamddaist Charneans and visitors to the country. Although it is generally considered to be an offshoot or a sect within Sakbe, Tamddaism is generally not referred to directly as "White Path" or Sakbe as this term is reserved to the minority of non-Tamddaist Sakbeists in Charnea locally referred to as the Puritans and who are known to adhere more directly to the Mutulese version of the religion.
Beleifs
Cosmology
The cosmology and worldview of the Tamddaist sect is based on a concept known as the Wheel (Tamashek: ⴽⴻⵔⵓⴻⴽ, Keruker), an evolution of the Sakbeist concept of cyclic reincarnation also known as the Sacred Cycle. Much like the extremely cyclical nature of mainstream Sakbeic cosmology, the Wheel is applied to many aspects and processes of the temporal and spiritual worlds including the span of a human life, the cycle of life and death, the rise and fall of nations and the lifespan of the known universe. Each of these processes and lengths of time is beleived to pass through the three phases of the Wheel in similar ways despite doing so at radically different timescales. The three phases of the tripartite cycle, generally corresponding to life, death and rebirth respectively, each have many aspects and attributes which are not always fulfilled in every instance of the Wheel. Different processes, for example the lives of two different individuals, are associated and rationalized using the mechanism of the Wheel in different and specific ways depending on the particular conditions.
- The Mundane is the first phase of the Wheel, the phase of Life. It is invoked in Tamddaist texts using the phrase "It is Born", and typically corresponds to the processes of basic formation. In the common context of a human life, the Mundane corresponds to the formative years of childhood and adolescence while in the cycle of reincarnation the Mundane describes the period of life in the mortal world. The Mundane phase is the period in which the thing, be it a human life or an iteration of the universe, revolving through the processes of the Wheel is not only created in a litteral and material sense but goes about gathering various charachteristics and undergoing rapid growth.
- The Moribund is the second, harsher phase of formation in the Wheel. It is invoked as "It is Formed", and its considered the lowest point of the Wheel. In borader Sakbeist cosmology the Moribund is strongly associated with the Sakbeist underworld, Xibalba, a realm in which the souls of the dead are subjected to difficult, cruel and sadistic trials and challenges by the Lords of the Underworld which they must overcome in order to find their way into a paradise after death. However, in the context of the Wheel the invocation of Xibalba's trials is often not litteral and instead refers more generally to a period of difficulty or hardship which must be overcome. As the Moribund phase sets in, the trials must be overcome at great cost and in so doing much of the growth of the Mundane phase will be challenged and destroyed while the remaining traits are galvinized by the process. It is also possible for the Wheel to "break" under the pressure of the Moribund phase, describing the outcome in which the tribulation overcomes everything that was established during the Mundane phase and the thing, be it a person or a soul, is litteraly or metaphorically lost to Xibalba and effectively destroyed.
- The Idyllic, the final phase and apex of the Wheel, is generally correlated to the Tamddaist heaven known as the Field of Reeds. It is described through the phrase "It is Free" and is connected to both post-Xibalba paradisiacal afterlife as well as the event of reincarnation, rebirth and new life which returns the Wheel to the Mundane. The Idyllic is the domain of gods and ancestors, and is also the phase associated with the apogee of a person's life, the period of seasoned seniority and authority in Charnean culture. Upon reaching the Idyllic phase, the fat has been trimmed and flaws weathered away by experiences and trials of the Moribund, reducing a thing down to its pure essence which is then set to reign free for a time before undergoing rebirth and the repetition of the cycle.
Divinity
The Tamddaist pantheon draws not only from Sakbe but also from pre-existing Charnean religious customs, forming a uniquely Charnean-Sakbeic polytheism. The concept of gods and divinity in Tamddaism remains under the influence of the Wheel and is governed by its phases, creating a shifting pantheon of divine entities who are themselves born, formed and set free according to the turning Wheel. The Wheel is merged with the Sakbeic principle of divine aspects and god impersonation to form the Tamddaist principle of apotheosis. According to this principle, the true names and nature of the divine is inscrutable and unknowable to humankind, and that we therefore know of the true gods only by the names of their aspects and iterations as they pass through the phases of the Wheel across all time. All of the deities recognized and named within Tamddaism and believed to have at one point in the recent, distant or primordial past to have been human beings who accomplished great deeds and underwent apotheosis after death to become gods residing in the Field of Reeds at the Idyllic phase of the Wheel, partially transcending the cycle at its apex.
The system of divinity based on apotheosis has led to the deification of legendary historical figures of Tenerian or Charnean extraction, specifically Queen Kaharna of Tamazgha and King Ihemod of Charnea, who feature as gods in the Tamddaist pantheon. The application of the Wheel and the principle of cyclical incarnation and manifestation of the divine has also been used as a vehicle for the syncretic inclusion of many gods of Sakbeic, Deshrian, and Punic origin among others. Many gods associated with one another are taught to be aspects and manifestations of each other as the mortal incarnation of a god on earth could themselves undergo apotheosis and become a god unto themselves as a sort of repetition or remanifestation of the original deity in the Idyllic. The meta-deity under which many associated gods may fall is not named in accordance with doctrine and is instead referred to by a headname, the name of the first known manifestation of the divine. Tamddaist scripture maintains geneological-style lists and trees of succesive manifestations in chronological order of their respective mortal lives and deifications according to Tamddaist doctrine. As a rule, the Sakbeic aspect of the deity is always used as the headname and treated as the seniormost aspect.
There are a very large number of minor gods and aspects recognized in Tamddaism, including the majority of the Sakbeist pantheon. However the main focus of common rites and daily veneration is limited to a group of five deities collectively known known as the Tuienchanat. The big five of the Tuienchanat are the founding goddess Ishel, the sun god Isana-Re, the serpent god Kokumat, and the deified Kaharna and Ihemod.
The Tuienchanat
Ishel, a merging of the goddesses Ix Chel and Nekhbet, is a deity of maternity, healing and the moon. For her patronage of healers and midwives, Ishel is also known by the epithen of the Physician. She is unusually related to filth, putrefaction and disease along with purification and healing simultaneously as she is beleived to seek out and consume corruption and in so doing create a state of purity. Because of this, she is very closely associated with vultures and other carrion birds which likewise seek out carcasses and dumping grounds to devour refuse and rancid flesh but in so doing remove it from the earth and prevent the contamination of nearby grazing land and bodies of water. Vultures, which have long been considered noble creatures by older Charnean religions, are considered to be angels or divine emissaries of Ishel under Tamddaism. This strong correlation between the goddess and the sacred bird of Charnea is what gives the Tamddaist sect its name.
The sun god Isana-Re, the Tamddaist syncretism of Itzamna with the Deshritic gods Ra and Amun, is the god of the sun, the desert, justice and wisdom for which he is known as the Judge. Although in both Sakbe and the Deshritic religion, the figures merged to form Isana-Re are creator deities, within Tamddaism the action of creation is considered esoteric and is not attributed to any figure. Therefore, the features of the paternal progenitor deity take on a more metaphorical sense, as Isana-Re is associated with craftsmen, builders and law-givers within the state which are seen to provide either tangible goods or the structure of justice and protection to those they are responsible for. Through both Itzamna and Ra, Isana-Re carries a strong association with hawks and eagles, but is occasionally portrayed as a giant black vulture carrying the burning sun on his head, scorching away its feathers and searing the flesh of its head and neck.
The serpent god Kokumat, associated with the Sakbeic gods Kukulkan and Ek Chuah, the Punic god Tanit and the Deshritic god Wadjet, is the deity of stars, of love, betrayals, and the protector of travelers. Kokumat is known as the Merchant for his protection of traveling caravans and ships on the sea. Since the advent of the Third Empire in Charnea and the subsequent era of industrialization, Kokumat has become the patron of the railroad and the many travelers traversing deep into the desert on isolated routes.
The goddess Kaharna, a deified Amazigh queen, is closely associated with Ch'ak and is a deity of rain, oases, running water, agriculture and rulership. Queens of Charnean confederations prior to the introduction of Sakbe into the region were long considered to be manifestations of the legendary Kaharna, a practice which was only enhanced by the addition of Sakbeic god impersonation. Just as the Divine Lords of the Mutul are considered living incarnations of Ch'ak, so to are the Tamenokalts of Charnea treated as living incarnations of Kaharna under Tamddaism.
Ihemod, the youngest of the Tuienchanat, is tied to K'awiil and is considered the axe of Ch'ak-Kaharna, the manifestation of her revenge against those which brought hardship to her mortal children. He is known as the Slave, having been enslaved in life and liberated through his tribulations, and serves as a patron of those of low standing as well as a god of warriors, conquest, and perseverance through great hardships. While all the Tamddaist gods are invoked in times of conflict and are in some ways war gods, Ihemod is the most closely associated with warfare and conquest and could be most accurately considered the Tamddaist war god.
Practices
Temple
The Tamddaist Beyt, derived from the Hebrew Beit YHWH or House of God, is the center of religious life for most adherents. The geometry and orientation of the Beyt is highly specific. A Beyt consists of a square courtyard within a square building, each face of the outer perimeter facing in a cardinal direction. The covered portion of the Beyt, the building itself, is subdivided into eight square internal segments. Beyts always venerate the Tuienchanat and dedicate the four cardinal squares as well as the open courtyard at the center to the five deities, while the remaining space may house shrines to numerous minor deities and saintly figures which vary from temple to temple in different regions. Clockwise from the north, the shrines of the Tuienchanat are in the order of Kokumat, Ihemod, Ishel, and Kaharna with Isana-Re's shrine being replaced with the open courtyard at the center which is bathed in daylight and exposed to the elements. Beyt structures vary in scale from very small structures inside family complexes or large city temples, although their relative dimensions remain as a sixed set of equilateral squares. In nomadic communities in the rural desert regions of Charnea, stone Beyt may be the only permanent structures in campgrounds which are frequented seasonally. Alteratively, the square structure of the Beyt is immitated with an arrangement of tents containing the corresponding shrines with the square space at the center left uncoverd in veneration to Isana-Re.
Funerary Rites
The Tamddaist last rights, known as the Amaskalan (Tamashek: ⴰⵎⴰⵙⴽⴰⵍⴰ, "Transition"), find their basis in the funeral practices of the Tenerian nomads.