Costeny
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Costeny is a monotheistic religion with traditions and beliefs based on the teachings of its prophet and founder Mstis. It is the dominant religion in West Borea.
Costeny can be summarized as the belief in the need for humanity to collectively ascend through devouring 'lesser gods' including various idols of polytheism and the Demiurge, creator and maintainer of the material world, in order to directly meet the True Lord (Pravi Gospod), the supreme being, and receive instructions on building the world to come and then become incorporated completely into the kingdom of God to enjoy perpetual peace, plenty and freedom. The devouring of 'lesser' gods and idols, especially that of the Demiurge, is deemed an absolute necessity, as it is believed humanity is in some form trapped, imprisoned or enslaved through and inside the material world, with this status being maintained by these gods. Cositene beliefs are codified by the writings of Mstis, the most notable canon is the Word of the True Lord (Reč pravog Vladiki), considered the central scripture of Costeny.
There are around ?? million Cositenes in the world, with most in West Borea, where it is the majority religion of most of states there and the official one of several.
Etymology
The name Costeny is derived from koštunstvo (Mstislavic: Ⰽⱁⱋⱆⱀⱄⱅⰲⱁ), a term that initially meant 'sacrilege' in early Vitrian and later Tastanic religious as well as common, folk terminology. The name was applied as a pejorative to Mstis's teachings which opposed worship of both common idols and deities as well as the Tastanic Creator and its Avatars; however, Mstis decided to embrace this label instead, as it demonstrated Costeny's doctrine of rejecting the 'petty deities' revered by the unenlightened in favor of the true, supreme Holiness of God. The term very soon became an endonym used by Cositenes themselves widely.
Prior to the use of the term Costeny, Cositenes themselves referred to their religion as simply 'the Truth' (Istina, ⰻⱄⱅⰻⱀⰰ), 'the True Path' or 'worship of the True Lord'. Tastanists also pejoratively termed the faith 'the Mstic heresy', 'irreverence' and 'gluttony' (opojnostvo). 'Neo-Radomilism' (novi radomilistvo) was also used in the early days of Costeny by Tastanists, referencing another Tastanic heretic, Radomil, who similarly preached opposition to the material world in the 8th century. The term 'Msticism' (Mstisanstvo) has been used commonly in West Borean literature documenting Costeny from a neutral point of view up until the 18th century, which has also seen use in literature of other regions.
Beliefs
God
One of the central tenets of Costeny is belief in a 'God beyond this world', the True Lord (pravi gospod), an eternal entity transcendent of restrictions and bounds that holds supreme power over all that exists, has existed and will exist, standing in contrast to the Demiurge, an entity which is only all-powerful in the realm it has created. God created the multiverse encompassing all, of which the world humans are in is one of the universes a part of. God's nature is regarded as one beyond the capability of human comprehension, and no entity can become greater than God. God is also believed to be, to a degree, immanent, as seen through the enlightenment of Mstic and other prophets in human history, as well as the presence of miracles that can be attributed to Him.
God rules over a kingdom which is identified with Paradise. The reference to this kingdom as a 'kingdom' is only metaphorical and analogical, as God does not actually rule as a 'king' but rather the realms part of His Kingdom are those that have been cleared of illusion, diversion and distraction and embraced reverence of Him only. Cositene doctrine aims to bring mankind into the kingdom of God, allowing the human race to enjoy perpetual prosperity. The kingdom of God may only be entered by those with faith in Him, which is why neither God or other entities worshipping Him actively save sapient races through destroying their respective metaphorical prisons.
In Costeny, aniconism is practiced with regards to God whose transcendent nature makes it disrespectful to represent Him. Calligraphy of God's name is used instead where in other religions an icon would be used. However, God remains referred to as if masculine, a tradition passed over from Vitrian religion.
The universe, the Demiurge and humans
Cositene cosmology posits a multiverse, a boundless space comprising All, with individual universes or worlds floating around enclosed by metaphorical bubbles. The universe humans are located in is actually be a prison created by the Demiurge, where humans are incarcerated and in some form enslaved and leeched upon. The very foundational material of the universe is 'illusion and deception' according to established canons, and every aspect of the material world is intended to deceive and tempt humans.
The Demiurge is a powerful entity, initially a servant of God, but later corrupted and turned ruinous and malicious. In combat against entities still-faithful to God, the Demiurge sustained heavy injuries, forcing it to create the universe and abduct the seeds for a sapient race that would later become humanity in order to feast upon the energies of a developed human race to recover. The Demiurge also has several Archons in its service that pose as gods of polytheist pantheons or 'false angels' to further deceive humanity. Energy is supplied to the Demiurge and/or its avatars by means of humans developing religious belief and faith in it, thus Costeny is doctrinally hostile to any religion whose worshipped deity is not the 'God beyond this world' on grounds of those religions perpetuating service of the 'false gods' and furthering the enslavement of humanity.
It is argued that not only should humanity resist its current state of enslavement but also ascend to a higher state, and is more deserving of such a path than potential other sapient races in the universe, as the seeds for the human race were above-average and 'exalted' in quality, destining them for ascension and service to the True Lord. This is supposedly supported by several conversations Mstis had with 'true angels'.
Life and sapience are deemed divine substances, tracing origins from divine essence, and thus capability for thought is considered as a marker for destiny for divinity. Organic material is regarded as a material form of holy essence but is perverted into inflexible forms by work of the Demiurge.
Theophagy and ascension
Through wisdom acquired by humanity, especially its enlightened elements, humanity will become capable of exploiting the weakness of the Demiurge before it recovers and utilize false divinities to its advantage, characterized by 3 stages: the creation of pacts with these entities to benefit of humans, the subordination of these entities to will of humans, and finally, consumption and absorption of these entities by humans to allow it to retrieve 'divine essence' and thus ascend as a race. Mstis applied analysis of history of human interaction with nature to support this theory, stating that agricultural civilizations formed pacts with the Demiurge's avatars to their own benefit through sacrifices in return for good harvests, but to reach later stages of exploiting false divinities required greater enlightenment. Capability for greater exploitation of nature is accomplished by advancing technology. Upon expansion of human power thanks to use of the Demiurge to a certain extent humans may be able to conduct and engage in theophagy.
The nature of theophagy according to Cositene canons is vague, and it has been both interpreted as literal and metaphorical, though modern Cositenes believe in a mixture of the two. The metaphorical aspect of theophagy represents subordination of nature to humanity through technology to such an extent that it becomes merely a human apparatus, thus becoming virtually 'consumed', while the literal aspect of theophagy is that of humans absorbing gods into itself entirely in a mystical, supernatural process, repurposing their divine essence. While both represent ascension of capabilities of human civilization to a great level, the latter is deemed greater than the former.
Upon literal Theophagy in which the Demiurge is consumed, the natural world is destroyed, but simultaneously, humans acquire the Demiurge's essence and thus ascend to divinity and outside materiality, becoming far more powerful and able to meet God. In this event, two of the most important goals of Costeny are simultaneously achieved, that is freeing humans from demiurgical slavery and uplifting humans to a state 'worthy of appearance before God'. Following this ultimate, apocalyptic Theophagy, humanity officially becomes a member of the Kingdom of God, finding rightful salvation. It is also believed the irreverent amongst humans will be entirely destroyed in the event as well.
It is believed certain virtuous individuals can grasp more exposed and vulnerable sections of the Demiurge and absorb enough essence in these areas to allow themselves to achieve transcendence and divinity, and/or strengthen greatly their physical forms. Individuals that accomplish this supernatural process are revered as Great Saints by Cositene organizations. Some currents and sects believe the combined effort of several Great Saints may help bring about the ultimate Theophagy.
Two Lights
The Two Lights refer to two roughly opposite yet also closely complementary tendencies in Cositene theology and practice, the Black Light, and the White Light. Each of the two Lights are characterized by specific general attitudes in approach to subjects such as the path to ascension, the goal of ascension, the organization of the faithful, and the regimentation to be pursued by the believer. Black Light has been described as mysterious and authoritarian, but also egoistic, while White Light has been described as rationalistic, focused on doctrinal abstraction into principles, and egalitarian, yet also tightly regimented and collectivistic. The presence of seemingly contradictory tenets in a Light is actually considered essential to their composition.
Although the Two Lights are historically often considered as radically opposite due to the rivalry of the schools of thought espousing each of them, they are not in fact mutually exclusive interpretations and approaches, and are considered to be the same aspects of the truth that Costeny represents; accepting both is a step towards approaching the Absolute. However, churches have usually tended towards one or other Light, and traditions have been developed upon one particular tendency. The following of Black Light is regarded to span most of northern West Borea, while White Light is considered to be accepted by its southern half.
Practices
Cositene practices generally revolve around resistance against natural forces at every opportunity, exercised through aggressive proselytism of 'unenlightened' populations, strong sectarian opposition to nearly every other religious belief, the constant spiritual exercise of independence from the Demiurge's temptations (often resulting in asceticism, see Monasticism in Costeny), scholarship of methods to theophagy and ascension, and, through constant participation in a collective of believers as well as obedience to directions of clerical authority, engineer even greater acts of 'sacrilege' against petty divinity. The organized practice of Costeny has been noted to feature a near paradoxical blend of self-interest and collectivism.
Cositene morality is usually regarded as consequentialist; acts and their results and consequences are what are to be determined right from wrong. To this end Costeny is very pragmatic with regards to achieving its goals of Theophagy and Emancipation of the human spirit. Notably in Cositene moral and legal treatment those opposed to Cositene teachings, or those simply unenlightened, are dealt with on different principles such that they could essentially be considered defined as non-human in those contexts.
Rites and liturgy
Costeny has a very organized and esteemed procedure of liturgical rite (rječinija) that bears similarity to practice of Tastanism and Lutheran Catholicism, however it notably does not adhere to a strict schedule (on the belief that experienced time, being another architecture of the Demiurge, is immaterial and an illusion) and may be held whenever a religious leader and/or the majority of believers see fit. The rites can take place both in enclosed temples and on large squares designed for such purposes, known as resuasts. The ministers at such rites are known as prvčitatniks ('first readers'), assisted by several bočičitatnici, 'side-readers'. In a style rather distinct from other liturgical traditions, prayers are split into 3 sections, which sometimes overlap when recited, the prvčitatnici responsible for one, the bočičitatnici another and the rest of the congregation the remaining (this part is known as the 'group-word').
Podesy
Podesy (from podesnost, from pòdesiti, 'to setup, adjust, tune') is a metaphysical and occult system and method of orthopraxy where a Cositene aims to carefully manipulate nature to the maximum of their own benefit and the Demiurge's expense. It is considered a very esoteric field of Cositene practice but at the same time is a common part of everyday life, including both norms and customs of going about one's matters as well as metaphysical understanding and alteration of the environment in the process. It has been compared to the practice of feng shui in East Borea. Podesy has also been associated with both metaphorical and literal-preternatural 'pacts with demons' temporarily, again to one's benefit. Examples of podesic exercise include Cositene architecture, some features of Cositene gymnastics, divination, various Cositene cultural practices such as decorating doors with plants, and even the Cositene approach to science.
Organization
The basic Cositene institution is the church, which gathers at a local place of worship, either a church-temple or a resuast, the latter more common among larger urban communities. Rather than primarily being an assembly of believers as with other similarly structured West Borean religions, the church here is primarily a command center in the fight against the Demiurge, put directly an organ to command believers, and is thus strongly hierarchical with the managing clergy inherently positioned superior to the rest of the congregation, and whose coordinations are generally intended to be obeyed. This local congregation is headed and managed by a group of priests who carry the nominal task of overseeing the community of the Cositenes of the congregation in general. Local churches assemble into parishes, a largely administrative level of organization with little autonomy, and then gather into dioceses, which possess significant relative authority and relevance compared to most other Cositene institutions and polities. Dioceses are headed by bishops, appointed by eparchial authorities, or vaguely elected by consensus of religious subjects in absence of one.
The eparchy is theoretically the first-level administrative division of the Cositene world-state, and functionally is the supreme authority of all Cositene dioceses and churches in a nation, or even an entire region.
History
Emergence
Costeny finds its origins in heterodox and eventually heretical movements of Tastanism, a religion in West Borea codified by its prophet Bozhidar in the 3rd century. Currents that believed in divinities that existed outside of the Creator, Tastanism's central deity, and the World, became influences on Costeny, such as the ideas of Radomil, a heretic from the 8th century, although very few adopted the hostile attitude to the natural world Mstis's teachings took on later.
Himself a poorly documented figure prior to his prophecy, Mstis received revelations from the True Lord beginning in about 921 in Oteki, and then transmitted these doctrines to a circle of disciples. Mstis then travelled to Razaria in 930 to teach there after he was expelled by local authorities. In 933, his revelations were transcribed by memory, compiled, and published as the Word of the True Lord. The text was apparently rapidly disseminated enough to demand its immediate proscription in the context of pervasive church influence on society of the Bibliocracy. By this point, although Mstis had gathered thousands of followers even prior to the Word's publication, they were defeated at the Battle of Dobvod and massacred, with the emerging 'cult' banned and Mstis's inner circle fleeing to the Gozars.
Rise and expansion
Costeny was then only practiced sparsely and secretly until the Panoles plague in the 1050s, a devastating syndemic which depopulated West Borea severely and consequently caused the collapse of the Bibliocratic social order.
The plague was, among the Cositenes still active then, embraced as a divinely granted opportunity to spread their truths. In the chaos that ensued the plague, Cositene preachers, who had already gathered influence among the disaffected peasantry, organized waves of religious peasant rebellions; their goals of smashing the Tastanic church's grip on society, which was known to be oppressive, gave them huge popularity and rapid mass conversions by Razarian commoners. Eastwards in modern Zesmynia, Cositene conversions also surged, however it was only with the nobleman Ostromysl's act of converting to Costeny and revolting against the ecclesiarchy that the process of destroying Tastanism there began. Ostromysl was emulated by thousands of noblemen with estates large and small, who had all grown to resent the Bibliocracy's erosion of their authority, and wished to preserve themselves in face of the peasant uprisings. This rapid rise of Costeny was known as the Cositene expansion. Over a period of decades, Cositene states were established from Caznia down to modern Luziyca, with Tastanism holding out only southeastern West Borea.
In the 12th century, the various new Cositene states entered conflicts of interests that initiated a period of infighting and halted its spread, which was only ended in 1151 by the appearance of Adytum, a mysterious council claiming to be Mstis's original disciples, who temporarily provided an unified authority over the Cositene world and even outlined its states with the Investiture of Peregnevy, but after its disappearance in 1227 the Empire of Razaria took over as the predominant authority. Adytum also decreed the establishment of a clear clerical hierarchy, and a single standard of rites, that among other things that formed the set of central tenets and practices known as the Adytic Orthodoxy.
During the Adytic period and ensuing Razarian Hegemony, Costeny spread outwards again, with conquests and conversions of nearby Tastanic kingdoms or pagan tribes made steadily. In the early 14th century, the Cositene world confronted the Tastanic Petrolevian Empire, and eventually triumphed, with Petrolevia being conquered in 1338, sealing the Costenization of all of civilized West Borea.
The long serenity
The stable remainder of the 14th century and much of the 15th century saw Cositene culture and learning flourish in the tranquil setting. This included the sophistication of Cositene philosophy, which continued but also added onto the foundation of Neo-Sepcan philosophy. The debate of the supremacy of rationalism versus mysterious dogma was theologically controversial, and turned into a division between the Two Lights of theology. The moderating doctrines of White Light became influential enough for the Cositene world's previously fervent iconoclasm against pre-Cositene culture to attenuate, and even introduced a peaceful approach to interfaith relations known as cultivationism. Cositene clergy also emerged as a consolidated social class, introducing political conflict between imperial authority and clerical power that turned into the controversy of the Separationist movement in Razaria. The Separationist Wars, although mainly fought in Razaria, had consequences for West Borea as a whole; the underlying philosophical conflict behind the political doctrines of the parties deepened the divide between Black Light and White Light churches. Although a schism seemed imminent, no further issue was made of the conflict due to the recession of the Razarian Hegemony, and later a harmonistic, reconciliatory approach adopted during the Zesmynian Hegemony.
Cositene science developed significantly in the 15th century under its religious framework, with the understanding of the world from science viewed as useful in liberation from the Demiurge, and the application of it as technology as an act of theophagy. In the 17th century, under the White Light's influence, science in much of the Cositene world took on a rationalist and later empiricist bent, even though this was questioned by Black Light scholars of Razaria, Caznia, and Zesmynia, whose discourses formed the base for an anti-intellectual reaction that curtailed science in those areas. The further progression of White Light rationalism, combined with other philosophical developments, evolved into a clergy-questioning tendency that was also swiftly suppressed in southern West Borea. These currents led to the Delirium and Torpor, a period of intellectual stagnation as philosophical discourse and heterodox ideas were repressed. However, Cositene social order had in any case come under threat as Age of Enlightenment ideas slowly entered with the developing transoceanic trade in Esquarium.