Matraism

Matraism is a religion originally practiced in Askali based on the teachings of the hermit philosopher Matranes and the other shadowed masters. Matraism is based around the fundamental "Great Principle" of the universe according to the shadowed masters, that there is an ultimate, undivided essence beyond all of existence called 'the one', though this essence has no true name and exists in silence. This fundamental principle believed to be the only truly existing thing, indeed, it is existence and reality itself. The material world is said to exist only as a shadow or some transient, insubstantial thing dwarfed by the infinite reality and truth that is the one.

The Greater Principle or the one is viewed in the context of Askali culture as beyond a god, as the traditional gods in Askali were nature deities and spirits inhabiting existing things. The one who transcends reality is not of the same nature as these beings, and the early masters did not believe in the animistic gods, so some have described Matraism as a religion that does not worship a god. It may be more accurate though to describe the religion as monotheistic adoration of the one.

The one is eternal and limitless, and its true nature sustains all of existence in Matraist thought. It is frequently translated as God in other languages. Matraists glorify the Greater Principle, but as they consider it perfect and its will unchanging and preordained, they do not pray to it except to declare in speech that "by the immutable will of the one, this may happen/this has come to pass". A fundamental tenant of Matraist belief is to deny all other Gods and beliefs, as well as all contingent spiritual beings.

Matraists believe that the material world is insubstantial. People are attached to it and thus chained to transient things and delusion, separated from understanding the ultimate nature of reality in the one. These delusions are: 1. Human free will, which does not exist, as all things proceed naturally from the Greater Principle. 2. Division in the universe, as everything is sustained in actuality by the ideal and singular form of the one. 3. The existence of the independent human ego, which arises from the personal sensation of division.

The shadowed masters taught that humans are trapped in these divisions because as they are of the material world, they cannot perceive that the shadows that they see every day are not actually the true reality. Because people cling to the illusions of division and the ego, they cannot understand the nature of the one. Beholden to their subjective desires, they are inevitably led to suffering and sin, which is the absence of the one.

In this view, evil and suffering do not actually exist but are essentially synonymous with ephemeral existence. Matraist religious orders are primarily monks who live in silence to destroy their self-illusions and glorify the one, who exists in silence across eternity. In doing this, they hope to perceive the unchanging light of the Greater Principle rather than the false forms of the material world. To know the truth, Matraists are asked to look inwards, within themselves to concentrate on nothingness and dispel the illusions of material existence and the independence of their intellect, so as to realize the true eternal logos of the one. When they do this, they become one with the greater principle and escape the illusions of creation, achieving enlightenment, which is unity of the will with the one.

The early Matraist masters also preached a rigorous morality of non-violence, near total abstinence, periodic fasting, and relinquishing unnecessary possessions. The modern religion maintains these ascetic characteristics, but many have justified the use of force and violence in the propagation of the faith, as it is understandable that people trapped in illusions cannot see the truth themselves.

In Askali, the faith is somewhat syncretic with traditional animistic faith. A brief overview of this faith was that it focused heavily on worship of the sun, seen as a goddess that gave life to the Earth. Every year she aged and faded in winter, but was restored to youth in spring. The priestly class consisted of holy medicine men and women, and young women were often venerated as the human manifestations of the sun goddess and they were made to tend the shrines. Other features of the religion that have survived in folk belief are the veneration of nature, sacred trees and stones as homes for minor deities, and purification rules and rituals, but these have been largely reinterpreted, and nowadays are mostly just folk customs or cultural quirks.