Glossary of Badi

This is a list of terms which are specific to the Badi religion, or which have a particular usage in reference to it. Many come from the Ziba language, as Badi originated in Dezevau where the language is predominantly spoken.

A

• Air is a theological element; it physically essentially only correlates to oxygen and gaseous mixtures containing it, insofar as it is distinguished from the theological element of Gas because it is breathable. Historically, Air and Gas were considered a single element, which was itself recognised from ancient times.
• Animal is a theological element which includes both living and dead animal matter, particularly tissue. It was split from the theological element of Plant in ancient times.
• Animate Badi (less commonly Animatism) is a cross-sectional tendency of Badi which places emphasis on the existence and importance of the soul, similarly to though less so than Tulyata. The human soul is thought of as exceptional in its complexity of composition in the Animate view; the most important distinction in Animate Badi is its understanding of the afterlife. The original belief of Badi was that after death, the mind, nondetachable from the material world in which its body existed, ceased to exist. However, Animate understandings say that rather than unravelling in the material world, the soul transcends to a higher plane, intermediate between the plane of the badimua and the material world. This intermediate plane is typically conceived of as nameless and largely featureless, being flat and grey. It is believed the soul unravels in this intermediate plane after floating off after death, with part of the unravelling potentially being finishing unfinished business with the souls of others; the unravelling is thought to take place at minimum over the space of a human lifespan. A rare but extant variant belief is in reincarnation of the soul, rather than unravelling, for some or all.
• The Association of Badist Churches is the peak association of Badi institutions. It is a loose federation which mainly exists to coordinate activities and organise basic resources and services, particularly for smaller temples and sects which may be unincorporated or customary. It also conducts statistic-gathering and awareness campaigns outside of Badi-practicing regions, and today represents the overwhelming majority of Badi temples and followers since its formation in the earlier part of the 20th century. It is largely uninvolved in doctrine, though exceptions include basic tenets such as the identity of the theological elements.

B

• Badi (also Badiba and Badism) is a religion followed by millions of people largely in southeastern and central Coius, having originated in Dezevau in the first millennium BCE. It holds that reality is manifested by a number of badimua, elemental spirits whose bodies interact to comprise matter. The religion holds all things to be knowable, and emphasises creation and interconnection in its practices; it has been described in various ways, including polytheistic, animistic or materialist.
• Badimua, also known as mua (Ziba: badimhua or mhua) are the chiefest or only spirits or deities in Badi. The material world consists of parts of their bodies which do not exist in higher planes. The theological elements are their essences in the material world, and their properties reflect their identities; the existence of badimua is formally implied from the behaviour of theological elements, and badimua are referred to by their theological element. Badimua are generally thought of as sentient but not sapient in their concern for the material world, having a consciousness or awareness of the material world comparable to a sleeping person or an animal. In Badi belief, they came into existence out of an undifferentiated mass in very ancient times, and the material world came into being largely unintentionally as a result of their existence. The number of badimua has generally increased with the progression of history, alongside theological elements, but was and has remained around a dozen.
• A Badist is a person who practices or follows Badi.
• The Badi Reaction was a period in the history of the Great Steppe, when Satyism, embodied by the Satrian states lost influence and Badi became the dominant religion through trade, proselytisation and cultural and political influence out of Dezevau. It lasted from around 25 CE to 125 CE, when the Uluuchig Confederacy officially adopted Badi.
• For Bashurati Badi, see Tulyata.

C

• Catinism is a general term for Badi practices of using mind-altering substances to achieve closer connection to or to transcend the elements. The term is believed to originate from a Pali-Pelangi word meaning something along the lines of ecstasy or sublimation; the term is not commonly employed by Badists themselves whose practices are variant by sect, but is used from academic and Eastern perspectives to describe the usage of entheogens in Badi, which is common compared to other religions. Catinism may also refer to practices involving other sensory substances in Badi, including foods and perfumes. Someone who uses or administers substances is a catinist, and the used substance is a catinogen. Notable examples of catinism include the use of red honey in the Cult of the Sun and xxx.
• The Cult of the Sun is a bi-elemental Badi sect, which reveres the sun as the most direct presence of badimua in the world, being a manifestation of heat and light. It is among the most institutionally decentralised, zealous and heterodox of the Badi sects, and is noted for its use of entheogens as well as associated popular uprisings or mass psychogenic illnesses, which were known as Sun Madness. Its contemporary centre of activity is in Vadimhunga.

E

• Earth is a theological element. It refers generally to silicate materials, including glass, sand and many rocks. Early in the history of Badi, it was split from the theological element of Metal, and later on, from Salt, which are mainly distinguished respectively by being malleable and lustrous, and by being soluble and chemically reactive.
• Electricity is a theological element which covers electricity. As for most of history its predominant manifestation was in lightning, it has also been referred to as that. It is one of the more recently discovered theological elements, though it is still many centuries old; before the element became well-established in Badi thought, lightning was hotly debated, though mainly thought of as being Heat and Light.
• Elementalism refers to the tendencies and traditions in Badi that relate to physical manipulation and engagement with the elements. Engagement with the material world with respect to its composition by the theological elements is considered an important aspect of religious observance and living; this can take the form of arts, crafts, rituals and science. Those who engage in experimentation and crafting in this manner may be called elementalists, which includes large sections of the Badi priesthood.

G

• Gas is a theological element. It includes all gases outside of oxygenated ones, which belong to the theological element of Air as they are breathable. Historically, Gas and Air were considered a single element, which was itself recognised from ancient times.

H

• Heat is a theological element. It largely correlates to the idea of heat; hotness is thought of as the presence of Heat, coldness its absence. Historically, it was confused for fire by non-Badists, but it is one of the elements in Badi whose origin is ancient; few theories ever excluded it.

L

• Light is a theological element which is physically essentially light. In the earliest conceptions of Badi, there was the theological element of Darkness, but this was inverted to become Light in ancient times.
• A living root bridge is a structure with typically religious significance to Badi, insofar as they are a type of Plant elementalism; they are bridges constructed of living plants, usually figs, trained by human efforts. Workers on living root bridges are called pontificates, and are themselves most often farmers or Plant priests.

M

• The material world is the one consisting of theological elements, which is physical in nature; it is the plane which humans inhabit, along with their environment including animals, plants, rocks, air, water, and so forth. It is a lower plane compared to the one in which the badimua are chiefly located, though it is debated how many planes there are above and below the material world. It is common to speak of an intermediate plane, not far removed from the material world, which is the afterlife; it is largely featureless and souls unravel slowly there after death.
• Metal is a theological element, which was distinguished from Earth early in the history of Badi theory. Its physical manifestation includes essentially all metals, being characterised by common lustre and malleability.
• Motion is a theological element which includes all forms of visible physical movement. It is unclear if in the earliest conceptions of Badi, it was part of the same element as Time, but regardless, for the overwhelming majority of the history of Badi theory it has been an independent theological element.

O

• Oil is a theological element, including in its physical manifestation all those liquids which are non-miscible with water but liquid at the same temperatures, such as mineral oil and vegetable oil. Water split with Oil from the ancient element which was all liquids in the first millennium CE.

P

• Plant is a theological element which includes solid vegetable and fungal matter, both alive and dead. It was once considered part of the same element as Animal, but was split in ancient times.
• Pure Water Badi is a sect of Badi which is based around the theological element of Water; it was historically dominant in central Coius before the rise of Irfan; it holds Lake Zindarud to be the holiest body of water in existence. Its tends towards such practices as meditation, lustration and ritualised drinking; they involve the body and the built environment with pure, still water. Its temples have, compared to most Badi sects, an unusual level of coordination with each other, and have fairly formal but practical organisation; they often engage in trade and handicrafts, and historically were commercially significant.

S

• Sagtan were small-scale couriers, traders and religious figures, forming a civil society on the Great Steppe in and around the time of the Badi Reaction. Their travelling habits and connection with larger trade networks and urban cultures gave them influence, and their role in the distribution of catinogens which were particularly significant on the Great Steppe gave them especial religious significance. They were in part responsible for the establishment of an enduring Badi presence on the Great Steppe, as well as generally increased commercial and cultural exchange between the highland and lowland regions of Southeast Coius and the Coian interior. The sagtan were merged into the Yellow Robe Society after the Uluuchig Confederacy, at the time of the Khyalbar Khanate, while the clergy came to form the Silver Robe Society, becoming more institutional, formal and conventional with comparison to orthodox Badi.
• Salt is a theological element which consists of soluble and/or chemically reactive mineral substances, which includes most salts in scientific chemistry. It was separated from the element which had been separated from Metal in ancient times.
• A sect is a group or manner of practice of Badi, which touches on only an aspect of the religion. Though people or temples are often specifically dedicated to specific sects, sects and their members recognise and interact with the broader totality of the religion; often sects are dedicated to a theological element, and so recognise the authority of other sects on other elements. Sects are often formalised, as a unit of organisation above temples.
• The Silver Robe Society (also Grey Robe Society or Badi Society) was a civil society on the Great Steppe which included and was dominated by the Badi clergy of the region. It existed during the Khyalbar Khanate, and was mainly concerned with the development of the skilled professions (in particular in relation to elementalism), and religion.
• Sound is a theological element corresponding to actual sound. It was first conceived of as an element in ancient times.

T

• Tai'u is the predominant traditional religion of Tava in Tinza, which has links to and has sometimes been asserted as a variety of Badi; in particular, it has relation to devotion to the theological elements of light and heat, and historical links dating back to antiquity, but especially strong during the Rëghë dynasty which originated from Bagangige to rule over Tava.
• A temple is an institution which is the typically basic organisational unit of the Badi religion. They serve as the centres from which communities are engaged in ritual, service and study, and have hierarchies of personnel and devotees. They are often but not always dedicated to a specific theological element or a specific group of them. Priesthoods are usually organised into councils with acolytes under them per temple. Architectually, they tend to reflect their elemental customs and traditions, and frequently they also serve as repositories of religious lore, histories and mysteries.
• A Temple of Eternity (also known by various other names) is the highest ranking temple amongst the temples which primarily revere the theological element of Time. Formal hierarchy between temples is unusual in Badi, but Temples of Eternity are well-established as being at the top of an extant hierarchy for Time; they have unique privileges, duties and characteristics because of this, including the maintenance of oracles, pilgrims and influence being much further afield, and less engagement with the immediately local community. There are only a handful of Temples of Eternity in the world.
• A tendency in the context of Badi is a variety of the religion in relation to the totality of its practice. It is usually a general, academic distinction, and distinguished by geographical regions or culture; it is similar to terms such as denomination or branch. It should be clearly distinguished from the term "sect", which refers to a particular subsection or organisation within the religion, relating to only an aspect of the religion.
• The Afterlife in Badi is an essay, published 1927 in the Ziba language, written by Mhuoganga Dibegaune, a social theorist, author and politician. They were agnostic, but regardless, the descriptive views in The Afterlife in Badi came to be taken as scripture by most clergy and followers of Badi, in part because of the later popularity in public life of the author. The essay, which could be classified as an anthropological work, suggests that the Badi view of the afterlife is either nonexistent, or located in an obscure, featureless plane, for a long period of time, where souls may interact after death before fading out of existence very slowly. The latter view is characterised by the influence of Animate Badi.
• A theological element is the material manifestation of a particular badimua. Their behaviours in the material world are believed to reveal the identity and nature of badimua. Theological elements are the media through which Badists interact with badimua, insofar as humans are largely restricted to the material plane. As there is a theological element per badimua, its numbers have followed the same trajectory; increasing slowly, but never far from about a dozen. The term for a theological element used to be and is sometimes still "badi", though this is no longer the usage in Estmerish. It is conventional to capitalise the names of theological elements to distinguish them from lay substances, materials and concepts, for example distinguishing Water and water.
• Time is a theological element which encompasses the concept of time. It is unclear if it was always considered an element, or if it was considered as belonging to the same theological elemental category as Movement; in any case, for the overwhelming majority of the history of Badi, Time has been clearly distinguished.
• Tulyata is a belief system practised primarily in the Bashurat Valley in Satria, which is variously considered a broad variety of Badi or a separate religion; characterised by syncretism with Satyism, it holds that the elements are conceptual rather than material, and that there exists a particular theological element which comprises the soul, or life essence. It bears similarities and relation to Animate Badi.

W

• Water is one of the theological elements of Badi. The element which in the earliest conceptions of Badi theory included liquids generally was split into Water and Oil in the first millennium CE. Contemporarily, it is the element only water, and liquids with which it is miscible.

Z

• A zagubi is a kind of handicraft with religious significance in Badi; it is woven or braided from long fibres, though in a much looser or more ornamental fashion than rope, and is associated with the theological element of Time. Its length, regularity and interconnection represents one's dedication and appreciation for the passage of time. The creation of zagubis is one of the simplest and most common forms of participation in Badi, often taught to children as a pastime, and completed zagubis are often used as decorations in households and elsewhere.

See also

• Badi by country