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Kaharnism is a traditional Charnean religion associated with Tamashek speaking peoples of the Zahra desert and today practiced by many groups across Charnea and Scipia. Core aspects of Kaharnism as an organized religion were established through the amalgamation of the traditional beliefs of Tamashek speaking nomads and the faiths of many ethnic groups residing in southern and eastern Charnea as the former came into contact with the latter through migration and conquest in the 10th and 11th centuries. Modern Kaharnism arose through syncretism of this medieval Kaharnism with White Path beliefs introduced through osmosis from Mutulese interests in Scipia, followed by the appearance of mendicant proselytising entities such as the semi-legendary Desert Oracle. It is not known when these processes of syncretism and partial conversion of Kaharnists to Sakbe beliefs began as the earliest surviving record of these activities are an early account of the Desert Oracle's activities dating to the mid 16th century, indicating that Sakbe must have been present or known in Charnea for some time prior. However, it is widely accepted that the heavily syncretic Sakbe-infused beliefs recognizable in modern Kaharnism had been well established around the mid to late 18th and early 19th centuries in many regions, and became widely although not universally practiced after the reunification of the Charnean Confederation in 1816. Kaharnism and similar Amazigh belief structures are also known to be syncretic with the Azdarin faith, various Christian denominations, and Judaism.
Kaharnic practice focuses on the correct treatment and veneration of deities known as the kel essuf, which are described as animated spirits of natural places and elements, in addition to the imanen, the souls of dreaming or dead human beings and animals. The religion has many local variations and the nature of spirits and distinction between nature spirits and ancestor spirits vary greatly. The standard Kaharnic term to refer to all lower deities of either nature is rada, a corruption of the Urushar word arada used to define similar animist spirit deities in traditional Urushar religion. The rada are identified as Sakbe deities or avatars, as well as Yen temanaa and some Fabrian catholic saints through syncretism with various faiths. Kaharnist worship of the Rada can take place in a variety of locations, including graveyard shrines which generally feature a stelae field, established temples called taghazam ta rada or a "House of Spirits/Ghosts", as well as personal or household shrines and even notable locations in the landscape such as the peaks of mountains or bodies of water. Rituals center on contacting the Rada, which is facilitated through gift giving to the spirits, animal sacrifice, singing, dancing and close contact with ancestral remains either by keeping a talisman of an ancestor's bone or simply praying at or sleeping on an ancestor's grave. Spirit possession and divination practices are present in some, though not all, local variations of Kaharnism.
Many variations and syncretic sects of Kaharnism exist across Charnea and Scipia, practicing at times markedly distinct and differing liturgical orthodoxy and rites. The central constant which unifies Kaharnist practice and distinguishes it from other forms of Scipian traditional shamanism and ancestor worship is the deified figure of Mother Kaharna, a legendary queen of the ancient Amazigh peoples who was posthumously deified as a powerful ancestor spirit and later a higher order goddess as Kaharnism continued to develop. Kaharna, often referred to as Mother of us all, is worshipped as a powerful ancestor spirit representing an original ancestral matron of all nations and tribes of humanity, who therefore presides over the local and more specific rada affecting the lives of many different groups. The rada of Kaharna is strongly associated with water, especially desert oases, and is seen as a benevolent deity seeking to nurture and guide her descendant children. While most traditions of ancestor worship in Kaharnism fall under familiar ancestry, the spiritual motherhood of Kaharna is more metaphorical, encompassing not only groups decended or associated with the Amazigh but the rest of humankind as well. Some rada, such as the imanen of the well known Charnean conqueror Agnan of the Tree, receive similar treatment and broad veneration, although this is typically limited to particular tribes or nations as opposed to the universal worship of Kaharna across all of Kaharnism.
Beliefs
Kaharnism espouses the belief in a supreme being which created the universe, leading to the religion being mistakenly identified as monotheistic historically. The creator being is identified as the sun, alternatively as a dual entity encompassing both the sun and moon, and is referred to as Lis or less commonly as Sham-Mawu meaning sun-moon. In the latter interpretation, the creator Sham and the demiurge Mawu are distinct facets of the same overarching supreme entity, Lis. For Kaharnists, Lis is a distant and transcendent god who is uninterested in human affairs and therefore is not prayed to or directly venerated, as humans cannot contact it directly. Lis can sometimes be personified as either a male or female entity, sometimes even as both male and female, but is more commonly portrayed as a non-human, intangible entity represented by the solar disk. Lis is differentiated from non-transcendent lower deities known as rada, which are both animistic spirits of the land, natural elements and conceptual embodiments as well as the empowered spirits of both living and ancestral dead souls. The heavenly divine realm of Lis and the earthly divine realm of the rada spirits are often contrasted through mitigated duality. However, Kaharnism does not incorporate belief in any powerful antagonistic entity opposing the creator Lis nor does it depict the heavenly and earthly realms as being in conflict, leaving the religion's dualism morally neutral. Similarly, spirits described as "light" or "dark" are not associated with good or evil, but rather in a positive/negative relationship related to complimentary dualism.
The rada, which are interpreted as gods, spirits or geniuses, are the polytheistic deities of Kaharnism. Depending on the sect or syncretic beliefs of practitioners, the rada will alternatively be referred to as K'uh, temanaa or as saints, "mysteries" or "invisible ones". Rada interact with humans through positive influence by offering help, protection, or guidance as well as through voluntary possession and negative influence such as causing disease or inflicting tamazai, a form of negative possession akin to depression. The rada of ancestors or living relatives in a dream state will often readily assist or otherwise interact with persons, while others might be compelled to act through prayer, ritual gift giving and blood sacrifice. Some rada are treated as middle entities between humanity and the solar creator Lis, however many rada such as the dreaming spirits of living humans and some ancestor spirits do not communicate with Lis. Kaharna is the primary intermediary between humanity and Lis and many rada which are too minor or distant to be contacted by human practitioners through ritual. Consequently, the uniquely powerful rada of Kaharna is a focal point and central figure for all sects and denominations of Kaharnism as she is prayed to even in rituals intended to contact other rada, and is attributed many powers which would be considered beyond the scope of most rada's influence in the mortal world.
Not all of the rada are seen equally by Kaharnist practitioners, and they are generally divided into the two broad categories of personal and universal spirits. The rada which are seen as personal spirits are typically the rada representing a person's direct ancestors, the dreaming state of a loved one who is physically distant, or another form of nature based rada that is significant to that person specifically. While the existence of personal rada generally acknowledged by the wider Kaharnist community and its various clerics and thinkers, specific personal rada are typically not widely known except in extraordinary circumstances and are generally venerated only by the persons they are close to. Small pantheons of personal rada will often be established within family groups based around family ancestors or nature spirits related to their home or occupation, and these rada which are closely associated to a person or their family on a personal level will often figure heavily in their religious life, often prayed to or beseeched as a result of everyday struggles.
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Conversely, universal spirits are observed as major deities by large contingents of Kaharnist believers. These are comparable to gods within a polytheistic religion, in that they are seen as powerful entities holding sway over particular aspects of the world and posses their own personalities and traits which figure in to worship and rituals performed by their Kaharnist devotees. Kaharna herself is foremost among the universal spirits and despite her nature as a human ancestor spirit many aspects of nature are ascribed to her, specifically influence over life giving waters such as oases, streams and rivers. This association is believed to stem from ancient Tamashek practices and gender roles which ascribe the role of water-keeper to the mothers of the tribe. As a consequence of Kaharna's association with water, she is venerated as the chief rada of agriculture and the grazing of herds, making her generally popular and frequently worshipped by farmers, herders and carvaneers all of whom are directly concerned with Kaharna's favor. While all rada are generally associated with both causing and treating injuries and illnesses, Kaharna is one of the more often prayed to rada when it comes to healing the sick due to her character as a motherly spirit known for virtues of compassion and nurturing care.
Maqqor Taschilt Imlal (lit: Great White Serpent) also known by the name Akegun, is another water rada seen as the bringer of rains. Akegun the serpent represents rebirth and the renewal of life, typically associated with the rapid growth and blooming of a desert plain after the rains, which is often taken to symbolize the concept of life after death or rebirth and reincarnation in traditional Charnean mythologies. Closely associated with Kaharna due to their similar natural associations with water and life, Akegun and Kaharna together represent the key transitions in the Kaharnist cycle of life. Despite her life-sustaining associations, Kaharna is venerated as the rada presiding over death and the passing of ancestors into the ranks of the rada sprits due to the goddess's position in the pantheon as the original ancestor and foremost of the rada dealing with ancestors and with the order of the earthly world. Akegun, as the rada of rebirth, is naturally seen as presiding universal spirit of birth and the beginning of new life, and he is often portrayed as being Kaharna's husband or partner-spirit as the two form a thematic dualistic pairing, wherein death leads into life and vice versa. This symbolic representation of the cycle of nature and life through these two rada is sometimes represented with the moon and the cyclical lunar phases.
Tanet (or Taneth), sometimes known as Astoret or Menhit, is a rada goddess at the confluence of many ascribed aspects and is one of the more popular and widely observed deities of the Kaharnist pantheon outside of the central Kaharna-Akegun pairing. In her general worship within Kaharnism, Tanet possesses two main attributes as the goddess of sex, love and fertility as well as the goddess of war, bloodshed and combat. Tanet is a female spirit known for a fiery temperament and headstrong, passionate personality which lends itself to both the sexual and war-like portrayals of her divine nature. Although generally metaphorical, the fire-like nature of Tanet is sometimes portrayed literally through association of fire to the goddess leading to the usage of large bonfires or the practice of burning certain items is used to venerate her. In recent centuries, Tanet has also been associated with certain states of mind and mental health and is particularly invoked to dispel depression or tamazai believed to be caused by angry rada. Tanet can be destructive or negative as a spirit of anger, violence, or of lustful thoughts which many cultures consider taboo, but is also assigned positive aspects and is venerated as a supernatural wellspring of purpose, passion and thrilling sensations in one's life. Tanet is thought to be an assimilated figure of foreign origin which was later merged with the personalities of many rada upheld by the tribes to become a Kaharnic goddess rada adopted from an outside influence.
Although one of the more popular rada, Tanet is not the exclusive personification of the forces and concepts she represents and many other universal rada are also observed as patrons of hunting, warfare, fertility and love, although no other spirits combine these aspects together as Tanet does. Erekere is one of the principal rada of hunting and warfare, masculine coded tasks which were historically closely related, and is portrayed as being a temperamental and stubborn horned spirit, displaying a similar nature to the typical portrayal of Tanet although he functions as a more traditional war god. He is seen as the patron of champion fighters in war and of hunters showing great prowess and holding high status within their group, and is often venerated both for victory in battle and success in a hunt. Obosi, Posaa and Loposi are some of the many well know rada believed to hold sway over motherhood, pregnancy and fertility by various Kaharnist cultures and are often the subject of many rituals and rites involved with pregnancy, birth and conception. They are often said to merely be different interpretations of the same or similar rada by different ethnic groups and it is understood that their names in local languages are often corruptions of one another. Related yet distinct to the fertility rada is Kowaye the rada goddess of lust and sex and the one which is most closely tied to Tanet's divine association with sexuality, although Kowaye additionally is seen as being the mother of drunkenness, hashish stupor, revelry, celebration and other forms of non-sexual desire.
Tchente is a well known trickster god is depicted as a wise rada possessing great knowledge usually represented as a spider or Saras weaving a web. In folklore, Tchente displays a mischievous yet generally benevolent and playful personality. He is often seen as the patron of orators and storytellers and is said to inspire those of quick wit and those who emonstrate the ability or desire to turn the tables ones stronger than themselves through guile, deceit and greater knowledge. Historically, this deity was strongly associated with prisoners or slaves who often had little choice but to use cunning and deceit to turn the tables on their oppressors when force would not avail them.
Practice
The general practice of Kaharnism and worship of the rada is usually conducted on a personal and local level within a community. Although most Kaharnists maintain shrines or temple-like spaces dedicated for the veneration of their chosen rada spirits, there typically exists no formal temple institution or centralized liturgical authority within Kaharnist practice and as such the traditional rites, oral histories and recorded myths of Kaharnism are subject to regional and local variation and may often be modified even from one family congregation to the next, or differ between neighboring tribes. Tamashek, Djerma, Yerwa and Beriaa are all used as liturgical languages within Kaharnism, although by far the most common is Tamashek. As a result, many of the more commonly used materials in Kaharnist religion are written or spoken in Tamashek. Despite the absence or a formal clergy or liturgical authority, many cults of the rada exist as associations and groups venerating the same deity with similar or related practices and rites. While the general practice of Kaharnism often varies significantly even between neighboring groups of worshippers, practices between groups of priests, shamans or other devotees of a particular deity often show a lesser degree of variation and some broad cohesion in their beliefs, symbolism and rites and may even occasionally convene to carry out major rituals or to debate theological aspects of their patron god or goddess. Generally, Kaharnic cults are based on apprenticeships of devout believers with existing cultists and priests over the course of several months and years, followed by a rite of initiation the details of which are kept secret by the particular priests in question. Spiritual figures may sometimes be devoted in this way to numerous different rada cults, and it is commonplace for such community priests to hold day jobs or other roles within the community and serve as keepers of religious histories and officiators of special rites when the need arises, as opposed to the professional priests common to many other religions.
Kaharna cult
Kaharna as the gatekeeper of the spiritual afterlife and the matron of ancestral spirits is associated with jackals, vultures and other scavenging birds. The cult of Kaharna is by far the most widespread and organized within Kaharnism and is focused on the proper veneration and communion with the ancestors, funerary practices as well as some aspects of herding and agriculture. Primarily, veneration of Kaharna involves the figure of the vulture Eheder and of the jackal Ebeggi which are both associated with the dead and passage into the spiritual realm of the rada due to their observed behaviors of seeking out and consuming dead bodies. Jackals, vultures and other scavenging animals are generally believed to be the manifestations of Kaharna or otherwise as animals possessed by rada which follow Kaharna which are tasked with seeking out the dead to separate the rada spirit from the mortal vessel and accompany it to Kaharna's divine court, which is sometimes interpreted as a from of afterlife through which living souls pass to then become ancestor rada that may be freely called upon by living humans.
Vulture priests are those devotees of Kaharna which conduct sky burials, last rites, and are tasked with the proper treatment and disposal of human and animal corpses. Jackal priests are those which are less practically involved with aspects of the dead and instead deal primarily with already formed ancestral rada and serve as mediums and diviners for adherents seeking to commune with the ancestral dead. Both sects of Kaharna cultists are also concerned with the detection of wild spirits of the night, the essuf, which are believed to be the tormented souls of the dead which have clung to or been trapped within their dead bodies and have not been taken to Kaharna's court to become free rada. Such spirits are usually blamed for misfortune and illness and the cult of Kaharna is primarily concerned with dispelling these spiritual ills and resolving any negative spiritual effects and ramifications they may have had. Shades of red are usually associated with Kaharna and prominently displayed in rituals or general reverence of the matron rada.
Akegun cult
Although theologically Kaharna is more closely related to the immediate life giving waters of oases, steams and irrigation it is instead Akegun the Great White Serpent which is more actively venerated as the god of rains and new life. Prayers for rain are addressed exclusively to Akegun or alternatively to both Akegun and Kaharna. Rain rituals of this nature of amoung the most common and widespread of their kind within Kaharnism and represent some of the most uniform and regular types of worship activity across most practitioners of Kaharnism. As the god of rebirth and life, Akegun is the subject of many rituals which are observed during the first rains and immediately after the often very rare precipitation within or near the Zahra desert. For example, worshippers of Akegun will often time their pregnancies so that the birth will occur around the start of the rainy season, which is seen as granting good fortune during the birthing process and conferring good luck and vitality to the infant. Many of the lesser observed fertility related rada are sometimes linked to the Great White Serpent and may be used together in numerous maternity rituals representing new life and maternal fertility. This also holds true for the births of animals within a herd, which is sometimes the subject of rituals held by herders and goat tenders to ensure the health of newborn calves. As a serpent deity, Akegun is closely associated with the colors white, green and blue and with the viper or Taschilt which is sometimes kept as a pet or familiar by particularly devoted followers.
Tanet and Kowaye cults
Tanet is widely revered by female elders and wise women in many Kaharnist tribes as a feminine symbol of strong willed defiance and self motivation as well as the principal rada involved in marriages and many related social affairs which are traditionally the charge of women. The goddess is often evoked in fire-based rituals such as the burning of old clothes or especially the belongings of a vanquished enemy, which is generally used as both a celebration of growth and a counter spell to cast out an unhealthy fixation or attachment to past events which smother the living passion within the soul. Like Kowaye, Tanet is seen as the source of lust and a matron of sex but particularly in the context of the cult of Tanet these things are seen as avenues of enjoyment of life and is distinct from Kowaye in that she represents love and more romantic aspects as well. Because of this, Tanet is often venerated by married or prospective couples seeking to faster a bond through often through sacred marriage and other practices. Tanet is also observed as the source of courage and fighting spirit within warriors, being the subject of historically common battlefield or wartime rituals intended to raise the morale of troops by invoking Tanet which is though to have a placebo effect in which troops would become courageous in combat simply because they believed the rada goddess had granted them courage. In some depictions, Tanet is depicted as lion headed and she is generally associated with the lion or Ahar.
The cults of both Kowaye and Tanet broadly associated with prostitution in general across Charnea as veneration of Kowaye is believed to bring good fortune, health and prosperous business to prostitutes whereas worship of Tanet is thought to grant not only prowess during sexual acts but also notably granting protection or a ward-like defense against rada of ill intent which may harm prostitutes or promiscuous women. The cult of Kowaye in particular is known to practice temple prostitution which is shunned in some communities but stands out as the primarily legal form of prostitution in Charnea, which is otherwise illegal or criminalized except in the context of religious practice such as veneration of the rada Kowaye. Shrines to Kowaye often feature the color purple and her devotees or shrine keepers will often venerate the sacred butterfly or Amellelu though to be the animal servant of Kowaye. Annual rituals involcing Kowaye are often timed to coincide with butterfly migrations for this reason and generally involve one or more priestess of Kowaye in ritual garb featuring large woven butterfly wings and a spirit mask both of which are brightly colored in purple, green, yellow and blue.
Erekere cult
The warrior cult of Erekere, more so than the martial aspects of the cult of Tanet, are primarily focused on the aspects and virtues of warfare, duty and the arts of weapons. Adherents of Erekere focus on honorable conduct, keeping to one's duty and the veneration of their patron rada through the ritualistic construction, maintenance and consecration of sacred weapons as well as the frequent practice of combat arts such as Tabillant wrestling. In peacetime and in modern times, Erekere is mostly venerated as a god of the hunt and of hunters who must be appeased in order to attain good outcomes in a hunt. It is believed that Erekere may sometimes grant fortune in a hunt to those who do not directly worship him out of admiration for their virtues or dedication which the warrior rada views as forms of unconscious worship. A similar concept is applied to warfare, where Kaharnists often believe even non-Kaharnist armies may gain the favor of warrior rada such as Erekere by showing good virtues and unintentionally worshipping him through their practices and keeping of their weapons. It is believed that Erekere chiefly governs the outcomes of fights and battles, although Kaharna and the ancestor rada of the individual fighters may also influence the outcome making the results of battles difficult of divine. Erekere is associated with the Udad which is generally understood to be a ram or mouflon and is seen as a particularly strong and stubborn entity.