Arikai

Arikai, Arikokai or Arikaism (Esonian: 神思, romanised: Arikai) is a polytheistic religion which originates on the islands of Esonice. It's classified by religious scholars as the native indigenous religion of the Esonian archipelago. The practitioners of Arikai often regard the religion as a folk and nature-oriented religion.

Arikaism revolves around the idea of the ari (Esonian: 神), divine/god spirits/supernatural entities that are believed to inhabit everything in the universe; and wai (Esonian: 霊) which are souls of mortal beings with the ability to reincarnate. They are further divided into living souls (Esonian: 魄, romanised: wāmei) which are souls that have reincarnated, and dead souls (Esonian: 魂, romanised: wąshi) which have not reincarnated or are stuck in the spirit world, in which case they become lost souls (Esonian: 失魂, romanised: ). Souls that are unable to reincarnate. The link between the ari and the natural world has led to arikai being called an animistic faith, or pagan, often by Christian scholars. The ari are worshipped in various ways by adherents of the faith, such as at a household shrine, family shrine and/or a public shrine. Public shrines are looked after by a group of priests, who maintain the shrine and give offerings of food and drink to the enshrined ari. This is done to show respect to the ari and to keep harmony and agreements between the mortals souls and them, and to solicit the latter's blessings and protection in exchange. Arikaism also contains many rituals, festivities and celebrations, some of the famous ones being the terror dance celebration (Esonian: 怖舞, romanised: Sakiyōmone) celebrated in December, and the sun and moon dance festival (Esonian: 太陽月亮舞, romanised: sūtsukiyone) which is celebrated in July; it's often termed as Esonice's valentines. Both are universally celebrated across Esonice and are national holidays.

Definition

Agglomeration of all beliefs of Esonian people.