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. Scholars occasionally call practitioners of Arikai Arikaists, although adherents rarely ever use this term. As Arikaism is a decentralised faith, there is no sole central authority in control over the whole religion and a lot of diversity in belief exists among adherents. However, the Serene Monarch of Esonice serves as an unofficial head of the faith due to the mandate of heaven.

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 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 the ari, and to solicit the latter's blessings and protection in exchange. Public shrines also offer a variety of religious paraphernalia to the adherents, such as amulets, bracelets, and rings to facilitate forms of divination, flowers and wreathes (Esonian: 花冠. romanised: ) are also used as they are believed to inspire creativity and give wisdom including giving more spiritual energy (Esonian: 活力, romanised:). There are also many superstitious beliefs about butterflies and bees, such as butterflies being bringers of luck and bees being bringers of good fortune; with honey often being called "nectar of the ari" in poetic expressions. 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. The Flower dance festival (Esonian: 花舞, romanised: Hiruyone) which takes place during the spring equinox, 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. Arikai places a major focus on the concept of purity (Esonian: 清, romanised: wāni) and staying clean which the latter involves practices such as ritual washing and bathing, especially before worship and entering holy grounds, and degree of chastity. Despite being a decentralised faith, many adherents have similar moral codes which usually include shaming of deceitful behaviour or lying, refrainment from sexual activities deemed perverted, staying loyal to the community, friends and family and shaming disloyalty, and shaming greedy, overly prideful and cruel behaviour. Some wai, mortal souls, if deemed pure or worthy enough by the ari can be transformed from a wai into an ari themselves.

Arikai is primarily practiced in Esonice, where over 60,000 public shrines can be found. Although practitioners can be found abroad among Esonian communities outside Esonice, such as Iverica. It is Esonice's largest religion, however it is difficult to give an exact estimate of how many adherents the faith has as Arikai is ingrained into many Esonians cultural identity and many adherents choose to not affiliate with temples.  

Definition

Agglomeration of all beliefs of Esonian people.