Osmarynism

Osmarynism (/'ɒzmærɪnɪzm/), also known as Humaitism (/'hju:maɪtɪzm/) was a major ancient religion founded by the Qi'nakhashi Prophet Osmaryn (in Middle Hammarian Osmārin, New Hammarian اسمیرن Osmārin, Timarbian Osmārīn, Chalcian Οσμαριν, Fiorentine Osmar or Osmaryn, c. BC 837–770, also known as Humaiti from the X for "all-knowing") in the Kingdom of Qi'nakhash in modern-day Qal'eh somewhere around 800 BC.

Osmarynism teaches of a morally opposite dualistic cosmology describing the duty and desire of mankind to do good, and the temptation to create evil. Osmaryn believed that the fate of humans in the afterlife would be decided by a powerful, although not omnipotent, deity known as Daêva (often romanised as "Dava"), who would judge their actions of their life and either send them to the Atarnmāna to be condemned to an afterlife of solitude, regret and grief if their actions were deemed as having succumbed to the temptation to create evil, or the Asa if they were deemed as good-willed and a carrier of Dava's message throughout their lifetime. Good will in Osmarynism is referred to as the Shaqa Khidma ("path of knowledge") and refers to a human's journey to the Asa.

Osmarynism quickly gained traction throughout modern-day Qal'eh and Kodesh and quickly became the widely-practised religion throughout the Qi'nakhash Kingdom and rivalled the Ahurayasna Arvian kingdoms. It replaced the Pantheon of the Old Gods that had existed in the Qi'nakhash Kingdom for centuries prior. The Mazyaris continued to spread Osmarynism west into the Hammarian tribal kingdoms and Mazyari city-states of modern-day Hisaristan and the small Chalcian kingdoms and city-states of modern-day Romellea, where it remained as the main rival to the already-existing Ahurayasna religion, created around two centuries prior. Osmaryn literature spread throughout Artavasdes' conquests into central Asura during his reign of the Hasravanid Empire throughout the 5th century BC, with copies and transcriptions of Osmaryn literature being found as far west as Veleaz and Midrasia. While the reign of the Hasravanids was one marked with Osmaryn oppression and repression, the vast conquests of the empire allowed the teachings of Osmaryn to spread throughout Sifhar and eastern Asura.

An adherent of Osmarynism was called an Osmaryn or Osmarynist and less frequently an Osmaryni.

History

Life of Osmaryn

Main article: Osmaryn

An early Qi'nakhash coin depicting Osmaryn's face, excavated near Rezalakh in 1937

Osmaryn was a Qi'nakhashi (a blend of Mazyari and Hammarian ethnicities) born in 837 BC near the city of Yamthanara (modern-day Chigir), the capital of the Qi'nakhash Kingdom. According to the Life and Death of Osmaryn, a collection of Chalcian stone engravings, cuneiforms and texts from around 750 BC, Osmaryn's parents were Ahurayasna or adherents of the Pantheon of the Old Gods. Both are mentioned in the documentation of Osmaryn's life and it is unclear which faith they adhered to. Some historians argue that the parents adhered both faiths, and converted from the Pantheon to Ahurayasna as preachers from Hisaristan migrated into Qal'eh. Osmaryn himself was initially an adherent of the Ahurayasna faith, but details his "enlightment" and awakening that brought him away from the religion and encouraged him to create his own.

Osmaryn wrote four books between 800 and 790 BC, collectively known as the Qadisha, which outlines the beliefs and customs of Osmarynism and how it should be practised, as well as various hymns, songs, prayers, rituals and sacrifices to show gratefulness for Dara. All four of the Qadisha were written in the Old Hammarian language and distributed and read as such.

Historians also believe that it was Osmaryn himself that invented the unique Osmaryn script of Old Hammarian, utilising the alphabets of the Hammarian tribal kingdoms of Hisaristan and compiling them into one universal script. The first two Qadisha are written in standard Old Hammarian, while the final two are written in the Osmaryn script of Old Hammarian, leading many historians to believe that the script was compiled around 795 BC. The Osmaryn script gained widespread usage throughout the Hammarian world beyond Osmaryn's death.

The Tomb of Osmaryn in Malkayama in 2018

Throughout the early spread of Osmarynism during Osmaryn's lifetime, its only real competition was the pre-existing Ahurayasna, which was still extremely popular throughout Sifhar at the time, gaining increased social and political influence. Osmarynism gained more adherents through its popularity throughout the upper class and royalty of ancient Sifhar, being popular with some Hammarian tribal kings and the King of Qi'nakhash. With the permission of the King of Qi'nakhash, Osmaryn began missionary expeditions in 787 BC which were mainly centred throughout Qi'nakhash and the peoples of Kodesh, winning over the influence and support of many royals in the region. Osmaryn fell ill while on an expedition near modern-day Shahdun Bay, and was rushed to the nearby city of Malkayama (near modern-day Mazra, in Qal'eh), where he died of his illness in 770 BC. While the city of Malkayama is now in ruins, the Tomb of Osmaryn is a designated WECO heritage site and was a popular pilgrimage site for centuries after his death.

Life of Isvat

Unlike most other major religions, however, not all of the Osmaryn holy scriptures were written by Osmaryn himself. The Drazmirta, one book and one collection of hymns, were written in Middle Hammarian by an Osmaryn adherent and preacher known as Isvat somewhere around 460 to 450 BC. When Artavasdes conquered Qal'eh in 454 BC, Isvat presented the book of Drazmirta, the Artaktava (translated as "Book of Arta" - to refer to Artavasdes) to Artavasdes himself when he visited Yamthanara after his conquests. While Artavasdes himself did not choose to convert away of Ahurayasna to Osmarynism, he did choose to refrain from persecuting the religion in his empire's borders, allowing it to spread throughout the lands Artavasdes conquered during his reign. The death of Artavasdes and the rebellion of Arv the Great as well the Hasravanid Civil War largely curbed the spread of the religion. Isvat himself was born into an Osmaryn family in Malkayama in around 480 BC, largely why the city was considered holy to adherents of the religion. Isvat was an Osmaryn for all of his life and became a priest aged 14, spreading Osmarynism throughout Hasravanid Qal'eh. He was revered as the Osmaranivga ("second Osmaryn") and was considered as the successor to Osmaryn's legacy in the religion.

Influences

Osmaryn was largely influenced by the faults of Ahurayasna as detailed in the Ushpa Qadisha, mainly centred around the religion's focus on the human and its connections with the good and evil of the world. As a concept, Osmaryn vehemently disagreed with the separation of the soul and the creation of two separate planes of existence - physical and mental. Osmaryn believed that the physical and mental aspects of a human worked with each other to prevent deviation from the Shaqa Khidma and to repel the temptation to create evil, and came together as one unified existence. The aspects of a "hell" (the Atarnmāna) and a "heaven" (the Asa) were taken from Ahurayasna, although Osmaryn believed the purpose of the Atarnmāna was to destroy the soul of a human, leaving them eternally empty to live an afterlife of regret.

Teachings

Osmaryn disagreed with the eschatology of Ahurayasna predicting the ultimate destruction of evil, and believed that evil will always exist on the Earth, but it is the duty of humans to combat it during their lifetimes in the name of Dava. Osmaryn also disagreed with Ahurayasna's one supreme and omnipotent being, and instead believed that the job of God (Dara) was to supervise the actions of humans that had been created to act well in his name, and judge them in the afterlife based on said actions.