Orkanan
| |
|---|---|
| Total Population | |
| Founder | |
| unknown | |
| Origin | Stoldavia date: |
| Type | Polycentric |
| Theology | Monotheistic, Animistic |
| Scriptures | Tankan, Records of Exemplars |
| Branches | |
| Peratolianism, Mellanhand, Cydhlig, Sunna, Wanleuce, Stellism | |
| Significant regions with adherents | |
| Anaria (Stoldavia, Thultannia, Anaria Major | |
| Languages | |
| Old Stoldavic, Dragar | |
Orkanan is a mono-panentheistic and animistic religion predominant in northern Anaria, defined by its adherence to common-held spiritual principles and mythos as prescribed by the Tankan. Central to the faith is the deity Vind (literally, the “Wind”), the omnipresent and omnipotent creator that serves as the godhead of Orkanan cosmology. It is among the world religions, spanning from its heartland of Stoldavia to the peripheries of Altaia, Jorveh, western Raia, D'Runia and parts of eastern Davai and Tzeraka.
The cyclic existence of the soul and the interconnectedness of things in harmony are running themes in Orkanan, and often define much of the faith's experience. Much is noted of Orkanan's focus on drawing closer to Vind's presence itself, through acts of creation and collective devotion, until ultimately reaching the divine after death, in a state/plane of being called samman. At present, Orkanan is doctrinally divided between interventionist and non-interventionist camps, of which the latter believes that Vind has a "master plan" in which it uses as the basis to act within its creation.
Earliest mentions of Orkanan as a concrete tradition date back to the First Stoldavian Empire (aptly named the Orkanan Realm), and is commonly accepted by historians to be a unification of various early-stoldavic pagan cults. This first iteration would be referred to as Fyrirhugin, and was inexplicably tied to the authority of the Stoldavic state. With the dissolution of the First Empire (and the subsequent rise of the Dragar Monopoly), Orkanan would spread and branch out into various sects, reaching northern Anaria Major and much of Thultannia. The Imperial sect of Mellanhand would assert itself as the dominant sect in Stoldavia after the foundation of the Second Stoldavian Empire, though would experience a great schism leading to the Empire’s downfall and dissolution. Today, Orkanan has since been existing as a polycentric faith, often organized into nation-spanning congregations.
Etymology
The term Orkanan itself is derived from Argazananą in proto-Stoldavian, meaning strife/force breath or better translated to the breath of life, which evolved into Orkanan in early Stolvic long after the Cadrai Empire had collapsed, becoming prominent during the First Stoldavian Empire.
Beliefs
The ultimate goal of Orkanan is to achieve samman, or "wholeness", with the supreme god Vind, usually interpreted as a spiritual and collective consciousness. Samman is considered to be part of the "realms" or "states of being", alongside Garda (the mortal/living state), Sike (the passing-through), and Hel (the cleansing). The lay Orkanan is expected to transcend all other realms of being through rigorous worship and invocation of Vind's presence, a kind of constant communion through following its example. The necessity of returning to Vind is considered the paramount duty of the faithful, as it is the only thing that sustains their continued existence in the hereafter; those who do not actively live in the service of achieving Samman are condemned to spiritual oblivion or eternal solitude, of which Sike also encompasses.
In some traditions, particularly the non-interventionist branches of the faith, this is compounded further in the belief in reincarnation; that all souls may cycle through all states of being; those who fail to achieve Samman in the old lifetime may have to enter Hel in order to correct their shortcomings and return to Garda with a deeper awareness of duty in understanding the world. Such chances to do so are limited at a certain, but often undetermined threshold, however; as Sike is still held as a potential end-state for deviants.
Vind and the interconnectedness of things
Orkanan's central object of belief is the supreme god Vind. Vind is considered to be the almighty power behind everything, an omnipotent and omnipresent being who created and pervades across the universe. Unlike the deities of other faiths, Vind is characterized as immaterial and transcendent; unable to be fully and truly perceived by mortal senses outside of limited facets and an innate sense of "feeling". Hence, Vind can make its presence manifest in various ways through its creation, usually in natural phenomena and most commonly through the wind (hence its name). The need for wholeness and the limited mortal understanding of the divine has led to Orkanan rites and practices to be of holistic form; in which actively mimicking and understanding Vind's qualities, from creation, learning to communion with others one could in turn be closer to it's divine essence.
All of creation is considered to bear consciousness or hold part of Vind's consciousness (including humans), thus meaning that all concrete things, from objects to phenomena, are spiritually tied to one another. This includes the principles of matter, the spirit, and the soul, the latter two being distinct elements in Orkanan hierology (In Orkanan, the soul is specifically reserved for creatures with sapience, that is, a very high level of self-awareness of being. All living things have an innate spark or spirit within them, but only those with human levels of intelligence are considered to truly bear soul). Hence, the universe is interpreted as a sort of holistic and cohesive art, an intricate harmony in which all of creation takes a part of. Humans are expected to bear a sort of reverence to creation and compassion to its "soul-bearing" creatures (usually referring to people and animals). Reaching harmony with the elements and other people is thus seen as a virtuous act or an integral part of one's path towards samman.
Morality
With its adherence to the interconnectedness of things, communion and fraternity with others is a prized value in the faith. Orkanan remains tied to the extended family (the stim?) as the core unit in its society. Things are best done together, and cooperation is seen as congruent with the achievement of samman. The self is always tied to the wider group, and in turn the world at large. Going against this dynamic in favor of self-interest goes against the principle of wholeness, and could lead the soul astray from the world, and in turn Vind itself. As a consequence, however, this often leads to an attitude of compulsion and conformity amongst conservative Orkanan societies.
Mythology
- Main articles: Orkanan Cosmology and Orkanan Mythology
Practices
Scriptures
The core beliefs are loosely gathered in a series of historic publication referred to as The Scriptures. However, there is no single version of The Scriptures and the function of the written resource is different within each congregation. For example, the Laudany plays a central role in Peratolian, while the Saga of Sunsanna from the book The Sisters Of Mercy is a centrepiece within Sunnist Orkanan. A book like the Queens of the Silver Age contains 14 sagas of which some have separate stories, while a more freestanding Scripture like the Saga of Aslaug only contains one single saga in two chapters. The oldest Scriptures are a hybrid between mythology, legends and biographies, the latter most often of people without any other proof of having existed in reality or not, with the biography being the only "historical" account. The Scriptures however have laid the foundation of the common Orkanan practice of writing people's biographies, of which the most important ones can be acknowledged as Exemplars. Some Scripture books, sagas and stories are about Exemplars, but not all biographies of Exemplars can be considered a part of The Scriptures.
Structure and clergy
Given the faith's varying and diverse traditions, Orkanan branches vary in their organization. The largest denominations have been known to bear a top-down structure and are often tied to state institutions. There also exist modern sects ("nonconformists") that endorse a more grassroots gathering of the faithful, often clashing with the more established stifts.
The common denominator uniting these disparate rites together is the faith's basic organizational unit: the stim (also clann, gens), or the layman's extended family or adopted social guild. Stims often serve as the primary institution of everyday worship, and are also responsible for handling the local community's worldly affairs, such as managing the local mantalshus upkeep and serving as courts of justice. An independent, self-ruling stim is referred to as a stond. These Stims would congregate into a Soecken (sogn, karspel, contio, pfarr), an alliance of various Stims and often a regional-level body led by an Alf. [...] Sockens in turn, are organized further into a Stift, the highest authority of an Orkanan community. Stifts are traditionally helmed by a monarch (konung[inna], brigantinos, often a herr or frau for smaller Stifts) who is tasked, among others, to lead divine rituals in the name of the entire flock. More modern stifts, especially the republican Sunna tradition, replace this office with the more lay title of "Wayhand".
Major branches
Interventionist
- Fyrirhugun
- Mellanhand - One of the orthodox and mainstream denominations of Orkanan, dating back to the foundation of the Second Stoldavic Empire.
- Sunna
- Stellism
- Peratolianism
- Cydhlig
Non-interventionist
- Wanleucer
- Aeuria
Culture
- See also: Orkanan Phraseology
Current issues
History
Influences to Proto-Orkanan thought
Orkanan theology has influences that trace their origin to the Empire of Cadrai, an empire around the Medio Sea that had profound cultural and ideological ramifications for Anaria as a whole. Orkanan originated from the Walandos rift in the Cadrai capital of Walandor (later Valance in the Dragar Monopoly and Anisora). The Cadrai Empire followed the cult of Fidomnes (Faith of All), which was a pantheon developed over thousands of years from the ancient Pantheon of Sindaris, which had ballooned with numerous gods as the Cadrai Empire expanded across the coasts of the Medio and lands beyond the Western and Hattaro Straits.
The Northern Empire had substantial "barbarian" populations migrating from Thultannia and Stoldavia. To the empire, barbarians were any people living outside the cultural sphere of the empire. They followed essentially monotheistic cults to a sky or firmament god known as Wenos in Thulthannia and Windaz in the barbarian outlands of Stoldavia. These cults of the sky and wind would later develop within Stoldavia to create the core of the Orkanan theological framework.
The Windaz and Wenos cults were integrated into Fidomnes as new deities to be worshipped by immigrants from the hinterlands and barbarian lands, as well as the cosmopolitan populations of the empire.
The god Wentos, derived from Windaz and Wenos, came over the centuries to merge with Isanos (the Cadrai name for Sindar) and effectively replaced Sindar as the transcendental god of the cult in the eastern empire. Nevertheless, in the west, Sindar still remained in name but with many qualities from Wentos.
The Walandos rift came in the year XXXX, when the cult of Fidomnes had grown untenable as a united faith. Empress Vendalica Lucta called a council of Amelioration in the same year to unite the growing rift, which increasingly led to clashes between believers in the capital and the central lands of the empire, where rival communities increasingly worshipped both gods (that were understood by all to be the same). After three years of heated discussion, the cult of Fidomnes ceased to exist, and the separate faiths of Wentos and Isanos came to be defined.
The faith of Wentos spread across the eastern empire and the lands beyond, to certain areas of southern Stoldavia. The faith, despite originating from the Fidomnes and Stoldavian religious notions, was not the direct progenitor of Orkanan. Nevertheless, the faith brought key concepts and practices that would enable the evolution of Orkanan into a fully-fledged organised religion. Concepts such as the veneration of faithful individuals for great deeds and the formalisation of theological culture and concepts into writing.