Latest revision as of 08:02, 22 July 2023

Chèla is the name given to the religious beliefs practiced by the Meó. It is largely derived from various indigenous beliefs of elemental worship, animism, and belief in a pantheon of gods and goddesses (derived from the Htaevic religion), underneath one God/life force (Kanea), which has no corporeal form. The religion is highly syncretic and diverse, blending traditions of the Htaevic's religious practices with the Hsuqliht's Herlucc religion and philosophies, both of which have had and continue to have a major presence within the religion and culture of the Meó. Due to its diverse and syncretic nature, exact numbers are hard to obtain, but it is generally accepted that among ethnic Meó, an overwhelming majority adheres to the religion.

The Elements

A core belief of the religion is elemental worship. In modern times, it was recognised that the four elements correspond to states of matter.

Categories	A Mako	A Khe	A Miru	A Yahkoi
Representative	Mako	Haki	Miru River	Yakei
Form of life or Existence	Terrestrial	Aerial	Aquatic	Sapient life, The Elder Beings of Haki
Realm	Natural Grounds	Sky	Water	Stars
Element	Earth	Air	Water	Fire

A Yahkoi

Fire, lightning, sapience. Fire is considered sapient in the religion, due to its ability to spread upwards. Traditionally, lightning is considered a form of fire ("cold fire").
Yakei is considered sapient due to being able to move across the sky.

The Creator God

There is a belief in a creator God/life force that has always existed and permeates everything in the universe. Throughout the years this God has been identified with the concept of Kanea.

Gods/Goddesses

There are many gods/goddesses, largely imported from the Htaevic pantheon.

Creation of the Meó people

The Miru river (Water) eroded some clay (Earth) and washed it ashore. This clay was beaten with winds (Air) from Haki and formed a creature. This creature gained sapience after Yakei gifted it fire (Fire) and the fire became part of the creature. This was the first Meó.

Hierarchy

"GOD" (borrows a lot from Herlucc concepts of Kanea in modern Cziela)

The elements/their gods.

Htaevic pantheon

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-Siela (Cziela [ʂiˈelɐ]) is the name given to the religion practiced by the Meó.
+Chèla is the name given to the religious beliefs practiced by the Meó. It is largely derived from various indigenous beliefs of elemental worship, animism, and belief in a pantheon of gods and goddesses (derived from the Htaevic religion), underneath one God/life force (Kanea), which has no corporeal form. The religion is highly syncretic and diverse, blending traditions of the Htaevic's religious practices with the Hsuqliht's Herlucc religion and philosophies, both of which have had and continue to have a major presence within the religion and culture of the Meó. Due to its diverse and syncretic nature, exact numbers are hard to obtain, but it is generally accepted that among ethnic Meó, an overwhelming majority adheres to the religion.
-== Five Deities (Acyau) ==
+== The Elements ==
-A core tenet is the worship of five deities considered central to Meó identity. Five is also an incredibly sacred number to the Meó. The Siela religion is deeply embedded within Meó culture to the point that the line between Siela and Meó culture is often incredibly blurred. The five deities are as follows;
+A core belief of the religion is elemental worship. In modern times, it was recognised that the four elements correspond to states of matter.
 {| class="wikitable"
 |-
 !Categories
-!Amako
+!A Mako
-!Akya
+!A Khe
-!Akhe
+!A Miru
-!Amiru
+!A Yahkoi
-!Aahko
 |-
-!Deity of
+!Representative
 |[[Mako]]
-|The Wheel
 |Haki
 |[[Miru River]]
-|[[Ahko Tree]]
+|Yakei
 |-
-!Form of life
+!Form of life or Existence
 |Terrestrial
 |Aerial
-|Mystical/Haki
 |Aquatic
-|Sapient
+|Sapient life, The Elder Beings of Haki
 |-
 !Realm
-|Ground
+|Natural Grounds
 |Sky
-|Haki
+|Water
-|Void
 |Stars
 |-
 !Element
-|Wood
+|Earth
-|Metal
+|Air
-|Air/Life (Sie)
 |Water
 |Fire
 |}
-(Note that Áhko's element is not wood as the Ahko Tree is not in fact a true tree, and is much more like a grass, and does not produce wood.)
-At birth every child is assigned one of the five deities. People are addressed by varying forms of honorifics based on their deity. Although all deities have an associated tribe, this does not necessarily mean that an individual of a tribe must have their associated deity, quite the opposite in fact, with every tribe having a decent portion of each of the deities. Some Meó may choose to contact an advisor when assigning a deity, although this is coming increasingly less common in the modern Meó society.
+* A Yahkoi
+ Fire, lightning, sapience. Fire is considered sapient in the religion, due to its ability to spread upwards. Traditionally, lightning is considered a form of fire ("cold fire").
+ Yakei is considered sapient due to being able to move across the sky.
+=== The Creator God ===
+There is a belief in a creator God/life force that has always existed and permeates everything in the universe. Throughout the years this God has been identified with the concept of Kanea.
+=== Gods/Goddesses ===
+There are many gods/goddesses, largely imported from the Htaevic pantheon.
+=== Creation of the Meó people ===
+The Miru river (Water) eroded some clay (Earth) and washed it ashore. This clay was beaten with winds (Air) from Haki and formed a creature. This creature gained sapience after Yakei gifted it fire (Fire) and the fire became part of the creature. This was the first Meó.
+= Hierarchy =
+"GOD" (borrows a lot from Herlucc concepts of Kanea in modern Cziela)
+The elements/their gods.
-In relation to immigrants or assimilated people, it is common practice to be assigned one of the five deities by a spiritual leader.
+Htaevic pantheon