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

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-Cziela [tʂɻɪˈelɐ] (also Siela, Sziela, Chziela, Chiela, Ciela, Kachívism etc.) is the name given to the religion 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 (many of which are based off of the planets within the Yakei system), underneath the Supreme Cosmic Being/God of the Cosmic Aether Kachívi, which has no corporeal form, but is treated as The One God above all. The religion is highly syncretic and diverse, blending traditions of the Htaevic's religious practices with the Succlythian'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.
+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 Constituents (Achyau) ==
+== The Elements ==
-A core belief of the Chziela religion is that everything in the universe is composed of one of five states of matter or "constituents", those five states being Wood, Metal, Air, Water, and Fire. Each of these elements has a 'representative' that are each considered sacred within the religion.
+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
-!Áhko
 |-
 !Representative
 |[[Mako]]
-|The Wheel
 |Haki
 |[[Miru River]]
-|[[Ahko Tree]], or Yakei
+|Yakei
 |-
 !Form of life or Existence
 |Terrestrial
-|Manmade Animate Things
 |Aerial
 |Aquatic
-|Sapient, Fire itself
+|Sapient life, The Elder Beings of Haki
 |-
 !Realm
 |Natural Grounds
-|Manmade Grounds, cursed or infertile lands
 |Sky
-|Aquatic environments
+|Water
 |Stars
 |-
 !Element
-|Wood
+|Earth
-|Metal
 |Air
 |Water
@@ Line 43: / Line 38: @@
 |}
-(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, it is fire as the tree is highly flammable and can explode on occasion.)
-Fire also includes lightning, electricity, magic, and magnets.
+* 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.
-Wood and metal are misnomers - wood describes any type of solid from which life can flourish, and metal is sterile earth/rocks/metal. They are both of earth, with the main distinction being that wood is fertile but not sterile, and metal is sterile and infertile. However, metal is 'fluid' and additionally can occupy other physical states (generally all except air), notably Void.
+=== 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.
-Metal requires external manipulation to have life (movement of the wheel is 'life'), which is why its realm is manmade animate things.
+=== Gods/Goddesses ===
+There are many gods/goddesses, largely imported from the Htaevic pantheon.
-Cziela beliefs stipulate that everything has a balance of all five constituents within them, even if one is only present at an infinitely small concentration.
+=== 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.
-=== The Construction of the Universe from the Achyau ===
-Before everything else was the Supreme Cosmic Being Kachívi, something that is described as being everywhere and 'everywhen' (it is somewhat comparable, and multiple disciplines within the religion take inspiration from, the Succlythian concept of Kanea). Unlike Kanea, which is neutral and in equilibrium, Kachívi is generally accepted as having a directed conscious, ultimately aiming to strive for goodness in the universe. Certain events may deter this.
-Kya - the universe was first made, it was made of a sterile mass that had no discernible state of matter, unspecified as to what it was. Then, Kachívi made most of the Kya into lumps, these lumps were the sterile metals and rocks - as most of the Kya was turned into metal this is why it is associated with metal, but a small amount was left behind to be turned into everything else.
-Ahko - then came the stars, as Kachívi seared fire into the lumps of Kya, these burned bright and let off smoke.
-Khe - This smoke then filled the universe, and accumulated especially in places near the Kya and between two close Kya (like Haki and Pavala). Then Kachívi blew a lot of it away from the Yakei system (forming the <nebula that can be seen in sky potentially>). This thus left the smoke between just Haki and Pavala, and this is why Haki is associated with the Khe, and the winds on Pavala are believed to originate from Haki (which is why storms can be seen on Haki), and that the atmospheres of Haki and Pavala are one and the same, like a tunnel.
-Miru - The smoke then rained for a thousand years, making the oceans and rivers and lakes. It is associated with the Miru river as this is the main source of water for the Meó and their sacred river.
-Mako - Kachívi then put plants & animals on the land and fish in the seas & rivers. These were formed from when water rushed over some Kya and broke down into rocks and then the water seeped into it and soaked it and made the Kya fertile and this is why all living things need water.
 = Hierarchy =
-KACHÍVI (borrows a lot from Herlucc concepts of Kanea in modern Cziela)
+"GOD" (borrows a lot from Herlucc concepts of Kanea in modern Cziela)
-KYA AHKO KHE MIRU MAKO (Elements or States)
-[DEITIES BASED OFF THE PLANETS/STARS] (Deities that are present all over Meó)
+The elements/their gods.
-[DEITIES BASED OFF OF NATURAL FEATURES - OFTEN VERY LOCALISED] (Only in certain locations, strong regional/locational associations)
+Htaevic pantheon