Cziela

Chèla 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 one God/life force, 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)

A core belief of the religion is that everything in the universe is composed of one of five states of matter or "constituents", these five states do not map easily. Each of these elements has a 'representative' that are each considered sacred within the religion.

Categories	A Mako	A Khya	A Khe	A Miru	A Yahkoi
Representative	Mako	The Wheel	Haki	Miru River	Yakei
Form of life or Existence	Terrestrial	Artificial, life that requires external manipulation.	Aerial	Aquatic	Sapient life
Realm	Natural Grounds	Unnatural Grounds, such as cursed or infertile lands, or manmade lands.	Sky	Water	Stars
Element	Solid matter that is alive, such as plants or flesh.	Solid matter that is inanimate or sterile.	Air	Water	Fire

• A Yahkoi

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

The Construction of the Universe from the Achyau

Before everything was created there was nothing but God*. God had, and continues to have no form, but is present in everything in the universe and continues to dictate the direction of consciousness of the universe.

• Not strictly a God, also 'fate' or 'life force' etc. Has no personification. Permeates Everything.

A Khya - 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.

A Yahkoi - God gifted some of the A Khya with fire/sapience (A Yahkoi). With this, the A Yahkoi were able to move and moved away from each other. They also let off smoke

A Khe - This smoke then filled the universe, and accumulated especially in places near the remaining A Khya. God took a liking to one system in particular, and blew much of the smoke away from the Yakei system, except for the space between Haki and Pavala. This thus left the smoke between just Haki and Pavala, and they shared the remaining smoke/winds, and is why Haki is the symbol of A Khe in the religion <<for practices on Haki, Pavala instead fulfills this role).

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 is their sacred river.

Mako - God then put plants & animals on the land and fish in the seas & rivers. These were formed from when water rushed over some A Khya and broke down into rocks and then the water seeped into it and soaked it and made the A Khya fertile and this is why all living things need water.

Creation of the Meó people

The Miru river (A Miru) eroded some clay (a form of A Khya) and washed it ashore. This clay was beaten with winds (A Hke) from Haki and formed a creature (A Mako). This creature gained sapience after Yakei gifted it fire (A Yahkoi) 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 five constituents

[DEITIES BASED OFF THE PLANETS/STARS] (Deities that are present all over Meó) (A Yahkoi deities)

[DEITIES BASED OFF OF NATURAL FEATURES - OFTEN VERY LOCALISED] (Only in certain locations, strong regional/locational associations)