Religions of Teppala

The religious beliefs of the people of Teppala are fairly similar from place to place, despite civilizations at endpoints of the planet being separated by more than 50000 years. Most people on Teppala belong to one of the Gold religions, which were created from a fusion of the native Repilian beliefs with those of immigrants from the islands of Laba. These two religious complexes were themselves very similar despite having diverged nearly 30000 years ago.

Believers in the Ridiamic religions (also called Ridia) are positive polytheists. They believe in the same gods, and that those gods cooperate with each other. Thus, wars are not fought in the name of a deity, even when two human cultures have chosen to devote themselves to two different gods, because each acknowledges that the other's main deity is real.

Overview

Lack of sin

Ridian religions could be said to have a childlike moral outlook with no concept of sin. All that brings happiness is good. Since the gods are omnipotent and invincible, no human deeds will ever bring harm or benefit to the gods, and humans' only responsibility is to each other, whereby they are free to make their own laws.

Instead of a list of sins to avoid, Ridians learn a list of ways to protect themselves and their family members from evil spirits and the dangers of the natural world, while maintaining spiritual purity and winning the protection of the savior, #Malamen.

Afterlife

All Ridian religions believe in an eternal afterlife, with either eternal absolute bliss or eternal absolute punishment for all humans and animals.

Salvation

With salvation, one is granted eternal happiness. All who are saved are equal; everyone is at the top, in the state of maximum possible bliss. The path to salvation is not to avoid sin, or even to do good deeds, but to maintain spiritual purity, and win the favor of the savior, #Malamen.

Damnation

The Ridian equivalent of Hell is served out on earth in a state of hereditary slavery. Disowned by the savior #Malamen, these people and their children are only allowed to worship #Yuni and #Kwatena, who may at times provide temporary relief from their torment but will not free them from slavery.

Blasphemy and spiritual disguise

The spirit of #Malamen guides believers during prayer and daily life, and those who commit acts of blasphemy, such as mispronouncing a word during prayer, are revealed as spiritual outsiders and therefore unable to receive salvation. Their punishment, like others who are damned, is slavery to be served out immediately on earth.

An attempt to avoid a situation in which one may be prone to blasphemy is considered spiritual disguise, and this also is seen as a sign of a damned soul. A priest who refuses to lead a prayer is therefore ejected from the community and may be enslaved.

Malice

Crimes of property damage, where a human being is harmed without benefiting the perpetrator, are sometimes said to be committed in the name of #Kolagas, and therefore equated with or likened to blasphemy. This varies from priest to priest.

Reincarnation

All Ridian religions believe in reincarnation, and that the same soul is at any given time reincarnated in multiple bodies.

Sacrifice

Because favor from the gods cannot be bought, there is no culturally acceptable use of sacrifice. Anyone committing a sacrifice of any kind will be treated as if they had destroyed property belonging to someone else.

Common pantheon

In this list, most names are exonyms. Note that even within a language, it is common for one deity to have many names. Languages can spread across many religions, and in some cases, practitioners of one religion will prefer a different name for the same deity than other religions speaking the same language.

All supernatural beings are considered gods. The three primary figures are all female, but #Yuni is a god of many forms and can appear as male.

The three goddesses known as Màlamen, Kʷărena, and Yŭni are all omnipotent. But one belief taught early in childhood is that, while Yŭni is all-powerful, Kwărena's powers are even greater than Yuni's, and Màlamen's are even greater still.

Mappamensam

Malamen

Mappamensam is the goddess of pregnancy and childbirth, and is worshipped in all Ridiamic religions. Some religions, such as that of Thaoa, have become monotheistic with Mappa as the supreme being.

Translingual	Tapilula	Gold	Khulls	Proto-Moonshine	Bābākiam	Poswa	Pabappa	Thaoa	Proto-Subumpamese	Old Andanese	Late Andanese	Notes
Mappamensam		Ṃătʷamṅ	Màlamṅ	Màlamn	Matuamem	Maptamum	Maptamum	Mappamyn		Makămṅ	Makami
Saaha	Fàga-Hà	Sàga	Sàġa	Sàga	Saa	Saba	Saba			Fahà	Haha
Pofa	Uḳĕmba	G̣ʷăda	Gʷăra	Gara	Paa					Uqĕmba	Vima
Palli	Bàayi	Dāyi	Lēyi	Lāyi	Tāyi	Table	Tabli	Caži

The names Saaha and Palli are much older than the others, and can be traced back to the Mumba language, where they appeared as Mabasan and Pyahalyi respectively. Thus, the much later Khulls/Moonshine name Pālyi is a reborrowing by scholars who had studied early history. The name Mabasan is not cognate to Mappamensam and its relatives, despite its superficial resemblance; even the m- is not cognate.

Note that the names Sàga and Fahà, and their descendants, are reflexes of the full name Fàga-Hà with syncope of the medial vowel.

Only those with a clear mind can pray to Malamen, because she responds immediately to the prayer and only one with a clear mind will hear her and carry on a conversation.

Kʷarĕna

Kwatena

Kʷarĕna is the goddess of abortion, disease, and death; including death in early childhood. She cooperates with Mappamensam rather than fighting against her; Mappamensam and Kʷarena choose which children will live and which will die. Diseases caused by Kwatena are cancer, death by old age, and other internal diseases; she is not related to external diseases such as pathogens.

Kʷarĕna is worshipped as the supreme deity by a cluster of religions, including the Raspara, which formed around the year 4200 but have few remaining followers. These people do not think of Kʷarĕna as evil, but simply as very difficult to please.

Short term needs are worded in prayers to Kwatena, not Malamen. Kwatena does not give an immediate verbal response. The word for this type of prayer is different from the other.

The Mum- part of the name Mumpuni is likely cognate to the first M- in Mappamensam, not to the final -mum. Note that Enodab and Baeno are the same name.

Translingual	Tapilula	Gold	Khulls	Proto-Moonshine	Bābākiam	Poswa	Pabappa	Thaoa	Proto-Sub.	Old Andanese	Late Andanese	Notes
Kwatena			Kʷătena			Waptena	Waptulna
Mumpuva						Mumpuva	Mumpuni
Baeno						Baeno	Panar
Joja	Yòya									Yòya	Yuya
Enodab	Enŏda	Năda	Năra							Enŏda	Inuta

Yuni-Yipâwa

Yuni

Yuni is a goddess with the ability to control people's behavior and change her own form.

Yuni also punishes evildoers (?). Yuni controls the èpa, medical spirits who cure disease.

Yuni is probably also Ridiato , the source of the name of the religion. Worshipping Yuni would thus be the same as worshipping nature.

Translingual	Tapilula	Gold	Khulls	Proto-Moonshine	Bābākiam	Poswa	Pabappa	Thaoa	Proto-Subumpamese	Old Andanese	Late Andanese	Notes
Yuni			Yŭni	Yuni	Yəni	Lyne	Lun
Yipâwa	Yibĕwo	Yidăgʷa	Yirăgʷa		Īava	Ira	Irra
Rospa	Lĭpa	Lĭpa	Lĭpa	Lipa	Yipa	Ripa	Riba	Lipha		Lĭba	Lipa

Minor deities

These deities do not have absolute power, and thus cannot act on their own. In this respect, they are more like angels than gods. However, they do have limited powers over humans.

Kolagas

A male god associated with pain and disease. In most religions, Kolagas is subordinate to Kwatena and thus is not worshipped even in situations when would-be worshippers believe his power is needed.

Translingual	Tapilula	Gold	Khulls	Proto-Moonshine	Bābākiam	Poswa	Pabappa	Thaoa	Proto-Subumpamese	Old Andanese	Late Andanese	Notes
Kolagas	Kùtʷe Gàha	Kùtʷagas	Kolagas		Kutuaas	Kupfas	Wupti
Zularn
Vinōs		Bʷinūs	ʕʷinōs	Winə̄s	Pinūs	Pibos	Piba
Piplap

Moto

Moto is a goddess associated with peace and intimate relations. Some religions consider her a subordinate of Mappamensam, while others treat her as a supreme deity in her own right.

Nompo

Nompo is another goddess associated with peace and intimate relations, but is not subordinate to Kwatena or any other goddess.

Cabat

Cabat is a male god who interacts primarily with #Yuni, but also with the other deities.

Other spirits

All Ridian religions share in common the belief in various classes of spiritual beings. These do not have supernatural powers and are thus neither worshipped nor avoided.

Demons are a natural force rather than supernatural, and therefore cannot harm worshippers of Malamen apart from those in the kuma state (disgrace). They are described below:

Gapōs

This is the "IBB/kila" curse ... a force of nature that affects those in a state of disgrace, or who have been disowned by Màlamen. People here try to survive but because they do not have the holy spirit of #Màlamen they become weaker each day as their salvation slips away. Thus, there is not just one Gapōs ... they are innumerable, but behave as one. Thus this noun has no plural.

As Gapōs gains influence over a person, they become physically weaker and are injured by ordinary objects, both manmade and natural. These natural spirits are not evil; they cause pain because the sufferer is being consumed by nature due to Malamen's abandonment. Each misfortune that befalls a person is due to Gapōs taking a bite from a person's body; when the entire body is consumed, salvation becomes impossible.

Since Gapōs can only attack those whom Màlamen has rejected, they act only under Malamen's control, and prayer to Màlamen cannot relieve a sufferer of their pain. Rather, their torment is the beginning of an eternal chain of punishment to be served out by reincarnation into future bodies of the innumerable damned.

Gapōs is not the cause of any disease, but can make a disease more severe. Likewise, Gapōs does not have control over life and death, but can cause a person to age more quickly than average.

elementals

Static electricity

Wind

Angels

The term "angel" can be used for a supernatural being which has free will, and therefore is immune to temptation. They are capable of both good and evil, and those who do evil will never repent, because they committed it in free will.

Angels are not related to demons nor is there a term that covers both. Angels are seen as like humans but with true free will. They have bodies. They have powers *of* nature (not *over * nature).

Tree spirits

Far back in the past, some creatures, das, running away from a battle were turned into trees as they ran, with those who were fast enough to resist the change being the only survivors. Those who became trees remain as such today, their spirits bound into their new bodies. They are considered to be both powerless and amoral; as such, they are undeserving of compassion.

A tree spirit may achieve freedom if a splinter of its wood pierces the skin of a human; however, it does not enter the human body, but rather links itself with the human's own spirit; the human, therefore, becomes equally bound to the tree.

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is hereditary, and souls are innumerable; their number neither increases nor decreases with the change in human population. The fertility goddess #Malamen is responsible for the migration of souls and determines the fate of the children of mixed marriages.

Rituals

Baptism

nĭgʷu is comparable to baptism for the priests. It raises them to the status of #Angels, meaning they have true free will and cannot be influenced by other humans or by the spirits of nature. Anyone who reaches this state and then turns away cannot be restored to salvation, as they rejected it in full conscience.

Celebration

Believers celebrate their acceptance by the savior #Malamen in a ceremony in early adolescence.

Cleanliness and filth

Spiritual and material filth are recognized as distinct concepts, but are treated similarly. No believer is permitted to pray, worship, or congregate with other believers while in a state of filth. Therefore, when hungry, they must acquire and prepare their food independently.

Types of affliction

Spiritual filth

Spiritual filth is private and cannot pass from one believer to another. It may manifest itself as a non-contagious disease, mental illness, or a curse. Relief from the affliction can be granted if another believer prays on the sufferer's behalf to #Malamen. Therefore, those suffering from a spiritual affliction must remain close to their community in order to make their condition known to another believer who is willing to relieve their burden.

An invisible spiritual affliction may be a sign of aggression by #Yuni, but not by #Kolagas.

Material filth

Material filth generally presents as a contagious disease. One may be sound in spirit but defective in body. People suffering from material filth are permitted to pray, but must still remain segregated from the public at mealtimes.

Temporal aspect

Filth

Filth by itself is usually temporary. Someone afflicted must find another believer to pray for them to #Malamen in order to free them from their curse.

Disgrace

If no other member of the community will pray for an afflicted believer, that person falls into disgrace (kuma), a state of permanent filth from which there is no escape. These people thus become disowned by the community. Some are taken as slaves, since their curse cannot be transmitted to other believers. Those generally believed to be more dangerous are exiled into the wilderness, where survival is difficult. Most of these people are male; therefore, the communities of the damned cannot grow by natural means.

Mythology

The mythology is separate from the theology because it varies from place to place and is not taught to all believers.

These creatures are treated as equals of humans.

Fairies

Flying humans live in deserts and open plains. They are animals, not spirits , and some cultures consider fairies to be simply other tribes of humans, and do not believe they can fly.

Mermaids

Humans who can breathe underwater are called mermaids. They are matriarchal and far larger than humans. Some cultures merge mermaids with #Undines.

other info

It is possible that the deities #Kolagas, #Moto, #Cabat, and #Nompo are part of the mythology rather than the theology.

Frog Pond

Frog Pond is a state of mental clarity, in which all worldly concerns are forgotten and the believer thinks only of spiritual things.