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.
Cultural taboos
Though there are no sins, there are cultural taboos shared by religions who consider them as sins.
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.
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 | Ṃătʷamaʕin | Màlamen | Màlamain | Matuamabim | Maptavem | Maptadem | ||||||
| Saaha | Fàga-Hà | Sàga | Sàġa | Sàga | Saa | Saba | Saba | Fahà | Haha | |||
| Pofa | Gʷōha | Wə̄ha | Pofa | |||||||||
| 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 and death in childhood. She cooperates with Mappamensam rather than fighting against her; Mappamensam and Kʷarena choose which children will live and which will die.
Kʷarĕna is worshipped as the supreme deity by a cluster of religions 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.
| Translingual | Tapilula | Gold | Khulls | Proto-Moonshine | Bābākiam | Poswa | Pabappa | Thaoa | Proto-Sub. | Old Andanese | Late Andanese | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kwatena | Waptena | Waptulna | ||||||||||
| Mumpuva | Mumpuva | Mumpuni | ||||||||||
| Baeno | Baeno | Panar | ||||||||||
| Joja | Yòya[1] | 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 (?).
| 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 |
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 | ||||||||||||
| 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
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).
Gapôpa
This is the "IBB/kila" curse ... not a demon, but a force of nature that only affects those in a state of disgrace 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 Gapôpa ... they are innumerable, but behave as one. Thus this noun has no plural.
As Gapôpa 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 Gapôpa taking a bite from a person's body; when the entire body is consumed, salvation becomes impossible.
Since Gapôpa 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.
Gapôpa is not the cause of any disease, but can make a disease more severe. Likewise, Gapôpa does not have control over life and death, but can cause a person to age more quickly than average.
Other information
This name is distantly cognate to Puishaposh. Khulls sometimes uses the shorter name gapōs.
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,[2] 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 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.
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 mayriarchal cand far larger than humans.
other info
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.
text
- Malamēŋis sipŏko
"I worship Màlamen"
