Verse:Yunyalīlta: Difference between revisions

From Linguifex
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(55 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
The '''Yunyalīlta''' ([ˌjunjaˈɴ̆ʲiːɴ̆ta], [[Chlouvānem]] for "nature's path"), also referred to, amongst others, as ''lañšilīlta'' (braid path) or ''camilīlta'' (the great path), is the Chlouvānem people's traditional religion, the state religion in the [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition]], majority religion in a number of countries of Márusúturon, including notably iKalurilut, Brono, Fathan, and Gorjan, and also a minority in communities scattered across the planet, notably in most of Márusúturon, parts of Evandor (with a particularly strong presence in southwestern Holenagika), eastern Védren, Queáten, and parts of Ogúviutón.
The '''Yunyalīlta''' ({{IPA|[junjaɴ̆ʲiːɴ̆ta]}}, [[Chlouvānem]] for "nature's path"), also referred to, amongst others, as ''lañšilīlta'' (braid path) or ''camilīlta'' (the great path), is the Chlouvānem people's traditional religion, the state religion in the [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition]], majority religion in a number of countries of Márusúturon, including notably Qualdomailor, Brono, Fathan, and Gorjan, and also a minority in communities scattered across the planet, notably in most of Márusúturon, parts of Evandor (with a particularly strong presence in southwestern Holenagika), eastern Védren, Queáten, and parts of Ovítioná.


The Yunyalīlta was born near the beginning of the 5th millennium (following the Lällshag-Chlouvānem calendar and current year notation) in the areas of the southeastern part of the Great Chlouvānem Plains around Lake Lūlunīkam (present-day Galiākñijātia, Lgraṃñælihaikā, Nanašīrama, and Kanyāvālna, which are hence considered the cradle of Chlouvānem culture) through the teachings of the '''''Chlamiṣvatrā''' Lelāgṇyāviti''<ref>Her real name is unknown: she got known by the name of ''Lelāgṇyāviti'' - meaning "born of ''lelāh'' flowers - and this is how she is today referred to if not by the honorific title of ''Chlamiṣvatrā'' - golden master -, which is either left untranslated or rendered as "Great Prophet". There are, however, countless other titles for her in later literature, including ''arāmīkā'' "the peaceful one", ''lallā'' "the higher one", ''cameyā'' "the great one", ''nilyameinā'' "mother of thought", or ''lelīmabrausa'' "the sacred one of the swamplands".</ref> who, after, according to chronicles (many details are, however, inconsistent), a difficult childhood and youth, conceived her life philosophy which she taught to peoples in the various multicultural villages of the Plains of that era - her teachings were the key factor in the birth of the Chlouvānem people as a new, métis ethnicity, from the many different peoples of the late 3rd millennium Eastern Plains.<br/>
The Yunyalīlta was born near the beginning of the 5th millennium (following the Lällshag-Chlouvānem calendar and current year notation) in the areas of the southeastern part of the Great Chlouvānem Plains around Lake Lūlunīkam and the Lanamilūki River (present-day Ajāɂiljaiṭa, Ṣraḍhaṃñælihaikā, Nanašīrama, and Kanyāvālna, which are hence considered the cradle of Chlouvānem culture) through the teachings of the '''''Chlamiṣvatrā''''' ''Lelāgṇyāviti''<ref>Her real name is unknown: she got known by the name of ''Lelāgṇyāviti'' - meaning "born of ''lelāh'' flowers - and this is how she is today referred to if not by the honorific title of ''Chlamiṣvatrā'' - golden master -, which is either left untranslated or rendered as "Great Prophet". There are, however, countless other titles for her in later literature, including ''arāmīkā'' "the peaceful one", ''lallā'' "the higher one", ''cameyā'' "the great one", ''nilyameinā'' "mother of thought", or ''lelīmabrausa'' "the sacred one of the swamplands".</ref> who, after, according to chronicles (many details are, however, inconsistent), a difficult childhood and youth, conceived her life philosophy which she taught to peoples in the various multicultural villages of the Plains of that era - her teachings were the key factor in the birth of the Chlouvānem people as a new, métis ethnicity, from the many different peoples of the late 3rd millennium Eastern Plains.<br/>
About a hundred years after the physical death of the Chlamiṣvatrā, Yunyalīlti preachers called ''murkadhānai'' (sg. ''murkadhāna'') founded a congregation called ''murkadhānāvi'' - known in translation as the Chlouvānem (or Yunyalīlti) Inquisition, still existing today as the institution that controls the teaching of the Yunyalīlti doctrine all around [[Verse:Calémere|Calémere]] and acts as the ruling body of the theocratic country known, metonymically, as the [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|Chlouvānem Inquisition]], the largest country on the planet. The founding of the Inquisition took place in year 4252 (2564<sub>12</sub>) of the [[Chlouvānem/Calendar and time|Chlouvānem calendar]].
About a hundred years after the physical death of the Chlamiṣvatrā, Yunyalīlti preachers called ''murkadhānai'' (sg. ''murkadhāna'') founded a congregation called ''murkadhānāvi'' - known in translation as the Chlouvānem (or Yunyalīlti) Inquisition, still existing today as the institution that controls the teaching of the Yunyalīlti doctrine all around [[Verse:Calémere|Calémere]] and acts as the ruling body of the theocratic country known, metonymically, as the [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|Chlouvānem Inquisition]], the largest country on the planet. The founding of the Inquisition took place in year 4252 (2564<sub>12</sub>) of the [[Chlouvānem/Calendar and time|Chlouvānem calendar]].


Throughout this whole article, unless differently specified, Yunyalīlti concepts will be presented according to the Chlouvānem tradition. Even if the doctrine is controlled by the Inquisition, rites in the various Yunyalīlti areas vary, as do cultural implications which arose through syncretism with pre-Yunyalīlti religious forms and practices; this applies even to the core Chlouvānem area. Concepts typical of a certain, non-Chlouvānem Yunyalīlti tradition, will be presented, if necessary, with their native terms. Terms are cited in Chlouvānem and, if a faithful translation is possible, in English; terms for Yunyalīlti concepts in languages different from Chlouvānem are usually phonologically adapted loans - cf. ''Lillamurḍhyā'' being ''iqaLilamutiiaa'' in [[saKalurilut]], ''Liṅamotriyá'' in [[Brono-Fathanic|Bronic]], and ''Ṅiṅamurdjiá'' in [[Holenagic]] amongst others. As in all Chlouvānem-related articles, millennia are usually specified in base 10 numbers.
Throughout this whole article, unless differently specified, Yunyalīlti concepts will be presented according to the Chlouvānem tradition. Even if the doctrine is controlled by the Inquisition, rites in the various Yunyalīlti areas vary, as do cultural implications which arose through syncretism with pre-Yunyalīlti religious forms and practices; this applies even to the core Chlouvānem area. Concepts typical of a certain, non-Chlouvānem Yunyalīlti tradition, will be presented, if necessary, with their native terms. Terms are cited in Chlouvānem and, if a faithful translation is possible, in English; terms for Yunyalīlti concepts in languages different from Chlouvānem are usually phonologically adapted loans - cf. ''Lillamurḍhyā'' being ''Lilamuṛdjá'' in [[Qualdomelic]], ''Ligamotriyá'' in [[Brono-Fathanic|Bronic]], and ''Ngingamurdïa'' in [[Holenagic]] amongst others. As in all Chlouvānem-related articles, millennia are usually specified in base 10 numbers.
 
{{Chlouvānem sidebar}}
==Fundamental principles==
==Fundamental principles==
The Yunyalīlta may be described as a nontheist or an animist religion: there is no notion of a God or Gods as omnipotent and supernatural beings that are above all, but nature (''yunya'') herself is treated as a godlike element. "Godlike" supernatural beings, incarnating various traits of the ''yunya'', are however present in folklore and are most probably vague remnants of a pagan pre-Yunyalīlti shamanism.<br/>
The Yunyalīlta may be described as a nontheist or a pantheist and animist religion: there is no notion of a God or Gods as omnipotent and supernatural beings that are above all, but nature (''yunya'') herself is treated as a godlike element. "Godlike" supernatural beings (''kaihai''), incarnating various traits of the ''yunya'', are however present in folklore and are most probably syncretic remnants of a pagan pre-Yunyalīlti shamanism.<ref>Different schools of philosophy often have varying views about theism, as with many elements beyond the core tenets. Historically, the philosophical aspect was the greatest source of conflict during the Conclaves to elect a new Great Inquisitor; however, since the unification of temporal and spiritual power, the political factions have become more important in Conclaves than the philosophical ones.</ref><br/>
The central focus of the Yunyalīlta is, however, the interaction between humans and the rest of the nature, as a subset of the interactions that living creatures (''lileñšai'', sg. ''lileñšah'') make with all other existing creatures (''jallašai'', sg. ''jallašah'') in this existential sphere (''jallajāṇa'').  
The central focus of the Yunyalīlta is, however, the interaction between humans and the rest of the nature, as a subset of the interactions that living creatures (''lileñšai'', sg. ''lileñšah'') make with all other existing creatures (''jallašai'', sg. ''jallašah'') in this existential sphere (''jallajāṇa'').  
===''Yunya''===
The concept of ''yunya'' (often translated as "nature") itself has two main interpretation: according to the most common one, it is the force that binds the universe together and lets everything be what it is: the universe exists because there is ''yunya''. This definition admits a wide range of interpretations, straddling the border of what we (but not the Chlouvānem) would call religion and science, as in mathematician Lairyāvi Håneibayeh ''Mæmihūmia''′s famous quote "''gundadartarlā yunya vi : sama yunya gundadartarlā vi''" (mathematics is ''yunya'', and ''yunya'' is mathematics).<br/>
According to another quite common interpretation (often mixed with the above), ''yunya'' is this force's manifestation, that is, nature.
A peculiar aspect of ''yunya'' in Chlouvānem folklore is that it is always characterized verbally, with epithets such as "mother of life" (''lileni meinā'') or "holy mother" (''brausire meinā''), and therefore sometimes humanized, but is never represented in visual arts this way, even if, in the strictest sense, whatever is represented, and the bare act of representing, is itself ''yunya''.


===''Lillamurḍhyā''===
===''Lillamurḍhyā''===
Line 14: Line 20:


According to the Chlamiṣvatrā, there is a distinction between different aspects of nature. Humans and the other intelligent species are considered a "partially flawed" creation, as they can drift away from the ''lillamurḍhyā'': this is considered a weakness and something that humans have to actively avoid during their entire life.<br/>
According to the Chlamiṣvatrā, there is a distinction between different aspects of nature. Humans and the other intelligent species are considered a "partially flawed" creation, as they can drift away from the ''lillamurḍhyā'': this is considered a weakness and something that humans have to actively avoid during their entire life.<br/>
To keep ''lillamurḍhyā'', in the Chlamiṣvatrā's words (''yamei chlamiṣvatrī hælinaika naviṣya, 3:9-10):
To keep ''lillamurḍhyā'', in the Chlamiṣvatrā's words (''yamei chlamiṣvatrī hælinaika naviṣya, 3:9-10''):
: ''ridvūkire maiyai pridoldi garpirena tageranai mæn tartṛsūyirįm : ostememilkṣūyįm : garpyāvęs udvī lilah tomąu maišildṛneja lā demi mayį jaluṣyilden'' ।।
: ''ridvūkire muṣyai pridoldi garpirena tageranai mæn tartṛsūyirmim : ostememilkṣūyamim : garpyāvęs udvī lilah lelų maišildrīnam lā demi muhę jaluṣyilden'' ।।
: [we] have to know our flawed instinct's evil tendences, prevent them, and enhance the self by learning from who harmonically lives without evil.
: [we] have to know our flawed instinct's evil tendences, prevent them, and enhance the self by learning from who harmonically lives without evil.
Focal point of the "learning from who harmonically lives without evil" is the exhortation to humans not to waste materials as humans can't stop accumulating things far more than necessary. The path to keep the state of ''lillamurḍhyā'' happens by the means of three important qualities called ''lailādumbhāšanai'' (sg. ''lailādumbhāšanah'', lit. "that which brings to a well-lived life"): self-restraint (''demitadmālas''), moral discipline (''nailīglidaranah''), and knowledge (''tarlā'').
Focal point of the "learning from who harmonically lives without evil" is the exhortation to humans not to waste materials as humans can't stop accumulating things far more than necessary. The path to keep the state of ''lillamurḍhyā'' happens by the means of three important qualities called ''lailādumbhāšanai'' (sg. ''lailādumbhāšanah'', lit. "that which brings to a well-lived life"): self-restraint (''demitadmālas''), moral discipline (''nailīglidaranah''), and knowledge (''tarlā'').
Line 21: Line 27:
''Lillamurḍhyā'' may also be explained as "harmony of everything" or, in a human perspective, "state of least impact". According to this interpretation, humans are the most flawed part of nature and to harm is their own character, so that they need to reach the state where they harm (or, in other terms, impact) the least on the other faces of nature. This is a more recent interpretation, pioneered around the mid-6th millennium by the monks of Yælklintas Monastery in the Southern Far East.
''Lillamurḍhyā'' may also be explained as "harmony of everything" or, in a human perspective, "state of least impact". According to this interpretation, humans are the most flawed part of nature and to harm is their own character, so that they need to reach the state where they harm (or, in other terms, impact) the least on the other faces of nature. This is a more recent interpretation, pioneered around the mid-6th millennium by the monks of Yælklintas Monastery in the Southern Far East.


Some philosophers, notably the monks of Vīramāṇaka Monastery in the Western Plain, consider ''yunya'' and ''lillamurḍhyā'' to be essentially the same thing, ''lillamurḍhyā'' being the main, abstract concept and ''yunya'' being its tangible state. The term ''lillamurḍhyāyunya'' refers to this interpretation.
Some philosophers, notably the monks of Vīramāṇaka Monastery in the Western Plain, consider ''yunya'' and ''lillamurḍhyā'' to be essentially the same thing, ''lillamurḍhyā'' being the main, abstract concept and ''yunya'' being its tangible state. The term ''lillamurḍhyāyunya'' refers to this interpretation; this contrasts to the more mainstream interpretation of ''lillamurḍhyā'' being a state and ''yunya'' a force.


==The Sacred Disciplines==
==The Sacred Disciplines==
All Yunyalīlti practices are based on five "disciplines" that, by means of the ''lailādumbhāšanai'', lead to keep the state of ''lillamurḍhyā''. These disciplines are called ''brausadarenyāvai'' (sg. '''brausadarenyāva'', lit. "sacred discipline") or, especially in earlier texts, ''lailālętaivai'' (sg. ''lailālętaivah'', "pillar of a well-lived life"). They are the following:
All Yunyalīlti practices are based on five "disciplines" that, by means of the ''lailādumbhāšanai'', lead to keep the state of ''lillamurḍhyā''. These disciplines are called ''brausadarenyāvai'' (sg. '''brausadarenyāva''', lit. "sacred discipline") or, especially in earlier texts, ''lailālętaivai'' (sg. ''lailālętaivah'', "pillar of a well-lived life"). They are the following:


* ''faṣṭišam'' "weakness": humans are inherently weak and inferior to other fellow living creatures, therefore in order to act one has to keep in mind they are not superior to non-humans (as they cannot stray away from perfect harmony). Humans thus have to restrain from unnecessary killing or any other act of destruction or harm towards the rest of the ''yunya''. This is a form of ''demitadmālas'' (self-restraint).
* ''ħaṣṭišam'' "weakness": humans are inherently weak and inferior to other fellow living creatures, therefore in order to act one has to keep in mind they are not superior to non-humans (as they cannot stray away from perfect harmony). Humans thus have to restrain from unnecessary killing or any other act of destruction or harm towards the rest of the ''yunya''. This is a form of ''demitadmālas'' (self-restraint).
* ''yuninailī'' "natural mind": survival instinct is natural, exploitment isn't. ''Yuninailī'' means not exploiting nature (including fellow ''lillamurḍhyādhaus''<ref>Sg. ''lillamurḍhyādhūs'', one who knows and has the ''lillamurḍhyā'' as goal: an enlightened human, who is a Yunyalīlti.</ref> to obtain more than what is needed; this is thus a form of both self-restraint and moral discipline. A strongly related concept is the one of ''gomaimiąryāva'', meaning that those actions that are considered good are natural ones only: those that pure, non-flawed organisms do. Not acting that way is considered detrimental in the long term to the ''lillamurḍhyā''.
* ''yuninailī'' "natural mind": survival instinct is natural, exploitment isn't. ''Yuninailī'' means not exploiting nature (including fellow ''lillamurḍhyādhaus''<ref>Sg. ''lillamurḍhyādhūs'', one who knows and has the ''lillamurḍhyā'' as goal: an enlightened human, who is a Yunyalīlti.</ref> to obtain more than what is needed; this is thus a form of both self-restraint and moral discipline. A strongly related concept is the one of ''gomaihulābdāyāva'', meaning that those actions that are considered good are natural ones only: those that pure, non-flawed organisms do. Not acting that way is considered detrimental in the long term to the ''lillamurḍhyā''.
* ''nailīlāṇa'' "group of minds": often described as the most intuitive thing to be interpreted from the concept of ''lillamurḍhyā'', the ''nailīlāṇa'' concept highlights how every thing done does not only affect who does it, but also the nature around it. Acting selfishly is thus a grave "sin", because only by acting towards the ''lillamurḍhyā'' - that is, aiming at causing the least possible harm - it is possible to really make something good, both for oneself and the others. Most post-Chlamiṣvatrā interpretations define every single life form as a unified entity that acts towards the ''lillamurḍhyā'', which means that everyone has the same ultimate goal and going against this common goal is the worst possible thing to do.
* ''nailīlāṇa'' "group of minds": often described as the most intuitive thing to be interpreted from the concept of ''lillamurḍhyā'', the ''nailīlāṇa'' concept highlights how every thing done does not only affect who does it, but also the nature around it. Acting selfishly is thus a grave "sin", because only by acting towards the ''lillamurḍhyā'' - that is, aiming at causing the least possible harm - it is possible to really make something good, both for oneself and the others. Most post-Chlamiṣvatrā interpretations define every single life form as a unified entity that acts towards the ''lillamurḍhyā'', which means that everyone has the same ultimate goal and going against this common goal is the worst possible thing to do.
* ''miąrvirdas'' "right violence": the original meaning of "right violence" as meant by the Chlamiṣvatrā was that, in some cases, violence is just a natural feature of beings and it is impossible to keep living without being violent when needed, as it is a reaction dictated by one's own survival instinct. This, herefore, is strictly connected to the concept of ''yuninailī''. Violence must thus be ''right'', with survivalism as its main goal: ''miąrvirdas'' herefore means that one must be strong and follow the natural survival instinct.<br/>In Inquisitorial times, this concept has been more strongly linked to the ''nailīlāṇa'': as the collective goal of everyone is to maintain the ''lillamurḍhyā'', who does not act towards this goal is an enemy of everyone and a threat to the whole community. The main instrument of ''miąrvirdas'' is thus the ''ḍāṣṭhirāṣa'', the killing of heretics.
* ''hulābvirdas'' "right violence": the original meaning of "right violence" as meant by the Chlamiṣvatrā was that, in some cases, violence is just a natural feature of beings and it is impossible to keep living without being violent when needed, as it is a reaction dictated by one's own survival instinct. This, herefore, is strictly connected to the concept of ''yuninailī''. Violence must thus be ''right'', with survivalism as its main goal: ''hulābvirdas'' herefore means that one must be strong and follow the natural survival instinct.<br/>In Inquisitorial times, this concept has been more strongly linked to the ''nailīlāṇa'': as the collective goal of everyone is to maintain the ''lillamurḍhyā'', who does not act towards this goal is an enemy of everyone and a threat to the whole community. The main instrument of ''hulābvirdas'' is thus the ''ḍāṣṭhirāṣa'', the killing of heretics.
* ''lillanah'' "believing" (or "faith"): being faithful and believing in the virtues of how one acts is the key to self-development, as it makes human beings - who are, as for the concept of ''faṣṭišam'', naturally weak - aware of what they do and of how they have to act. According to the Chlamiṣvatrā, "the one who believes in the good of what he does is more rightful than the one who, randomly, does a good thing" (''yamei Chlamiṣvatrī hælinaika naviṣya'', 7:19).
* ''lillanah'' "believing" (or "faith"): being faithful and believing in the virtues of how one acts is the key to self-development, as it makes human beings - who are, as for the concept of ''ħaṣṭišam'', naturally weak - aware of what they do and of how they have to act. According to the Chlamiṣvatrā, "the one who believes in the good of what he does is more rightful than the one who, randomly, does a good thing" (''yamei Chlamiṣvatrī hælinaika naviṣya'', 7:19).


==The Leading Words==
==The Leading Words==
The ''brausadarenyāvai'' are *not* fundamental behaviour rules, but the few "commandments" that are part of Yunyalīlti doctrine are readily derived by their interpretations. These are called ''tulьjimaivai'' (sg. ''tulьjimaiva'' "leading word(s)") and are not presented as fixed rules - if they are, it's because Inquisitorial laws agree with them -, being instead only explained during a dialogue where the Chlamiṣvatrā answers the questions of the dwellers of a lakeshore village (this is the first chapter of the Third Book of the Chlamiṣvatrā (''yamei Chlamiṣvatrī pāmvende naviṣya'')). Once again, it should be noted that the Chlamiṣvatrā never wanted to declare her words as laws, instead she tried to make the people themselves aware of how, in her opinion, the best possible society could be created; the way ''tulьjimaivai'' are expressed is no exception, as Lelāgṇyāviti only talks about she, on her own, behaved in order to live in a way respectful to the Yunya.<br/>The present day interpretation of ''tulьjimaivai'' as absolute rules is Inquisitorial, derived by how the Inquisition frequently only considers the Chlamiṣvatrā's interpretation (or, sometimes, its own) as orthodox.
The ''brausadarenyāvai'' are *not* fundamental behaviour rules, but the few "commandments" that are part of Yunyalīlti doctrine are readily derived by their interpretations. These are called ''tuljimaivai'' (sg. ''tuljimaiva'' "leading word(s)") and are not presented as fixed rules - if they are, it's because Inquisitorial laws agree with them -, being instead only explained during a dialogue where the Chlamiṣvatrā answers the questions of the dwellers of a lakeshore village (this is the first chapter of the Third Book of the Chlamiṣvatrā (''yamei Chlamiṣvatrī pāmvende naviṣya'')). Once again, it should be noted that the Chlamiṣvatrā never wanted to declare her words as laws, instead she tried to make the people themselves aware of how, in her opinion, the best possible society could be created; the way ''tuljimaivai'' are expressed is no exception, as Lelāgṇyāviti only talks about she, on her own, behaved in order to live in a way respectful to the Yunya.<br/>The present day interpretation of ''tuljimaivai'' as absolute rules is Inquisitorial, derived by how the Inquisition frequently only considers the Chlamiṣvatrā's interpretation (or, sometimes, its own) as orthodox.


The four main ''tulьjimaivai'' are:
The four main ''tuljimaivai'' are:
* ''gošopranah'' "un-killing"<ref>Note that ''šuprake'', usually translated as "to kill", specifically refers to the killing of respectful beings (animals and Yunyalīlti humans). The causative form of ''ḍūkke'' (to die) is used in other cases.</ref>: a Yunyalīlti must not kill a righteous being if it is not forced to do it in order to survive. This does not, according to the Inquisition, apply to killing heretics, as they are not righteous beings and in that case killing them is a mandatory act (called ''ḍāṣṭhirāṣa'' or ''delkhāmima'').
* ''gošopranah'' "un-killing"<ref>Note that ''šuprake'', usually translated as "to kill", specifically refers to the killing of respectful beings (animals and Yunyalīlti humans). The causative form of ''ḍūkke'' (to die) is used in other cases.</ref>: a Yunyalīlti must not kill a righteous being if it is not forced to do it in order to survive. This does not, according to the Inquisition, apply to killing heretics, as they are not righteous beings and in that case killing them is a mandatory act (called ''ḍāṣṭhirāṣa'' or ''delkhāmima'').
* ''govivāmeya'' "restraint from superfluous things": one of the most important, if not ''the'' most important aspect in order to understand Chlouvānem culture. Particularly emphasized everywhere in the Yunyalīlta is how everything that is superfluous is harmful to natural harmony. The first explanation given by the Chlamiṣvatrā is that species such as humans are inferior because they can't control their capacities and their objectively superior intelligence becomes a downside as they show their intelligence by claming they are superior as a whole - but they show this apparent superiority by accumulation of superfluous things which do not have a real utility towards the ''lillamurḍhyā''. In fact, to keep more for oneself means to not leave it available to other elements of nature - this, according to the principle of ''nailīlāṇa'', is an ultimately harmful behaviour. The concept of ''govivāmeya'' is extremely influential in every aspect of Chlouvānem, Bronic, and Kalurilut society, and is what contributes to the huge cultural and economical differences (for the latter, think of "luxury goods", which are an unknown concept in Yunyalīlti societies) between them and the Western Bloc.<br/>Historians, both Western and Eastern ones, consider ''govivāmeya'' to be the key concept Chlouvānem civilization was founded and developed on.
* ''govivāmeya'' "restraint from superfluous things": one of the most important, if not ''the'' most important aspect in order to understand Chlouvānem culture. Particularly emphasized everywhere in the Yunyalīlta is how everything that is superfluous is harmful to natural harmony. The first explanation given by the Chlamiṣvatrā is that species such as humans are inferior because they can't control their capacities and their objectively superior intelligence becomes a downside as they show their intelligence by claming they are superior as a whole - but they show this apparent superiority by accumulation of superfluous things which do not have a real utility towards the ''lillamurḍhyā''. In fact, to keep more for oneself means to not leave it available to other elements of nature - this, according to the principle of ''nailīlāṇa'', is an ultimately harmful behaviour. The concept of ''govivāmeya'' is extremely influential in every aspect of Chlouvānem, Bronic, and Qualdomelic society, and is what contributes to the huge cultural and economical differences (for the latter, think of "luxury goods", which are an unknown concept in Yunyalīlti societies) between them and the Western Bloc.<br/>Historians, both Western and Eastern ones, consider ''govivāmeya'' to be the key concept Chlouvānem civilization was founded and developed on.
* ''bobhyāva'' "humility": to overrate oneself is a wrong mistake as it is a disruption of the "group of minds", as well as being an action that goes against the principle of ''gomaimiąryāva''. Being humble is how people can keep working together to strive towards natural harmony, as, according to the Chlamiṣvatrā, what is worthy of being noticed will be noticed anyway without external influence or "advertising".
* ''bobhyāva'' "humility": to overrate oneself is a wrong mistake as it is a disruption of the "group of minds", as well as being an action that goes against the principle of ''gomaihulābdāyāva''. Being humble is how people can keep working together to strive towards natural harmony, as, according to the Chlamiṣvatrā, what is worthy of being noticed will be noticed anyway without external influence or "advertising".
* ''demikaminairīvyanah'' "self-study" (or ''demyāndaranah'' "self-construction"): in other words, this concept underlines that a person never ceases to learn throughout its bodily life. Learning about oneself and one's own interactions with the rest of nature is the key towards fighting "the darkness of ignorance" and be able to properly aim towards ''lillamurḍhyā''.
* ''demikaminairīvyanah'' "self-study" (or ''demyāndaranah'' "self-construction"): in other words, this concept underlines that a person never ceases to learn throughout its bodily life. Learning about oneself and one's own interactions with the rest of nature is the key towards fighting "the darkness of ignorance" and be able to properly aim towards ''lillamurḍhyā''.


==Syncretist beliefs==
==Syncretist beliefs==
Due to the mostly philosophical nature of the Yunyalīlta, it rarely completely destroyed preexisting cults or religion, as these remained in some way as a substrate to the faith. This is notably the case even in the Chlouvānem tradition, as the pre-Yunyalīlti shamanist cults remained as an important folkloric element, albeit reïnterpreted in order to agree with the Yunyalīlta.<br/>
Due to the mostly philosophical nature of the Yunyalīlta, it rarely completely destroyed preexisting cults or religion, as these remained in some way as a substrate to the faith. This is notably the case even in the Chlouvānem tradition, as the pre-Yunyalīlti shamanist cults remained as an important folkloric element, albeit reïnterpreted in order to agree with the Yunyalīlta.<br/>
This is noticeable even in the Chlouvānem language, as the former word for "shaman", ''vālireh'' (from a common Proto-Lahob root *wāʕirer, cf. Łaȟ. ''vor'', Yeł. Lawo ''lwara'' "shaman") came to mean "deacon" - a layperson working for Inquisitors (the current Chlouvānem term for "shaman", ''kanurmāka'', is a [[saKalurilut|Kalurilut]] borrowing (from ''kanurmaaq''), but "shaman" in the context of the pre-Yunyalīlti Plain is translated as ''vālireh''<ref>Shamans among other present-day Lahob peoples are ''kanurmākai''.</ref>). Similarly, the word ''pahėšhānī'', which denotes the training institution in order to become Inquisitors, ultimately comes from the name of an older shamanic ritual (the basic root is PLB *jəxān-, not otherwise found in Chlouvānem but reflected e.g. in Łaȟ. ''iȟon'' "baptism"). Among languages of other Yunyalīlti traditions,  for "deacon", Bronic and saKalurilut borrowed the Chlouvānem word (''valire'', ''kauaalire''), while Skyrdagor uses the same word used for Jeranist priests' servants (''zythygro''), as does Holenagic but with Aselist "deacons" (''siuiliuht'', from Late [[Íscégon]] ''ciúliuten'', ultimately from [[Ancient Nivarese]] ''kylhosen'').
This is noticeable even in the Chlouvānem language, as the former word for "shaman", ''vālireh'' (from a common Proto-Lahob root *wāʕirer, cf. Łaȟ. ''vor'', Yeł. Lawo ''lwara'' "shaman") came to mean "deacon" - a layperson working for Inquisitors (the current Chlouvānem term for "shaman", ''kanurmāka'', is a [[Qualdomelic]] borrowing (from ''kănurmaq''), but "shaman" in the context of the pre-Yunyalīlti Plain is translated as ''vālireh''<ref>Shamans among other present-day Lahob peoples are ''kanurmākai''.</ref>). Similarly, the word ''pahēšhānī'', which denotes the training institution in order to become Inquisitors, ultimately comes from the name of an older shamanic ritual (the basic root is PLB *jəxān-, not otherwise found in Chlouvānem but reflected e.g. in Łaȟ. ''iȟon'' "baptism"). Among languages of other Yunyalīlti traditions,  for "deacon", Bronic and Qualdomelic borrowed the Chlouvānem word (''valire'' in both languages), while Skyrdagor uses the same word used for Jeranist priests' servants (''zythygro''), as does Holenagic but with Aselist "deacons" (''siuiliuht'', from Late [[Íscégon]] ''ciúliuten'', ultimately from [[Ancient Nivarese]] ''kylhosen'').


While the Yunyalīlta is nominally an atheist religion, both the Yunya and the Chlamiṣvatrā Lelāgṇyāviti are represented and referred to as godlike. The Yunya is described as a sacred mother, that is everything and must not be betrayed, for there would be nothing if there were not nature.<br/>The Chlamiṣvatrā is represented and usually thought of as a god more than as a person (completely unlike what she herself said, despite it being clearly written in the Holy Books), with a knowledge above the one of any other person; she is also the most important figure in Chlouvānem identity, being often referred to as "mother of all Chlouvānem" - for Chlouvānem civilization was only able to form after the Chlamiṣvatrā "awakened and enlightened" people.
While the Yunyalīlta is nominally an atheist religion, both the Yunya and the Chlamiṣvatrā Lelāgṇyāviti are represented and referred to as godlike. The Yunya is described as a sacred mother, that is everything and must not be betrayed, for there would be nothing if there were not nature.<br/>The Chlamiṣvatrā is represented and usually thought of as a god more than as a person (completely unlike what she herself said, despite it being clearly written in the Holy Books), with a knowledge above the one of any other person; she is also the most important figure in Chlouvānem identity, being often referred to as "mother of all Chlouvānem" - for Chlouvānem civilization was only able to form after the Chlamiṣvatrā "awakened and enlightened" people.
Despite the general religious intolerance of the Inquisition towards adherents of other religions, Western anthropological views on Yunyalīlti "purity" generally agree that the official "anti-heretic" policy that holds other religions as inferior does not apply inside the Inquisition and, in fact, it masks a more generic stance of Chlouvānem cultural suprematism. While the near totality of Chlouvānem declares themselves as Yunyalīlti and all officially tolerated Yunyalīlti schools recognize the supremacy of the Great Inquisitor, not only many monastic orders often take stances that are quite divergent from the ones held by the Inquisition, but due to the more philosophical nature of the Yunyalīlta, it inevitably assumed regional elements of other religions and beliefs of the areas that drifted into the Yunyalīlti world during the course of the previous 2000 years. This is the origin of the regional variations in the Yunyalīlti faith and of the different rites, as well as of para-religious beliefs that are not part of the Yunyalīlta but are justified through it, as with ''kaihai'', which have their roots in pre-Yunyalīlti shamanism in the Eastern Plain. Even more noticeably dissonant, for a country whose foreign policy is marked by a strong stance against non-believers, is that there are ethnic minorities in the Inquisition that practice heavily syncretic religions which apply Yunyalīlti philosophical concepts to rites and creeds of other religions. The Jīrandaši people number in the tens of millions mostly in the Western Plain and parts of the Near West, and while considered an ethnicity on their own they are mostly ethnic Chlouvānem which practice a syncretic Yunyalīlti-Łoxvicʾay faith; many immigrants from Kenengyry countries (especially first- and second-generation) practice a blend of the Yunyalīlta and Shurism, the traditional religion of the Kenengyry peoples.


===''Kaihai''===
===''Kaihai''===
''Kaihai'' (sg. ''kaihā'') are a non-core Yunyalīlti belief (mostly mentioned in the ''Lallaṣvatrāṇāveyai'', in the Books of Community, and in the Books of Chants, notably never mentioned in the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā) that is however extremely common in the core Chlouvānem lands and, more or less syncretic, found all throughout the Inquisition (other currents do not consider ''kaihai''). They are described as wandering souls, ghosts, or energy forms, with a godlike element, however still a part of ''yunya'' and "guardians" of ''lillamurḍhyā''; they are, in their most common conception, either primeval souls that were already born as ''kaihai'' directly from the holy mother ''yunya'', or people who distinguished themselves for glorious deeds aimed at ''lillamurḍhyā'' and became gods after their mortal death instead of becoming ''paṣlilendevenī''.
''Kaihai'' are worshipped as guardians of the ''lillamurḍhyā'', that is, creatures that have reached that state of bliss and harmony and control human populations by being good or bad to them depending on their behaviour, almost as a kind of divine police. Natural events and most notably luck and misfortune are perceived as acts of ''kaihai''; animals and plants are perceived as being directly influenced by ''kaihai'', and many ''kaihai'' have their own distinctive animal; for example, Bhaurta, the ''kaihā'' of growth, is represented as a ''dildhā'' (an extremely large land lizard which is one of the largest land animals on Calémere); the Chlamiṣvatrā's ''kaihā'' form is represented as a ''nāmñē'' (a tropical seal), likely because of the ''Nāmñai Tale'' in the Second Book of the Chlamiṣvatrā. Maudhyāna, the ''kaihā'' of wind, is represented as an eight-winged eagle.
There are typically countless ''kaihai'', with many of them being subject to local worship (not unlike patron saints in Christianity), but some are universally recognized and wander between their places of worship. ''Kaihai'', represented as mythical animals or hybrid animal-plant creatures, rarely with humanoid features, are extremely common subjects in every Chlouvānem art. Statues and other depictions of ''kaihai'' may be found nearly everywhere in the Chlouvānem world, including decorations on panel apartment blocks or in subway stations.
===Theism===
'''Nāgātarlā''' (or ''nakṣātarlā'') is a Yunyalīlti school which identifies the natural manifestations of the ''yunya'' as aspects (''yunivāyam'', pl. ''yunivāyāk''), which are effectively a theistic point of view: such aspects are divided (in mainstream ''nāgātarlā'') into ''nāgāk'' (or ''nākṣāk'', sg. ''nāgam'' / ''nakṣam''), manifestations of the Immutable (''taminikī yunivāyāk'', i.e. "Gods" of elements of the environment) and ''haligāk'' (sg. ''haligam''), manifestations of the Transient (''halilaunikī yunivāyāk'', i.e. "Gods" of sensations and feelings).


===Afterlife and rebirth===
===Afterlife and rebirth===
The Yunyalīlta as preached by the Chlamiṣvatrā, born as a philosophy more than as a religion, does not speak on the theme of afterlife and rebirth: there is no mention to them in the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā and, despite a few mentions in the ''Lallaṣvatrāṇāveyai'', there is no general consensus on the theme, with different monastic currents having their own beliefs.
The Yunyalīlta as preached by the Chlamiṣvatrā, born as a philosophy more than as a religion, does not speak on the theme of afterlife and rebirth: there is no mention to them in the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā and, despite a few mentions in the ''Lallaṣvatrāṇāveyai'', there is no general consensus on the theme, with different monastic currents having their own beliefs.


The common (non-monastic) Yunyalīlta considers the being to be the soul (''devoe''), and not the body (''mædhram''), which is just the vehicle that souls use to fulfill the Yunya's tasks. When the body dies, righteous souls - those who have not acted against the Yunya - remain in this world as ''paṣlilendevenī'' (sg. ''paṣlilendevoe'', literally "soul(s) beyond life"), who are basically spirits who, invisible to those souls who inhabit a living body, wander around as "little helping spirits" (there is no general consensus on what they actually do), waiting to be reborn. According to most people, fetuses are not alive when they start to form, because they lack a soul - it is when ''paṣlilendevenī'' help, or come in contact in some way, with a pregnant woman that they "choose" the soon-to-be-born as their new body; stillborn children are those that couldn't get any ''paṣlilendevoe'' into them.
The common (non-monastic) Yunyalīlta considers the being to be the soul (''devoe''), and not the body (''mædhram''), which is just the vehicle that souls use to fulfill the Yunya's tasks. When the body dies, righteous souls - those who have not acted against the Yunya - remain in this world as ''paṣlilendevenī'' (sg. ''paṣlilendevoe'', literally "soul(s) beyond life"), who are basically spirits who, invisible to those souls who inhabit a living body, wander around as "little helping spirits" (there is no general consensus on what they actually do), waiting to be reborn. According to most people, fetuses are not alive when they start to form, because they lack a soul - it is when ''paṣlilendevenī'' help, or come in contact in some way, with a pregnant woman that they "choose" the soon-to-be-born as their new body; stillborn children are those that couldn't get any ''paṣlilendevoe'' into them.<br/>According to Yunyalīlti beliefs, souls themselves come to exist in a soul world as children of ''kaihai'', enabling population to increase.


==Sacred texts==
==Sacred texts==
The fundamental texts of the Yunyalīlti religion are the Holy Books (sg. ''brausanaviṣya'', pl. ''brausanaviṣyai''), which also make up the Constitution - or, better said, its equivalent as a fundamental law - of the [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|Lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition]]. The most important among the holy books are the three Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā (''yamei Chlamiṣvatrī naviṣyai''), which collect everything Lelāgṇyāviti said during her teachings; the Third Book also includes chronicles about her life.
The fundamental texts of the Yunyalīlti religion are the Holy Books (sg. ''brausanaviṣya'', pl. ''brausanaviṣyai''), which also make up the Constitution - or, better said, its equivalent as a fundamental law - of the [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|Lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition]]. The most important among the holy books are the three Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā (''yamei Chlamiṣvatrī naviṣyai''), which collect everything Lelāgṇyāviti said during her teachings; the Third Book also includes chronicles about her life.


In order of importance, after the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā, come the ''Lallaṣvatrāṇāveyai'' (sg. ''Lallaṣvatrāṇāvi''), the "words of the Great Masters (''lallaṣvatrai'')": these are texts written mostly during the 5th millennium where some themes treated in the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā are explained further and where are also treated various concept of ''maišāyikā'' (philosophy) and ''špeisātarlā'' (ethics). The other Holy Books, according to Chlouvānem tradition, include the two Books of Chants (''yamei laiji naviṣyai''), which include the main liturgical chants, and the two Books of Community (''yamei lilālāṇi naviṣyai'', literally "books of living beings", defining people who really live as Yunyalīlti people, contrasting with the "non-life" (for it is wrong and harmful) or heretics), containing the principle norms the Yunyalīlti community adheres to. All of these books are considered sacred by all Yunyalīlti currents. In some secular countries where the Yunyalīlta is followed by a sizable minority of people (most notably all of Greater Skyrdagor), personal matters among people of this community may be judged partially according to these books.
In order of importance, after the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā, come the ''Lallaṣvatrāṇāveyai'' (sg. ''Lallaṣvatrāṇāvi''), the "words of the Great Masters (''lallaṣvatrai'')": these are texts written mostly during the 5th millennium where some themes treated in the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā are explained further and where are also treated various concept of ''maišāyikā'' (philosophy) and ''špeisātarlā'' (ethics). The other Holy Books, according to Chlouvānem tradition, include the two Books of Chants (''yamei laiji naviṣyai''), which include the main liturgical chants, and the two Books of Community (''yamei lilālāṇi naviṣyai'', literally "books of living beings", defining people who really live as Yunyalīlti people, contrasting with the "non-life" (for it is wrong and harmful) or heretics), containing the principle norms the Yunyalīlti community adheres to. All of these books are considered sacred by all Yunyalīlti currents. In some secular countries where the Yunyalīlta is followed by a sizable minority of people (most notably all of Greater Skyrdagor<ref>As noticeable in the table below, in some countries of Greater Skyrdagor like Askand, Yunyalīlti people are a small minority; however, due to common traditions and free movement between those countries, all of them grant these rights to Yunyalīlti people, mostly for travellers and migrants from countries like Gorjan (with a Yunyalīlti majority) or Lajsmelik and Ylvostydh (where Yunyalīlti people are between 1/4 and 1/5 of the population).</ref>), personal matters among people of this community may be judged partially according to these books.


The Preachers' Book (''yamei khlakullaili naviṣya''), mainly a historical text about the very first preachers after the Chlamiṣvatrā Lelāgṇyāviti, is sacred in the Chlouvānem, Bronic, and Holenagic currents but not in the Skyrdegan and Kalurilut ones. Its continuation, the Book of the Inquisition (''yamei murkadhānāvīyi naviṣya'') is only sacred in the Chlouvānem tradition, as are the Sacred Encyclicals (''brausirena yaivjātietadholtiė'') - a.k.a. Book of the Sacred Encyclicals (''yamei brausirena yaivjātietadhaulti naviṣya'') -, a collection of encyclicals of particular theological, philosophical, or liturgical importance, usually encyclicals written in particularly important historical moments and later sanctified by later Great Inquisitors. The Book of the Sacred Encyclicals is the only holy book that is periodically updated and changed, by adding new relevant encyclicals and, sometimes, by removing some that have become obsolete in the meantime; this revision process is carried out by a special tribunal, whose members are chosen by the Inquisitorial Conclave.
The Preachers' Book (''yamei khlakullaili naviṣya''), mainly a historical text about the very first preachers after the Chlamiṣvatrā Lelāgṇyāviti, is sacred in the Chlouvānem, Bronic, and Holenagic currents but not in the Skyrdegan and Qualdomelic ones. Its continuation, the Book of the Inquisition (''yamei murkadhānāvīyi naviṣya'') is only sacred in the Chlouvānem tradition, as are the Sacred Encyclicals (''brausirena yaivjaiṭetadholtyē'') - a.k.a. Book of the Sacred Encyclicals (''yamei brausirena yaivjaiṭetadhaulti naviṣya'') -, a collection of encyclicals of particular theological, philosophical, or liturgical importance, usually encyclicals written in particularly important historical moments and later sanctified by later Great Inquisitors. The Book of the Sacred Encyclicals is the only holy book that is periodically updated and changed, by adding new relevant encyclicals and, sometimes, by removing some that have become obsolete in the meantime; this revision process is carried out by a special tribunal, whose members are chosen by the Inquisitorial Conclave.


Also considered important but ''not'' sacred, in the Inquisition, are the Books of Law (''kūmarṇaviṣyai''): as the Lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition are a theocratic country where religious laws apply, the most important ones are written in the holy books, while the Books of Law are used as an "addendum", collecting all laws that need to be written. Anyway, many parts of the Books of Law are chronicles of uses, in Inquisitorial tribunals, of interpretations already included among the ''Lallaṣvatrānāveyai'' or in the Book of the Inquisition. Obviously, this one is the only main Yunyalīlti book which is not recognized at all outside the Chlouvānem Inquisition.
Also considered important but ''not'' sacred, in the Inquisition, are the Books of Law (''kūmarṇaviṣyai''): as the Lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition are a theocratic country where religious laws apply, the most important ones are written in the holy books, while the Books of Law are used as an "addendum", collecting all laws that need to be written. Anyway, many parts of the Books of Law are chronicles of uses, in Inquisitorial tribunals, of interpretations already included among the ''Lallaṣvatrānāveyai'' or in the Book of the Inquisition. Obviously, this one is the only main Yunyalīlti book which is not recognized at all outside the Chlouvānem Inquisition.
Line 69: Line 85:


==Spread==
==Spread==
===By country===
Eastern Bloc and former Kaiṣamā:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Country !! Yunyalīlti % of population
|-
| [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|Chlouvānem Inquisition]] || 99.8~100
|-
| Fathan || 97.7
|-
| Brono || 96.2
|-
| Qualdomailor || 96
|-
| ''Lalla Pūrjayuñca'' || 78.7
|-
| Gorjan || 63.6
|-
| Leñ-ṱef || 31.1
|-
| Kŭyŭgwažtow || 29.6
|-
| Ebed-dowa || 26.3
|-
| Lajsmelik || 24.1
|-
| Ylvostydh || 22.8
|-
| Džemleštew || 21
|-
| Enegen-tövön || 18.6
|-
| Derbontoo || 16.1
|-
| Soenjŏ-tave || 14
|-
| Šurugu-tae || 12.8
|-
| Gwęčathíbõth || 11.3
|-
| Skyrdagor || 9.8
|-
| Yalašmořea || 9.3
|-
| Snatåriiw || 8.7
|-
| Kurešov-tawy || 8
|-
| Tulfasysz || 7.5
|-
| Morufalhay || 7.1
|-
| Qorfurkweo || 6.6
|-
| Haletyğyr || 6.5
|-
| Brydvazon-tavy || 6.2
|-
| Karynaktja || 5.8
|-
| Cselsengeg || 5.1
|-
| Töbüntaw || 4.9
|-
| Aqalyšary || 4.7
|-
| Byrzsysztav || 4.3
|-
| Aksalbor || 3.9
|-
| Arkjatar || 3.4
|-
| Taruebus || 3.3
|-
| Berkutave || 3.2
|-
| Ajversziv || 3
|-
| Askand || 2.7
|-
| C′ı̨bedǫ́s || 1.8
|}
===Currents===
===Currents===
The Yunyalīlta is a fairly unified religion but, for it is often more of a philosophy rather than a religion in our sense, there are different currents depending on the area it is followed in. Anyway, most followers, independent of their current, identify the Inquisition as the defender of the faith. The principal currents are:
The Yunyalīlta is a fairly unified religion in its core beliefs but, for it is often more of a philosophy rather than a religion in our sense, there are different currents depending on the area it is followed in; these currents mostly differ in rites and para-religious beliefs. Anyway, most followers, independent of their current, identify the Inquisition as the defender of the faith and, therefore, the Great Inquisitor (sometimes together with the head monk of the Vādhaṃšvāti Lake Monastery) as the ultimate religious authority.
* Chlouvānem Yunyalīlta ([[Chlouvānem|Chl.]]: ''Chlouvānumi yamei Yunyalīlta'' or more simply ''yamei Yunyalīlta'': it is the main current, followed in the Lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition and in most of the scattered smaller communities, including ethnically Chlouvānem settlements across the former Kaiṣamā.
 
* Kalurilut Yunyalīlta ([[SaKalurilut|Kal.]]: ''ruIunialiinnga ngaSulurilut''): it is the Yunyalīlti current followed in iKalurilut and parts of the former Kaiṣamā - notably Leny-tḥewe and Ebed-dowa - and Ylvostydh in Greater Skyrdagor.
In Chlouvānem, such currents may be termed either ''maidara'' (pl. ''maidarai''), also translated as "rite", or ''lāluṃra'' (pl. ''lāluṃrai''). While the two terms are often interchangeable in popular usage, they are not synonyms; rites vary even between areas following the same current, usually as a result of local cultural and/or religious syncretism; ''lāluṃrai'', on the other hand, are much more divergent and in many cases are formerly heretic, unaccepted currents that have since found agreement with the Inquisition and have been accepted as separate currents - the Mahārdimi current's history is quite emblematic in this aspect.<br/>However, the distinction is not that clear-cut: the Jīrandaši current, while extremely divergent and syncretic to the point that non-Chlouvānem scholars consider them to be Łoxvicʾay, and not Yunyalīlti, for most of its history has had a peaceful relation with the power of the Great Inquisitor and is more often termed a ''maidara'' rather than a ''lāluṃra''.
* Bronic Yunyalīlta ([[Brono-Fathanic|Bro.]]: ''Trangá siYonye fa Baroánoa''; Fth.: ''Rhaŋá sheu-Yony fə-Fathəŋeu''): the current followed in Brono, Fathan, parts of southern Skyrdagor, most of Gorjan, and parts of the Chlouvānem area around the former Bronic city of Moamatempony—Måmatempuñih.
 
These three currents are those that are followed by the majority of people in at least one country (the Chlouvānem Inquisition, iKalurilut, Gorjan, Brono, and Fathan). There are at least two other major currents from other areas:
The principal currents and rites are:
* Skyrdegan Yunyalīlta ([[Skyrdagor|Sky.]]: ''Junjasz fezseskjely e-Skyrdeganok'' <small>[ˈjunjəs ˈfɛʒəɧjɛl(ɨ) e ɧɯ˞de(ː)ˈnok]</small>): it is the current followed in the countries of Greater Skyrdagor (except most of those in Gorjan, who follow a Bronic rite, and in Ylvostydh, who follow a Kalurilut rite), with important influences from Jeranism, the traditional Skyrdegan religion, with which it is often syncretic.
* (TBA)
* Holenagic Yunyalīlta ([[Holenagic|Hol.]]: ''qorhdof e Njunja e Ṅoailnaigkäe''): it is the current of a small but influent minority in the southwestern part of Holenagika, which saw for some time in the mid-late Third Era some Chlouvānem commercial outposts which became also culturally influent in most of the populated parts of the island. It coexists with Aselism, the typical religion of Western Calémerian countries, which has a particular, Yunyalīlti-influenced rite on the island. The community has seen some stigmatization and persecution in the last century, however, as the nationalist dictator Uiskehg Ohdsqoaihd <small>([ˈuʃkeː ˈojsqɔj])</small>, who carried out the three Northern Wars in Evandor and later allied with the Nāɂahilūma-led Chlouvānem during the deadly East-West Global War against other Evandorian countries, was a member of this community and built his ideology of Holenagic racial supremacy<ref>More properly, it was disguised as racial supremacy in order to gain the favour of all Holenagikans, not only Yunyalīlti ones, in waging war against other Evandorian countries; as with Chlouvānem suprematist views, there was otherwise no racial element, as it was the Yunyalīlti faith which was taken as defining factor of superior peoples. It should also be noted that Ohdsqoaihd declaring Holenagic racial suprematism would have gone against the views of the Inquisition, and that Great Inquisitor Kælahīmāvi Nāɂahilūma ''Martayinām'' herself did not hold Ohdsqoaihd in particularly high esteem as, as in traditional Chlouvānem society, only women were competent enough to be leaders (notably, it was Great Inquisitor Nāɂahilūma who had cancelled all steps towards equality of men and women that had been done in the Chlouvānem Inquisition during the previous forty years).</ref> basing it on extremist interpretations of Yunyalīlti themes.
* '''Mahārdimi''' ([[Chlouvānem|Chl.]]: ''mahārdimi lāluṃra'', ''mahārdimi yamei yunyalīlta''; adherents are usually termed ''mahārdimāveyi'', sg. ''mahārdimāvi'') is a current that traces its origin back to the philosophy and theology of Ūlarṣināvi Mahārdim ''Maṣkhūri'', a Dūṃthi philosopher from present-day Karvanijaiṭa (in the Northern Plain) who founded it in the year 3579<sub>12</sub> (5997<sub>10</sub>), which was for most of its history not tolerated and persecuted by the Inquisitorial authorities. Nevertheless, it got popular in its area of origin and especially among some non-Chlouvānem peoples like the Širbāghumi - which led to a tacit approval by the lay authorities of the Miś Bāniyār, who were often Širbāghumi. The Mahārdimi authorities finally agreed communion with the Inquisition in 373Ɛ<sub>12</sub> (6239<sub>10</sub>), during the reign of Coreleyāvi Usuvitturæn ''Kalikhūmpan''; the communion was then broken during the Nāɂahilūmi era, but was restored after her deposition. Today the Mahārdimi current is majoritary in the two dioceses of Karvanijaiṭa and Dāhuṭrijaiṭa, and is also followed by sizable minorities in a few other dioceses of the Northern Plain and in some areas of the Western Plain. The bishop of Karvanijaiṭa has a special authority to Mahārdimi adherents.
* '''Jīrandaši''' (Chl.: ''jīrandaši lāluṃra'' or ''jīrandaši maidara'', ''jīrandašumi yamei yunyalīlta'') is considered either a Yunyalīlti current (in the Chlouvānem view), a form of Łoxvicʾay, or a syncretic faith based on Łoxvicʾayism with philosophical elements from the Yunyalīlta. Despite its syncretism, generally there have never been major religious conflicts between the Jīrandaši authorities and the Inquisition. Łoxvicʾay prescriptions over the lifestyle of its adherents have a major influence on Jīrandaši culture, to the point that, even if the vast majority of them are ethnic Chlouvānem, they are considered a separate ethnicity. The cradle of Jīrandaši is in the Near West and in parts of the Western Plain, most notably in Tālišulkhām; however, Jīrandašai are found all throughout the Inquisition and are a large and influential minority in many parts of the Plain. There are various competing religious authorities among Jīrandaši-specific issues, but the most influential ones are considered to be the ''hañjāreh'' (analogue to a Head Monk) of Rūṇavapūkha in the diocese of Nanyådajaita and the Bishop of Hæligreisa.<br/>Note that many schools of Łoxvicʾay consider the Jīrandaši to be heretics, as their syncretic interpretation goes against the conception of a God in Łoxvicʾay - which, however, is not as monolythically accepted as in Aselism.
* The '''Qualdomelic Rite''' ([[Qualdomelic|Qua.]]: ''iă Gwaldewmẹlj iă majdăra'', ''Junjălilta căiši Cwaldewmẹljăd''; Chl.: ''valdēmǣldumi yamei yunyalīlta'', ''valdēmaili maidara'') is the rite followed in Qualdomailor and in parts of the former Kaiṣamā - notably Leñ-ṱef and Ebed-dowa (but note that ethnic Chlouvānem in those countries generally follow a Chlouvānem rite) - and Ylvostydh in Greater Skyrdagor.
* The '''Bronic Rite''' ([[Brono-Fathanic|Bro.]]: ''Taragá ke Yonya fa Barônoa'', ''vy Barônoa vy maidara''; Fth. ''Taraŋá k-Yoń f-Bronŏ'', ''e Bronŏ e maydar''; Chl.: ''broenyumi yamei yunyalīlta'', ''broeni maidara'') is the rite followed in Brono, Fathan, parts of southern Skyrdagor, most of Gorjan, and parts of the Chlouvānem area around the former Bronic city of Moamatempony-Måmatempuñih.
** '''Imeatotie''' (Bro.: ''tea ganugra ke Imeatoty'' or ''tea Imeatotie tea ganugra''; Chl.: ''imætutī ga lāluṃra'') is a philosophical school based on the teachings of Imeatoty, former Head Monk of Kogopaotre Monastery in northwestern Brono. Historically tight linked to the city of Vatagany - the largest city of northwestern Brono -, it has gradually lost following outside of its traditional strongholds in rural northwestern Brono<ref>The influx of immigrants into Vatagany, especially Chlouvānem and more recently Skyrdegan ones, as well as from other parts of Brono, certainly had a role in the weakening of Imeatotie in the urban agglomeration.</ref>.
* The '''Holenagic Rite''' ([[Holenagic|Hol.]]: ''qorhdof ê Nïunïa ê Ngâhlenaid'' or ''ïunïangitior maïdar ê Ngâhlenaid''; Chl.: ''hålinaišikumi yamei yunyalīlta'', ''hålinaici maidara'') is the rite that is followed by practically the entirety of the Yunyalīlti minority in Holenagika. This small but influential minority is the historical result of proselytizing by the missionaries located in a few Chlouvānem commercial outposts roughly between 6000 and 6150. It coexists with Aselism, the most widespread religion in all of the West, however, anthropologists and theologians are convinced of the fact that the Yunyalīlta spread in Holenagika because the Aselist conversion of the country from traditional paganism was not complete yet at the time, and especially not in the fjord communities of Northwestern Holenagika where the Yunyalīlti minority is most common; in fact, some elements of the Holenagic Rite have been traced back to ancient Holenagic paganism. The history of the Holenagic Yunyalīlti minority has been one of alternating tolerance and persecution by the Aselist-majority authorities. While with the establishment of the Republic all persecutions stopped, in some more conservative Aselists' views the minority has been tainted by the subsequent rise to power of the nationalist dictator Uiskehg Ohdsqoaihd <small>([ˈuʃkeː ˈojsqɔj])</small>, who carried out the three Northern Wars in Evandor and later allied with the Nāɂahilūma-led Chlouvānem during the deadly East-West Global War against other Evandorian countries, was a member of this community and built his ideology of Holenagic racial supremacy<ref>More properly, it was disguised as racial supremacy in order to gain the favour of all Holenagikans, not only Yunyalīlti ones, in waging war against other Evandorian countries; as with Chlouvānem suprematist views, there was otherwise no racial element, as it was the Yunyalīlti faith which was taken as defining factor of superior peoples. It should also be noted that Ohdsqoaihd declaring Holenagic racial suprematism would have gone against the views of the Inquisition, and that Great Inquisitor Kælahīmāvi Nāɂahilūma ''Martayinām'' herself did not hold Ohdsqoaihd in particularly high esteem as, as in traditional Chlouvānem society, only women were competent enough to be leaders (notably, it was Great Inquisitor Nāɂahilūma who had cancelled all steps towards equality of men and women that had been done in the Chlouvānem Inquisition during the previous forty years).</ref> basing it on extremist interpretations of Yunyalīlti themes; while today, a century later, Holenagic Yunyalīlti are fully accepted into mainstream Holenagic society, there have been cases of aggression towards them by Aselist conservatives<ref>Still today, far-right violence in Holenagika is considered particularly problematic in the otherwise very progressive country, due to the existence of two main such camps, depending on their view of the Ohdsqoaihd regime: those who support his theories of Holenagic supremacy, and those who, while otherwise supporting of such views, consider Ohdsqoaihd himself an enemy of "Holenagic purity" because of his Yunyalīlti faith.</ref>. The Matriarch of Ohdaise is considered the ultimate spiritual guide (below the Great Inquisitor) for matters concerning the Holenagic Rite.
 
<!-- The principal currents are:
* Chlouvānem Yunyalīlta (: ''chlǣvānumi yamei yunyalīlta'' or more simply ''yamei yunyalīlta'': it is the numerically and politically dominant current, followed in the Lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition and in most of the scattered smaller communities, including ethnically Chlouvānem settlements across the former Kaiṣamā. It is not completely unitary, as liturgical rites vary across the area; however, there has been a considerable centripetal evolution since the Consolidation. Some local or ethnic variants, such as the Jīrandašumi Yunyalīlta, are peculiar enough that some theologians consider them to be separate currents.
 
These three currents are those that are followed by the majority of people in at least one country (the Chlouvānem Inquisition, Qualdomailor, Gorjan, Brono, and Fathan). There are at least two other major currents from other areas:
* Skyrdegan Yunyalīlta ([[Skyrdagor|Sky.]]: ''Junjasz fezseskjely e-Skyrdeganok'' <small>[ˈjunjəs ˈfɛʒəɧjɛl(ɨ) e ɧɯ˞de(ː)ˈnok]</small>): it is the current followed in the countries of Greater Skyrdagor (except most of those in Gorjan, who follow a Bronic rite, and in Ylvostydh, who follow a Qualdomelic rite), with important influences from Jeranism, the traditional Skyrdegan religion, with which it is often syncretic.


In most countries of the former Kaiṣamā situated in Eppilläinen (the area between the Síluren mountains (eastern limit of Evandor) and the Skyrdagor Sea; ''Eppillænan'' in Chl.), the Yunyalīlta was spread starting from their occupation in the Nāɂahilūmi era, just before the East-West Global War, and remained and intensified after the war when these countries were integrated in the Union - remaining nominally independent but de facto part of an unified, Chlouvānem-led country. The spread of the Yunyalīlta in all of these countries was mostly political, so that today these countries can't be said to be religiously Yunyalīlti - their native religions, mostly shamanist, still prevail - but many of their mainstream political beliefs are heavily Yunyalīlti-influenced, with at least one of the leading parties in each country representing Yunyalīlti Communism and five countries (Soenyŏ-tave, Kŭyŭgwažtov, Ebed-dowa, Enegen-toven, and Nerekton) being still single-party, with only the local Yunyalīlti Communist Party (inherited from Kaiṣamā times) being allowed to exist.
In most countries of the former Kaiṣamā situated in Wírdaryȁngdé (the area between the Síluren mountains (eastern limit of Evandor) and the Skyrdagor Sea; ''Vīṭadælteh'' in Chl.), the Yunyalīlta was spread starting from their occupation in the Nāɂahilūmi era, just before the East-West Global War, and remained and intensified after the war when these countries were integrated in the Union - remaining nominally independent but de facto part of an unified, Chlouvānem-led country. The spread of the Yunyalīlta in all of these countries was mostly political, so that today these countries can't be said to be religiously Yunyalīlti - their native religions, mostly shamanist, still prevail - but (except for Taruebus, which is the least Chlouvānemized and least Yunyalīlti) many of their mainstream political beliefs are heavily Yunyalīlti-influenced, with at least one of the leading parties in each country representing Yunyalīlti Communism and five countries (Soenyŏ-tave, Kŭyŭgwažtov, Ebed-dowa, Enegen-tövön, and Haletyğyr) being still single-party, with only the local Yunyalīlti Communist Party (inherited from Kaiṣamā times) being allowed to exist. -->


==Notes==
==Notes==
[[Category:Calémere]]
[[Category:Calémere]]
[[Category:Chlouvānem]]
[[Category:Chlouvānem]]

Latest revision as of 15:49, 5 February 2021

The Yunyalīlta ([junjaɴ̆ʲiːɴ̆ta], Chlouvānem for "nature's path"), also referred to, amongst others, as lañšilīlta (braid path) or camilīlta (the great path), is the Chlouvānem people's traditional religion, the state religion in the lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition, majority religion in a number of countries of Márusúturon, including notably Qualdomailor, Brono, Fathan, and Gorjan, and also a minority in communities scattered across the planet, notably in most of Márusúturon, parts of Evandor (with a particularly strong presence in southwestern Holenagika), eastern Védren, Queáten, and parts of Ovítioná.

The Yunyalīlta was born near the beginning of the 5th millennium (following the Lällshag-Chlouvānem calendar and current year notation) in the areas of the southeastern part of the Great Chlouvānem Plains around Lake Lūlunīkam and the Lanamilūki River (present-day Ajāɂiljaiṭa, Ṣraḍhaṃñælihaikā, Nanašīrama, and Kanyāvālna, which are hence considered the cradle of Chlouvānem culture) through the teachings of the Chlamiṣvatrā Lelāgṇyāviti[1] who, after, according to chronicles (many details are, however, inconsistent), a difficult childhood and youth, conceived her life philosophy which she taught to peoples in the various multicultural villages of the Plains of that era - her teachings were the key factor in the birth of the Chlouvānem people as a new, métis ethnicity, from the many different peoples of the late 3rd millennium Eastern Plains.
About a hundred years after the physical death of the Chlamiṣvatrā, Yunyalīlti preachers called murkadhānai (sg. murkadhāna) founded a congregation called murkadhānāvi - known in translation as the Chlouvānem (or Yunyalīlti) Inquisition, still existing today as the institution that controls the teaching of the Yunyalīlti doctrine all around Calémere and acts as the ruling body of the theocratic country known, metonymically, as the Chlouvānem Inquisition, the largest country on the planet. The founding of the Inquisition took place in year 4252 (256412) of the Chlouvānem calendar.

Throughout this whole article, unless differently specified, Yunyalīlti concepts will be presented according to the Chlouvānem tradition. Even if the doctrine is controlled by the Inquisition, rites in the various Yunyalīlti areas vary, as do cultural implications which arose through syncretism with pre-Yunyalīlti religious forms and practices; this applies even to the core Chlouvānem area. Concepts typical of a certain, non-Chlouvānem Yunyalīlti tradition, will be presented, if necessary, with their native terms. Terms are cited in Chlouvānem and, if a faithful translation is possible, in English; terms for Yunyalīlti concepts in languages different from Chlouvānem are usually phonologically adapted loans - cf. Lillamurḍhyā being Lilamuṛdjá in Qualdomelic, Ligamotriyá in Bronic, and Ngingamurdïa in Holenagic amongst others. As in all Chlouvānem-related articles, millennia are usually specified in base 10 numbers.


Fundamental principles

The Yunyalīlta may be described as a nontheist or a pantheist and animist religion: there is no notion of a God or Gods as omnipotent and supernatural beings that are above all, but nature (yunya) herself is treated as a godlike element. "Godlike" supernatural beings (kaihai), incarnating various traits of the yunya, are however present in folklore and are most probably syncretic remnants of a pagan pre-Yunyalīlti shamanism.[2]
The central focus of the Yunyalīlta is, however, the interaction between humans and the rest of the nature, as a subset of the interactions that living creatures (lileñšai, sg. lileñšah) make with all other existing creatures (jallašai, sg. jallašah) in this existential sphere (jallajāṇa).

Yunya

The concept of yunya (often translated as "nature") itself has two main interpretation: according to the most common one, it is the force that binds the universe together and lets everything be what it is: the universe exists because there is yunya. This definition admits a wide range of interpretations, straddling the border of what we (but not the Chlouvānem) would call religion and science, as in mathematician Lairyāvi Håneibayeh Mæmihūmia′s famous quote "gundadartarlā yunya vi : sama yunya gundadartarlā vi" (mathematics is yunya, and yunya is mathematics).
According to another quite common interpretation (often mixed with the above), yunya is this force's manifestation, that is, nature.

A peculiar aspect of yunya in Chlouvānem folklore is that it is always characterized verbally, with epithets such as "mother of life" (lileni meinā) or "holy mother" (brausire meinā), and therefore sometimes humanized, but is never represented in visual arts this way, even if, in the strictest sense, whatever is represented, and the bare act of representing, is itself yunya.

Lillamurḍhyā

The central concept around which everything is based is the lillamurḍhyā. The exact definition of this concept is actually debated even among Inquisitors themselves, as it can mean either the utopian stage of perfect harmony inside nature where every single fundamental principle of goodness in acting is respected by a living creature's actions (the most commonly accepted interpretation), or what is done in order to ensure this state of things. Both interpretations may be accepted as correct, as this state is the ultimate goal for any person and every single creature's life is an attempt to keep this natural harmony.

According to the Chlamiṣvatrā, there is a distinction between different aspects of nature. Humans and the other intelligent species are considered a "partially flawed" creation, as they can drift away from the lillamurḍhyā: this is considered a weakness and something that humans have to actively avoid during their entire life.
To keep lillamurḍhyā, in the Chlamiṣvatrā's words (yamei chlamiṣvatrī hælinaika naviṣya, 3:9-10):

ridvūkire muṣyai pridoldi garpirena tageranai mæn tartṛsūyirmim : ostememilkṣūyamim : garpyāvęs udvī lilah lelų maišildrīnam lā demi muhę jaluṣyilden ।।
[we] have to know our flawed instinct's evil tendences, prevent them, and enhance the self by learning from who harmonically lives without evil.

Focal point of the "learning from who harmonically lives without evil" is the exhortation to humans not to waste materials as humans can't stop accumulating things far more than necessary. The path to keep the state of lillamurḍhyā happens by the means of three important qualities called lailādumbhāšanai (sg. lailādumbhāšanah, lit. "that which brings to a well-lived life"): self-restraint (demitadmālas), moral discipline (nailīglidaranah), and knowledge (tarlā).

Lillamurḍhyā may also be explained as "harmony of everything" or, in a human perspective, "state of least impact". According to this interpretation, humans are the most flawed part of nature and to harm is their own character, so that they need to reach the state where they harm (or, in other terms, impact) the least on the other faces of nature. This is a more recent interpretation, pioneered around the mid-6th millennium by the monks of Yælklintas Monastery in the Southern Far East.

Some philosophers, notably the monks of Vīramāṇaka Monastery in the Western Plain, consider yunya and lillamurḍhyā to be essentially the same thing, lillamurḍhyā being the main, abstract concept and yunya being its tangible state. The term lillamurḍhyāyunya refers to this interpretation; this contrasts to the more mainstream interpretation of lillamurḍhyā being a state and yunya a force.

The Sacred Disciplines

All Yunyalīlti practices are based on five "disciplines" that, by means of the lailādumbhāšanai, lead to keep the state of lillamurḍhyā. These disciplines are called brausadarenyāvai (sg. brausadarenyāva, lit. "sacred discipline") or, especially in earlier texts, lailālętaivai (sg. lailālętaivah, "pillar of a well-lived life"). They are the following:

  • ħaṣṭišam "weakness": humans are inherently weak and inferior to other fellow living creatures, therefore in order to act one has to keep in mind they are not superior to non-humans (as they cannot stray away from perfect harmony). Humans thus have to restrain from unnecessary killing or any other act of destruction or harm towards the rest of the yunya. This is a form of demitadmālas (self-restraint).
  • yuninailī "natural mind": survival instinct is natural, exploitment isn't. Yuninailī means not exploiting nature (including fellow lillamurḍhyādhaus[3] to obtain more than what is needed; this is thus a form of both self-restraint and moral discipline. A strongly related concept is the one of gomaihulābdāyāva, meaning that those actions that are considered good are natural ones only: those that pure, non-flawed organisms do. Not acting that way is considered detrimental in the long term to the lillamurḍhyā.
  • nailīlāṇa "group of minds": often described as the most intuitive thing to be interpreted from the concept of lillamurḍhyā, the nailīlāṇa concept highlights how every thing done does not only affect who does it, but also the nature around it. Acting selfishly is thus a grave "sin", because only by acting towards the lillamurḍhyā - that is, aiming at causing the least possible harm - it is possible to really make something good, both for oneself and the others. Most post-Chlamiṣvatrā interpretations define every single life form as a unified entity that acts towards the lillamurḍhyā, which means that everyone has the same ultimate goal and going against this common goal is the worst possible thing to do.
  • hulābvirdas "right violence": the original meaning of "right violence" as meant by the Chlamiṣvatrā was that, in some cases, violence is just a natural feature of beings and it is impossible to keep living without being violent when needed, as it is a reaction dictated by one's own survival instinct. This, herefore, is strictly connected to the concept of yuninailī. Violence must thus be right, with survivalism as its main goal: hulābvirdas herefore means that one must be strong and follow the natural survival instinct.
    In Inquisitorial times, this concept has been more strongly linked to the nailīlāṇa: as the collective goal of everyone is to maintain the lillamurḍhyā, who does not act towards this goal is an enemy of everyone and a threat to the whole community. The main instrument of hulābvirdas is thus the ḍāṣṭhirāṣa, the killing of heretics.
  • lillanah "believing" (or "faith"): being faithful and believing in the virtues of how one acts is the key to self-development, as it makes human beings - who are, as for the concept of ħaṣṭišam, naturally weak - aware of what they do and of how they have to act. According to the Chlamiṣvatrā, "the one who believes in the good of what he does is more rightful than the one who, randomly, does a good thing" (yamei Chlamiṣvatrī hælinaika naviṣya, 7:19).

The Leading Words

The brausadarenyāvai are *not* fundamental behaviour rules, but the few "commandments" that are part of Yunyalīlti doctrine are readily derived by their interpretations. These are called tuljimaivai (sg. tuljimaiva "leading word(s)") and are not presented as fixed rules - if they are, it's because Inquisitorial laws agree with them -, being instead only explained during a dialogue where the Chlamiṣvatrā answers the questions of the dwellers of a lakeshore village (this is the first chapter of the Third Book of the Chlamiṣvatrā (yamei Chlamiṣvatrī pāmvende naviṣya)). Once again, it should be noted that the Chlamiṣvatrā never wanted to declare her words as laws, instead she tried to make the people themselves aware of how, in her opinion, the best possible society could be created; the way tuljimaivai are expressed is no exception, as Lelāgṇyāviti only talks about she, on her own, behaved in order to live in a way respectful to the Yunya.
The present day interpretation of tuljimaivai as absolute rules is Inquisitorial, derived by how the Inquisition frequently only considers the Chlamiṣvatrā's interpretation (or, sometimes, its own) as orthodox.

The four main tuljimaivai are:

  • gošopranah "un-killing"[4]: a Yunyalīlti must not kill a righteous being if it is not forced to do it in order to survive. This does not, according to the Inquisition, apply to killing heretics, as they are not righteous beings and in that case killing them is a mandatory act (called ḍāṣṭhirāṣa or delkhāmima).
  • govivāmeya "restraint from superfluous things": one of the most important, if not the most important aspect in order to understand Chlouvānem culture. Particularly emphasized everywhere in the Yunyalīlta is how everything that is superfluous is harmful to natural harmony. The first explanation given by the Chlamiṣvatrā is that species such as humans are inferior because they can't control their capacities and their objectively superior intelligence becomes a downside as they show their intelligence by claming they are superior as a whole - but they show this apparent superiority by accumulation of superfluous things which do not have a real utility towards the lillamurḍhyā. In fact, to keep more for oneself means to not leave it available to other elements of nature - this, according to the principle of nailīlāṇa, is an ultimately harmful behaviour. The concept of govivāmeya is extremely influential in every aspect of Chlouvānem, Bronic, and Qualdomelic society, and is what contributes to the huge cultural and economical differences (for the latter, think of "luxury goods", which are an unknown concept in Yunyalīlti societies) between them and the Western Bloc.
    Historians, both Western and Eastern ones, consider govivāmeya to be the key concept Chlouvānem civilization was founded and developed on.
  • bobhyāva "humility": to overrate oneself is a wrong mistake as it is a disruption of the "group of minds", as well as being an action that goes against the principle of gomaihulābdāyāva. Being humble is how people can keep working together to strive towards natural harmony, as, according to the Chlamiṣvatrā, what is worthy of being noticed will be noticed anyway without external influence or "advertising".
  • demikaminairīvyanah "self-study" (or demyāndaranah "self-construction"): in other words, this concept underlines that a person never ceases to learn throughout its bodily life. Learning about oneself and one's own interactions with the rest of nature is the key towards fighting "the darkness of ignorance" and be able to properly aim towards lillamurḍhyā.

Syncretist beliefs

Due to the mostly philosophical nature of the Yunyalīlta, it rarely completely destroyed preexisting cults or religion, as these remained in some way as a substrate to the faith. This is notably the case even in the Chlouvānem tradition, as the pre-Yunyalīlti shamanist cults remained as an important folkloric element, albeit reïnterpreted in order to agree with the Yunyalīlta.
This is noticeable even in the Chlouvānem language, as the former word for "shaman", vālireh (from a common Proto-Lahob root *wāʕirer, cf. Łaȟ. vor, Yeł. Lawo lwara "shaman") came to mean "deacon" - a layperson working for Inquisitors (the current Chlouvānem term for "shaman", kanurmāka, is a Qualdomelic borrowing (from kănurmaq), but "shaman" in the context of the pre-Yunyalīlti Plain is translated as vālireh[5]). Similarly, the word pahēšhānī, which denotes the training institution in order to become Inquisitors, ultimately comes from the name of an older shamanic ritual (the basic root is PLB *jəxān-, not otherwise found in Chlouvānem but reflected e.g. in Łaȟ. iȟon "baptism"). Among languages of other Yunyalīlti traditions, for "deacon", Bronic and Qualdomelic borrowed the Chlouvānem word (valire in both languages), while Skyrdagor uses the same word used for Jeranist priests' servants (zythygro), as does Holenagic but with Aselist "deacons" (siuiliuht, from Late Íscégon ciúliuten, ultimately from Ancient Nivarese kylhosen).

While the Yunyalīlta is nominally an atheist religion, both the Yunya and the Chlamiṣvatrā Lelāgṇyāviti are represented and referred to as godlike. The Yunya is described as a sacred mother, that is everything and must not be betrayed, for there would be nothing if there were not nature.
The Chlamiṣvatrā is represented and usually thought of as a god more than as a person (completely unlike what she herself said, despite it being clearly written in the Holy Books), with a knowledge above the one of any other person; she is also the most important figure in Chlouvānem identity, being often referred to as "mother of all Chlouvānem" - for Chlouvānem civilization was only able to form after the Chlamiṣvatrā "awakened and enlightened" people.

Despite the general religious intolerance of the Inquisition towards adherents of other religions, Western anthropological views on Yunyalīlti "purity" generally agree that the official "anti-heretic" policy that holds other religions as inferior does not apply inside the Inquisition and, in fact, it masks a more generic stance of Chlouvānem cultural suprematism. While the near totality of Chlouvānem declares themselves as Yunyalīlti and all officially tolerated Yunyalīlti schools recognize the supremacy of the Great Inquisitor, not only many monastic orders often take stances that are quite divergent from the ones held by the Inquisition, but due to the more philosophical nature of the Yunyalīlta, it inevitably assumed regional elements of other religions and beliefs of the areas that drifted into the Yunyalīlti world during the course of the previous 2000 years. This is the origin of the regional variations in the Yunyalīlti faith and of the different rites, as well as of para-religious beliefs that are not part of the Yunyalīlta but are justified through it, as with kaihai, which have their roots in pre-Yunyalīlti shamanism in the Eastern Plain. Even more noticeably dissonant, for a country whose foreign policy is marked by a strong stance against non-believers, is that there are ethnic minorities in the Inquisition that practice heavily syncretic religions which apply Yunyalīlti philosophical concepts to rites and creeds of other religions. The Jīrandaši people number in the tens of millions mostly in the Western Plain and parts of the Near West, and while considered an ethnicity on their own they are mostly ethnic Chlouvānem which practice a syncretic Yunyalīlti-Łoxvicʾay faith; many immigrants from Kenengyry countries (especially first- and second-generation) practice a blend of the Yunyalīlta and Shurism, the traditional religion of the Kenengyry peoples.

Kaihai

Kaihai (sg. kaihā) are a non-core Yunyalīlti belief (mostly mentioned in the Lallaṣvatrāṇāveyai, in the Books of Community, and in the Books of Chants, notably never mentioned in the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā) that is however extremely common in the core Chlouvānem lands and, more or less syncretic, found all throughout the Inquisition (other currents do not consider kaihai). They are described as wandering souls, ghosts, or energy forms, with a godlike element, however still a part of yunya and "guardians" of lillamurḍhyā; they are, in their most common conception, either primeval souls that were already born as kaihai directly from the holy mother yunya, or people who distinguished themselves for glorious deeds aimed at lillamurḍhyā and became gods after their mortal death instead of becoming paṣlilendevenī.

Kaihai are worshipped as guardians of the lillamurḍhyā, that is, creatures that have reached that state of bliss and harmony and control human populations by being good or bad to them depending on their behaviour, almost as a kind of divine police. Natural events and most notably luck and misfortune are perceived as acts of kaihai; animals and plants are perceived as being directly influenced by kaihai, and many kaihai have their own distinctive animal; for example, Bhaurta, the kaihā of growth, is represented as a dildhā (an extremely large land lizard which is one of the largest land animals on Calémere); the Chlamiṣvatrā's kaihā form is represented as a nāmñē (a tropical seal), likely because of the Nāmñai Tale in the Second Book of the Chlamiṣvatrā. Maudhyāna, the kaihā of wind, is represented as an eight-winged eagle.

There are typically countless kaihai, with many of them being subject to local worship (not unlike patron saints in Christianity), but some are universally recognized and wander between their places of worship. Kaihai, represented as mythical animals or hybrid animal-plant creatures, rarely with humanoid features, are extremely common subjects in every Chlouvānem art. Statues and other depictions of kaihai may be found nearly everywhere in the Chlouvānem world, including decorations on panel apartment blocks or in subway stations.

Theism

Nāgātarlā (or nakṣātarlā) is a Yunyalīlti school which identifies the natural manifestations of the yunya as aspects (yunivāyam, pl. yunivāyāk), which are effectively a theistic point of view: such aspects are divided (in mainstream nāgātarlā) into nāgāk (or nākṣāk, sg. nāgam / nakṣam), manifestations of the Immutable (taminikī yunivāyāk, i.e. "Gods" of elements of the environment) and haligāk (sg. haligam), manifestations of the Transient (halilaunikī yunivāyāk, i.e. "Gods" of sensations and feelings).

Afterlife and rebirth

The Yunyalīlta as preached by the Chlamiṣvatrā, born as a philosophy more than as a religion, does not speak on the theme of afterlife and rebirth: there is no mention to them in the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā and, despite a few mentions in the Lallaṣvatrāṇāveyai, there is no general consensus on the theme, with different monastic currents having their own beliefs.

The common (non-monastic) Yunyalīlta considers the being to be the soul (devoe), and not the body (mædhram), which is just the vehicle that souls use to fulfill the Yunya's tasks. When the body dies, righteous souls - those who have not acted against the Yunya - remain in this world as paṣlilendevenī (sg. paṣlilendevoe, literally "soul(s) beyond life"), who are basically spirits who, invisible to those souls who inhabit a living body, wander around as "little helping spirits" (there is no general consensus on what they actually do), waiting to be reborn. According to most people, fetuses are not alive when they start to form, because they lack a soul - it is when paṣlilendevenī help, or come in contact in some way, with a pregnant woman that they "choose" the soon-to-be-born as their new body; stillborn children are those that couldn't get any paṣlilendevoe into them.
According to Yunyalīlti beliefs, souls themselves come to exist in a soul world as children of kaihai, enabling population to increase.

Sacred texts

The fundamental texts of the Yunyalīlti religion are the Holy Books (sg. brausanaviṣya, pl. brausanaviṣyai), which also make up the Constitution - or, better said, its equivalent as a fundamental law - of the Lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition. The most important among the holy books are the three Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā (yamei Chlamiṣvatrī naviṣyai), which collect everything Lelāgṇyāviti said during her teachings; the Third Book also includes chronicles about her life.

In order of importance, after the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā, come the Lallaṣvatrāṇāveyai (sg. Lallaṣvatrāṇāvi), the "words of the Great Masters (lallaṣvatrai)": these are texts written mostly during the 5th millennium where some themes treated in the Books of the Chlamiṣvatrā are explained further and where are also treated various concept of maišāyikā (philosophy) and špeisātarlā (ethics). The other Holy Books, according to Chlouvānem tradition, include the two Books of Chants (yamei laiji naviṣyai), which include the main liturgical chants, and the two Books of Community (yamei lilālāṇi naviṣyai, literally "books of living beings", defining people who really live as Yunyalīlti people, contrasting with the "non-life" (for it is wrong and harmful) or heretics), containing the principle norms the Yunyalīlti community adheres to. All of these books are considered sacred by all Yunyalīlti currents. In some secular countries where the Yunyalīlta is followed by a sizable minority of people (most notably all of Greater Skyrdagor[6]), personal matters among people of this community may be judged partially according to these books.

The Preachers' Book (yamei khlakullaili naviṣya), mainly a historical text about the very first preachers after the Chlamiṣvatrā Lelāgṇyāviti, is sacred in the Chlouvānem, Bronic, and Holenagic currents but not in the Skyrdegan and Qualdomelic ones. Its continuation, the Book of the Inquisition (yamei murkadhānāvīyi naviṣya) is only sacred in the Chlouvānem tradition, as are the Sacred Encyclicals (brausirena yaivjaiṭetadholtyē) - a.k.a. Book of the Sacred Encyclicals (yamei brausirena yaivjaiṭetadhaulti naviṣya) -, a collection of encyclicals of particular theological, philosophical, or liturgical importance, usually encyclicals written in particularly important historical moments and later sanctified by later Great Inquisitors. The Book of the Sacred Encyclicals is the only holy book that is periodically updated and changed, by adding new relevant encyclicals and, sometimes, by removing some that have become obsolete in the meantime; this revision process is carried out by a special tribunal, whose members are chosen by the Inquisitorial Conclave.

Also considered important but not sacred, in the Inquisition, are the Books of Law (kūmarṇaviṣyai): as the Lands of the Chlouvānem Inquisition are a theocratic country where religious laws apply, the most important ones are written in the holy books, while the Books of Law are used as an "addendum", collecting all laws that need to be written. Anyway, many parts of the Books of Law are chronicles of uses, in Inquisitorial tribunals, of interpretations already included among the Lallaṣvatrānāveyai or in the Book of the Inquisition. Obviously, this one is the only main Yunyalīlti book which is not recognized at all outside the Chlouvānem Inquisition.

The community

Places of worship

Rituals and ceremonies

Spread

By country

Eastern Bloc and former Kaiṣamā:

Country Yunyalīlti % of population
Chlouvānem Inquisition 99.8~100
Fathan 97.7
Brono 96.2
Qualdomailor 96
Lalla Pūrjayuñca 78.7
Gorjan 63.6
Leñ-ṱef 31.1
Kŭyŭgwažtow 29.6
Ebed-dowa 26.3
Lajsmelik 24.1
Ylvostydh 22.8
Džemleštew 21
Enegen-tövön 18.6
Derbontoo 16.1
Soenjŏ-tave 14
Šurugu-tae 12.8
Gwęčathíbõth 11.3
Skyrdagor 9.8
Yalašmořea 9.3
Snatåriiw 8.7
Kurešov-tawy 8
Tulfasysz 7.5
Morufalhay 7.1
Qorfurkweo 6.6
Haletyğyr 6.5
Brydvazon-tavy 6.2
Karynaktja 5.8
Cselsengeg 5.1
Töbüntaw 4.9
Aqalyšary 4.7
Byrzsysztav 4.3
Aksalbor 3.9
Arkjatar 3.4
Taruebus 3.3
Berkutave 3.2
Ajversziv 3
Askand 2.7
C′ı̨bedǫ́s 1.8

Currents

The Yunyalīlta is a fairly unified religion in its core beliefs but, for it is often more of a philosophy rather than a religion in our sense, there are different currents depending on the area it is followed in; these currents mostly differ in rites and para-religious beliefs. Anyway, most followers, independent of their current, identify the Inquisition as the defender of the faith and, therefore, the Great Inquisitor (sometimes together with the head monk of the Vādhaṃšvāti Lake Monastery) as the ultimate religious authority.

In Chlouvānem, such currents may be termed either maidara (pl. maidarai), also translated as "rite", or lāluṃra (pl. lāluṃrai). While the two terms are often interchangeable in popular usage, they are not synonyms; rites vary even between areas following the same current, usually as a result of local cultural and/or religious syncretism; lāluṃrai, on the other hand, are much more divergent and in many cases are formerly heretic, unaccepted currents that have since found agreement with the Inquisition and have been accepted as separate currents - the Mahārdimi current's history is quite emblematic in this aspect.
However, the distinction is not that clear-cut: the Jīrandaši current, while extremely divergent and syncretic to the point that non-Chlouvānem scholars consider them to be Łoxvicʾay, and not Yunyalīlti, for most of its history has had a peaceful relation with the power of the Great Inquisitor and is more often termed a maidara rather than a lāluṃra.

The principal currents and rites are:

  • (TBA)
  • Mahārdimi (Chl.: mahārdimi lāluṃra, mahārdimi yamei yunyalīlta; adherents are usually termed mahārdimāveyi, sg. mahārdimāvi) is a current that traces its origin back to the philosophy and theology of Ūlarṣināvi Mahārdim Maṣkhūri, a Dūṃthi philosopher from present-day Karvanijaiṭa (in the Northern Plain) who founded it in the year 357912 (599710), which was for most of its history not tolerated and persecuted by the Inquisitorial authorities. Nevertheless, it got popular in its area of origin and especially among some non-Chlouvānem peoples like the Širbāghumi - which led to a tacit approval by the lay authorities of the Miś Bāniyār, who were often Širbāghumi. The Mahārdimi authorities finally agreed communion with the Inquisition in 373Ɛ12 (623910), during the reign of Coreleyāvi Usuvitturæn Kalikhūmpan; the communion was then broken during the Nāɂahilūmi era, but was restored after her deposition. Today the Mahārdimi current is majoritary in the two dioceses of Karvanijaiṭa and Dāhuṭrijaiṭa, and is also followed by sizable minorities in a few other dioceses of the Northern Plain and in some areas of the Western Plain. The bishop of Karvanijaiṭa has a special authority to Mahārdimi adherents.
  • Jīrandaši (Chl.: jīrandaši lāluṃra or jīrandaši maidara, jīrandašumi yamei yunyalīlta) is considered either a Yunyalīlti current (in the Chlouvānem view), a form of Łoxvicʾay, or a syncretic faith based on Łoxvicʾayism with philosophical elements from the Yunyalīlta. Despite its syncretism, generally there have never been major religious conflicts between the Jīrandaši authorities and the Inquisition. Łoxvicʾay prescriptions over the lifestyle of its adherents have a major influence on Jīrandaši culture, to the point that, even if the vast majority of them are ethnic Chlouvānem, they are considered a separate ethnicity. The cradle of Jīrandaši is in the Near West and in parts of the Western Plain, most notably in Tālišulkhām; however, Jīrandašai are found all throughout the Inquisition and are a large and influential minority in many parts of the Plain. There are various competing religious authorities among Jīrandaši-specific issues, but the most influential ones are considered to be the hañjāreh (analogue to a Head Monk) of Rūṇavapūkha in the diocese of Nanyådajaita and the Bishop of Hæligreisa.
    Note that many schools of Łoxvicʾay consider the Jīrandaši to be heretics, as their syncretic interpretation goes against the conception of a God in Łoxvicʾay - which, however, is not as monolythically accepted as in Aselism.
  • The Qualdomelic Rite (Qua.: iă Gwaldewmẹlj iă majdăra, Junjălilta căiši Cwaldewmẹljăd; Chl.: valdēmǣldumi yamei yunyalīlta, valdēmaili maidara) is the rite followed in Qualdomailor and in parts of the former Kaiṣamā - notably Leñ-ṱef and Ebed-dowa (but note that ethnic Chlouvānem in those countries generally follow a Chlouvānem rite) - and Ylvostydh in Greater Skyrdagor.
  • The Bronic Rite (Bro.: Taragá ke Yonya fa Barônoa, vy Barônoa vy maidara; Fth. Taraŋá k-Yoń f-Bronŏ, e Bronŏ e maydar; Chl.: broenyumi yamei yunyalīlta, broeni maidara) is the rite followed in Brono, Fathan, parts of southern Skyrdagor, most of Gorjan, and parts of the Chlouvānem area around the former Bronic city of Moamatempony-Måmatempuñih.
    • Imeatotie (Bro.: tea ganugra ke Imeatoty or tea Imeatotie tea ganugra; Chl.: imætutī ga lāluṃra) is a philosophical school based on the teachings of Imeatoty, former Head Monk of Kogopaotre Monastery in northwestern Brono. Historically tight linked to the city of Vatagany - the largest city of northwestern Brono -, it has gradually lost following outside of its traditional strongholds in rural northwestern Brono[7].
  • The Holenagic Rite (Hol.: qorhdof ê Nïunïa ê Ngâhlenaid or ïunïangitior maïdar ê Ngâhlenaid; Chl.: hålinaišikumi yamei yunyalīlta, hålinaici maidara) is the rite that is followed by practically the entirety of the Yunyalīlti minority in Holenagika. This small but influential minority is the historical result of proselytizing by the missionaries located in a few Chlouvānem commercial outposts roughly between 6000 and 6150. It coexists with Aselism, the most widespread religion in all of the West, however, anthropologists and theologians are convinced of the fact that the Yunyalīlta spread in Holenagika because the Aselist conversion of the country from traditional paganism was not complete yet at the time, and especially not in the fjord communities of Northwestern Holenagika where the Yunyalīlti minority is most common; in fact, some elements of the Holenagic Rite have been traced back to ancient Holenagic paganism. The history of the Holenagic Yunyalīlti minority has been one of alternating tolerance and persecution by the Aselist-majority authorities. While with the establishment of the Republic all persecutions stopped, in some more conservative Aselists' views the minority has been tainted by the subsequent rise to power of the nationalist dictator Uiskehg Ohdsqoaihd ([ˈuʃkeː ˈojsqɔj]), who carried out the three Northern Wars in Evandor and later allied with the Nāɂahilūma-led Chlouvānem during the deadly East-West Global War against other Evandorian countries, was a member of this community and built his ideology of Holenagic racial supremacy[8] basing it on extremist interpretations of Yunyalīlti themes; while today, a century later, Holenagic Yunyalīlti are fully accepted into mainstream Holenagic society, there have been cases of aggression towards them by Aselist conservatives[9]. The Matriarch of Ohdaise is considered the ultimate spiritual guide (below the Great Inquisitor) for matters concerning the Holenagic Rite.


Notes

  1. ^ Her real name is unknown: she got known by the name of Lelāgṇyāviti - meaning "born of lelāh flowers - and this is how she is today referred to if not by the honorific title of Chlamiṣvatrā - golden master -, which is either left untranslated or rendered as "Great Prophet". There are, however, countless other titles for her in later literature, including arāmīkā "the peaceful one", lallā "the higher one", cameyā "the great one", nilyameinā "mother of thought", or lelīmabrausa "the sacred one of the swamplands".
  2. ^ Different schools of philosophy often have varying views about theism, as with many elements beyond the core tenets. Historically, the philosophical aspect was the greatest source of conflict during the Conclaves to elect a new Great Inquisitor; however, since the unification of temporal and spiritual power, the political factions have become more important in Conclaves than the philosophical ones.
  3. ^ Sg. lillamurḍhyādhūs, one who knows and has the lillamurḍhyā as goal: an enlightened human, who is a Yunyalīlti.
  4. ^ Note that šuprake, usually translated as "to kill", specifically refers to the killing of respectful beings (animals and Yunyalīlti humans). The causative form of ḍūkke (to die) is used in other cases.
  5. ^ Shamans among other present-day Lahob peoples are kanurmākai.
  6. ^ As noticeable in the table below, in some countries of Greater Skyrdagor like Askand, Yunyalīlti people are a small minority; however, due to common traditions and free movement between those countries, all of them grant these rights to Yunyalīlti people, mostly for travellers and migrants from countries like Gorjan (with a Yunyalīlti majority) or Lajsmelik and Ylvostydh (where Yunyalīlti people are between 1/4 and 1/5 of the population).
  7. ^ The influx of immigrants into Vatagany, especially Chlouvānem and more recently Skyrdegan ones, as well as from other parts of Brono, certainly had a role in the weakening of Imeatotie in the urban agglomeration.
  8. ^ More properly, it was disguised as racial supremacy in order to gain the favour of all Holenagikans, not only Yunyalīlti ones, in waging war against other Evandorian countries; as with Chlouvānem suprematist views, there was otherwise no racial element, as it was the Yunyalīlti faith which was taken as defining factor of superior peoples. It should also be noted that Ohdsqoaihd declaring Holenagic racial suprematism would have gone against the views of the Inquisition, and that Great Inquisitor Kælahīmāvi Nāɂahilūma Martayinām herself did not hold Ohdsqoaihd in particularly high esteem as, as in traditional Chlouvānem society, only women were competent enough to be leaders (notably, it was Great Inquisitor Nāɂahilūma who had cancelled all steps towards equality of men and women that had been done in the Chlouvānem Inquisition during the previous forty years).
  9. ^ Still today, far-right violence in Holenagika is considered particularly problematic in the otherwise very progressive country, due to the existence of two main such camps, depending on their view of the Ohdsqoaihd regime: those who support his theories of Holenagic supremacy, and those who, while otherwise supporting of such views, consider Ohdsqoaihd himself an enemy of "Holenagic purity" because of his Yunyalīlti faith.