Infinite Eyes of Zhok
the religion of the watchful zhok
The believers in the Infinite Eyes believe that the world they live on is an eye of their god who has many other eyes. When every eye of Zhok opens, the world will explode into an infinite number of pieces, creating an infinite number of worlds. The planet is a gift from their god in the form of an eye, with the god of the water supplying the oceans, the god of the earth defining the solidity of the ground under their feet and the mountains in their landscape, and the god of air that is the mediator of all things. The Infinitely Eyed believe that the end of the world is near, and community leaders are involved with puzzling out when the exact date their destruction will occur.Public Agenda
Believers often want to convert others to their faith. While the cosmology of the Infinite Eyes does state the Zhok is the source of the world, there is not a specific push to recognize Zhok as the ultimate being. The adherents focus on watchfulness and wisdom and use their Codex of Eyes to preach tolerance and acceptance of others. Zhok is the center of all things, yes, but it is the individual who is the center of themselves.
Mythology & Lore
Lizh, the god of water, is always crying, but that was not always the case. When Zhok first created the Fourth Eye, the world, Lizh was created afterwards to fill the ground with life in the form of water, and it was happy to do so. Lizh fell in love with the god of the ground, Dhûm, and wanted to become eir partner; however, it was shy and waited until Dhûm had stopped working on the world. When Dhûm finished the world, however, ey had grown so tired that ey had to stop and rest, and settled down on top of Zhok to rest forever, becoming the Kugma Mountains. Lizh found Dhûm when it was too late, and it missed its chance forever. Heartbroken, Lizh began crying, filled up the oceans, and hasn't stopped crying since.
Divine Origins
The story of Zhok began with the Many-Eyed Baby, Thîb Hihinkuh, a baby born with a hundred eyes on its head. It had no snout or nose and could neither breathe nor smell, but was just covered in eyes. The Kugma people understand telepathy because that is how their body families communicate with each other, and the parents of the Thîb Hihinkuh were greeted by the newborn and told about Zhok and how the baby had been gifted to them to tell Zhok's story and warn them about the destruction of their world. The baby's parents wrote down what the baby told them, forming the beginning of the Codex of the Eyes, but the baby died before it was able to impart to them the exact date of the end of the world.
Cosmological Views
The world began when the deity named Zhok first opened its eyes. Two eyes were the moons in the sky, and the third was the sun, and together they watched a single focal point that grew and grew until it was a solid sphere and it awoke a fourth eye. This became the planet they live on, Zamt, otherwise known as Mutania. Zhok, with four open eyes, began to create divine entities to help bestow the gifts of the elements onto the world, and with them they created the rivers that are the veins that run through the eyes and the ocean that is the pupil and the iris that is the planet.
The ocean was filled by Lizh, god of water. When it arrived on the planet, it began to cry due to loneliness. These tears filled up the hole of Zhok's pupil, and to this Lizh continues to cry. Zhok and Lizh have a tense relationship due to the back and forth nature of their existence (Zhok always pulling Lizh's tears through the hole into nothingness).
The god Dhûm's domain is the earth and rock, especially of mountains, but also stretches of grassland. Dhûm is known for eir solidity when making decisions, ambition, and aggression. Ey began to strengthen Zhok's iris to help it withstand the flooding. Dhûm is one of Zhok's favorite creatures and the Kugma mountains are Dhûm's body resting on Zhok's supportive flesh.
The element of air is in the domain of Zhiys. Zhiys is not created by Zhok, but is the manifestation of the space between the many eyes of Zhok instead. They exist outside of the usual divine space and is only accessible via sound. Zhok is in harmony with but is also at the mercy of Zhiys in order to maintain the order of its eyes to be able to look upon the world.
After the three elements were created, Zhok began to grow more eyes on its body. These eyes were smaller and didn't shape the landscape in the same way, but were so small as to be invisible to the naked eye. These eyes are continually opening, and when every eye is open the Zhok eye will explode into infinitely many pieces, each becoming a world of their own.
Worship
A common method of prayer is called nondzuntsh, or "crystaling." The practitioner takes a geode, cracks it open, and pours water into the inside to form a small bowl. Then salt, sugar, or other spices are added, with each grain of spice symbolizing one of Zhok's eyes as they open, while the practitioner says a prayer, usually a request or praise. As the water evaporates, it leaves the residue of the powders behind to coat the crystals. Once the water has completely evaporated, the geode is put back together using a special glue and wrapped tightly with string to keep it in place so that it can be cracked open for different prayers later. If the glue is sufficient, the string can be removed and the geode can be cracked open again, building up additional layers of residue.
Priesthood
While there are no priests per se, there are some spiritual leaders within communities. These leaders are identified by having eyes carved into their tusks or, for individuals without tusks, painted onto their foreheads. These leaders will read from the Codex of Eyes, a collection of works that document the early history of the movement, and engage in discussion surrounding the texts.
Granted Divine Powers
Adherents to the Infinite Eyes are often part of cultures that recognize multiple entities living within the same vessel. It is common for believers to have entities associated with Eyes or Sight. In particular, an entity can be responsible for a single eye and use its movement independently. Eyes that are not in use by someone fronting are often closed, so it can be easy to tell how many entities are fronting at a given moment. These Eye entities, if they believe in the Infinite Eyes, are said to have better eye sight than if they were not to believe.
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