Libo, the Yalisi cult
the cult on yalisi
Libo shares many beliefs with the dominant religion of the region, Vopa, but it draws different conclusions. In the great battle between Azatara and Vesi, the winner was not determined. The Vopa side with Azatara, trying to return their stolen teeth, and Libo side with Vesi, the creator of their own world. Unlike the highly organized structure with su vubopa, priests, the Libo religion is more casual without any different classes of people. All worshippers are encouraged to pray to Vesi in their own way on their own time. The private nature of worship can be traced back to avoiding the discomfort of Vopa followers who don't agree with Libo conclusions about their gods.Mythology & Lore
After the world of Vesi began to support life, Vesi steered the development of the living creatures inside. They discovered that the border between the two worlds is thinner than is believed by the Vopa and regular everyday objects create and destroy energy that once belonged to the world of Azatara. Worshipping animate life is a staple of everyday Libo practice.
Divine Origins
After Pemija discovered the wormstone in the world of Vesi, the remnants of Azatara's teeth, she used Sumiga to encourage more astral children to inhabit the bodies of people in the world of Vesi. Close readings of Sumiga's visions, collected in the Parasoza, led some to argue that their allegiance should not be to Azatara but to the world they live in.
This rift in thinking led to the development of the Omono, sacred texts dedicated to Vesi. When the Omono was distributed to others, the faith convinced others to privately engage in special, private rituals dedicated to Vesi, aiding the world when Azatara seeks their revenge.
Cosmological Views
The Libo believe in the same general cosmology as the Vopan religion.
The greater divine world is populated with giant creatures that lay eggs. Each egg contains many worlds inside it and they are expected to eat and absorb each other until a single world is left to hatch and begin supporting life. Azatara and Vesi were two worlds in the middle of an intense battle to become the last world standing, but, just as Azatara bit the Vesi, wounding it terribly, the egg hatched prematurely. The connected worlds began to each support their own version of life. The teeth still embedded in Vesi's body became wormstone.
Unlike the Vopa version, both Vesi and Azatara began to support equally magical life, and no one is dominant over the other. They recognize the power of wormstone and its seemingly one-way connection, but they do not believe that it is proof enough that Vesi is a lesser deity.
One of the su viba, or astral beings, in the world of Azatara is Pemija. Her eye looking at the world of Vesi is the greater moon that hangs in the sky, and it is the eye of her oldest child Vamumuxe that is the lesser moon. They believe that the magic required to these holes is achievable by creatures in Vesi's world, but, because Libo prioritizes the world of Vesi over the world of Azatara, that is not a goal of the religion.
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