Book of Kitamate
itami Egnes was a legendary historian and scholar living during the times of Serra, she originated from the ruling classes in Kazetan, and was the person Serra came to upon recieving her vision. It was recorded that Kitami was somewhat of a mentor to Serra and once she became Empress, Kitami served as one of her closest advisors. Kitami as Serra's court scholar was tasked with assisting her in writing the doctrinal teachings that Serra had learned from Faeriel. It was written twice, the first edition established most of the religion, and the second edition was a revision after the death of Serra and the creation of Saeriel, while also expanding upon some doctrines. Kitamate has since entered the universal dictionary, it means laws of the cosmos. So The Book of Kitamate details the laws of the cosmos. It is a strictly religious word and is not used to describe the laws of physics.
The first edition established the rulership of Faeriel over Wyndelkynd, and used stories to explain why the many features of The Serran Empire were necessary, for example the book was used to legitimise Matriarchy by describing the fall of The Patriarchal Mantaritaray that preceeded them and ascribing the inability of men to govern to their downfall. A creation story was also written which seemed to have been inspired by the fall of the Zamiotl which Faeriel must have told Serra about in her vision. Social expectations were established by the interactions of various characters and Faeriel, often focusing on ascribing punishments to undesirable behaviour, exercising the practise of human sacrifice for example was punishable by the unceremonious death to Hazamelcho Bees, a gruesome flesh eating insect native to Khaletza. This method was used because the bees would drain the victims blood before devouring them, and bleeding was considered a ceremonially important element of human sacrifice. Most of these punishments were symbolically opposed to their corresponding crime. In Faerielite religion there is no established force or deity of evil. Certain things are considered to be or have a proclivity towards evil, but there is no unifying 'devil' who controls all sources of evil. This came in direct contrast to the Mantarit religion which had no good deities, only evil ones. Whereas the Mantarit were polytheistic having many thousands of gods, the Saerielites are monotheistic, where Saeriel is the centre of the religion. The writings that developed in Serra were created as a reaction to the Mantarit Empire.
The Second edition, written mostly by Kitami, raised the sanctity of Serra, essentially to be equal with Faeriel, at which point they unified to create Saeriel, the fusion of their two beings. While old Faerielites may be quick to point out that this means there are two deities in the Saerielite religion, they are considered to be two halves of one whole. Faeriel and Serra represented the realms of the cosmos and of Wyndelkynd respectively. Many note that the revised version is more eloquent and less violent. The second edition also introduced the idea of reincarnation. Which was never mentioned in the first edition, there was not any official stance on what happened to your soul after death until the second edition. In the second edition, it was believed that when someone died they would exist as a part of Faeriel, different parts of her body were different chambers for those souls to live. The scales were for good ordinary folk, feathers were for the devoutly religious, the eyes were for great leaders, the claws were for warriors who fought to defend their faith and the heart was for devoted spouses etc. Whenever someone was born the souls living in Faeriel would be reincarnated into them. While living in Faeriel you would be omniscient and experience no suffering, that is until you are wiped clean and reborn into the world. Death is jokingly referred to as a holiday by some. As for those who fail to live in accordance with the Kitamate, their souls reside in things around the world. For example, those who were lazy in life will have their souls kept in instruments of labour, like a sythe for cutting grass or in an anvil in a blacksmith. Their soul will experience the labour of the living as if it was their own in order to teach them diligence. Another example would be the fate of those who lived proud and boastfully, they would reside in objects commonly walked on or rested upon, such as chairs, doormats and beds, as well as things used to clean with, this would teach them humility. An extensive tradition of naming your things after people who recieved condemnations from the church in life existed in Serra. As the power of the church has been more regulated in the last 2000 years, and condemnations are increasingly uncommon, the tradition became a purely individual choice over who you thought failed to live in accordance to Kitamate.
Type
Text, Religious
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