Asezhurin (ə-seɪ-ʒu-rɪn)

"Asefa and Zhulesha's People"

In the beginning, there was only darkness. It rippled like a pond: there was nothing.
Seemingly out of nowhere, there came a bright flash, and thus the Universe was created.
From the body of the Universe came the First Being, the predecessor of a deity, who has no name.
One by one, the First Being's arms fell off, becoming Galaxies, as Their body started to crumble.
---The first few lines of the Tale of the Universe, written by Shi'a with KRNS' guidance

Mythology & Lore

The main mythos of Sha'ism focuses around the creation of Asefa, Zhulesha, and the major and minor deities that came directly from them. The deities of the Classical Elements are the Nature Spirit, Father of the Seas, and Father of the Sky, who created the Planet as it stands. The deities of the Novel elements, Madam Sol, and Madam Lune, are the ones who established recorded time, with the guidance of KRNS.

The other deities are usually Avatars, or aspects, of these main 7. Sometimes they are seen as demi-deities, or champions chosen by the Avatars to work their way towards becoming deified.

Cosmological Views

A simple gist of the creation story is this: Asefa was born from one of the First Being's arms, and ended up focused on Solaris once it was hit by one of his many tears. He created Solaris a Solar system, and soon after he created Solaris' Lune, the first primitive beings started to flash into view.

As these lifeforms lacked structure, he created the three Golems: Pritos, Kimo, and Vedra. Soon, life started to proliferate, and when it became too overcrowded, Zhulesha was born from Asefa's navel. She gave the life on Solaris consciousness, and brought with it death. The dead are brought back to Asefa through Zhulesha's maw.

Sentience was not granted initially, however, only consciousness. Time, language, and culture did not exist, until the Founder of Time, Shi'a, had a vision in Her dreams, which prompted Her to look for KRNS. When She found Them, They granted Her the Language of Time, freedom of expression, and Time Itself. These gifts were passed onto Her people, which were then spread globally soon after Her death.

Tenets of Faith

Followers of Sha'ism typically choose one [or more] of the Pantheon's deities to follow the tenets of, especially if they choose to follow a branching religion specific to that deity. Fundamentally, the faithful under the blanket religion of Sha'ism are told to care for the community, be wary of one's environment, and to not intentionally harm others or one's self, especially to an extent where divine intervention becomes necessary.

Worship

Worship has its designations in both private and public life. Blessings asked of from the deities are done in private, whereas blessings given by the deities are done in public. Using a deity's name for comparison's sake, such as saying "Fodizhna's flames rage through me!", or "may the Mother of Death watch over you", are done casually, and do not typically require particulate phrasing.

There are rituals for birth, for coming of age, for gaining a specific profession, and for death: all of these rituals call for the guidance or blessing of one of the deities, depending on the Domain that Daemon is from. There is an intrinsic belief that the deities are forever watching, and so calling for them is largely unnecessary.

Pestering a deity with constant prayer is reserved for the Clerics chosen by their specific deity; if an individual calls upon a deity for frivolous reasons, the deity may become annoyed and bestow misfortune upon them.

Priesthood

The faithful are expected to be self-sustaining in their beliefs for their patron, but some Clerics do get appointed the role of Patron Saint for exceptional performance. The Daemonic word for a priest is Helarin, or "enlightened one", whereas their title is Gazhela, or "eye of light".

A priest of a specific deity gets visited by The Seer on the night of their appointment, and gain their Tokalum on The Night of Council with a motif of their patron, usually their deity's name and their associated symbols.

Sects

As mentioned above, there are many sects of Sha'ism, with a focus on one or more specific deities. As deities have their own specific goals for humanity, contradictions with the general tenets of Sha'ism are commonplace. Some deities are self-oriented, and don't ask their worshippers to participate in their community. Others are sacrificial, and may ask for their followers to overexert to the point of exhaustion.

If one is interested in a particular sect of Sha'ism, it is best to research that deity's tenets before joining.