Volinism

Volinism is an Indigeno-Calderan polytheistic religion and is the primary religion of Caldera.

Volinism

Eye of Volinism
Total population
9,238,014
Regions with significant populations
Caldera Canespa
Scriptures
Booyorak
Languages
Volin, Papasimi, Gothic

History

Statue of Mashk

Originally from central Cusinaut, Volinism is directly tied to the tribe of Volins and was pushed west to Nuyak, or Caldera, where it remained in almost complete isolation from about 50 AD until 1540 AD. Prior to Levantine immigration to Caldera, the stories of Volinism were never recorded up until the 1400s when Volins developed a writing system expressly so that they could recite the stories of the gods without having to remember them. No other indigenous Cronan tribes have religions similar to Volinism due to Volin related ethnic groups being purged in tribal warfare. After the Calderan government was founded, Volinism enjoyed a role as an important aspect to consider for elections.

Eye of Volinism

The Eye of Volinism was first conceived in the late 1600s as Volinists needed a symbol to easily mark something as belonging to Volinism instead of Christianity.

The "eye" is a circle, representing Ixnay, divided into 3 unequal parts. The upper and lower parts of the circle are equal in size, while the middle is about twice the size of either side, representing being part of both domains. The upper part is light blue, representing the sky and Bron's domain. The middle part is dark blue, representing the sea and Mashk's domain. The middle part is green to represent land and humanity's domain. There are 10 black strokes on the green part to represent humanity living together peacefully in between the two god's domains. The 10 strokes can also represent the 10 gods on the pantheon of Volinism.

Although not part of the original meaning, the symbol resembles a human eye, of which the name is derived, and is an added meaning being that the symbol is how Volinism sees the world. Because of this, modified forms of the symbol with a small hole cut where the 10 lines should be are used as eye masks in parades celebrating Volinism in Little Caldera.

Scripture

Unlike other religions, Volinism has no scripture that's considered inherently holy, but it does have a set of documents referred to as the "Booyorak", or the "Holy Stories". These stories simply outline how the world was created, how gods were created, and how you are meant to live life. The Booyorak was written in the 1540s by hundreds of people who added different parts from family stories.

Pantheon

Volinism has an expansive pantheon of gods and goddesses, unlike similar polytheistic religions, none of the gods and goddesses are traditionally related, and are instead formed around the realm that they are the lord of. Also unlike most religions, the most important god is not the one that created the earth, but instead the one that created humans, that being Mashk, the god of the sea.

Mashk, God of Sea

Mashk's Birth

Mashk wasn't born in a traditional sense, Mashk was summoned into creation by the creation of the sea. The motion of all the water of the sky being turned down and released onto ground caused the ground to tremble and for Mashk to begin existing as the ruler of not just the sea, but of all water, creatures that live in water, and creatures which drink water to survive, which extends to every living thing on Ixnay.

Creation of Land

While swimming in his domain, Mashk came to the realization that the entire world cannot just be his, and he wanted to share it. He went down to the bottom of the world and gathered up as much dirt as he could, and he'd bring it to the top of the world and make it float. When the floating dirt would drift away, he became dedicated and called upon all of the creatures of the seal to gather up dirt and bring it to the top as he originally tried. With as much help as he could get, he successfully created Crona. Using it as a starting point, him and all his creatures worked together to form the entire world.

A different version of the story is much simpler and just states that Mashk ordered all the water on the planet to lower its level, revealing the highest land and creating continents.

Creation of Humans

After creating all of the continents, Mashk realized that he needed someone to appreciate his work. He piled up a bunch of clay into a group of statues, and washed them with the waters of life. This only made them half alive on land, so Mashk asked Bron to also breathe on them the breath of life, which he did. This created the first group of humans, of whom Volins believe they are descendants of. Mashk went and created humans all over the world, creating different tribes and races depending on where he created them.

Other Creations

Mashk also created all sea life, especially fish which he is most associated with.

God of the Underworld

While the humans were developing, it was found that they were such complex creatures that when they died, their personality was tied to a soul which needed a place to go. Mashk decided to take matters into his own hands by crafting a resting place for these souls in his domain as they wait to inhabit a new body. However, being that land isn't part of his domain, Mashk had to send a message to humans telling them that in order to send souls into the afterlife, the bodies of the dead must be burned, otherwise he won't receive the soul. This created a new funeral rite where Volins put their dead on a wooden raft and set it to sea while it's burning, which is still especially practiced in Bavogia.

Bron, God of Sky

Bron's Birth

Bron's creation is somewhat of a mystery, it is believed by some that he always existed, just floating around in the open sky, while some argue that Bron was created by a god unknown to humans who also created the solar system, and Bron was created to be the overseer of a new planet of Ixnay.

Creation of Ixnay

Although some would argue that Bron only created the water below his domain, it's widely believed that Bron created the entirety of Ixnay below his domain by taking the entire sky and flipping it upside down, causing its contents to separate and for the sky and water to be divided into two separate domains. This is also why it rains, when some water still stuck in the old domain finds its way down where it belongs. Having the entirety of the world outside his grasp made him an incredibly lonely god, leading to his other creations.

Other Creations

Bron created birds who can freely wander his domain with beautiful plumage and pretty songs all to make his world seem less lonely and as vibrant as the ground below. Bron is considered by some to be both the sun and the moon, correlating to when its time to sleep, Bron is the sun while awake and the moon while asleep. Bron also created clouds for him to rest on as he watches his domain.

Martir, God of Snakes

Martir's Birth

Within Mashk's domain, a group of eels were mad that Mashk would not allow them to go on the surface where humans were. The leader of the group, Martir, made a plan to betray Mashk and walk along the surface anyway. He stole a nose from a mouse and stretched it to fit over his face, and one day while Mashk was working on a new sea creature, Martir led his gang onto the surface to explore. They discovered a patch of beautiful flowers, which were so nice that the entire group tried to pick them and take them to the water. Sensing the disturbance, Sirkup came to investigate, and screamed in horror at what she was witnessing. This got the attention of Mashk, who then punished the eels who followed Martir by removing all the water from their body, removing their fins, and permanently sticking new air breathing noses on them. This created the first snake. Unbeknownst to Mashk, however, creating a new species like this and separating it from his realm created a natural disturbance because no one knew who the new species belonged to. Naturally, the new species was caused by Martir, so Martir became the god of snakes.

Creation of Fire

One day, Bron was trying to create a new tool for humans, called fire. He planned that fire could be summoned by humans in their palms, and used as a light while he slept. Martir heard of Bron's plan to give humans this gift, and Martir thought it was stupid, so as soon as Bron created the light, Martir pushed it off the cloud onto a tree. This created the requirement for fire to burn something, and also why fire hurts when touched; it's an unfinished creation.

Other Creations

Martir also created a variety of animals to hurt humans, including venomous spiders, polar bears, and hornets.

Sirkup, Goddess of Nature

Sirkup's Birth

Similar to how Martir was once just an eel, Sirkup was once just a deer. Prancing through the fields of Crona, Sirkup watched as humans got greedy and wiped out entire groves of trees just to build communities. Getting angry at the humans for hurting the world around them, Sirkup charged a human with an axe and was killed for trying to interrupt. To reward Sirkup's bravery, Mashk and Bron agreed to make Sirkup a goddess, and she became the goddess of nature on land. Once becoming a goddess, she was able to understand everything that was happening on land, and she soon decided that humans were okay. While they did destroy nature, they can also create beautiful things, so Sirkup become neutral, only to stop humans if they were going too far to hurt nature.

Creations

Sirkup is best known for creating 2 things, apples, for humans to eat and enjoy, and thorns on roses, so humans would get pricked when they tried to pick them for their beauty.

Ferris, God of War

Ferris' Birth

As Volins fought against hostile tribes in central Cusinaut, Mashk realized that there needed to be a god to guide them and fight for them. Taking the most dangerous of sea creatures including the spirits of a shark, a sea urchin, and a jellyfish, he combined them together and anointed the new spirit as the god of war. Ferris immediately guided the Volins to victory over battles, and the Volins were safe, for the time being.

Ferris' Failure

As the Volins were being attacked a tribe 4 times bigger than themselves, Ferris began to see that the Volins could not possibly win. Contacting Mashk to tell him the issue, Mask went to work creating an island off of the coast of Cusinaut for the Volins to flee to. When the Volins lost the war and other tribes started to wipe them out, Ferris guided the Volins to Nuyak, where they would be safe and flourish.

Creations

Ferris never creates life or objects directly, but during the Volin's war, it's believed that Ferris inspired the creation of the bow and several different styles of traps to protect them as they fled. Modern Volinists also believe that Ferris inspired the creation of the atomic bomb and modern firearms.

5 Gods of Man

The next 5 gods of the pantheon all correlate specifically to humans or the human experience. Ferris doesn't count as a god of man because he also oversees fighting between non-human animals like opposing members of wolf packs.

Bagwahk, Goddess of Literature

Bagwahk is a relatively new goddess who was conceived in the 1540s as being the goddess who oversees the Volin language and any text created with it. Bagwahk is often prayed to in order to improve the quality of a story.

Sitashk, Goddess of Love

Believed to have been created when the first loving relationship between a man and a woman occurred, Sitashk can be prayed to make an evening more romantic or to make it more likely that someone meets your fancy.

Alashk, God of Good Harvest

Alashk was once a rice farmer, the only kind of food his family ate. One year, the rice didn't grow, so Alashk set out in the wild to hunt. While hunting near a mountain, a boulder fell on top of him and crushed him, so in the afterlife he was granted the ability to make 3 farmers' crops grow exceptionally well, so that never again will those farmers be forced in the wild where they may die.

Castir, Goddess of Currency

Castir was created to oversee human currency when Volinia adopted the Volin shell. She has the ability to grant humans vast sums of cash, or bless their work for an extraordinary amount.

Beliefs

Mashkert

Mashkert literally means "Mashk's life", but rather than referring to Mashk's actual life, it refers to the life Mashk has set for you. It's believed that every person is alive for a reason, and one of the most important things in life is to figure out what your purpose is, which you'll know it is your purpose when you see a sign from Mashk telling you to relax.

Boohat

Boohat means "holy sin", and it refers to the one sin that is referenced throughout the Booyorak. Volinists believe that there is only one true sin that not any god would want you to violate, and that sin is theft. Not just theft of objects, but also theft of concepts, such as people's happiness and right to know the truth. Very broad concepts are covered by this sin, for example, murder would be stealing someone's gift of life, insulting someone would be stealing their right to happiness.

Rituals

The main rituals of Volinism revolve around contacting the gods. The primary way is quite straight forward, followers may choose to simply speak loudly to nature, directed at whatever god they want. If they're trying to contact a god of man or Ferris, they would simply think aloud to themselves. Followers who are the loudest or focus the most on prayer are the ones who will have their prayers answered.

The secondary mode of contact is to give an offering to your god of choice by writing their name on an object and burning the object. If the object cannot be burnt, then it would be tossed into the nearest large body of water to be carried off to your god of choice by Mashk.

None of these rituals are mandatory, and how they are performed may vary by family.