Coscivian civilisation: Difference between revisions

'''Coscivian civilisation''' is the heritage of values, norms, customs, ideas, social and political movements, and artifacts associated with the peoples of the continent of Éorsa. Coscivian civilisation spread beyond its home continent during the 9th and 10th centuries ''anno Domini'' to encompass new lands and peoples through migration, colonisation, cultural exchange, and assimilation, and today forms the dominant cultural paradigm in several nation-states, including [[Kiravia]] and [[Livensóla]], as well as the way of life of Coscivian minority and immigrant populations in many parts of the world, particularly [[Umcara]], where Coscivians comprise some 40% of the population.

Coscivian civilisation and a common Coscivian identity were consolidated under the First and Second Coscivian Empires that united the various peoples of Éorsa, who despite sharing certain ancestral, linguistic, and limited cultural affinities did not previously have any common consciousness, into a single overarching cultural and political system. This civilisation continued its independent social and technological development over the subsequent centuries, and remains a distinct, if comparatively minor, cultural sphere in the world today.

|region7  = [[File:Flag of Nizari Ismaili state (1090-1162).svg|25px]] [[Rumelistan]]

|pop7   = 11,291,540

|region8 = [[File:Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.svg|25px]] Cærulean Archipelago

|pop8   = 619,000

The largest individual Coscivian ethnic groups/ethnic supergroups are the [[Kir people]], [[Cape Coscivians]] (taken collectively), [[Antaric Coscivians]], [[Ĥeiran Coscivians|Ensciryan Coscivians]], [[Taństan Coscivians]], Paisonic Coscivians, and [[Æonaran Coscivians]].

===Coscivian Universals===

*'''Monotheism-''' The Adraīans were a {{wp|lunar deity|selenolatrous}} and {{wp|henotheism|henotheistic}} people who believed in a multitude of spiritual beings but worshipped only the Moon. The religious beliefs of the Kasavs are less clear, though it is known that they believed in an impersonal force called the ''Wàz'', which survives in modern Kiravian superstition as ''ūsa''. The worship of celestial entities continued among the Ancient ʔptovi and other West Kasavic peoples, and though it is unclear when monotheism coalesced as a popular belief, it was the Ancient Helskan philosophers (particularly the Strabians) who argued in favour of an aphysical, conscious Supreme Being. A diverse assortment of monotheistic beliefs proliferated outward from Helska across the Intheric Basin, eventually giving rise to the organised religions now classified under the umbrella of Coscivian Monotheīsm. Even today, monotheistic religion (or at least belief) remains ubiquitous in Coscivian countries, with both neo-pagan revival movements  and staunch {{wp|atheism}} being extremely rare.

*Affiliation with {{wp|endogamous}} ethnosocial groups (''túaþaya''), within larger linguistic, cultural, or religious cohorts.

All Coscivian groups and subgroups have a highly developed {{wp|funerary cult|funerary culture}}. Before the introduction of Christianity and its baptismal rites, not all Coscivian cultures had strong traditions for the reception of newborns into the family, tribe, or community, a fact that some anthropologists attribute to high infant mortality. Thus, the two cardinal life-cycle events in Coscivian culture have always been the wedding and the funeral. The oldest and most influential works in the Coscivian literary canon have been {{wp|funerary texts}} such as the ''Itidhamtagránda'', popularly known as the "Coscivian Book of the Dead".

{{wp|Cremation}} has a long history in Coscivian civilisation and remains the leading method of corpse disposal in the modern Coscivian World. Cremation practices among the Cosco-Adratic peoples share several common characteristics, such as giving the body a special vestment or draping for cremation, retention of ashes or bone fragments after cremation, and memorialisation of the remains. While the the specific rites surrounding cremation, of course, vary widely with religion, ethnicity, location, and social stratum, these practices are highly conserved among Coscivian groups, and contrast with Western crematory practices that usually involve the outdoor dispersal of cremated remains, which is viewed as highly disrespectful and is prohibited by law in most Kiravian states.

During the 8th century ''anno Domini'', missionaries, traders, and migrants from {{wp|Scotland}} and {{wp|Ireland}} introduced Christianity to the [[Ĥeiran Coscivians]]. However, Coscivia fell out of contact with European Christendom less than a century later, due to a grand civilisational catastrophe?

The first encounters with [[Occidental civilisation]] <strike> since the Hiberno-Scottish mission occured in the 13th century, as Coscivian explorers, traders, and colonists came into contact with the European peoples of [[Levantia]] and other regions in [[Ixnay]] and further afield. Civilisational conflict of any sort did not emerge in earnest until the 20th century, when the beginnings of globalisation forced the greater part of the Coscivian world to confront a Western-dominated international society and international order. A number of 20th-century developments in Western civilisation, such as {{wp|materialism}}, {{wp|utilitarianism}} and {{wp|secularisation}}; the growth of totalising ideologies such as communism, fascism, and nationalism; revolutionary and countercultural movements; and the proliferation of {{wp|consumerism}} and a homogenised mass-culture, began to stir antipathy towards Western civilisation and arouse fears of assimilation. Both social and political [[Anti-Westernism in Kiravia|Anti-Western]] movements gained momentum during the mid-20th century, and exercise a great deal of influence over cultural, language, immigration, and foreign policy in [[Kiravia]] and [[Livensóla]].</strike>