Venua Faith
The Venua Faith is a system of religious beliefs indigenous to Venua'tino. Originating as a syncretic combination of both M'acunist and Arzalist traditions. Unlike the monolatristic of both Arzalism and M'acunism, the Venua Faith believes in only two gods, personified by the sun and moon respectively. These two gods exist in a semi-dualist state, an extremely unusual development in northern Cronan religion.
The Venua Faith is believed by most to have originated during the centuries-long Varshani occupation of the region, although it likely derived from a pre-extant regional variation on traditional M'acunism.
Terminology
"Venua Faith" is an Julian Ænglish term broadly corresponding to the original, native terminology describing the religion. "Venua" means both "night" as well as the concept of "light"; the concept not necessarily reflecting actually having light. Due to the centrality of cosmology within this belief system, translations of "Venua Faith" are widely attested to in historical writings in Venua'tino, with Varshani overseers first making written reference to it in ca. 1480.
Key beliefs
Cosmology
The Venua Faith is well known for its simultaneously eccentric and relatively advanced views on cosmology, which are central to understanding the religion. Adherents of the Faith believe that the world is a sphere and the entire universe is oriented on an "up" and "down" orientation, with the north of the world being the furthest "height" location. The other two primary elements of the universe are the sun and the moon, which are located directly above or below the world. The world rotates on both axis, accounting for the changing of the seasons. The sun and moon are prominent physical symbols of deities according to the Venua Faith, but also are the literal physical afterlife for all people. The sun is viewed to be closer to the earth than the moon, though the moon is thought to be larger given the smaller physical size of souls.
Sun
The sun is the symbolic embodiment of the First God, a deity who combines aspects of the Arzalist Sun God in its creative nature and the M'acunist Makuahine, by whom light and warmth provide all life in the world and acts in a generally benevolent way. The First God, after shedding his body, became a state of pure soul. It is commonly understood that he is at the center of the physical sun. Accordingly, the sun is viewed as the place where ethereal souls go upon the death of a human. There, the souls of all people are joined into the Great Oneness, similar to M'acunist belief. The light and warmth of the sun originate from the First God at the center of the Great Oneness and amplified by the great mass of human souls. Venua Faith adherents share similar views to M'acunists about the balance of the Great Oneness affected by moral actions taken in life, with an imbalance remedied by punishments of colder weather, lack of sunshine, droughts, and the like.
Appearance of the midnight sun
The midnight sun, an annual occasion in Venua'tino, is viewed as the sure sign of blessing of the people of the land and the irresistible proof of the closeness of the land to the afterlife of souls. Ritual suicide during the months of the midnight sun are not uncommon in Venua'tino, as it is viewed as a way to ensure a speedy journey to the afterlife of souls.
Moon
The moon is the symbolic embodiment of the Second God, a deity that formed when the First God shed his mortal skin to become spiritual. The moon is viewed to be the pit of the universe, from which the remains of all humans go when they die. The physical moon is understood to be a pit of ashes and bones given its white-gray appearance. Unlike the round sun, the moon is understood to be cylindrical, like a "pit", with the rotting remains of the Second God at the bottom of the pit. Venua Faith adherents are greatly divided on the Second God's powers. The vast majority believe that he has the ability to inflict evil on the world while also sometimes acting in a neutral or even mischievous manner for unclear ends. Faith adherents believe he is the same being as the Death God of Orthodox Arzalism. His motives are generally unknown, although some believe that he seeks to enhance death and suffering so that he might grow and bring about the end of time when he will be reunited with the First God. The Second God is viewed to have more of a trickster and unpredictable nature than a truly evil one, but most Venua Faith adherents believe he has a direct hand in most evil actions and the deaths of most people.
Phases
The various phases of the moon hold wide variety of meanings and interpretations across Venua believers, but the near-unanimous view states that they are augurs or omens from the Second God of some kind.
Eclipses
The meaning of eclipses have been an item of significant contention among the members of the Venua Faith. The most common interpretation speaks to the death of a great person, such as a Kānenaka in M'acunism; the greatness of such a person allows them the special honor of being carried both body and soul into the afterlife, with their presences merging for a brief moment as the First God travels to visit the Second God to retrieve their body. A minority position, shared by some skeptics, is that the universe is not oritented perfectly up-and-down and instead it is the afterlives which rotate, rather than the earth.
Creation and eschaton
The Venua Faith creation story involves the First God, the first being with consciousness to emerge from the background swirl of life of the universe. The First God created the world, built the mountains by hand, and provided for the needs of all creatures. He inseminated the ground, from which human beings first emerged. The First God committed an act of carelessness, falling asleep far above the world. Due to his elevated nature, his soul emerged from his body during this sleep, and he became pure spirit sitting at the top of the universe. His physical body struck the earth as it fell from the top of the universe, setting the world spinning on both axis. It fell to the bottom of the universe. Due to the nature of the First God, his physical body soon took on a life of its own as it decayed into dust and bone. It became the Second God, the embodiment of physicality and death. When humans die, their souls are separated from their bodies, with their souls joining the Great Oneness with the First God in what became the sun, and their bones and dust falling off the world and joining the moon and Second God.
Venua Faith adherents believe time will continue until so many people have lived and died, and so many souls and bodies have passed to the sun and moon, that the sun and moon will expand and collide on the earth, destroying the earth and combining the sun and moon back into one Great God comprised of the First and Second God as well as all people who have ever lived. The Great God will be one perfect being and will live in solitary harmony forever, as the competing chaos of life and death that shake the world have been both silenced.
Worship practices
Burnt offerings
Burnt sacrificial offerings are the common form of worship among those who practice the Venua Faith. While human life is considered sacred and the soul of the human being returns to the First God in its own time, animal lives are not part of the Great Oneness according to Venua belief; in this respect, it is similar to the M'acunist man school. Animals are killed and offered in fire to the First God as satiation; their lesser souls are thought to help feed the sun's fire. Additionally, the act of burning releases the "elemental fire" that adherents believe is within all animals. The elemental fire permeates the world; this release is believed to please the First God, given his temporary firey nature.
Funeral
In the Venua Faith, indiviuals are cremated upon death. The cremation is accompanied by a ritual which wishes the soul of the departed good luck in their travel to the Great Oneness while thanking the physical body of the departed for accompanying the soul during its life. Following the cremation and ceremony, the ashes of the deceased are blended with snow, which is generally ubiquitous in Venua'tino most times of the year, and stacked in piles of balls. This is intended to ease the "falling off" of the ashes to the ash pit (moon).
Prevalence
The Venua Faith is the religion of the vast majority of people living in the Venua'tino region, including residents of Copake and Shenendehowa Bay. It has an extremely limited footprint beyond its home region, with a few adherents abroad in places like northern Housatonic.