Do fire nation ppl actually worship fire/agni? Cuz the vedas actually also worshipped fire and a god called agni. Does that mean fire nation practices early Hinduism/vedas
It's hard to say. We only see the word agni used in their name for honor duels (Agni Kai), with agni (अग्नि) meaning "fire" in Sanskrit and kai (会) meaning "social gathering" in Japanese. The fact that "kai" refers to pleasant and non-violent forms of interaction leads me to think that Agni Kais were originally more ceremonial duels meant to express piety to the deity Agni. However, by the Hundred Year War period, it seems that the religious ceremony had evolved/been corrupted to become a form of conflict resolution with legal ramifications.
The impression I get of the post-Sozin Fire Nation is that traditional religiosity seems to be heavily discouraged. The Fire Sages seem to exist only to maintain ancient temples and conduct ceremonies; we don't see them present in any important meetings, so they presumably don't hold much real power in Fire Nation society. We see the children of the elites are taught to pledge their allegiance to the Fire Lord at the beginning of each day (or maybe even at the start of each class period), which implies that the position has developed a cult of personality that supersedes any religion in the country. The one village in the Fire Nation that seems to follow any sort of deity religion, Jang Hui (The Painted Lady village), is literally marginalized and mistreated by the Fire Nation authorities.
As for the Fire Nation of the past, it's possible they once worshipped Agni. It's worth noting that Agni is also worshipped in Buddhism as a minor deity, as well as in early Hinduism. Of course, Buddhism descends from Hinduism, so it still ultimately comes back to the Vedas. Especially with many aspects of the Fire Nation possessing a really strong Southeast Asian influence, it's reasonable to assume the Fire Nation's religious history might have went:
Early Hinduism-equivalent > State-Sponsored Buddhism-equivalent > Imperial Cult
I think it's very possible that there are small pockets of the Fire Nation that still practice an Early Hinduism-equivalent, though they probably did so in secret during Ozai's reign.
We know from the Fire Sages and Aangs memory that dancing was something significant in Fire Nation culture before the war, and given the obvious significance of the Dragon Dance and the Agni Kai and even just dance as a form of social gathering.....could the Agni Kai have started out as a ceremonial dance?
Here me out. You mention the South/South East Asian influences in Fire Nation culture. Well within the Hindu tradition, Kalaripyuttu (the oldest martial art) and Bharatnattyam (a form of classical dance) are often refered to as brother-sister disciplines. They are said to have evolved from each other and the practise of one improves the other, and both (but especially Bharatnatyam) can be considered an act of worship.
(Also dance and martial arts often have complimentary evolutions, which is very cool to me)
Ancient Fire Nation society, where dance and martial arts are seen as complimentary and intertwined, where the Agni Kai is something akin to a Capoeira dance circle, and as the society grows mire warlike the dance aspect fall away and the martial aspect remains. Over time it becomes a rite-of-passage ceremonial duel. Except the society keeps hardening, and soon it stops being a cereminial rite of passage and instead becomes a show of skill and strength, a way to prove that you are worthy of your position.
And of course, Sozin comes along and dials up the "honor" aspect up to a hundred (especially considering the Fire Natiin borrows many elements from Imperial Japan) to the point where losing an Agni Kai no longer means you arent ready for the position you were vying for but instead a deep shame. Its a change that makes the existing heirarchy much more rigid, and rewards good fighters with high government positions regardless of other qualifications, and makes it much harder to question authority.
@ongoing-catastrophe
This a great theory. Really good insight into how a religious ceremony could be twisted to suit the needs of an oppressive society. It's also worth noting that the martial art that inspired firebending, Northern Shaolin, is the most influenced by Buddhist philosophy of all the martial arts featured in the show--- The other martial arts being Tai Chi, Hung Gar, Chu Gar, and Baguazhang.
Firebending descending from dance would also explain why Zuko loves to incorporate breakdancing into his fighting style:
I'd like to think the original Agni Kai ceremonies were once an all-day event that would feature both dances and ceremonial battles as a display devotion and respect for Agni and other spirits.
For example, there's a Thai dance known as Fawn Tian (กวางเทียน) or "The Candle Dance". According to Wikipedia, the female dancers pay homage to the divinities that protect the eight cardinal points of the Earth, asking them to pass through the candlelight. This dance could also represent a firebender's self-control and discipline over fire, as it takes a great deal of concentration and restraint to dance while maintaining a consistently sized flame in each hand. Think about how much Aang struggled to maintain just one flame with two hands.
The ceremonial battles could also be known as war dances (wai khru ram/ไหว้ครูรำ). Imagine witnessing the sword battle above, but the blades are on fire. Being able to pull off a performance would be a display of both appreciation for fire and skill [by not accidentally burning your partner].
I'd like to think that the pre-Sozin Fire Nation valued precision and versatility just as much as power, when it came to firebending. It symbolized how the Fire Nation's values were once much more balanced.
The breakdancing is EXACTLY what made me draw the Capoeira parallel, since that particular breakdance move evolved from a Capoeira spin kick sequence (and a lot of vice versa, the two arts have borrowed from each other a bunch over time)
And yes to the ceremonial war dances too! Many older martial arts can now only showcase duels ceremonially since the objective or a true duel is death. The aforementioned Kalaripayuttu, for example, doesnt really have fights anymore since one of the "rules" of a fight is that your opponent shoudnt be capable of walking away (the wording used is often "crippled or dead")
Dance as a way of showcasing firebending skill and discipline is very cool, since we see a lot of emphasis in-show towards firebending being a very emotion-based art, and how control over the self reflects in control over the flame. This is especially emphasized in Zuko and Azula's last duel. So something like Fawn Tian coukd easily be like....an graduation/initiation ritual, to showcase mastery and offer respects
Also in dances that involve flame, may I suggest the Bengali prayer dance done for the Goddess Durga:
As far as the relgion aspect goes....if we're continuing with firebending and Agni worship, lots of Hindu temples have what is called an Akhand Jyot or an immortal flame. The uninterupted burning of that flame is considered essential to its divinity. I imagine even if they dont worship Agni as a capital G god they might worship him the way Vedic era Hindus would have: as very literally the fire itself, and everything it provides. So an eternal flame and coinciding worship via eternal flame (something that non-benders would be able to partake) could be an aspect of the Agni Kai too.
The Fire Nation having temples with immortal flames feels like it should just be outright canon. There are quite a few times in the show where characters note how "alive" fire is, so it makes sense that they would have temples and sages dedicated to preserving ancient fires that they view as having been "gifted" to them by greater forces (lightning, dragons, spirits, etc).
It could be a ritual in certain areas of the Fire Nation for firebenders to offer up their own flames to the immortal fires, as a way honoring those greater forces. Perhaps, like the water from the Spirit Oasis, fire from these immortal flames might have special properties that can be utilized in times of hardship.
Basically, there's a lot of potential in the idea of worshipping fire itself.
