Introduction to Donat - Vera, the ancestral religion of Donatians
Vera (meaning 'faith' in Donatese) is the native religion of Donat. Unlike most other religions, Vera is godless and has no central figure of creation. Instead, it is thought to be pantheistic, meaning that practitioners of Vera believe that parts of divinity are concentrated within the world itself.
Vera believes everything consists of elemental pairs, each containing one core sin and core virtue, which do not have to be respective to one another. Foundationally, it is believed that all matter descended from the bad cloth & the good cloth. The intertwining of these two created the universe, which is also bound to return to this state. In this way, it is thought that matter is never in a state of equilibrium, meaning that nothing is in a state of perfect balance.
The definition of the word 'element' is itself still very vague, as inside the Donatese language, the word drob is used, vaguely meaning 'the inside of something'. This can either mean that one element consists of one core sin and virtue, or that elements are the core sins and virtues themselves. Regardless, it is typically thought that there are seven of each, with the core virtues being:
humility (poniznost),
charity (milosrdje),
temperance (uzdrzhlyivost),
kindness (naklonost),
diligence (marlyivost),
patience (strplyenye) and
chastity (chednost).
Respectively, the seven core sins are:
pride (ponos),
greed (pohlepa),
gluttony (prozhdrlyivost),
envy (zavist),
wrath (bes/gnev) and
lust (pozhuda).
As mentioned before, Vera is primarily centered around the existence of these concepts and their interactions. They can be thought of as the driving forces of the world. In this sense, Vera is also a karmic religion, meaning that any change or disturbance of matter results in a reaction that does not have to, but can be equal and/or opposite.
Each core elemental pair is represented through a sign. Signs are thought to be some of the most significant symbols in Vera. Despite their primary meaning, they also hold secondary meanings related to states and matter.
Wood is thought to be the most elementally dense common material that is more stable than soil. This most likely stems from the fact wood carvings do not disappear as easily as dirt carvings. Signs have historically been carved into the hilts of swords and on entrances of buildings. In medieval Donat, a brothel was easily recognizable by having nothing carved into its door. Body paint was also used to mark oneself with a sign, which transferred over into modern tattoo art.
Picture 1: Svelo and Levka carved into the hilt and blade of a sword. Picture 2: Zarok as a part of a neck tattoo.
The most significant symbol of Donatese religion, however, is the lesser Donatese cross. While the greater Donatese cross (often just called the Donatese Cross) is present on the nation’s flag and coat of arms, the lesser cross is used in clergy. The greater cross consists of four lesser crosses, and the lesser cross consists of two sides: the superus or the divine side, representing the spirits, and the profanus, which is thought to stand for the living beings. Contrary to the flag’s color palette, both crosses are traditionally carved from wood – not metal.
In Vera, spirits are beings that are not regarded as dead nor alive. Though some may exhibit the behavior of living beings, they all consist of a stable elemental structure. This means that, unlike the living, their consistency does not change throughout time. Spirits are revered, favored, banished and invoked for different reasons. An attempt to invoke a spirit can be made by crying out its true name, though it is difficult to get ahold of one, as it can change through time. There are three clearly defined tiers of spirits in Vera: Duosters, great ghosts and dim ghosts.
Duosters (Donatese: Dvostri (pl.), Dvostar (sg.), thought to mean ‘twice as old’) are omnipresent, omniscient and immortal beings. It is typically thought that there are seven Duosters, with each one representing one elemental pair, whose contents must be respective to one another. They are effectively unnamed and it is blasphemous to assign them names, as it would mean to subordinate them. In this way, they are superior to mankind. Despite this, they are not regarded as divine creators, but rather as the initial guiders of mankind. In the Donatese creation myth, Duosters were the first beings to be brought into existence. Due to their unique nature, they are one of Vera’s central doctrinal points, as they define it as a true godless religion. This specific nature of the religion is theorized to exist as a form of Proto-Donatese self-identification among the various warring tribes of Kanita. Duosters are speculated to have been an order of either good or evil spirits in the ancestral Ikan religion, though they are nothing of the sort in Vera. Instead, they are regarded as elementally neutral – meaning they are the only beings with a perfect sin/virtue ratio. Living beings are often sacrificed to gain the Duosters’ favor, which is believed to restore balance to the world.
Great ghosts constitute the following tier. They are further divided into great fairghosts and great malghosts, a.k.a. harbingers of good or evil. Although they are less powerful than the seven Duosters, their actions are more direct and causal in nature. Typically, sacrifices or rituals are performed to gain the favor of great ghosts. In turn, the great ghost is expected to bring some sort of virtuous gift, miracle, though it can also place a curse on the person. They are capable of deception or either positive or negative manipulation. For this, they can rely on their physical appearance, which is not normally used by them. However, they are very difficult to get ahold of. A great ghost can be subordinated by invoking its true name, which is never the same as its common name. Though, in these circumstances, the ghost will frequently overpower the user and, according to folklore, feast on their soul. The most popular great ghost is the Spirit of the Holy Stag, which was initially tied to a belief of reincarnation, but folk belief has transformed it into a wish-granting figure. Mankind is not the only one capable of performing sacrifices and rituals to gain the favor of great ghosts, as this can also be done by dim ghosts – the weakest tier of all spirits.
The third and final tier is composed of dim ghosts, which are also divided into dim fairghosts and dim malghosts. Typically, these beings rely on their physical appearance to interact with mankind. They are either very appalled by or very attracted to living beings, which results in different behavior for different dim ghosts. Unlike other tiers, these spirits are also divided into classes – groups of individual ghosts that share the same characteristics. Some of the most popular classes of dim ghosts include:
vilae – territorial winged feminine humanoid beings typically short and slender in stature; they dwell in woodland enclosures or near isolated still bodies of water; they dislike trespassers and will attempt to either seduce or possess the mind of an individual, after which the person is strangled and hung from a branch by the legs; they can be appeased by having their boundaries respected or by offering mead, after which they may grant protection from other woodland beings - normally leshens
leshens – tall woodland beings resembling trees that are humanoid in shape, typically with hair and a beard consisting of leaves, though their true face – which is very vulnerable - is guarded by an animal mask; a standing leshen is very difficult to spot due to its unintentional camouflage, though a moving one makes loud cracking sounds; like vilae, they are highly territorial and will attempt to impale any person who dwells too deep into the forest or those who hunt greedily, after which the person’s skull is hung around the leshen’s waist as an ornament; they can be tricked by standing quietly still
lili – semi-aquatic and slender humanoid beings with the tail of a fish, plain-looking and black-eyed, they dwell in seas and rivers and can be fair or malicious; they are capable of producing a myriad of tones from beautiful melodies to agonizing screeches, though they are generally amicable of mankind
vodenites – similar to the lili in appearance, however, their upper body always resembles an unkempt and hairy man of an unsightly appearance; they reside in lakes and rivers and attempt to reel in any nearby fishers by mimicking a crying baby in order to drown them; they can be appeased by offering breadcrumbs
patulites – small, stumpy and plump humanoid beings with round noses, small eyes and a hairy appearance, with only their faces, hands and feet being the exception; they generally harbor no ill will but have been known to be grumpy, impatient and very expressive; they have no permanent residence and are known to run around houses and play with children, sometimes stealing food that has been left on an open window; a patulite’s favor can be earned by plucking a hair or wing from a vila and presenting it to him, after which the patulite can offer to protect the person’s garden; in folklore, a patulite known as Palchek is quite popular for his funny stories and fondness for candy
poldanitsas – humanoid beings resembling young maidens in traditional clothing carrying sickles, though their skin is falling off from how scorched it is; they appear only during hot summer days in wheat fields; they attempt to engage in conversation with passerbys, though, if the person fails to answer them, they strike them unconscious and leave them ill; they love dancing and will not harm anyone who can dance with them until the sun goes down, though most succumb to heatstroke
Vera is a decentralized religion which has been historically divided into hundreds of denominational groupings colloquially called sects. Despite the naming convention, Vera is not divided in the traditional sense, as one can be a member of multiple sects at the same time. Most sects have overlapping doctrine, with the only difference being which facet receives the primary focus. All mainstream sects adhere to the same three principles:
the existence of sin and virtue as coexisting forces which run & form the world and its inhabitants,
the existence of venerated spiritual beings called Duosters,
the omnipresence of sin and virtue within all living and non-living things.
Today, the sects which garner the most believers are the sects which revere the seven Duosters. These sects are:
the Sect of Fauna (chastity & lust)
the Sect of Flora (temperance & gluttony)
the Sect of Stone (charity & greed)
the Sect of Air (diligence & sloth)
the Sect of Soil (kindness & envy)
the Sect of Thunder (patience & wrath)
the Sect of Fire (humility & pride)
A high percentage of believers belong to the Sect of Stone, as charity is often a priority over other virtues for most people. Some sects which do not primarily revere a Duoster usually have very controversial claims. For example, there are sects which claim that there are eight elemental pairs, often including Idolatry or Despond as an eighth sin. Contrarily, there are sects which claim there are only six, five or four virtues and sins. A large portion of sects often challenge the existence of dim ghosts, claiming they are only the works of oral tradition.
Different sects practice different rituals as part of their doctrines. In this way, Vera is divided into two main doctrines: those who believe that the living should strive for elemental neutrality, which constitutes perfection; and those who believe the living should only strive for virtuity. Believers of the former are often seen performing ceremonial and/or sacrificial rituals more than the believers of the latter. Temples of Vera are miniscule and most of them are located inside important buildings of public conference, such as town halls. These temples are more alike to enclosed shrines.
Due to Vera's territorial nature as the ancestral religion of Donat, temples of other faiths are seldom seen in Donat, especially in areas that were historically under the influence of the clergy. Today, Vera is the majority religion of all Donatians, with 73,35% of the population considering themselves to be followers of Vera 'in some way', 21,92% atheists and 4.73% undisclosed or of other beliefs.