Devayani

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The Devayani is the term of a religion and a collective of Gods worshipped in Za'ah (where it is claimed that they not only are deities but actual corporeal rulers), in Rahulia (an-Davali) and in parts of Houm (Dajani), The worship and cosmology is differing between the three cultures where the Devayani are worshipped. For example, the Za'ahene Empire is to a large extent a theocratic bureaucracy where the Ni'zi and the Múza'ni are deriving their authority from their supposed direct contact with and obedience to the Devayani. In Rahulia, the ruling family performs sacrifices to the Devayani, but otherwise retain full authority, and use the religion as a way to impose their laws locally. In Houm, the cult of the Dayani is being merged with local beliefs.
The attitude towards sacrifice, rituals and the worldview differ between the three cultures as well.
==Beliefs and faith==
The Devayani can be seen as the first international religion, though the differences between cultures practising the worship differ a lot, as well as the cosmologies. The foundation of the religion, as it is practised in Za'ah where it originated, is as a mystery religion promising individual power with otherworldly beings. This post-shamanistic religion, which heavily relied on sacrifices, evolved during some point in the transition between the Archaic and the Bronze Era into a proto-polytheistic state religion of the emerging Za'ahene Empire.
The foundation is that the world was born in chaos, by a perverted primordial race known as "the Mú". The Devayani are seen as antropomorphic gods, or rather "God-children", who are upholding Order on Earth and keeping the primordial forces at bay, whether the movements of celestial bodies or tidal forces or crops. The Devayani are seen as loving and kind Gods, and are also known as the "sibling-loving god-children of the Great Garden". According to official Za'ahene theology, the Devayani are the corporeal god-kings/god-queens of Za'ah, and have ruled together for ever. Questioning this dogma is dangerous.
The priests of the Devayani are the Múza'ni, who are keeping the Mú away from local communities, as well as offering health services to their local communities. The priestly caste are often found doing things that in other cultures would be considered non-sacral, such as warfare, administration, teaching and science.
The Ni'zi are a caste of slave bureaucrats who are often found as emissaries of the Devayani. They have no priestly or theological function, and are merely acting as diplomats, administrators and governors of the Empire. They often speak of the Devayani as if they regularly meet them.
==Appearance==
The Devayani are depicted in two ways, either as tall human beings with high cheekbones, beautiful features and butterfly wings, or as beings with features (such as heads, claws, tails or bodies) of animals, such as  spiders, scorpions, serpents, crocodiles or jaguars. The Ar'yah are sworn to different "sects" of Devayani, with the most prominent group being the Yah'jah, or "jaguars". In papyri scrolls, the Devayani are always depicted with expensive colours, blueish or reddish skin, excessively painted, and fully naked. They are depicted as twice the size of ordinary humans, and are taken care of and fed by humans. They are often painted reclining, being prayed to, banishing the Mú or with symbols of power such as obsidian spears, scepters and regalia. Most public buildings in Za'ahene cities are extensively decorated with reliefs, with only the top-most depicting the Devayani, who are associated with the sky.
Art depicting the Devayani is reminiscent of a mixture between Ancient Egyptian and Hindu portrayals of deities.
==Za'ahene Atheism==
A theory that has taken hold amongst dissident subjects of the Za'ahene Empire, often wealthy and well-educated artisans, is that the Devayani are not existing and are made up by the Ni'zi, or as an alternative that the Devayani are existing, but are not existing as spirits inhabiting corporeal forms. An extreme variation of this denialism says that the Devayani are actually a collective of Mú - or daemons - who are pretending to be gods.
Category:Religions
Category:Culture
Category:Za'ah