Bokisig Religion and Philosophy

Bokisig religion as it had developed by the time of the Second Confederation was based
on three broad tenets.

## **First tenet – Nvm**

The first is
best summarised by the term Nvm, which depending on context can be translated
as either chance (as in randomness) or paradox. It expresses the fact that chance
is a fundamental principle of the world and that it is futile to attempt to
fully work out its workings. Various evidence has been put forth by
philosophers for this.

During the
early years of the rule of Kwazhíz (8721 to 8740), Meɫ Katasmé, a Kasaki from
the famous Tower of Knowledge at Katázhg, collected and commented in writing on
some mythological writings from the clay tablets in the tower's Chamber of Clouds, including the Tale of the First City, as well as the Story
of the Fickle Friend. The latter tale is quite rudimentary, but constitutes an
important source document due to the commentary of Meɫ Katasmé, not only from a
philosophical, but also from a linguistic point of view, as his commentary
paraphrases the cited Early Bokisig text in the Classical form of the language.

**Tale:**

> “Amongst the gods, there is a fickle friend. On
>
>
> some days, this fickle friend would take the shape of a woman to lie with [the
> deity of sleep] <Ke>; on others, they would take the shape of a man to lie
> with [the goddess of life, and former’s partner] <Kalegto>. Both of them
> desired the fickle friend, and on the days where the fickle friend would not
> show, they would be in torment. The torment of <Ke> gave birth to
> nightmares, the suffering of <Kalegto> to the pain of childbirth and the “bloods”
> [specific plural form of “blood” to refer to menstruation]. We are taken ill regularly
>
>
>
> yet it cleanses us.”
>
>

The EBKSG version of the last three sentences reads:

  Ke-GEN.AL

*“The suffering*
of <Ke> gave birth to nightmares”

  Kalegto-GEN.AL

*“The pain*
of <Kalegto> set in motion the pain of childbirth and the bloods”

  1PL.INC

*“Although we are taken ill, it is cleansing.”*

The CBKSG form of the last sentence went on to become a popular motto:

<Munétx pusukanē niloxe>

**Commentary by Meɫ Katasmé:**

> “Our
>
>
> heritage1 says the tales are true, and we know from looking at the
> world that they are true. Even the gods are subject to the whims of a fickle
> friend, and experience pain and joy due to chance, and so do we. It is obvious that
> chance is something that we cannot know. It means not to know even if you know
>
>
>
> everything. It is a tale that says something is and is not.”
>
>

*1* *The “heritage” mentioned by Meɫ Katasmé here is the commonly accepted set of mythological tales, collected and stored – often in form of clay tablets - in libraries, palaces and the houses of the rich and powerful.*

The last three
sentences of Meɫ Katasmé’s commentary here already indicate that the tenet of Nvm
goes further than just asserting the existence of chance, i.e. a decidedly
non-deterministic worldview. It also maintains that paradoxes, in this context
defined as “something that is and is not”, form an integral part of the world. So
in addition to “just-so stories” based on chance events, usually involving
deities (so as to showcase that chance even affects deities), evidence for the
Nvm tenet is also provided in form of logical paradoxes.