Menkhu Faith

Menkhu Faith is a vast pantheon of religious beliefs, myths, and rituals, practiced by Magnians before unification of the Cister Cartian Church, which happened between the 8th and 13th century. Although not organized like Cister Carta, it is still the primary faith of Corveaux, Thyssen, and the Westerlands.

## Worldview

The Menkhu believe in numerous gods and spirits, who were birthed from Oyun, the god of gods, and bulls are sacrificed to her. A wheel, called the Wheel of Thunder, is often used to symbolize the Menkhu Pantheon, with Oyun at its center as the life-giving source of nature, and the gods and world revolving around her.

Menkhu perceive the world to be full of spirits, in the waters, the forests, the mountains, amongst the stars, and in sacred places. Their culture is deeply faceted with ritualistic traditions of spirits to avoid, to worship, or to appease.

It is commonplace not to worship every deity, but pray to singular figures when seeking something from their domain, making sacrifices to them at dedicated temples or deep in the forests, by sacred altars. They do not believe in faith, but trust in divine intervention, which can be called upon through the right sacrificial rituals.

## Deities

The many gods and goddesses of the Menkhu are known only from a handful of sacred texts, none of which were written by Menkhus, who have always been protective of their culture and the extent of their beliefs, so information on deities is scarce. Below are listed all the known gods of the Menkhu Faith.

### Oyun

The god of lightning and thunder, the mother of minutars and grandmother of bulls, depicted as a mighty giant of a woman in a complicated outfit of leather and hide. Upon her head is often seen a horned helmet made from a minutars skull. Those who worship Oyun, do so out to give him strength in her eternal fight against chaos demons.

### Volo

Also known as the Last Kind Stranger, Volo is the god of the underworld and the patron deity of poets, artists, and witches. It is said that he appears to the recently deceased as a kind man to lead them safely from their grief and into the meadows of the beyond.

### Pyarun

The god of family, birth, and ancestry. Families make bloodless sacrifices to him and might set out a plate of food and a seat at the table when they dine. It is also customary to take the hair from a child's first haircut, which happens when they turn 12, and burn it in greeting to Pyiarun.

### Turokh

The World Bull, a personification of the earth. Menkhus swear their oaths by touching the earth in the name of Bos, and they might confess their sins to her by whispering into a hole in the ground, which is customary before death. Turokh is considered the cradle of humans. She will nurture them during their lifetime, and open upon upon their death to receive their bones, as if returning to the womb.

### Agni

The personification of fire and the god of chaos and temptation. It is the mother of chaos demons and hell spawn, and all that Turokh cannot bear. The most frightful Menkhu legends are of Agni and its whispering beckoning.

### Khoors

The god of wind, but also of fruitfulness, spreading the seeds of the flowers and plants. He can kind and cruel, give bountifully and take mercilessly.

### Zaramaya

The Morning Star, known to scholars as Venus, considered the most important celestial body. The position of Zaramaya is thought to influence life on earth, so the Menkhu have been known to time wars and other important events to her.

### Aurora

The Red Maiden, the goddess of dawn. She is the sister of the sun, the moon, and Zaramaya and lives in the Palace of the Sun with her white horses. Every morning she lets her white horses out to gallop across the sky and bring with them the sun. Her name is often invoked to enchant objects or people, or in other incantations.

### Melitolia

A god of motherhood, depicted as a creature with hands and a huge head of gnarled roots. Worshippers often try to reach her by praying to breast-shaped boulders.

### Korab

God of the sea, navigation, fishing. He is mostly worshipped in coastal areas and is also sometimes depicted being fought back by Oyun, preventing Korab from flooding the world.

### Taya

A goddess of vegetation, but also death and winter. She was once a vain goddess, too distracted by her own reflection in the surface of the water to perform her duties of bringing the harvest, so thousands died of famine. As punishment, Oyun cursed her to forever be cold and frightening. It is believed that drowning a depiction of her in the river will chase away winter and bring back spring.

### Cerera

Goddess of wildlife, forests, the moon, and hunting. She is depicted as a tall woman with snakes for legs and great antlers growing from her brow.

### Yaromanka

A god of war and victory, depicted with five heads and five arms, each holding a weapon. He is said to have fought and defeated the mighty dragons of old, who stole his cattle and abducted his wife.

## Rituals and rites

### Invocation of The World Bull

Whispering into a hollowed bone, and turning to face to each of the four corners in turn, Menkhus recite:

* **East:** "Turokh, engulf the unclean power in your boiling pits, and in your burning fires."
* **South:** "Turokh, subdue every evil and unclean being so that they may not cast a spell on us, nor do us harm."
* **West:** "Turokh, calm the winds of the West and all bad weather. Calm the moving sands and whirlwinds."
* **North:** "Turokh, calm the North winds and clouds, subdue the snowstorms and the cold."

At each corner, after every invocation, an acorn or a sapling is planted in the ground, and at the end the bone is buried at the center with the words: "Matka Turokh".

### Winter Solstice

Celebrating the shortest day of the year, the victory of light over darkness, and the increasingly long and warm days, on the 21st of December, Menkhu throw a great feast at the cemeteries, where they gather with friends and family and burn fires to warm up the dead and aid the sun in its struggle against darkness. During this feast, local priests would attempt to use divination to make predictions on the upcoming year.

### Birthing rites

The birth of a child is believe to be eagerly awaited by demons, who seek to devour or seek possession of the child. Therefor, ribbons with ancient inscriptions are tied up around the bed to cast off spells and thorns and prickly plants are stuffed around window panes. Sometimes, parents even try to trick the evil spirits by pretending their baby has died.

### Marriage rituals

In Menkhu culture, marriage is mostly a friendly contract between families, which can be broken again, so long as the concordance of the divorce is overseen by priests.

The wedding itself is celebrated inside a fenced yard, with an axe placed above the gate to ward off bad spirits, where the bride and groom exchange marital vows before the gods, and a great feast then takes place. Afterwards, they are carried by their friends to the marital bed and stripped of clothing. The foreman, usually the groom's closest friend, carries the axe from the gate and places is under the bed. Then, the couple is left alone until the following day, while their friends and family celebrate all night.

### The Shrieking Circle

In times of plague or war, priests will draw a big circle around their village in bull's blood and chant, shriek, and scream to ward off the evil spirits of chaos.

### Treatment of Houses

Menkhu believe that houses can be infested with illness if the inhabitants fall ill. It is believed, that if someone contracts leprosy, that a priest shall examine the house. If walls of the house, are infested with dark green or red, sunken looking stains, that appear to be deeper than the wall, he is to leave through the window, and close up the house for nine days, until the house is cleared.