The period known as the New Beginning (2483 to present day) marks a major turning point in the spiritual development of the Zoraï people.
The Kamis, bereft of their homin followers during the kitin war (2481-2483) had been deeply distressed in the knowledge that for two years the Karavan entertained relations, be they limited, with the homins and were able to try to impose their teachings.
However, their foreboding was dispelled when the Great Sage, Hoï-Cho, rejected Karavan advances and reestablished Kami communion immediately after resurfacing from the Prime Root Sanctuary into the new jungle lands. As a manifestation of their gratitude and as a reward for the merit of fidelity, the Kamis promised to lead the Zoraïs further on the pathway to the eternal bliss of the Kami Supreme.
It is to be remembered that up until that time the Kami Supreme had remained a religious dilemma and for want of a name the Zoraïs had used the appellation of Jena, the goddess in the Karavan prophecy. Even though many a Zoraï felt in their fiber that this did not ring true, the Kamis had neither refuted nor endorsed this.
So it came about that at the term of the first Remembrance Week (see Zoraï chronology), Hoï-Cho was teleported away by a Kami master to meet the Great Kami.
According to the Hoï-Cho scriptures, on seeing the great one, the Zoraï great sage fell to his knees in an act of prostration as did the first Cho before the first Kami. The word Ma-Duk, meaning the Great Genitor, instinctively came into his mouth then sank into his heart filling the hollow there. The encounter marked the death of Jena for the Kami followers and the beginning of a new era where Ma-Duk promised attainment to kamihood for homins achieving full merit.
Many encounters followed which, in 2495, Hoï-Cho dictated for posterity in the Book of Revelations. Revelations opens with the first articles, expressed by Ma-Duk, by which a homin may reach kamihood. These articles have since become the Zoraï code of religious conduct and are as follows :
Article 1) I am Ma-Duk, the Genitor, the Life Giver whom created Atys, I am at one with the Kamis who are part of me, thus you must adore them as you will the Genitor. Article 2) Follow the pathway of Kami enlightenment, it will lead you to elevation into the sphere of Kamihood. Article 3) To enter the sphere of Kamihood and be at one with the Genitor, you must follow the path to enlightenment to attain merit. Article 4) Attain merit by worship and by caring for Atys, she is wrenched of my bosom. Article 5) Provided you are on the pathway of Kami enlightenment, I will rekindle your spirit if you die before having reached full merit. Article 6) Be tempted not by false gods, they cannot be of Atysian composition, they have no place in my design, they create imbalance. Article 7) Be the enemy of excess and your journey on the path to kamihood shall be plentiful. Article 8) In the same way as I have sown the seeds of existence to the wind to prepare for your life on Atys, so you must disseminate Kami enlightenment to the four corners of the world.
Les Zoraïs, un peuple spirituel, ont bâti leur société autour du culte des Kamis qu'ils considèrent comme l'incarnation vivante d'une énergie pure qui a créé Atys. Pour montrer leur dévouement aux Kamis, les Zoraïs portent dès la puberté le masque de parenté aux Kamis, intégrant ainsi ces divinités au coeur de l'existence des Zoraïs.
Jusqu'à très récemment, cette énergie pure portait le nom de Jena, la déesse de la prophétie de la Karavan. Cependant, lors du premier conflit Kami-Karavan, il devint très clair qu'il ne s'agissait pas de frères divins et qu'ils ne pouvaient pas avoir le même créateur. Qui plus est, pas une seule fois un Kami n'a laissé échapper le nom de Jena. Ils n'ont évoqué jusqu'à présent le Créateur que par le terme de Kami Supérieur. Aussi, dans le doute, il fut décidé d'élever des temples au nom des Kamis jusqu'à ce qu'ils connaissent le nom du Kami Supérieur.
Ceci resta donc confus jusqu'à la remontée à la surface des Primes Racines après la guerre des kitins, lorsqu'Hoï-Cho, le Grand Sage Zoraï, fut emmené par les Kamis pour rencontrer le Kami Supérieur, qu'il nomma d'instinct Ma-Duk. Les Zoraïs ont depuis été amenés à croire que les Karavaniers ne sont que des étrangers, et que leur déesse n'est rien d'autre qu'une divinité tout droit sortie de leur imagination pour réduire l'hominité en esclavage. Le meilleur exemple, selon eux, est que les Kamis cherchent à préserver l'habitat de toutes les créatures d'Atys créées par le géniteur, contrairement à la Karavan.
De nos jours, grâce aux écrits d'Hoï-Cho, le chemin de l'illumination kami devient plus clair et mieux compris de tous. L'ordre divin se présente en ces termes : Ma-Duk, le grand Kami, investit les Kamis-Kos de l'énergie vitale, et en échange ils surveillent les Kamis. Les Kamis veillent sur le royaume végétal et s'assurent que personne ne vienne déstabiliser l'équilibre fragile de la planète. Les Kamis doivent donc être vénérés et protégés car ils constituent la première étape vers l'illumination kami. En effet, le moindre petit acte de la vie dépend d'un Kami.
Les Zoraïs croient en l'existence d'autres enveloppes charnelles dans lesquelles chaque homin pourra habiter après avoir quitté l'enveloppe de ce monde. L'homin qui devient suffisamment méritant se réincarnera dans un autre monde en tant que Kami jusqu'à ce qu'il soit capable d'atteindre la connaissance ultime en tant que Kami-Ko. Telle est la promesse de l'illumination kami à laquelle tous les homins pourront accéder s'ils suivent ce Chemin.
Outre la préservation de la création de Ma-Duk, pour gagner une grande part de mérite, il faut répandre la bonne parole afin que les autres puissent avoir la possibilité d'atteindre l'illumination. C'est pourquoi les sages zoraïs cherchent à convertir le monde au Ma-Dukisme et à libérer l'hominité de l'influence de la Karavan.
Cho fut le premier Zoraï à rencontrer un Kami. Cho devint ainsi le premier chef spirituel zoraï qui unifia le peuple zoraï autour de l'illumination kami. L'ancienne cité-temple de Zoran fut érigée à l'endroit de la première rencontre. Aujourd'hui le lieu officiel du culte est Zora.
Tears Of Serenity – A Kami story told by a Zoraï
Many years ago, when hominkind had barely ventured forth from the darkness of pre-existence, a nomadic tribe was camped in the heart of the ancient forest lands. The Zoraï chieftain, whose name was Cho, was set back from the campfire under a tree in contemplation of the night sky when a strange presence enlivened the fiber in his body, warmed the liquid within his temples. He closed his eyes. He experienced an inner completion which soothed the wounds within as his eyes welled exuding the first Tears of Serenity.
He slowly opened his eyes and through the blurred vision he saw the source of his inner peace and harmony established upon a tree. The visitation blinked back at him, vanished and then reappeared in front of him. Cho bowed in an act of prostration and the entity spoke : “Kami, hungry,” and placed its hand on its chest. Instinctively realizing that the Kami was hungry of heart, Cho rose to his knees and moved his hand to his heart likewise : “Yes, Cho desires more friendship, divine Kami, how can I earn your love?”
The Kami pointed to the tree upon which it had first appeared and Cho immediately understood that the infection of goo there gave rise to the Kami’s concern. “I shall settle here, Kami, my people shall serve you and cleanse the land of the devouring sickness as you have cleansed my spirit.”
Cho spread the word to his brethren throughout the lands to bring them together around the Kami experience so they too might feel the peace and ease their anguish within. The first magnificent temple to the glory of Ma-Duk and the Kami Guardians was built on the very spot of Cho’s enlightenment and grew into Zoran, the ancient capital of the Zoraï. And let us remember Cho’s words : “It is within the grasp of every homin to feel the Tears of Serenity.”