Encyclopedia/The Zoraïs

From EncyclopAtys

Jump to: navigation, search

Zorais and Matis

Zorais and tribes of the Witherings

Zorais and Trykers

Zorais and Fyros

Zorai History : Exode

Zorai History : Origins

Zorai History : Expansion

Zorai History : Great Swarming

Zorai History : Exile

Zorai History : New Beginning

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 Kami, bereft of their homin followers during the kitin war (2481-2483) had been deeply distressed at 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 Kami promised to lead the Zoraï further on the pathway to the eternal bliss of the Kami Supreme.

It should be remembered that up until that time the Kami Supreme had remained a religious dilemma and for want of a name, the Zoraï had used the name of Jena, the goddess in the Karavan prophecy. Even though many a Zoraï felt in their fiber that this did not ring true, the Kami 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 Kami 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 spread Kami enlightenment to the four corners of the world.

Zorai Culture : Religion

The Zoraï, a spiritual people, have built their society around the worship of the Kami who they see as the living embodiment of the pure energy that created Atys. As a confirmation of their devotion to the Kami, from puberty the Zoraï bear the Kami mask of kinship so making the divinities an integral part of Zoraï existence.

Up until recent history the pure energy was given the name of Jena, the goddess of the Karavan prophecy. But during the first Kami-Karavan conflict, it became very clear that these were no brothers in divinity and that they could not share the same creator. What is more, not once did a Kami let drop the name of Jena, only speaking of the Creator as the Kami Superior. Thus, in the uncertainty, it was decided to build temples in the name of the Kami until the nameo of the Kami Superior became known.

The confusion continued until the resurfacing from the Prime Roots after the kitin war when Hoï-Cho, the Great Zoraï Sage, was at last taken by the Kami to encounter the Kami Superior, that he instinctively named Ma-Duk. The Zoraï have since been given to believe that the Karavan are nothing but aliens and that their goddess is nothing but a deity born of their imaginations to reduce hominity to slavery. This, they believe, is exemplified by the fact that the Kami seek to preserve the habitat of all creatures of Atys made by the creator, whereas the Karavan do not.

Nowadays, thanks to the writings of Hoï-Cho, the path to the attainment of kamihood is made clearer and better understood by all. The divine order is as follows : Ma-Duk, the great Kami, invests the Kami-Kos with life energy who in turn watch over the Kami. The Kami stand vigil over the plant kingdom and ensure that no one may destabilize the fragile equilibrium of the planet. The Kami are therefore to be venerated and protected as they constitute the first step in kamihood. Indeed, the merest act of life depends on such and such a Kami.

The Zoraï believe in the existence of other carnal spheres which each homin may inhabit after leaving this world. The homin who gains enough merit will be born into the future world as a Kami until being able to enter the all knowing bliss as a Kami-Ko. This is the promise of Kami enlightenment to which all homins may accede if they follow the Path.

As well as by preserving Ma-Duk's creation, a major part of gaining merit is through passing on the good word so that others may have the possibility of attaining enlightenment. For this reason, the Zoraï sages aim to convert the world to Ma-Dukism and free hominkind from the influence of the Karavan.

Cho was the first ever Zoraï to encounter a Kami. Cho became the first Zoraï spiritual leader who united the Zoraï people around Kami enlightenment. The ancient temple city of Zoran was erected on the spot of that first encounter. Today the official site of the cult is Zora.

Zorai Culture : Technology

Zorai Culture : Art and Craft

Zorai Culture : Political Organisation

Zorai Culture : Customs

Zorai Story 1

Zorai Story 2

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.”

Zorai Story 3

Zorai Story 4

Zorai Story 5