Seonsol

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Sketch of a Seonsol Temple located in Sahstai. Though built around 1881, it imitates the Tainzaing Dynasty architectural style typical of many Seonsol temples

Seonsol (Seonmi: ㄔㄜㄛㄋㄔㄛㄉ, a corruption of the phrase ㄔㄩㄋㄝㄔㄛㄘㄉ tr. Synuosojl, literally translating to "acceptance" or "surrendering") is a predominately nontheistic religion practised in central Cymlun and articulated through the oral traditions of its Elders. Seonsol is the world's third largest religion, practised devoutly and semi-devoutly by over two hundred million people. The religion has majority adherence in the nations of Hwabaek, Kuosomy and Saeyri, and a minority of adherents in Aggurat and Flaigasil. A follower Seonsol is known as a "Sojl" (Seonmi: ㄔㄛㄐㄉ).

Beliefs[edit | edit source]

What truly terrible aspects of human sin arise for the most devout of the desert Sojl. They are a feral men who worship death and routinely eat the flesh of the newly deceased with great joy!

–Bertrant Tancock, Reformed Ignicist missionary reporting on the practises of the religious practises of the Sojl in Batai, Kingdom of Saeyri, 1807


God[edit | edit source]

Sojl view of the existence of a God or pantheon of gods is typically agnostic or explicitly atheist.

Death[edit | edit source]

There is no unified view within the Seonsol faith about the concept of a life after death, however most sects believe in death as equal to the experience before birth, with all consciousness expiring post mortem, and death being a release from all the pain and suffering of mortal life. Death itself is a highly consecrated event within the religion, with its occurrence often seen as a benefit to society and nature in the sense that a dead body provides nourishment for animals and plants, and that the passing of a person frees the world and human society of the burden of providing for them, allowing future children to be nourished in their place.

Festivals[edit | edit source]

Morality[edit | edit source]

Seonsol has a frugal and simplistic view of morality, with it being a system of general rules that ensure the survival of all people through meaningful use of the little time they spend alive before their inevitable death. Moral and immoral practices, rather than being branded as one or another to suit the agenda of the church, have developed according to their relevance toward effective survival.

Murder, theft and inflicting physical or emotional harm on others is viewed as highly immoral when it has no benefit to society. Lying exists in something a grey area, with useful and effective lies often being seen as useful survival tools.

The religious subordination of women, a highly permeating and characteristic feature of Astralism, Igniscism and Necrism, is largely absent from Seonsol practice. While gender roles do exist, they are centred around a woman's capability to bear children, with more active, physically demanding or dangerous roles traditionally being reserved for men so that the safety of children unborn or too young to fend for themselves is ensured. Archaeological evidence shows these roles persisting for thousands of years before the common era, perhaps longer than the religion itself, with ancient paintings frequently depicting women as foragers and men as hunters. When a woman cannot bear a child or has children who can fend for themselves, their gender roles have the potential to disappear.

Attitudes towards same-sex relations are considerably non-discriminatory. While the family unit does exist in Seonsol culture as it does across most of the world, with a male-female family seen as normal due to its ability to create children to fill the ranks of future generations, its role has retained many feudal traditions that has been all but eschewed from the western family, particularly the concept of it being a self-sustaining productive unit rather than a unit of procreation, child-rearing and consumption. As such, Seonsol families with two partners of the same sex are still technically acceptable, since they can still exist as self-sufficient, child-rearing units, despite not being capable of procuring children of their own. Same sex relationships outside of marriage are completely acceptable and uncontroversial.

However, families are dominated by a man and woman are still seen as the norm. This imbalance, rather than outright homophobia, is largely due to the persisting Seonsol ideas of the destruction of self so that the greater society may survive, with powerful stigmas persisting around childless couples and unmarried people, as well as a high degree of social shame associated with uselessness of any kind. These beliefs permeate even laws, with the nations of Saeyri and Kuosomy not recognising same-sex marriage, justifying it as an ultimate devotion to the procuring and rearing of children, ensuring that society always has able hands for the future. This in turn detrimentally affects same-sex marriages, with neither member of any such families being legally able to qualify for certain benefits such as a family wage, or any kind of family-orientated welfare or charity.

Sacred texts[edit | edit source]

Practices[edit | edit source]

Clergy[edit | edit source]

Idols and idol burning[edit | edit source]

The Idol of Man

Seonsol rituals frequently feature the burning of idols as a symbolic representation of death and/or the divine destruction of self. The Idol of Man (shown right) in particular is a frequently seen symbol. These icons are often made of wicker or straw and are typically lined with incense to give off a pleasant smell during the process of burning. Occasionally icons are instead made of wood, bone or stone, where they are instead kept as permanent symbols. Typically the more permanent icons feature holes carved in the regions representing their chests, signifying the idol as being a deceased body without a heart or a body in the metaphorical process of self-destruction.

Sacrifice[edit | edit source]

Though no longer a contemporary occurrence, human sacrifice has for thousands of years been a frequent practice for Seonsol. Often during droughts and famines, or times of strife in general, the ritualistic killing of humans has been sought as an attempt to relieve the greater society of its woes. Traditionally those sacrificed have been prisoners of war, criminals or slaves, however the sacrifice of the diseased, crippled and even elderly has also been recorded, with its greatest occurrence rising in tandem with the decay of many dynasties, with the clergy of any of these eras often resorting to mass sacrifice in their attempts to calm an angered populace ravaged by starvation and war.

According to known historical evidence, sacrifice was practiced as far back as the early Xhatsuo Dynasty (as early as 4200 BCE), and had lasted up until the mid Tainzang Dynasty (c. 1500 CE), where it waned in popularity with the rise of agricultural technology more capable of staving off famine.

Cannibalism[edit | edit source]

Similar to the practice of sacrifice, cannibalism was not an uncommon occurrence for ancient Sojl, most especially in the more arid regions of central Cymlun. Upon the death of a relative, it was seen as a joyous occasion to feast upon their flesh, making the most use of available resources. Though no longer practiced in mainstream sects, reports persist of desert nomads continuing the practice as late at the 1800's.

Ceremonies[edit | edit source]

Rites of passage[edit | edit source]

History[edit | edit source]

Major Denominations[edit | edit source]