Gran Saminism

A religion created by merging the Shar Granic Faiths of the Tern Bas with Barsaminism . Deemor Soo was its 1st prophet of the new religion. Gran Saminism focuses on how the ideal life is to align ones aspects with Samin. Good things in the world are aligned with Samin, and evil enters the world when an aspect is out of alignment with Samin.

Divine Origins

Gran Saminism is descended from the Shar Granic Faiths and Barsaminism. Both predecessor religions are seen as imperfect representations of the real worlds and Deemor Darmin is considered to have revealed the true nature of Samin's aspects.
Deemor started out as Mal Est of Barsaminism. He was very charismatic and in 3800 at only 40 days old he began preaching in Nil despite the taboo against Mal Est preaching. He quickly gained a following and reputation of being extremely devout, and even gained the trust of the new Gran Guide Kallis Ternvic. Then in 3810, the current Barsamin Empero dies under suspicious circumstances and in a extremely unorthodox move the Priestesses in Nil appoint Deemor as the Barsamin Empero. When the Nill Crusade starts and Nil falls, Deemor is forced into exile in the Plains of Tern.
During this period of exile he comes to the holy shar granic city of Durbarrak rulled by the Re Thrye and in his famous Te Almet appeal he convinces the the Re Thrye to let him study with them. During this time he has many revelations describing how Shar Granic Faiths and Barsaminism get at the same fundamental tructh.
While in Durbarrak, Deemor also befriends Neerse Vimtoric, a Tern Bas chieftain with ambitions to conquer the Yenari Empire. Deemor declares Neerse the 1st Gran Father of Gran Saminism. As Neerse conquers the Yenari Empire, he spreads Gran Saminism to his newly conquered lands.

Gran Saminist Temple by Unknown (CC0)

Cosmological Views

Gran Saminism sees the whole world as composed of various aspects under Samins domain. When the aspects are in alignment with Samin they are right and good, and when they are out of alignment they are evil and dangerous. However, these aspects are always in flux and ever changing. For example, Liquid water is in alignment with Samin, and when it is heated or freezes it becomes out of alignment and dangerous. Some aspects naturally oscillate between in alignment and out of alignment as Samin tries to bring them in balance. For example, the planet of Didome constantly oscillates between scotching hot and freezing cold as Samin tries to balance its temperature.

Gran Saminism Tile floor by Jennifer Poole

While the concept of balancing aspects is seen and the ultimate truth, Deemor Darmin considered it highly esoteric. Therefore the gods in the Shar Granic Faiths and spirts of Barsaminism are seen as a simplistic ways to explain the balancing of aspects. For example in Barsaminism, the central conflict of evil Herms and good Barsamin is seen as an overly simplistic way to explain how Samin, in this case called Barsamin, attempts to bring into alignment aspects that are out of alignment, which is anthropomorphized as the spirt Herms.

Tenets of Faith

Every person in Gran Saminism is tasked with attempting to align all their aspects with Samin. Duty, Sacrifice, Truthfulness, Sincerity, Modesty, Restraint are the 6 most virtuous aspects of a person, and are the aspects that everyone strives toward. Explaining exactly how to bring these aspects into balance is the role of the priestesshood, because ones other aspects determine how to bring the 6 virtuous aspects into balance. For instance, the duty of a Tern man might be very different than the duty of a Yenarian woman.

Ethics

Sickness in Saminism

Since living a moral life involves aligning ones aspects with Samin and sickness is viewed as aspects being out of alignment with Samin, the sick are treated poorly in the religion. Sickness is seen as a moral failing as well as a health failure. While it is accepted that physical injuries and disalignmnets that naturally come back into alignment. Chronic conditions, like Samin's Splitting, are view as moral failing and the sufferer must not be praying hard enough. This view has set back Medical advances in the Yenari Empire.

Priesthood

Saminism Temple entrance by Pijarn Jangsawang

The religion is controlled by the Thrye Priestesses. They are responsible for preaching to the following and guiding people to balance their own aspects. The Thrye are led by two groups of high Priestesses, the Ni Thrye and the Re Thrye. The whole religion is overseen by a titular Gran Father who is responsible for leading the religion although he is not seen as having much theological weight. The Gran Fathers main responsibility is leading the Yenari Empire.

Political Influence & Intrigue

Gran Saminism is the power behind the Yenari Empire. The Thrye control the day to day lives of the empires citizens as well as having a enormous influence over the politics of the empire. However, the religion influences regions of the Upper Strepslim and Plains of Tern where the empire does not have much influence. The nation of Dal-Aria also has close ties to Gran Saminism, but does not follow the guidance of the Gran Father.

Samin Temple by Pijarn Jangsawang

Founding Date

3856

Predecessor Organizations

• Barsaminism
• Shar Granic Faiths

Leader

Neerse the 23th

Leader Title

Gran Father

Deities

• Samin

Location

Greater Yenaria

Notable Members

• Deemor Darmin

Related Ethnicities

• Tern
• Tern Bas
• Yenarian