Ancestor Shrines

The veneration of ancestor animus is a ubiquitous practice among the Beast Shifters of Eldara, and the keeping of ancestor shrines is a key component of this practice. Ancestor shrines can be found in every home, from the poorest ranchers to the richest nobles. They can be a simple altar in a small nook, a room, or a free-standing building attached to the main house.

History

The concept of animus, or spirits that embody creatures, plants, concepts, locations or people, is directly related to the explanation given to the beast shifters as to how King Llyn bestowed the gift of shapeshifting on simple beasts. The beast shifters were told that King Llyn was able to splinter his own animus and attach tiny pieces of it to the existing animus of the simple beasts of the land. In explaining the concept of animus, which is akin to the soul or the spirit, King Llyn and his followers would describe spirits at varying levels of strength, with the spirits of "quick creatures" - beasts that bled and moved - to have great strength compared to the animus of plants, rocks, and other objects that either did not move or did not bleed. Combined with the dragon's own beliefs regarding animus as persistent after death, it was a simple leap of metaphysical logic to conclude that the animus of beast shifters, being strong to begin with and strengthened further by the Gift, would also persist after death.
Dragons do not typically venerate or worship the animus of their ancestors, as they regard the animus of those that have passed on as dormant until it attaches itself to a new egg and is reincarnated in a new body. However, beast shifters quickly began to look to the animus of loved ones who had passed on for guidance, comfort, and protection. This quickly evolved into places within the home to pray to the animus of ancestors, which eventually became formalized with the creation of shrines and ancestral tablets.

Components and tools

An ancestor shrine can be a simple or elaborate construction. Typically, the older the family and the more well-kept the records of lineage, the more elaborate the ancestor shrine will be. The basic components of an ancestor shrine are a space to place offerings and a space to hang ancestral tablets. These tablets are made of various materials according to the wealth of the family, with the most common being simple polished wood tablets inscribed with the name of the deceased. Wealthier families may commission their ancestral tablets from stone, typically granite or marble. It is considered an ostentatious act of self-aggrandizement to make ancestral tablets out of precious metals such as gold and silver, but a rare few noble houses undertake this practice. For instance, although the Royal House of Goldfire does not practice ancestor veneration in the same manner as their subjects, there is a Royal Ancestor Shrine within the palace where ancestor tablets are made of gold. Ancestral tablets are arranged in rows in most common ancestor shrines, but in the shrines of nobility they may be arranged to display the family's lineage in the form of a descendant chart or tree. This is typically what necessitates much larger shrines in these noble families to create space for such displays. In free-standing shrines, the founder and prominent members of the family may be arranged on the main wall above the altar, while other tablets hang from the ceiling and cover other walls of the shrine, arranged according to relation with one another.
Names are inscribed on ancestor tablets in Kefentāt script, which is utilized as a language of mysticism and spirituality among the common populace. This can mean that the names of ancestors are modified to be spelled in Kefentāt script, which lacks some letters present in Unokaweke, the common trade language, and includes some letters that are not present in Unokaweke. In some cases, this means that the true name of an ancestor has been lost to the majority of their descendents, save for those who care to trace their lineage through written records as opposed to the ancestor shrine.

Observance

Praying to the ancestors for guidance is a deeply personal matter, although families may gather together on special occasions to collectively present offerings to the ancestors. Typically an individual will approach the ancestor shrine with an offering to leave on the altar. The most traditional offerings are food and libations, but offerings can also be personalized to a particular ancestor - a knife or an arrow may be left for a famous warrior, a spool of thread and a needle for an ancestor who was a seamstress, a handful of nails for an ancestor who was a carpenter, and so on. If the guidance of a particular ancestor is sought, the supplicant might take their tablet down from the wall and place it on the altar so they can address the animus of this ancestor directly.
The prayer offered to the ancestor is often done silently, but there are some widely-known prayers which can be spoken aloud in the presence of others. It is common for approaching supplicants to begin their prayers aloud by saying, "Honored greetings to the dead from your humble descendent." The prayer often proceeds silently from there. Prayers are commonly concluded by saying, "Peace be on my ancestors and their eyes on my descendents." On occasions such as celebrations of the ancestors at the equinoxes, standard prayers can be recited by the entire family.

Honored greetings to the dead from your humble descendents. We welcome the presence of your animus in our homes and at our hearths on this turn of the sun. Be joyful and celebrate, as we give thanks for your guidance. Peace be on our ancestors and their eyes on our descendents.

- Prayer at the Equinox