Faren pantheon

This article is about the religious practises, and the deities and ancestor spirits worshipped by the Farens. There is no organised religion that coordinates all of the worship, or a set pantheon of gods.

Worship

Faren daily worship is centered around veneration of the Táldaran, or the ancestor spirits. The ancestors take part in all the daily life: they are offered food and drink, they are included in daily discussions, and all the other religious activity happening inside the home. However, ancestor worship is also very personal, and is usually done in secret from any outsiders.

Compared to ancestor worship, the cults of the gods are less central in the Faren religiosity. Divines are usually worshipped publicly, in grand ceremonies that are lead by the appointed priests and the officers of the city or state. Most people regularly visit events of multiple cults, and they usually have some patron god they are particularly fond of, but they rarely pledge their whole loyalty to any of the gods.

The Divines

Farens worship multiple divine beings. Faren primary Gods, the highest level of the divines are not necessarily believed to be personal, but are more like vague consepts, defined by the attributes that they govern. They are powerful but terrible forces, that are to be feared. Most of the day-to-day worship is directed towards lesser Spirits and ancestors. The Giants were also commonly worshipped, especially in the earlier times.

Naming traditions

Farens usually abstain from giving their gods unambiguous singular names, especially names that are still used as personal names. Rather, the divine names are desciptions of the gods, and usually many alternative ways are used to refer to the same divine. In contrast the ancestor spirits continue being refered to by the same personal name the ancestor had in life.

Divine family tree

The first thing in existence was the primal creative force, that created the Three Brothers: the Sun (Naralte), Silver Moon (Ulalte) and the Red Moon (Arnalte). The Sun tried to defeat his brothers, and thus the Two Moons melted, producing water and blood. These fulids mixed on top of Salan, and created life. While the mortals resulted from this accidental creation, the divines were later specially made to help the Brothers in guiding the mortals.

Type

Religious, Pantheon

Deities

• Alte Silmim Tingim
• Ásinnár
• Leitandár

Divines

• Anda Tuim - River Mother
• Astár
• Naralte
• Narusein
• Ulalte

Related Ethnicities

• Farens

Important Myths
Ásinnar's Journey to the Underworld
The giant and the rainbow snake
Myth of the spirit swan
Primordial rain

Ancestor Worship

Main article: Faren ancestor worship

The most important divine beings worshipped by the Farens are the Táldaran, spirits of their dead ancestors. These spirits reside in Faren homes, and take part in all the daily life. The ancestors protect their living relatives from the wild spirits, share their knowledge and work as intermidiaries between the gods and the mortals.

by Unknown, 4th century (wikimedia)

Ancestors, depicted in blue funeral robes, watching over a sleeping man