Spirit Worship
How does the idea of a spirit of some natural body (mountain, rivers, tree) coincide with the established religious beliefs and practices?
It depends on the religion and cult :dab:
But, really, what I'm going to say is going to be generally true but not specifically true but that's something you can say about all religion.
For the Brotherhood, spirits are extensions of the Divines - sometimes depicted as their children (dryads might be depicted as the daughters of Morjana) or as avatars of their power (fire and earth elements are heavily associated with Seigen and seen as only having the power of movement because their directly animated by his divine will and have no autonomy outside of him).
Generally, this is enough for most people but there are communities that interface heavily with spirits. These could be the Magma Forgers of Loch or the more far flung Zwek communities. In these cases, it is fairly rare to have dedicated cults (the Magma Forges being the notable exception). Instead, it is more common that these spirits develop friendships with locals who then become voices for these spirits in the community - some times officially, sometimes not.
The Zwek seem to have a keen affinity for the spirits of their land, with spirit cults being the most common in Juwango and Al. These cults don't spread or gain widespread notice because they're so heavily linked to a specific location: leaving that location means you essentially lose the connection and power. And, of course, the Zwek do not see what they do as anything unusually or heretical (because the Brotherhood doesn't think like that) - The Ancestor Cult says that there are three parts to the human soul: the animus, the intellect, and the spirit. The animus is what drives the flesh (more or less, but it's better thought of as both the flesh and the thing connecting the spirit and the intellect to that flesh), the intellect is what drives the mind, and the spirit is the divine part that gives us agency. Without the spirit, a person is an automaton: able to act, think, and remember but not able to make decisions.
All beings may have one, two, or all three. Spirits are non-flesh things without an intellect but with a lesser animus and full spirit, although spirits are purely spiritual. An example would be a river spirit that appears as a maiden and is able to control the river but not every movement it does moves the river; it only moves when she concentrates on moving it; there's a connection but it's weak.
Note that, for ancestor worshippers, a dryad would not be considered a spirit: they would be seen as having kinship with a Weird-Adept (a person who has a powerful animus, allowing them to exert their spirit (or agency) onto things beyond them only though will).
The genesis of spirits is not agreed on; because they can take human form, it is said that they can be the dead that have chained themselves to a location or thing (in the same way a ghost might be linked to a location) but, since that's not always the case, it is believed that they can be detached animus and spirit that than takes form.
For the Brotherhood, spirits are extensions of the Divines - sometimes depicted as their children (dryads might be depicted as the daughters of Morjana) or as avatars of their power (fire and earth elements are heavily associated with Seigen and seen as only having the power of movement because their directly animated by his divine will and have no autonomy outside of him).
Generally, this is enough for most people but there are communities that interface heavily with spirits. These could be the Magma Forgers of Loch or the more far flung Zwek communities. In these cases, it is fairly rare to have dedicated cults (the Magma Forges being the notable exception). Instead, it is more common that these spirits develop friendships with locals who then become voices for these spirits in the community - some times officially, sometimes not.
The Zwek seem to have a keen affinity for the spirits of their land, with spirit cults being the most common in Juwango and Al. These cults don't spread or gain widespread notice because they're so heavily linked to a specific location: leaving that location means you essentially lose the connection and power. And, of course, the Zwek do not see what they do as anything unusually or heretical (because the Brotherhood doesn't think like that) - The Ancestor Cult says that there are three parts to the human soul: the animus, the intellect, and the spirit. The animus is what drives the flesh (more or less, but it's better thought of as both the flesh and the thing connecting the spirit and the intellect to that flesh), the intellect is what drives the mind, and the spirit is the divine part that gives us agency. Without the spirit, a person is an automaton: able to act, think, and remember but not able to make decisions.
All beings may have one, two, or all three. Spirits are non-flesh things without an intellect but with a lesser animus and full spirit, although spirits are purely spiritual. An example would be a river spirit that appears as a maiden and is able to control the river but not every movement it does moves the river; it only moves when she concentrates on moving it; there's a connection but it's weak.
Note that, for ancestor worshippers, a dryad would not be considered a spirit: they would be seen as having kinship with a Weird-Adept (a person who has a powerful animus, allowing them to exert their spirit (or agency) onto things beyond them only though will).
The genesis of spirits is not agreed on; because they can take human form, it is said that they can be the dead that have chained themselves to a location or thing (in the same way a ghost might be linked to a location) but, since that's not always the case, it is believed that they can be detached animus and spirit that than takes form.
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