Vorinism
Public Agenda
To guide the Vorin people to a higher place in the afterlife by growing and nurturing the innate talents each person has (believed to be gifts from the Almighty). In Vorin belief, the Almighty has given every person a "Calling" which is generally related to their employment or talents. The priests (called Ardents) help guide believers to find their talents, and then guide them to a state of being where they can maximize their talents or calling (be it apprenticeships, special training, etc).
History
Vorinism began in the "Unwritten Era" or the period of time before the Heraldic Epochs, also commonly referred to a the Last Desolation. From 100 EBS until 200 EOS, the Vorin religion remained dormant, providing spiritual healing and guidance for the people, and slowly becoming more and more relied upon by the rich and powerful. Between 200 and 400 EOS, the Vorin religion became very powerful by intertwining with the government of United Alethkar, often requiring religious approval before changes, to the law could be made.
After the fall of United Allethkar, the Vorin church tried to to seize power and fill the vacuum created by Allethkar's fall, and began The War of Loss in 413 EOS. The assembled Alethi forces (lead by the nobles who did not want to lose their seats of power) were able to defeat the Chruchs forces, and overthrow their attempted government (called the Heirocracy).
After the War of Loss, the ardentia was stripped of all power, title, and property, and a new religious doctor was adopted which forbade the church from owning any property, that way they would be able to focus on their religious healings and teachings, and wouldn't be able to gain any political power or funds to raise an army.
Mythology & Lore
The Vorin Religion is monotheistic in practice, and worships the Deity known as the Almighty, which is the God that created the world. In the beginning, the Almighty, his Heralds, and Humanity lived in the Tranquiline Halls. However the Voidbringers invaded the Halls, and expelled humanity to Roshar, and since then men have lived in Roshar.
The world is full of spren, both visible and invisible. They are all around us, from the easily seen natural spren like wind, water, dirt, dust, fire, electricity spren, to elusive spren that feed off of emotion and the like from humans like anger, joy, honor, glory, lie, and hatred spren. These spren live around us, and are almost meaningless for they are everywhere. However, certain spren have reached deity status, namely the Nightwatcher and the Stormfather.
Divine Origins
While recorded history does not begin until around 100 EBS, folklore and legends state that for thousands of years (approximately 4000 EBS-300 EBS) humanity would be assaulted every few centuries by the voidbringers on Earth, who would attempt to kill all in order to expel humanity to Damnation. However each time the Voidbringers returned (called a Desolation) the Almighty would send hero's: The Knights Radiant, The Dawnsingers, and Surgebinders in order to save humanity from destruction. The last Desolation ended around 50 EOS, and thus the Knights Radiant abandoned humanity, betraying the Almighty and men.
Cosmological Views
Roshar is a temporary home for humanity until the Voidbringers are expeled from the tranquiline halls, humanity's true home. As of right now, the Almighty, the Heralds, and past heroes fight to reclaim the halls from the voidbringers, who wish to plunge them all into damnation, and force humanity off Roshar and into Damnation as well.
Ethics
Sins - sins are actions that defy the almighty. For example, speaking bad about the church, curse the almighty's name, spread heresy, assaulting an ardent. Lesser sins include rejecting your calling for pointless activity, acting above your station
Pious acts - Achieving your calling, dying in batlle for soliders only (to join the Heralds in the fight for the Tranquiline halls in the afterlife), help others find their talents and callings.
Worship
Regular practices include send out prayers to the Almighty whenever in need. Prayer is done using slips of paper with assigned glyphs written to symbolize the idea of what you're praying for, then one burns the prayer (which sends it to the almighty) while mentally expressing the prayer for the Almighty to hear.
The other practices include visiting with Ardents regularly to discuss your life path, talents, and whether or not you're doing all you can to reach your calling. This includes trials at age 10 to determine talents, and guidance meetings from age 14-16 to find the path to a person's calling.
Priesthood
Ardents are a calling for anyone, but require to give up all possessions, desires, and property. This is due to the events leading to the Hierocracy, the Ardent's are no longer allowed to own property of any kind, including currency. They are housed and "owned" by the high lords and city lords to provide the religious nourishment the people need. Sometimes Ardents are referred to as like a sort of religious slavery or servitude, however they provide the spiritual healing and guidance many Alethi and other Vorin areas need.
Once an Ardent, a person is assigned to a city or lord to serve for spiritual guidance, as well as for a number of other tasks that range from sword play training, academic research, library keeping, soulcasting. They are distinguished by their bald heads (though men usually have short square beards) and are called by the title "brother" or "sister" and brown robes (similar to Franciscan monks attire).
Granted Divine Powers
There are two groups of divine powers given to priests, those that use the old magic, and those who can soulcast. It is very rare that a person can do both, however it does happen (any sorcerers who chose wild magic are automatically both).
The Old Magic involves invoking either the name of the almighty, or a spren in order to perform magic. For example, if a person bonds with a spren, they can often use old magic spells. Under certain circumstances, a person may be and bond with a spren sent from their deity, they can become Old magic users too, however it is much more common for them to become soulcasters (see below). Bonding with a spren is very common, however most people who do can't do anything extraordinary, or even "mundane" magic. Very few are able to do higher forms of magic.
Soulcasters are able to use magic to truly transform an object into another. For example, one could soulcast cloth into a sheet of metal, or a rock into bread, or blood into water. The world is full of 10 essences: Translucent gas, opaque gas, fire, glass, wood, blood, metal, rock, and flesh. Tranforming wood into glass is very easy, even the weakest of soulcasters can do that. However, transforming a piece of paper into strawberry jam is difficult, because both objects are very processed forms of the essences, and thus are difficult even for the best soulcasters. That aside, a knowledge of how a non-essence thing feels, tastes, smells, etc are required in order to successfully soulcast. Soulcasters are exceedingly rare, however they have elevated status from regular ardents, and are able to own some propoerty and travel whenever they want (with some limitations).
Political Influence & Intrigue
None, due to the events leading to the Hierocracy, the Ardent's are no longer allowed to own property of any kind, including currency, or hold any place in the poltical system. They are housed and "owned" by the high lords and city lords to provide the religious nourishment the people need. Sometimes Ardents are referred to as like a sort of religious slavery or servitude, however they provide the spiritual healing and guidance many Alethi and other Vorin areas need.
Sects
Vorinism has a structure similar to common day Christianity: they all worship their deity the Almighty, but there are various sects of Vorinism which focus on various parts of a persons life, and there is a centralized body of elders that guide the religion however they do not have much power (like how Baptists, Episcopalians, Methodists etc all practice Christianity, but aren't lead by one figure).
The main sects are known as Devotaries, which stand as follows:
Devotary of Sincerity - Members of this Devotary worship the Almighty, but are guided by the belief that there are always more answers to be found; always something to learn. Amongst the membership, one is never penalized for asking questions, even those challenging Vorinism's own tenets.
Devotary of Insight - Members of this Devotary are focused on doing good for the world, often by emulating the Almighty's compassion by operating orphanages, or aiding people in hospitals as a surgeon, doctor, or nurse.
Devotary of Purity - Members of this Devotary are focused on emulating the Almighty's honesty and wholesomeness, and pure things, being guided by the belied that truth is the greatest thing a man can do. It is very rare to find an Ardent from this devotary telling a lie.
Devotary of Denial - Members of this Devotary sought to experience separation from the physical needs of their bodies. They will often seclude themselves into windowless chambers for days in order to form a stronger bond with the Almighty. Members are guided by the belief that man does not need material things or pleasurable experiences in order to become closer to the Almighty. The are often seen promoting believers and new members into donating all property to charities.
While these are the main 4 tenants most believers pick to live by, many pick smaller devotary's which focus on minor parts of a persons life. Some even discourage speaking of religion (which is beneficial if you wish your religious beliefs to be between you and the Almighty) there are reportedly dozens of minor devotary's.
Founding Date
Unknown
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Demonym
Vorin
Divines
Controlled Territories
Related Ethnicities
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