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[big]Kareguism[/big][/center][big]
Religion in Fornoire[/big]
Kareguism (Fornirian: Kareguiem) is one of the largest religions in Fornoire. Practiced across Fornoire, it has ~25-27 million followers, and 16% of the Fornirian populace practice it. Kareguists believe in a plethora of Gods, but worship either only one or those who are relevant to their profession or situation.
Historians believe Kareguism, in some way or form, to be the oldest major religion in Fornoire, but are not exactly sure when it began. However, what can be guessed is that the religion has evolved over time. What we call Kareguism today could’ve been a primitive, forming religion at its inception.
It is hard on whether to classify Kareguism as Monolatrist, Polylatrist or Henotheist. Sects are individually categorized as such, but not the religion in its entirety. It is, more vaguely, a polytheistic religion.
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Beliefs[/big]
As stated before, Kareguists believe in a plethora of Gods, but worship either only one or those who are relevant to their profession or situation.
There are two categories: Professional and Situational. Professional Gods aid those who pray to them in their work, whilst Situational Gods are not meant to be worshipped all the time, as situations like love or fertility might be temporary.
The Professional Gods are: Aginia (Food Gathering, worshipped by farmers, fishermen, hunters and foragers, but also worshipped by beekeepers, and more recently by animal breeders, tamers or trainers), Tureima (Craftsmanship, Metalurgy and Artisans, has been used in the modern era by factory workers), Vairui (Administration, often worshipped by government officials and employees, plus administrators of any kind, like managers), Finanisia (Finance, worshipped by businessmen, investors, bankers, shop owners, accountants and the like), Darein (War, worshipped by military personnel, but recently by those who work in violent sports, like boxing), Gaiyua (Law, worshipped by police, judges, legislators, and any other creators or enforcers of the law), Yawi (Construction and Design, worshipped by architects, builders, engineers, etc.), Tirioshue (Knowledge, worshipped by teachers, philosophers, scientists, etc., and, in antiquity, sages and magicians), Chukua (Cooking, sometimes considered a Situational God. Recently worshipped by fast food employees and restaurant staff, even waiters), Paigi (Slavery and Prisoners, in antiquity worshipped by slaves, and still prisoners. Theologians still argue if it is a Situational God instead), Eluivope (Entertainment and Art, worshipped by musicians, artists, performers, actors, athletes, etc. Sometimes worshipped by prostitutes, but their prayer is considered heresy by many Kareguists), Iruius (Irregular Work, worshipped by freelancers, but recently worshipped by retail, hotel, office, etc. staff, along with taxi drivers, oil refining, secretaries, housecleaning, you get the idea), among more minor, local Gods.
The Situational Gods are: Levetia (Love, used to advance romantic relationships, including marriages), Luinayo (Loyalty, used for when you wish loyalty of someone or something), Rifisien (Fertility, for when you want a child or can’t have one), Sialu (Health, when you or someone you know is ill or injured), Saisus (Security, when you or someone you know is threatened by someone or by the crime rate), Kuishi (Integration, for when you want to fit in a new environment like a school, work or town), Alevetia (Friendship, used to advance friendships or hope for a friend), Malugus (Evil, when you wish harm on someone or something), Kirima (Climate, used against droughts, storms, floods, or any natural disasters. Recently used against pollution and radiation), Uritae (Good, used to wish good on someone or something), Ataikiyo (Strength, used if you want to be a better fighter or stronger), Taiyou (Growth, used when you want for you or someone else to grow in stature, hair, nails; if you want plants to grow taller; or if you want animals to grow optimally), Koroshe (Luck, used if you want good luck), Mainui (Intelligence, used if you want to study better and/or ace that upcoming test, or if you want to be mentally sane or more agile), among other minor Gods, mostly local.
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Rituals[/big]
Kareguists worship their Gods by pleasing them: dance, kowtow to them, offer them food or materials as a symbolic gesture, praise them, sing, etc. In antiquity they used to offer money and burn it, but, as Fornoire banned and severely punished destroying currency to the extent of removing it out of circulation, this practice has ceased. A simple prayer won’t help, you must praise them first.
Often, they praise their professional deities once a week, but situational deities can be worshipped even multiple times a day. This is due that some of the faithful are desperate in their cases, and wish the blessing of their Gods as fast as possible.
In Kareguism, there are three classes of priests: Professional, Situational, and Spiritual. It is not just pleasure that gets to the Gods, but also spiritual purity. In Kareguism, this spiritual purity is to be as sinless as you can, and in this religion, no matter how much you repent, sins expire over some time, although repentance can affect the waiting period (for example, insulting someone can be considered a sin, but its effects generally tend to go away from a few hours to a few days. Sins like murder, however, take years, if not decades to disappear while repentant, and forever if not). In Kareguist mythology, sins create dark energy, and these can take time to be dispelled. If you die with enough dark energy, your soul will crumble and be destroyed. Thus, not only are there Priests of Professionalism and Situationalism, which help you connect with the targeted God, but also Spiritual Priests, whose job is to help you on spiritual matters.
The most spiritually pure, says Kareguist mythology, attract the Gods the most. This has been used as an excuse by some leaders to indicate that their reign is ordained by the Gods, but further theological research shows that Malugus, the Situational God of Evil, can be the cause of their power, as this God is the only one to be attracted by spiritual corruption. Malugus often occupies the role of a satanic creature in Kareguism, but there are other deities that can cause this, such as the local God Satiyus. Not worshipped by the wider faith, it is praised by some municipalities in Hokuto. This God, to this form of Kareguism, is the cause of all actual evil, as Malugus, while also capable of doing this, is just for inflicting bad luck to others in their view, and is not the primary figure to commit evil. It is theorized that this local God came to be as a result of a corrupt regional ruler, but the villagers apparently loved to use Malugus to wish evil to others, so they invented Satiyus to act as their all-around bad guy and Satan. There are more examples like this scattered throughout Fornoire, and these local Gods often have specific rites, such as cutting your finger to bleed for Satiyus, perform certain musical instruments, recite certain poems or legends, or offering certain amounts of food at specific times (for example, Satiyus can only accept pig meat as a food offering, and this only can be done in a Winter night).
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Sects of Kareguism[/big]
There are four main sects in Kareguism: Monotheists, Dualists, New Era, and Syncretists.
Monotheists
Monotheists believe that you can only worship one God, and only one God, even if it is professional or situational. No compromise between you and a God must be broken, and worshipping another (for example, you worship the professional God of Food Gathering, but you want to make friends with someone. Either drop the existing God of Food Gathering or don’t praise the situational Friendship God) is interrupting this connection and corrupting it, converting it into just another relationship. Thus, Monotheists believe you can dedicate your time to only one God at a time.
Dualists
Dualists are estimated to be the second oldest sect, right after the Monotheists. Due to the restriction of worshipping one and only one God, historians believe that some began to praise only one professional God and only one situational God, in order to suit their needs. Back then you only had one simple profession, and people still believed in the compromise to one God. They just allowed two Gods, one of each kind, to be worshipped, thus their namesake.
New Era
The New Era sect has emerged quite historically recently, taking off in the Industrial Revolution. Feeling that their traditional Gods could no longer fulfill the roles of modern jobs and situations, urbanites began to create new Gods based on this new reality. At first everyone was creating their own individual deities, but, with the help of time and New Era priests, this list of new Gods has largely stabilized. New Gods include those in factories (as New Era considers traditional craftsmanship to be incompatible with modern manufacturing), retail, janitorial tasks, electricity-related staff, plumbing, among many modern other areas.
Syncretists
Syncretists are a recent phenomenon. Unlike the New Era, the solution of the Syncretists is to not worship just one or two Gods, but to worship as much as needed or possible.
There are three branches of Syncretists: Traditional (worship as many Gods as you need), Liberal (worship whatever Gods you want, even if it may not be important. For example, even if you are a retail worker, you can worship the God of Food, the God of War, or any deity you want), and New Era (with two sub-branches: Traditional and Liberal, but the two say that you can also worship New Era Gods).