Ēmandē
This version is called The Cross of Baranxi and Maña and Asuani.
Ēmandē is a large group of denominations within the Meleiyan Religion. They have in common the worship of Baranxi as the Supreme God of the pantheon.
Followers of the Ēmandē are usually referred to as Baranxituni.
The different branches within Ēmandē are called š-mēðyru (lit. holy home) in Baranxeï, as opposed to the š-niqab (lit. holy house), the temple. This distinction is usually lost in English and often both are referred to as "church" or "temple".
Beliefs and Teachings
Nature of the Gods and Humans
Ēmandē is a (partly integrational) polytheist religion. Its pantheon consists of many gods, demi-gods, spirits, ghosts and similar beings.
One deity usually has a very specific area which they has dominion over, although as with all Meleiyan religions, the pantheon is dominated by a Triad of deities who are basically omniscient and omnipotent - in the case of Ēmandē they are Baranxi, Maña and Asuani. The other deities are omnipotent as far as their area of expertise is concerned.
The notion of omnipotency has been challenged in typical ways; e.g., whether Atamja can create a rock so large she cannot lift it herself. This paradox can be answered considering the assumption of the nature of gods - simply put, human logic cannot be applied to them. All deities abide to their own rules and not those of man, and although this leaves the question itself unanswered, it is seen as a satisfying response by most Baranxitunis, as this explanations simply renders the question irrelevant.
Human beings, on the other hand, are seen to be especially closely bound to nature. It is seen as important to live not in competition, but in harmony with nature, as earth has been described in the Holy Scriptures as being "man's legacy" and to be treated as "a spouse, not a slave".
In the Meleiyan Creation Myth, humans are made by Mēlēja out of a mixture of wood, clay, ore and "divine honey" and presented with many gifts by the gods, including language and thought by Baranxi.
As human beings are the only beings possible of full fledged self-reflection (a detailed story details why other animals do not possess this ability) only they are responsible for their deeds and thus must strive to live a good life.
Nature of Good and Evil
Human beings are according to Ēmandē the only creatures who can be held responsible for their deeds - only they are aware of the difference and can reflect about it.
The ability to be either good or evil - or a mixture of both - is inborn, and it is the responsibility first of a child's relatives and later also of his teachers and friends to ensure that he is taught to favor good and follow its course.
The reason why good is inborn is detailed in the Scriptures. According to them, good and evil existed as opposing forces even before the gods came into existance.
In the First World (which existed prior to ours), evil was not a part of the First Humans. However, one day, evil took hold in the world in form of a mutual hatred exhibited by two twin girls. Not knowing what evil was, they could not overcome it and thus started to fight each other and spread hatred to others, resulting in an ultimate battle that destroyed the First World.
To prevent such a thing from ever happening again, when humans were created again, they were given the innate possibility to know good and evil to enable them to fight evil whenever it presented to them, as only if they recognized it they could do so.
Morality
Ēmandē classifies different things as being maānā / mōn (good/moral), þiğaušā / ţirōs (neutral) or ranqamā / raŋkam (bad/amoral) - these are called the "terms of nature". In general, things that bring pleasure to not only oneself, but others as well is considered maānā, whereas acts that bring pleasure only to onself are deemd þiğaušā. Only acts that are harmful for others are considered ranqamā.
Acts to which the former two apply are promoted by the religion, whereas those to which the latter term applies are condemned; they are what Ēmandē considers "sinful" (zurğanā / juran). Acts thar are maānā, on the other hand, are "holy" (šāŋā / soŋ). These two terms are the "terms of judgement".
For example, consensual sex is maāna, masturbation is þiğaušā and rape is ranqamā.
Baranxitunis are encouraged to judge the actions of non-Baranxtunis by the three terms of nature, but not the terms of judgement. If a member of a different religion, for example, condemns homosexuality, a Baranxituni is told to see it as ranqamā, but not as zurğanā.
The Soul and Judgement
In Ēmandē, the soul is seen as something that is anchored to the body, but is not a direct part of it. The soul steers the body, but can roam freely. There are three parts of the soul which are loosely connected during life and separated upon death.
The Trinity of the Soul
According to Baranxtuan believes, the soul consists of three parts:
- the Mexand, which forms the conscious
- the Indal/Aņďr, which is the inner ancestor spirit
- the Paher/Pair, which is the anchor that binds the Mexand and the Indal to the body
Mexand
The mexand represents the conscious of a human, the center of emotions and judgement; it is basically the self. Although memories are 'stored' in the indal, the mexand can always access them, even after the complete separation after death.
After death, it is the mexand that is judged by its behavior in life and then either sent into one of the hells, or allowed to enter the heavens. A mexand may also wish to be reincarnated, either to repent for past sins, or to help humanity. There is always just one mexand, whereas the indal and paher may be split. The mexand retains memory and controll over all of these, and is the most important part of a soul.
The mexand is depicted either as a bird or as a cat.
Indal
The indal represents the memory of a human and is closely interwoven with the mexand, as the conscious can always access the memory. The indal is also the place where the moral is 'stored', so the mexand also interacts with the indal when it has to judge a situation.
After death, the indal enters the Tribunal of the Ancestors which helps or punishes humans during their life for their deeds. Every indal is only responsible for its own relatives, and can be accessed with prayers through the paher.
If the mexand decides to be reincarnated, the indal is split - one remains in the tribunal to be there for its relatives, whereas the new indal will be used for the relatives of the next incarnation.
The indal is usually depicted as a burning circle or a flame in a golden chalice.
Paher
Paher is Baranxeï for anchor, and acts just like that. During life, it ties together the mexand and the indal and bind them to the body. During life, it serves as nothing but this anchor.
When someone dies, the paher has to be released from the body so that a person can truly rest in peace. If this not happens, the mexand and indal can not assume their functions and will haunt the world as malevolent spirits.
The paher does not disappear, of course. It remains on earth and is the portal for the other parts of the soul to the mortal plane. Prayers to the ancestors can only access them through the paher, and sometimes the mexand may wish to wander upon the earth in order to reminiscense, and it can only do this via the paher.
If a soul is reincarnated, a new paher is created for the mexand and one half of the indal. The old paher still exists for the other part of the indal.
The paher is, of course, depicted as an anchor.
Judgement
When a person dies, their mexand travels through the pitch black underworld and has to find its way to the Divine Tribunal of Eternal Judgement. To find the way through the dark, the mexand is guided by the 'dead lights', the flames of special extinguished candles or lamps (for more on this and other rituals surrounding death, see Baranxtuan Traditions.
Once the soul reaches the tribunal, it is judged in a trial for the actions and behavior of a person during their life. The tribunal consists of various deities and spirits, the most prominent of which is Ðiskani, the god of death.
Before the trial begins, the mexand can state wether it wishes to be reincarnated. If it does, there is no trial, but also no subsequent punishment. It is sent back to earth to be reborn, and can try to live as a better human.
Otherwise, the mexand is then either sent to one of the paradises, or to one of the hells for punishment.
However, it has to be noted that the torture in one of the hells is not eternal. How long this takes is never made clear, but it depends on the graveness of the sins. Once the mexand is purged of all its sins, it is reincarnated and has to live a better life. As soon as the reborn person dies, the whole cycle begins again.
There is no limit of the times someone can be reborn, but it is seens as desirable to enter one of the paradises as soon as possible to join the souls of their relatives and friends.
Controversy and Criticism
Ēmandē has been criticized both by members, former members and non-members. Most of these apply to a large extent to all branches, as they target the main teachings which are common in all denominations.
Promotion of Hedonism and Lack of Spirituality
A fairly common point of criticism is the religion's alleged lack of spirituality stemming from its embracing hedonist principles.
As outlined above, Ēmandē lacks many sins that can be found in most other traditional religions. Critics of Ēmandēs argue that by focusing on achieving as much pleasure as possible out of this life, its followers inherently cannot focus on the afterlife and as such, the whole notion of Ēmandē as a religion is falsible.
Baranxitunis usually counter that these critics base their opinions on their assumptions of religion and in return accuse many others (for example Roman Catholicism) as lacking understanding of this world and forcing unnatural institutions on a natural being.
Promotion of Egoism
Closely linked to the accusations of hedonism is the criticism that Ēmandē promotes selfish behavior by focusing on the individual and his needs instead of the community as a whole.
Supporters of Ēmandē counter that this view stems from a wrong interpretation of the teachings of Ēmandē, and that in fact it teaches that in some aspects, the needs of the community outwheigh the needs of the individual, but in other cases the reverse thing may be true.
Whereas Ēmandē is largely liberal regarding civil rights, it takes a rather socialist stance on the principles society should be built on.
Relations with other Religions
Fellow Meleiyan Religions
First, it has to be understood that although a rather elaborate system of hierarchically structured branches exist, the borders between most are fluctuating and there is no opposition between most as, for example, between the Roman Catholic Church and the various Protestant denominations.
In fact, most branches recognize each other's holy sites and clergy - members of one branch may be ordained in another; members of the clergy may serve in a temple of another branch; members of one branch may pray at another branche's temples or make a pilgrimage to another branche's holy sites.
Exceptions to this do exist; they are small off-shoots and not recognized by the mainstream branches.
A "family tree" of all Meleiyan Religions has been constructed, but as mentioned above it has to be noted that the different branches largely overlap. Branches considered part of Ēmandē are marked bold. Those that are sometimes counted, but not recognized by others are marked in italics.
- The Holy Congregation Blessed by the Three Divine Houses
- Congregation of All Š-Mēðyrua Blessed by the First Divine House
- Congregation of All Š-Mēðyrua Blessed by The Second and Third Divine Houses
- The United Š-Mēðyrua of Mēlēja
- The Š-Mēðyrua of the Baranxi and Maña and Asuani
- United Temples of Baranxi, Asuani and Maña
- The Temple of Baranxi the Supreme God
- The Temple of Asuani the Supreme God
- The Temple of Maña the Supreme Godess
- The Supremacy of Baranxi and Asuani
- The Š-Mēðyrua of the Baranxi and Maña and Asuani
- Other, Non-Classified Branches
- The Sole Temple of the True Baranxi in Abasina
- The Cults of Baranxi United
- others
- The United Š-Mēðyrua of Mēlēja
- Universal United Š-Mēðyrua of the Three Divine Houses
Other Religions
The mainstream branches have been very tolerant of other religions for the past few centuries.
During the Council of Begubaraŋa (1702), all mainstream branches of the Meleiyan Religion (Congregation of All Š-Mēðyrua Blessed by the Second and Third Divine Houses) decided to change their official doctrine. Although most had been relatively tolerant toward the majority of other faiths, with the passing of this particular document, called "Declaration of the Importance of Spirituality Embraced by all Members of the Most Holy Congregation of the Most Holy Houses Blessed by the Second and Third Divine Houses), even religions that had been regarded with hostility beforehand were now included in that tolerant attitude.
- ’’"We believe most honestly that, in the end, even though we might have different attitudes toward different subjects, that all faiths are inspired by the same universal, hidden force that brings us all to being good."’’
Since 1756, most branches also include atheism in their list of "religions" tolerated.
Despite these liberal definitions, relations with certain religions remained not too cordial, especially with Abrahamic and other monotheistic religions.
In the republic of Baranxtu, there were great tensions between the then dominating Baranxituni group of the Sole Temple of the True Baranxi (which was by then still considered part of mainstream Ēmandē) and the Roman Catholic French colonists in the south. After the Baranxtuan Civil War 1811-1814, these tensions finally subsided as the theocratic regime was abolished and most Baranxtimans converted to the Baranxtuan-Asuanituan Religion that today is the predominant religion of Baranxtu.
Conversion to Ēmandē
Although there is no official dogma on conversion to Ēmandē, it is commonly accepted that in order to be a Baranxituni, one does not have to undergo a special ritual. Instead, it is a matter of personal beliefs and actions. In reality, however, many converts chose to undergo a new baptism ceremony. For Non-Baranxtimans, this may also include adopting a new name.
In general, everybody is welcome in Baranxtuan temples, whether they are Baranxitunis or not, although in order to participate in offerings and other rituals, one must publicly state one's affiliation to Ēmandē.
Similarly, there is no official ban on converting to another religion. However, in reality, once a former Baranxituni has converted to another religion (especially if its beliefs are seen as incompatible with Ēmandē), the convert - especially in conservative areas - is likely to be subjected to senðillafeinu (lit. getting outside of the heart), the exclusion from his (former) community.
