Shirûnic Paganism

Shirûnic Paganism is a religion predominantly worshiped in Shirûn and Maerun. It is primarily based around the worship of 2 deities - the Goddess Hejaek, meaning "Light", and the God Chahaek, meaning "Dark".

History
The worship of Hejaek dates back to the earliest days of the Rûnic people, and has been passed down predominantly via oral sources. This, and geographical isolation has lead to many varying sects of the religion and differing interpretations of its legends. The current, most widespread form of the faith emerged around 1000 years ago in Shirun, making it a religious hub. During the Great Migratory period of 88ASS, Shirunic paganism spread across the world along with its people, fragmenting into many different sects, from Maerun to Neurun.

Beliefs in Shirun & Related groups
Hesha's divine domain covers much of the world - all life, the winds, the sun and the stars are under Her rule, whereas Chaha is the God of Death; and the afterlife on the moon. This divine duology is reflected in the rituals surrounding procreation, birth and death. It is traditional to procreate and give birth under the rising sun due to this connection with fertility and bringing new life.

Paralleling this, there is also a close connection between the moon and death, as people believe that they must die under it to gain access to the afterlife, leading to the common tradition of rival groups only doing battle under the moon - they all fear what happens if they remain on the earth if they die under the sun. There are of course rituals to preserve the body until their soul can be released, and the body appropriately buried in their family burial mound, even though it is traditionally believed that it has no purpose after death. Many of the more nomadic groups use the corpse as a means to celebrate the cycle of life, usually by leaving it on the open plains to be eaten by predators, left on the mountains to be eaten by birds, or dumped in rivers to provide food for fish (highly dependent on the time of year). However, the Shirunic groups are more sentimental about the handling of the dead - a byproduct of their interaction with societies of the north. Thus, the bodies are buried in family mounds, covered with strips of cloth bearing the name of the deceased, their gender (differentiated by the colour of strip, red for men, yellow for women) and a few pictograms of the main events of their life. Some of the oldest of these bear many thousand strips and can have several square miles where the dead lie.

This religious duology, especially with a goddess at the head of the pantheon, brings women to the forefront of society. In the more nomadic groups to the south, Hesha is described as a warrior queen, who slew the primordial sun god, and celebrates her victory through the cycle of the day. She is also believed to be hunting Chaha eternally; with a prophesised day when He finally dies; and the eldest days of the world return in all their glory. Solar eclipses are described to be the two clashing in the sky in their eternal battle.

Shirunic Matriarchy
This warrior goddess provides a religious basis for women to become tribal Matriarchs and to serve as warriors and hunters in society, on an equal basis with men, while also being the dominant influence in the house - the nomadic Runic societies are matriarchal in nature. Meanwhile, in the more sedentary Shriunic groups, the sun and moon deities are on a more equal basis with each other. The woman is traditionally in control of the stationary house and is responsible for childcare, animal herding and gathering for the group, while the traditional role of men is to serve as hunters, warriors and slaughterers.

This is reflected in the division of inheritance - with women receiving the stationary house and herding tools, and men receiving the yurt and weapons. The herd and horses are split equally between all parties upon inheritance. This gives the woman a basis to become the leader of their group, and many have made history by leading conquests to the north in the past, starting matriarchal lines in that traditionally patriarchal society

Rituals
Many rituals exist in Shirunic paganism, the most important being the Spring and Autumn equinox. On the spring equinox, it is the beginning of the hunting season - people will usually forgo cooking meat on this day, eating it raw instead to give luck to hunters. On the Autumn equinox, it is the end of the hunting season, and time for the people to settle by rivers for the cold winters - fish and honey bread is eaten at this time.

Another major festival happens on the Winter Solstice, known as Sorrow's day. Here, to celebrate the dead, red and yellow flower petals are cast into the river en mass, and a fast is partaken in, their chastity used as time to remember those lost.

Other regular rituals exist, such as Dawn prayer, where at sunrise, all people kowtow towards the rising sun, and call out traditional songs and prayers to the Goddess. As another part of the morning routine, a portion of food prepared for breakfast is burnt

Folk Tales
In Shirunic paganism, there is a heavy reliance on