Arikata

Arikata
(在り方)
Temple of the Book of Raibu
Structure	Connexional
Pyhuawan	Tada Mituso
Region	Hesperida, IDU
Language	Sasongian
Headquarters	Hiranonamachi, Seibuchi, Lao Sansong
Founder	Oda Kazue
Origin	925 Hiranonamachi, Seibuchi, Lao Sansong
Members	15,480,000
Official website	Arikata.ls

Arikata is a polytheistic religion and belief system in Hesperida, primarily in Lao Sansong. Those who practice Arikata believe in a set of edicts set out in the Book of Raibu, a book created by the founder of the religion Oda Kazue. The religion was founded after Oda Kazue received a vision from Saikoishi, the highest being of heaven. The site where he received this vision, is considered holy among Arikata faithful. The Arikata Faith is the state religion of Lao Sansong, with the Pyhuawan, the head of the religion, being extremely influential.

History

Ode Kazue was born in 903 under the Tian Dynasty, his family practiced the Minjian Faith and Ode was very committed to it. Eventually, he joined the Minjian Temple studying to be the brightness of his local sanctum. After a theological debate with his elders, he felt dissatisfied with the Mijian Faith and retreated into the nearby mountains to find peace and true salvation. During his journey, he received a vision from Saikoishi, who revealed to him the lessons of the way of existing. Kazue wrote these lessons as the Book of Raibu before distributing it to locals. Eventually, a temple was built on the spot known as the Temple of High Enlightenment. Before he died in 985, Ode Kazue created a system of organization for the quickly growing religion, although he did not appoint a successor. Following his death, his son Taguchi Kazue took control and declared him Pyhuawan or "highest one" In response a faction loyal to Nagao Tetsuya stole the original Book of Raibu and left the region setting up a new temple in western Lao Sansong, believing the book itself was the source of divine power.

Taguchi Kazue in response burned a copy of the Book of Rabu to prove that it was the idea, not the book itself. According to Tetsuyaists, it was at this point that Taguchi Kazue was cursed, and a massive flood that destroyed the city of Hiranonamachi in 1012 was the wrath of angry water spirits. Despite this successive Pyhuawans continued to expand the religion across Lao Sansong despite the growth of Celestialism from Haesan. Eventually, religion began to influence politics as the Danketsu Empire's War of Expansion, was largely driven by Arikata, and many units were named for various sprits. The Dankestu Empire controlled the western regions of Misumi building a number of temples. After the Empire was defeated many of these temples were destroyed, leading to a series of crusades through the 1700s to re-take these temples. Arikata has always been the religion of many Samurai, and that became formalized with the Edict of Samurai of 1830, that all samurai and bond to answer to the Pyhuawan. In 1848, Seibuchi Province was established as a Arikata based govermeant within the new state of Lao Sansong.

The Great Clan War

In 1963, Pyuawan Kon Yoshito called for an organized involvement of various clans in the Great War, although Lao Sansong was initially successful in invading Haesan, Misumi invaded Lao Sansong at the same time forcing the Pyuawan to relocate to Shakotomi, the center of Tesuyasit thinker's. Tension soon grew between the two factions, leading to the Defenestration of Shaktomi where several Arikata scholars were thrown out of a window. In response, Kon Yoshito called on those behind the defenestration to be killed as revenge for the dishonor. However, the perpetrators took refuge in Ribrando Province and aligned themselves with the Tesuyasists, this led to other provinces becoming involved leading to a civil war between a faction of Mainline Arikata and a faction of Tesuyaist Arikata. As a result, the country pulled out of the war, and a result Misumi made gains in the eastern region of Lao Sansong. Eventually, Abo Tokunaga of Kanjishima Province placed loyal puppets or took over the leadership of each province. Afterward, he passed a series of laws to regulate inter-provincial conflict and create a national military.

Modern Arikata

After the conflict, Mainline Arikata attempted to rebuild relations with the various branches. Although a faction of Tesuyasists rejects the authority of the Pyuawan. During the 70s and 80s, Kon Yoshito pushed the Shogun to build forces against Misumi as a matter of religious duty. However, after the death of Yoshito in 1984 a more moderate faction took control that focused more on peace and expanding the reach of the Arikata Faith. In 2018, Imada Kyou became the first Pyuwan in history to be born outside Lao Sansong being born to a Sansongian family in suburban San Fernando, Slokais Islands. Kyou has been considered a reformer for criticizing violent practitioners and excommunicating the Jarsaumi Clique, which held anti-foreign sentiment.

Beliefs

The Book of Raibu (2003 Edition)

Arikata is a polytheistic religion with a pantheon of deities controlling various functions of reality. However, the highest being is Saikoishi, who does not interact with humans, instead using spirits. Arikata followers believe that much of Saikoishi's guidance is contained within the Book of Raibu. The Book of Raibu is divided into 4 mystical stories each with its core meaning, the characters in these stories are considered spirits themselves with the locations of these stories being considered mythical. In addition to the Book of Raibu, the Arikata also has several books of prayers specific to various spirits. These books were originally written by early scholars and consist of location-based prayers.

The First Phoenix

In this story, a farmer's home is destroyed by bandits. As revenge a spirit inhabits the farmer who warns the bandits if they don't atone for their sins wrath will come. Later, when the same bandits attack another farm, the Phoneix Sprit or Fenikkusuno kills all of the bandits. This story is often heavily debated, as some use the story as justification for the idea of "revenge killings" with many samurai who partake in praying to Fenikkusuno to help their task.

Sprit of Junsui Lake

A general attempting to assault a fortress is unsuccessful, situated across the lake from the fortress, he looks at it as a barrier to victory, and in a moment of desperation he crosses the lake in a boat. Once the boat is hit by burning arrows, the general jumps into the lake. When he swims to the surface he gains an immense amount of strength. From there he single-handedly defeats the enemy in battle. The story is often used to express how courage in battle will be rewarded by the spirits. Although some scholars claim, the lesson is knowing when to quit on impossible quests is the key to success.

The Mystical Woods

This story details the story of a woman who uses a grove of woods to build a coffin for her late husband. Despite being not able to afford proper tools, she uses rudimentary tools to cut wood. After weeks of work, she completes the coffin and properly buries her husband. The woman is visited by the spirits of wood who bless her with future fertility. The story's lesson is respecting your loved ones and the dead will grant you favor. Every year, many women who wish to become fertile go to Higamori Forrest and cut down trees, with new ones being planted in their place. Additionally, temples often have groves of trees with seeds from the forest to encourage spirits to bless the faithful.

The Greedy Merchant

A king has given directions for his people not to sell jade or pearl items, however, the Merchant seeing this decides to continue selling jade and pearl. The merchant becomes wealthy being able to live a few very good months. However one night, the jade and pearl become explosive destroying their owners in the night. A mob turns on the merchant and burns his manor down with him inside. The lesson of this story is to not be greedy and to always obey authority figures even if their laws or regulations make no sense. Radical thinking has also interpreted this book as a criticism of capitalism, with Sansongian socialists often citing this story as a rationale for the regulation of business.

Sprit's and Spiritual Being's

There are around 2500 notable spirits in the Arikata faith, of these there are different types and levels of spirits. In general, it's believed that every river forest and mountain range has a named spirit. These spirits are believed to have created their domain and were each tasked by Saikoishi to protect their environment. These beliefs have led to some Arikata faithful to being environmentally conscious, this belief has fueled political movements such as the Green Party and the Democratic Life Party.

Worship and Practices

Arikata Faith believes one may only be able to connect with spirits in places of natural beauty or peace. This belief has influenced the design of public and private spaces within Lao Sansong and the communities of Arikata. These places of spiritual connection are known as Shinputo. There are three types of Shinputo: Shrines, Temples, and Spiritual Places. In the Arikata Faith, prayer is considered a formalistic connection with a general prayer of thanks given to Saikoishi before proceeding with specific prayers, such as daily prayer. Although there are no requirements for prayer in the presence of others, several scholars have suggested that a common prayer to a singular spirit can increase its power, while a lack of prayer can lead to the death of a spirit.

Shrines

Shrines can typically be found in the household of Arikata faithful, normally no larger than a wall these shrines are made from a special type of wood that is blessed with spiritual waters. Shrine's consist of a wood frame, carved with images of various sprit. Inside is a flat space reserved for the Book of Raibu surrounded by candle holders. To pray at these shrines, one must silently say the Call of Spirit or a specific Spirit calling if they wish to contact a certain Spirit. Once that is done, they must say the message to the spirit and light the candles on the shrine. Shrines are often considered only usable to the owner or the owner's loved ones. For another to use one's shrine with their permission is considered offensive and is considered to lead to bad luck.

Temple's

Temples are usually a single square room, with only one entrance carved with blessed wood. The entire Temple may be built from any material however a temple must have several key design elements. First, there must be a place for at least 4 Books of Raibu to be placed on a wooden board. There must also be an image of Saikoshi with the face covered by a piece of cloth soaked in spiritual waters at least once. There also must be plants placed upon or growing near to one of the walls of the temple, but never the roof. Each temple is maintained by an order of the Arikata, with a majority being managed by the Pyhuawan Order. The head of a temple is known as a Jinkasha and must be appointed by the affiliated Order.

Spritual Places

Spiritual Places are the holiest sites in the Arikata Faith, with only 24 being formal sites and 1 other declared holy site being located at the planetary North Pole. Visiting one or all of these Spiritual places is considered a duty of all Arikata faithful, and one who visits all is considered to be highly enlightened. The Spiritual Place ranges in size and terms of holiness, however, each is considered to be a domain of a Kan-no-Kami or "lower-tier god". For example, the entire Higamimori Forrest is considered to be the Spiritual domain of Saikoni, the goddess of fertility, love, and plants. Within these Spiritual places are multiple temples managed by a Shikyno who is appointed by the Pyhuawan.

Organization

Arikata or at least the Mainline Arikata who account for 85% of all members of the faith is organized through the Pyhuawan Order which is controlled by the Pyhuawan, who is selected upon the death of prior Pyhuawan. The selectors of the Pyhuawan and the central order of the faith is the Order of Shihiyu made up of 45 Shikyno, who are experts in theology as certified by a degree from an Arikata institution. Each Shikyno represents an area, with there being 25 dedicated to the knowledge and guidance of a specific holy site. The Shikyno are elected by the Jinkasha, who manage individual temples. To be appointed to any of these positions, approval from the Order of Shihiyu is needed as well as a degree from an accredited Arikata institution. Of the Shikyno's, 35 are from Lao Sansong, 4 are from Slokais Islands and the rest are from and represent the rest of the world.

=Un-Affiliated Arikata

Unaffiliated Arikata are those who are members not part of the Pyhuawan Order; these include the Tesuyaist Arikata who can be found in western Lao Sansong and High Fells. They left the main order in the 1960s due to civil conflict and there has been a history of violence against Tesuyaists within the Arikata heartland. This has led to immigration, with a small community being found in Slokais Islands.

Education

Education is a key tenet of the Arikata Faith, as Ode Kazue said in his writings "Education is a key to enlightenment, the closest to the heavenly plan we can achieve without entering the realm of sprits". This has led to Arikata Faith building schools both in Lao Sansong and around the world. While the Pyhuawan Order manages several religious schools, they have also built secular schools in developing countries. The Pyhuawan Order also runs several colleges including Kanjishima City University, Shinagawa College of Technology and Eastern Pyhuawan University.

Demographics

Lao Sansong itself is around 78% being Arikata Faithful with prominence in the Eastern, more populous region, reaching between 90 to 95% of the population. However, due to the belief that the Book of Raibu is only valid with the Sansongian language due to issues with translation and specific decrees, growth outside of the ethnically Sansongian community is limited. The general isolationist policy of the Sansongian government has led to only small minorities appearing in Slokais Islands and Haesan, and typically among ethnically Sansongian people. In fact, Imada Kyou was the first Pyhuawan to be born outside of Lao Sansong, living in San Fernando, Slokais Islands, for the first 8 years of his life. Today, only 5% of all Arikata Faithful reside outside of Lao Sansong.