Jing

--- Spirits, Akuma, and Words ---

The people of Cyrys do not follow the same religion as most of their continent. Because of their extreme views on foreigners and their self-imposed social isolation from the other countries, they have a completely different belief system. Followers of Jing do not believe in gods, as such. They believe that everybody has a piece of one single god residing inside them as spiritual energy and that after death, they become a part of the spiritual whole of the world once more. This spiritual energy can actually be seen by Jing priests, priestesses, and monks, defining a person's strength, honor, and worth. --- Priests, Priestesses, and Monks ---

The symbol of the Jing religion is an orange blossom and the holy color is white, signaling purity. There are priests, priestesses, and monks and all are given to a life of chastity, purity, and isolation. Worship consists of daily prayers delivered both in the main temples and smaller shrines dotted all throughout the country. Their uniform consists of a pure white kimono worn beneath a colored hakama that denotes their place in the temple or shrine.

Sins include impurity, arrogance, and dishonor, while their highest virtues include honor, wisdom, and a strong sense of duty and loyalty. Sinners are held to very low regard and in some parts of Cyrys, made to kill themselves rather than remain a stain on the mortal plane, polluting it with their impurity.

The focus of their religion is on the inner spirit. A good spirit is pure, while a tainted spirit is in danger of becoming possessed by an akuma, or demon. Demons are created through bad spiritual energy. The followers of Jing believe strongly that words have power. Names, true names, and certain words known only to the inner priests and priestesses are said to hold the key to salvation or destruction.

--- CITIZENS AND RELIGION ---

Jing is generally practiced and followed by all citizens of Cyrys and those who shun or openly disagree are immediately imprisoned and punished. In some parts of Cyrys, people are still put to death for not believing and respecting the word of the One.

Rites of passage are performed when males turn thirteen--this is the age in which they are considered a man. The rites include leading a public ceremony during a new moon celebration. A female is considered a woman after her first blood.

Marriage in a typical Cyran family is generally just one man and one woman, though the nobles may have concubines. Generally, the more one has, the wealthier they are. Marriages are happy celebrations, in which entire villages and towns get together to wish for happiness and prosperity.

Holidays tend to be of two types with those in Cyrys. There are the somber holidays that honor the dead, banish bad will, and repel akuma, and then there are the happier festivals celebrating new life, honorable deeds, and acts of great valor and self sacrifice.

Death rites involve cremation. Merely burying is thought to be unclean and impure.