[First Draft] Lutran Spirituality/Religion

[Tarae]

Lutran Religion/Spirituality


The life of a Lutran has long been considered to be too relaxed by most, if not all, of the other, heavily organized races of the world. Drawing on the facts that Lutran society is organized into small, tribal like groups, and the Lutrans who venture into their "civilized" world now and then display the race's natural curiosity in an almost childlike maner, the other races have speculated that the Lutrans are a simple minded people who have no cares in the world, who go through life like lazy beach bums only thinking about their next meal. This view, despite being utterly prejudice and false, is widespread, and likely not to change any time soon. The truth of the matter is that the intense curiosity and childish behaviors of Lutrans usually end at the same time as childhood does. Intense curiosity of the world generally becomes intent study, study of the world, spirituality, or a chosen trade.

It is true that all Lutrans give deep consideration to the divine, each striving to connect with the spirits in their own personal way throughout their whole lives, but not all dedicate themselves completely to its study and contemplation. Only a few individuals within each Lotholt become what could be considered as Priests, practitioners of the spirits, spending their lives in the persuit of divine insight; these individuals have no special name in Lutran society, generally refered to only by their name, or as elder, but for my purposes I will call them Priests. Unlike some of the other faiths of Telath, Lutran Priests do not search for ways to appease their dieties, they do not search for the reasons that these divine powers should be worshiped, revered, or even feared. Lutran Priests spend their lives searching for insights that will help their people, they give thanks to the powers that provide, and through their search, as well as silent observance of the people around them, often gain a great wisdom that they are more than happy to share with anyone who asks. These Priests are also the ones who carry on the legends and stories of the Lutrans, and not until the other races first made contact these were carried on through the generations in rich oral traditions. Although most Lutrans are capable of writing and reading the common language, it is a wide spread belief that if a Spirit is written about with these words, they will lose their powers.

Another core difference from other religions in Lutran spirituality is the scope of the pantheons. There are no specific "gods" in the Lutran's viewpoint. There are however three main figures in their beliefs. The most powerful of them is the creator figure, the Great Father, who split the sky from the sea and reached into the first ocean to grab a piece of mud from it's bottom which was used to form the lands of the earth. Within that clump of divine mud was a woman spirit, the Mother of Nature, who is the moving force of all life in the world, it is from her that all things recieve the initial breath of life. Then there is the Father of Waters, who controlls all aspects of water. He is in the storm, in the lakes and rivers, he is the force that drives the waves of the seas. The Mother of Nature is who a hunter will thank when taking the life of his prey, the Father of Waters is thanked when a season has been productive for harvest, the Mother may provide the spark of life, but without the Father nothing would grow, and the Great Father is thanked for all things, without his intervention at the start, there would be no life. Aside from these main figures the Lutran see many other lesser Spirits within the world. It is these Spirits, who through the visage of animals or trees, taught Lutrans to use fire, to build homes, to make tools for hunting, and a variety of other contribution to their society. Some of these spirits are also blamed for major catstrophies, such as typhoons, mass plauges, or sudden, unexplained deaths, the Tricksters.

There are several ways the Lutrans use to show their gratitude to their divine providers. One in particular, something that most of the other races of the world have never heard of, are the great Gatherings of several Lotholts held once every four eras. These Gatherings generally take place on large islands away from any specific Lotholt, as well as on the shores of the mainland in regions where there are none. Their purpose is to strengthen the ties between the seperate Lotholts, bringing a sort of unity among the comunities of a particualr region, for the trade of goods that might be unavailable to some of the participating Lotholts, and to fight the threat of inbreeding small comunities face. The main reason for these Gatherings however is for the massive cerimonies that are held there, and in fact is the main focus of all those gathered. Hightly ritualized dances are preformed, involving each Lutran in some way or another, in the honor of the Great Father. There are also preformances where the verbal legends are enacted, stories of the Spirits, as well as the Creation event are depicted.

Though the Gods of the other races are not denied existance by the Lutrans, they are however viewed as sperate from their Spirits. Those in the belief of the God who have actually studied the beliefs of the Lutrans speculate that their Gods, and the Lutran's Spirits are in reality one in the same. They draw comparisons between specific Gods and Spirits and try to convey this to the Lutran "Priests". These elders toy with the possibility, but with good humor brush the notion aside. "Maybe the Spirits had children long ago, your Gods. But then the Spirits saw that they were brats and gave them all you "civilized" people to play with." One elder was recorded as saying.