The Dreven Creation Story (and an Update)

I feel like I've been saying this since January, but I'm nearly done editing book 2 of Kitsune-Ken! I have found a new editor and if everything goes according to plan, I should have it in her hands by this time next week. Then I can focus on Inktober, starting to edit book 3 and planning book 4 to write during Nanowrimo in November (for perhaps as long as a week before she gets it back to me). It's my hope that by November I will have the edits finished entirely and I can spend all my spare time that month doing the business end of getting the novel out to all of you... getting the cover made and released, the book formatted, proofread, and all of that fun stuff. Now we'll move onto the meat of today's post; the Dreven's creation story. 

Deckard is the main follower of this religion in my Kitsune-Ken series, though all of the Dreven people worship these deities. Even Isashi's Dreven father worships them and made sure that Isashi grew up knowing their religion, though, in the end, she chose to follow her mother's deities. 

The Dreven believe that the world was created when the creator force split into twins; the goddess Kittin and the god Kitaran. The two loved each other but fell to arguing over whether the universe was too empty. Kitaran wanted much more than the emptiness they inhabited, but Kittin was afraid and wanted the universe to stay the same. Kitaran promised to not create anything but eventually his loneliness could not be denied. To create the first island, Kitaran cut off his own hand. When Kittin discovered his betrayal, she slaughtered him and fell into a great depression for centuries when she realized that she'd destroyed the one she loved. 

Eventually, a noise broke through her self-absorption and she realized that Kitaran's body had not simply ceased to exist, but had transformed into an entire planet. While she loved it as she had loved him, she was horrified to find beings like themselves living upon it. Believing they were defiling Kitaran's legacy, she began a slaughter of all she could find. When only seven remained, better at hiding than the rest, she began destroying the world, determined to leave them no place to hide. One goddess came to her, begging that she stop before she destroyed Kitaran a second time. While she hesitated, the goddess brought down upon him the gift of prophecy. In her first moments of Kitaran's final gift to him, she realized that she had been destroying their children, created with his blood and her energy. 

A photo composite I made of Direnai begging Kittin to stop his destruction. 

Kittin realized her error and offered Direnai and her sibling's true godhood, promising never to hunt them again. They accepted though all but Direnai refused to believe in her sudden altruism, thinking that her apologies came too late. When one of the Seven created humans out of a new metal alloy and the began to multiply on their own, they expected Kittin to start destroying everything again. Fortunately, she had learned her lesson and instead blessed the new ones with wisdom she had never had. The humans began to worship her for this gift. The Seven still hide from Kittin, allowing humans to worship them only if they promise to never tell Kittin where they hide. In return for their favour and gifts, the Dreven refer to all seven as a single deity, the Secret, though they are taught the ways to show their reverence for each of the seven. 

Kittin is the only major deity, though most non-Dreven think of Direnai as a close second, not realizing that she is only the face the others hide behind, the one that is willing to be seen. Kittin rules over Divination and Wisdom, hard-won after all of her mistakes, though no Dreven forgets her lesson that without wisdom they will destroy everything they love. The other seven deities are Direnai, goddess of healing, Tormu, god of innocence, and five others whose portfolio's consist of Fire, Sailing, Weaponry, Victory, and Sorcery. Direnai is the deity that Deckard believes has granted him his blessed status. He loves and hates her for it.

And that will be all for today! In the coming weeks, I'll try to keep you guys up to date with where my novel is, how Inktober is going, and of course, more about the Dreven religion. 

Rituals and Celebrations of the Sian Ku

Okay, before we start today's post, I want to remind all of you that I'll be at the Sunridge Chapters in Calgary, Alberta for a signing on Sunday, June 9th, from noon to 3pm. Come in, pick up a signed copy of the book, or let me know what you enjoyed most about the book! I'd love to see all of you out there! With that out of the way, today is our final post on the religion of the Sian Ku. We'll discuss symbols and then move on to their calendar, holy days and rituals. 

The symbol which the people consider the holiest is a three-tongued flame surrounded by ten interlocking animals; the dragon, the rat, the turtle, the koi, the crane, the fox, the kirin(an Asian mythological creature, usually compared to the western unicorn, with the body of a deer, the cloven hooves of a goat, the scales of a dragon and the whiskers of a fish. Its horns are usually deerlike as well, and while they are sometimes drawn with a single horn they are just as often drawn with two or more. This artist is amazing and their picture is exactly what the ones in my world look like, though in Japan they look a lot more dragonish), the Phoenix, the tiger, and the fairy pitta (a type of bird known as the eight-coloured bird Japan. Beautiful, ne?).  Lesser symbols are a knife blade (usually made of obsidian) and the symbol of a waxing crescent moon.

Koi Image by Анна Куликова from Pixabay 

Sian Ku’s calendar is set according to the lunar cycle, though Himiko and the other Sian Ku in Hidan only use it for rituals, having converted to the one the Drevens use, a mythic cycle created using the heroes of each age as a guideline. There are nine holy days in a calendar year that are celebrated by everyone and three ritual days that are personal to the family. Five of those celebrated by all focus on past revelations and stories of the deities associated with them. The remaining four commemorate astronomical events that happen yearly, and the birthdays of the current rulers of Sian Ku. The last three are done to celebrate all the members of the family in the past year; those who are alive, those who are dead and a personal birthday.

Holy days are often celebrated by raucous parades and half somber praying followed by games of chance being played in the streets (cards, of course, but also dice, and games you might see played at fair or festival in Japan, like throwing hoops at bottles or catching goldfish with paper hoops), food and ostentatious gift-giving. The more extravagant a gift, the more it is supposed to be appreciated. To clarify, the gift doesn't have to be expensive by any means. However, it should be large, many or impressive. 

One memorable gift that is still spoken of in shocked whispers was the gift of eight hundred of the most beautiful women in the country wearing nothing but jewels and smiles, given to a recent Empress by her (supposedly blessed) female consort.

While holy celebrations are raucous events that show little solemnity except by the clergy or when anyone else is giving the kami or rulers their justly due respect, the rituals of family include fasting, meditation and sometimes the preparation of objects to be laid out in ritual (usually for the ancestors). Aside from music, played by a member of the family, rituals are silent, usually taking place in the home.

The highest forms of art are writing, papermaking, and more rarely, wood carving and all noble-born in Sian Ku learn at least one of these arts. For Himiko and Kuzunoha, while a high emphasis was placed on writing, neither particularly enjoyed the art. Himiko did take a liking to the Dreven preferences of music and song, a preference her father accepted. All of Kuzunoha’s preferred “arts” were considered unacceptable for one reason or another.

The only thing left to talk about is the afterlife. The Sian Ku believe that when one finally dies, they are judged and spend a period of timelessness atoning for any sins they committed. Once finished, it is believed that you will spend the rest of eternity devoted to your descendants.

There is one out from this future.  A select few return; those re-birthed are outed when at puberty, they become eleden. Such people are considered to have fallen from a place of grace, having abandoned their familiar duty to return to the land of the living. Some continue to watch over their new family for generations, though from afar since they are usually spurned by their families.

One day, I would like to hire an artist to make the holy symbol of the Sian Ku for me… most likely an expense for a future book, maybe book three when we get to see a lot more of the religion as it applies to the characters. What do you find most interesting about the Sian Ku religion? Let me know in the comments below.