Clarityism: Difference between revisions
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What makes Clarityism quite unique is the worship of one deity, Unus, however there is no denial of the existence of other deities, also best known as [[wikipedia:henotheism|henotheism]]. The belief first stemmed from the writings of Bardi who was heavily influenced by his travels through Yasteria. In his writings, Bardi describes that he believed that there was more than one higher deity, each influencing regions of Urth that their followers occupied. The accepted belief of Claritists regarding creation was that the many higher deities of the world were created alongside Urth. In present days, another accepted belief is that the higher deities were created during the Big Bang, some came together to build and care for Urth, and slowly built up a following as sentient species such as humans evolved over time. Another strong belief of Claritists is that the higher deities are more regional based, caring and protecting their assigned regions of Urth during creation. Claritists also believe that the power of higher deities can actually fluctuate depending on the strength of their followers, thus explaining how certain religions are able to spread around the world or end up being wiped out. The latter is a fear of many Claritists who believe that if Clarityism in the Aspirian Isles falters, it would mean the end of the Fortunan people.
In order to then protect their homeland, the worship and strengthening of faith in Unus is extremely important. Before Bardi published his teachings, Unus was simply considered as the god of the
To explain the reason of the other numerous deities from Norvo-Aspiriac Mythology, the accepted belief is that they are considered lesser deities. Since Unus was considered the single god of the Aspirian Isles, these lesser deities were seen as simply helpers that simply assisted around certain things. For example, the Goddess Fortuna is considered the goddess of fortune and luck in Norvo-Aspiriac Mythology. In Clarityism, Unus is the overall deity, but Fortuna now simply an assistant to Unus still focused around fortune and luck. Due to the First Fortunan Empire's conquest and ruling of the region, the importance of fortune and luck is extremely important to Fortunan culture. In order to have good fortune, Claritists are required to pray to both Unus and Fortuna in the morning upon waking up and at night before sleeping. The Cult of Fortuna, a sect of Clarityism, takes this a step further by believing that she is actually the higher deity of the Aspirian Isles and disregards any worshiping of Unus. The other lesser deities are considered to still exist, but the worship of them is not considered a requirement as it is with Unus and Fortuna.
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==Practices==
===Worship===
The primary purpose of worship is to strengthen one's belief in Unus with the sole purpose to increase Unus' ability to protect their homeland. In order to show one's devotion, Claritists are expected to visit a local site of worship at least once a week to pray, some often making visits a daily routine. Within the Aspirian Isles, there is a recorded to be around 80,000 places of worship that are maintained by the Church of Clarity with another 5,000 unaffiliated sites. Places of worship are built as either a church or a simple shrine. Church buildings are built
===Prayer===
Within Bardi's teachings, he details that prayer is the most effective way to communicate and express one's devotion to Unus and his assistants. Within Clarityism, it is compulsory to pray at least twice a day to Unus. During the First Fortunan Empire's reign of the region, these compulsory prayers also began including praying to Fortuna. There was never a set time for when these prayers should occur during the day in the early years, but would later become a requirement for one prayer to be done in the morning, preferably upon waking up, and one in the evening before sleeping. In order to pray, worshipers will visit a local church or shrine. Prayer can also be done in front of home shrines which has grown in popularity in recent years due to the ease of access.
The main method of prayer first consists of kneeling or sitting in front of an alter. Worshipers will then provide an offering, usually monetary while at public places of worship. Then they will bow their head and clasp hands during which they will silently pray. During prayers, worshipers will recite a verse or poem from the Book of Clarity whose purpose is to express to Unus the worshiper's devotion in order to increase Unus' ability to protect them and the Aspirian Isles. Prayers usually just take a couple minutes to complete, but prayers can last longer if worshipers wish to further display their faith and devotion to Unus and also gain more fortune and luck from Fortuna. Another way to complete the required prayers is to provide a monetary offering to a priest who will pray on the worshiper's behalf.
===Rituals===
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