Cult of Nature

The Cult of Nature is the religion of the Wood Elves, although not every single Wood Elf is its follower, and people of any race can follow this religion, however druids must follow this religion. Altrough the faith itself doesn't have any unity or clergy, it unites a state through religion: Kingdom of Dragoc (country of wood elves). Although the laws and government of the kingdom is theocratic, the country has freedom of religion, because the Wood Elves’ religion promotes freedom of faith.

The creation myth of this religion is rather short, and it spreads through oral tradition rather than written documents. According to the legend, the proto-elves were the children of Selenna and Goronnion the proto-elves lived together with their gods (Goronnion and Selenna) on the Island of Eternal Life, but one day, they started to grow arrogant and forget about their gods, starting to exploit and destroy the treasure which is given to them and the Island of Eternal Life. Selenna and Goronnion couldn’t bear it anymore, so they expelled the Proto-Elves, and then destroyed the Island of Eternal Life. However, some of the descedants of the proto-elves, incidentally the wood elven druids returned to the loving arms of Selenna and Goronnion, and helped the wood elves to see the correct way.

The followers of this religion believe in two gods.

Selenna
Also known as Mother Nature, who is the creator of the plants and the controller of the weather, she is usually depicted as a beautiful elf woman, playing a harp. They believe that Selenna sees everything, so she can help her believers, or punish them (that’s why Thunderstorm is also called “Selenna’s Wrath” in Wood Elven folklore). They believe that they can only hurt the nature if Selenna permits them to do so, and even then, only to the smaller extent: they cut very low amount of tree, and before that, they pray to Selenna in a wish that the tree and Selenna will forgive them, and then they use every single bit of the cut tree, for example: they build their houses on the top of other trees, so the other trees will survive.

Goronnion
Also known as Father Nature, the creator of animals and warfare, he is usually depicted as a handsome and muscular elf with wavy blond hair and green eyes. According to the believers he is present in all beats, from the small ant to the great bear, this makes hunting hard, because Goronnion never lets you to gain anything without pain, and if you are not good enough, you will not gain anything, or in the worst case: you will become the hunted. Goronnion however doesn't like unnecessary killing, so when Wood Elves hunt, they pray to Goronnion for a short time, to forgive them, and they kill attacking animals (like wolves) only in the worst case, they try to pacify or tame the animal first. There is an another part of the Sanctity of Hunting: never hunt old or ill animals, good example of it is an old story: a wood elf hunter once caught a sick and injured animals, took it to home, healed it, let it to go, and next day: went to hunt it.

Their relationship
The relationship between Selenna and Goronnion is never explicitly specified in the religion, and is rather ambiguous. Some believe that they are husband and wife, some believe that they are brother and sister, and some believe that they are both.

Denominations
The CUlt of Nature was historically divided into four schools, however, as of now, only two major schools exist.

Yuudzuyeburan Yuiyon †
Literally meaning "Way of the Cold Boar", the Yuudzuyeburan Yuiyon was a rather warlike school of Naturalism that put heavy emphasis on tribal identity and rituals, and contained features that simply wouldn't be recognized in the Cult of Nature today, but rather in the Orcish Religion. Quite uncharacteristically for the Wood Elves known today for their religious tolerance, when this was the dominant school of Naturalism - before the Great War - they persecuted followers of the other three schools.

After the Great War, the Yuudzuyeburan school lost popular favour, and became marginalized. During the 7th century of religious reforms, the last remnants of it were absorbed into the reformed Teiyeiran school.

Koujeigan Yuiyon †
Literally meaning "Way of the Moon Teaching", the Koujeigan Yuiyon was a rationalist school of Naturalism that was mostly followed by philosophers. It emphasized written traditions, urged followers to write down all of history and put all their religious myths and doctrines to the ink. The followers of this school also believed in a kind of social philosophy that sought to create analogies between the Wood Elven agroforestry and the supposedly ideal form of government, comparing government to gardeners and resources to light, seeking to create a system in which higher rank begets more land, access to resources, but also more duties and a form of noblesse oblige:


 * Canopy: recieves light first, protects lower flora. Officers, high mages and druids. They would get biggest pieces of land, least autonomy, most obligations.
 * Low Tree: recieves light second. Would get big chunks of land, but would be expected to be conscripted in case of war.
 * Shrub: recieves light third. Mostly craftsmen who have small patch of land only enough to feeding their families.
 * Vines: recieves light from individually from highers. Don't have land, tree servants
 * Herb: them and following recieve light fourth. Independent gardeners, hunters, gatherers and fishermen.
 * Root: they "improve the soil". Scholars, vets, medics, some mages, priests.
 * Cover: members of communities with collective ownership of land and resources. Most of gardeners would have been here.

The harvest would have been collected and distributed between canopy families. They would have taken what they wanted and then distributed it between second layer and so on.

Just like the Teiyeiran Yuiyon and Kyunlyamyan Yuiyon, they were persecuted by the Yuudzuyeburan Yuiyon when those were the dominant force. Unlike supporters of the other two, who bid their time until the end of the Great War, philosophers who supported the Koujeigan Yuiyon instead chose to migrate to Froturn, contributing to the early development of the Church of Titanius and Titanist philosophy. By 600 BEKE, the Koujeigan Yuiyon was definitely extinct. During the brief renaissance of Titanist-Naturalist syncretism between 300 AEKE and 750 AEKE, a small minority of Wood Elves claimed to be Neo-Koujeigan followers, but this eventually went out of fashion.

Teiyeiran Yuiyon
Literally meaning "Way of the Sky Horn", the Teiyeiran Yuiyon is currently the dominant school of Naturalism, and the only exant one besides Kyunlyamyan Yuiyon. It is a pacifist school that puts emphasis on achieving both inner peace, and peace with one's neighbours. They also hold the belief that "you are your own conscience", that "sleeping is the death of conscience", which allows another soul to take one's life, memory and body - thus, followers of this school try to sleep with short and frequent episodes. They believe that the school reincarnates, and that every living thing could be one's friend, as well as that pacts with outsiders last a day.

Following the Great War, the Teiyeiran Yuiyon became the dominant school of Naturalism. In the following century, religious reforms were made, and during a famous synod, the Teiyeiran Yuiyon formally absorbed the last remaining remnants of the Yuudzuyeburan Yuiyon and Koujeigan Yuiyon, borrowing some of their teachings and canonizing what they deemed acceptable.

Kyunlyamyan Yuiyon
Literally meaning "Way of the Bear Heart", the Kyunlyamyan Yuiyon is the only exant school of Naturalism besides the Teiyeiran Yuiyon. It is followed by a rather small - but nevertheless visible - minority of Wood Elves. A rather naturalistic and xenophobic school of Naturalism, it puts emphasis on oral tradition and natural primitivism. Writing is frowned upon - oral legends and religious dogmas are not put to the ink, under the belief that writing words down weakens them and robs them of their meaning. They prefer truly natural forests over managed forests, and their rituals include the drinking of hallucinogen-infused tea.

Other traditions
The Cult of Nature has strong traditions of pilgrimage. Architon, Minosa, Helpulus, and Rodiou are all considered targets of pilgrimage, and there is one more: Ancestors Bay, an unpopulated (or scarcely populated) territory full of shrines and places of pilgrimage.

It is a deeply-held belief that people should be buried at either their place of birth (returning to the soil that birthed them), or at a place of pilgrimage (where they can "join their ancestors and fellow pilgrims"), therefore the religion lacks the Titanist concept of graveyards and gravestones - instead, it is believed that people should return to the soil that they feed from, and should feed the ground that used to feed them. Deceased individuals are burried in the ground, and trees are cultivated at the place where they are buried. For "grave-trees", fruit-trees are usually preferred.