Qastilikism

WORK IN PROGRESS

A monotheistic religion, based in Kachotja, assumed to have 500 million plus followers in the modern day (5/8s of Kachotja)

Beliefs and philosophy

 * the concept of human avatars of Beelzebub, as a myacrosi (greek: he who wards of flies), a divine hero who would ward flies away from a sacrifice with curses or divine power
 * Qastilikism was heavily syncretized with the vast collection of folkloric beliefs and traditions known as the "Winter Street" or the "Bird's Path"

Beelzebub
Beelzebub, also known as the "Old Grey Fly" or "Lord of Decay", is the only deity of Qastilikism. He was depicted as a massive bloated fly wearing a crown, some depictions show him with rams horns. He was said to represent the cycle of decay, making way for new life. He is considered benevolent, omnipotent and omniscient, although no person may understand his true motives.

Creation Myth
Beelzebub came into existence into the muddy dark shapless formless expanse of primordial chaos Beelzebub hatched from his egg into the muddy, dark, shapeless and formless expanse of primordial chaos. As a maggot he drank all the water from the mud and was ready to pupate. Emerging from his pupae, he was divine. He used his divine power to create the world egg, but discovered it would not hatch until he defined life and death and created the concept of decay. Upon that the egg hatched and from that the world began. (Over millenia the dried mud of primordial chaos became the dust of the underworld?) (two creation eggs: 1 for Beelzebub, 1 for the world?. A modern interpretation is that the First Egg was Beelzebub, but the Second Egg was the Big Bang?, a gravitational singularity that only expanded once he defined the laws of reality?)

Afterlife

 * The only afterlife was the underworld, an empty grey place where one will wait in the dust until "apocalypse". But Beelzebub does you the kindness of dulling your mind to the great listlessness and boredom waiting.
 * The river "Kokgatvary" flows through the underworld, and it is from there that all denizens of the underworld drink. The river is fed from the blood of animal sacrifice in the living world, that becomes water for the underworld.
 * To enter the underworld after death, one passes through a "great storm of putrefaction" and would awaken on a pebble beach by the river "Kokgatvary", where upon their reflection in the water would inform them of their death.
 * The gravest sinners (traitors, murderers, oath-breakers, desecrators and barrators (corrupt politicians)) would not go to the underworld, and would instead be cast into the "darkness that surrounds worlds", where their souls would be annihilated.

Practices

 * ritual ablutions (washing face and hands before prayer)
 * daily prayers, two times per day

Animal Sacrifice

 * order of prestige of animals: Horse, Hawk/Falcon, Cattle/Yaks/Goats/Sheep, Ratites, Cats/Dogs, Chickens/Doves/Rabbits.
 * Pigs are offensive sacrifices to Beelzebub.
 * Two primary methods existed: Strangulation by stick-garrote, or cutting its throat with a knife. The sacrifice was then burned.

Ritual Drink
Consumption of a ritual drink, likely containing ephedra, consumed at certain points in a persons life?

Funeral Practices

 * depending on the sect and locality, funerals are either cremations or sky burials
 * the remains (bones and ashes) where then placed within pits and chambers inside of kurgan/tumulus. The kurgan/tumulus mound would be partially made from the remains of sacrificed animals.

Place of Worship

 * the holy site was called a "Sanctuary", and was typically constructed so that the main floor was partially below ground level, to be closer to the earth.
 * rituals would be conducted in pits even lower than the main floor level.

Scripture
A collection of religious texts forms the primary liturgical canon and scripture. It is numerous stories, hymns and poetry. Many of the most commonly recited prayers are in octameter or hexameter.

Founding
Sacha/Saka/Sasha (depending on translation) was a prophet who is believed to have begun the modern form of Qastilikism, sometime around the 4th century BC. It is believed that she actually reformed existing polytheistic beliefs into the monotheistic current form. Regardless, by the late 3rd century BC it was widespread through modern Kachotja.