Wansaho religion

The Wansaho religion constituted the religious ideas and practices of the Wansaho people in the Saho River Valley from around 1600 BCE to 500 CE. These ideas and practices are preserved and understood through remaining Wansaho texts and archaeological evidence. The Wansaho religion was a major offshoot from the traditional Nur religions and have a particular influence to the (Swamp Nur) to the modern day and their syncretic Christian practices. It was a uniquely bitheistic religion, comprised of a consort pair of a god and goddess who created, sustained, and protected the universe.

Beliefs

Deities

Main articles: Yzur and Tezelt

There are only two deities in the Wansaho religion: Yzur, god of the moon, and Tezelt, goddess of the sun. Worshippers would only worship these two deities, either directly at their temples or shrines, or through petitioning the spirits or their ancestors to get the gods' help or attention. Yzur and Tezelt's domains were not merely to the celestial bodies that they represented and included crucial aspects to Wansaho society. Yzur, for example, was not only the god of the moon, but was the god of war, the god of protection, the god of hunting, and the god of law and justice. Tezelt, along with her title of goddess of the sun was the goddess of life, the goddess of marriage, the goddess of the home, and the goddess of wealth. They stayed in the sky, in their celestial forms of the sun and moon, their astronomical movements given great astrological attention and significance by the priesthoods.

Despite their inferred and practiced equality, different city states and different circumstances would often favor the worship of one god over the other. Generally, Tezelt was worshipped more during times of peace, prosperity, or famine while Yzur would be worshipped more during times of war, natural disaster, and societal instability. The preference of worship of Yzur in Sapeeyopa led to him being worshipped above Tezelt across the Saho River Valley during the late Classic and Postclassic periods, a consequence of Sapeeyopan hegemony.

Spiritual Hierarchy

Despite the bitheistic structure and manner of worship of the Wansaho religion, the Wansaho believed in the existence of spirits or other manifestations of creation. These spirits and manifestations were subordinate to the two gods and included gods from the other Nuric religions, who were in this case demoted.

The Higher Spirits

Yzur and Tezelt had twins in their first act of creation. The twins were Nur, the spirit of the earth, and Tazherat, the spirit of the sky and water. Together they are known as the _ "The Higher Spirits." Unlike other religions, including the other Nuric religions, who believed that gods could give birth to other gods, and despite the importance of the earth, sky, and water as reflected in other religions with a sky god and an earth goddess, these twins were considered manifestations of creation, and thus only spirits. Each twin was paired with a parent, Nur with Tezelt, and Tazherat with Yzur, and petitions to the Higher Spirits were made through the worship of the parent they were paired to.

Malevolent Spirits

While most spirits were inferred to be either benevolent or neutral to the Wansaho and life on Earth in general, the Wansaho believed in the existence and presence of malevolent spirits that would either try to or successfully harm life and people. These malevolent spirits were inferred as diseases, natural disasters, political and social instability, mental illnesses, etc. There were two categorizations of malevolent spirits the Wansaho considered.

One were malevolent spirits that were manifestations or creations of the universe, either as an offspring of the gods or the higher spirits, or as an actual phenomena from the gods or higher spirits such as a thunderstorm or a blue moon, which meant that the gods or higher spirits were wounded or possessed, enacting the phenomena. These malevolent spirits were often depicted in Wansaho art as dark doglike apparitions that emerge from the mountains and run down into the river valley, sowing discord and death in their wake.

The other were malevolent spirits or even deities that exist outside the universe. They were to the Wansaho the Unnamed. They were considered the greatest threat to the Wansaho, the universe, and the existence of the gods. They were unknown, supernatural beings whose primordial powers of darkness and chaos commonly explained great moments of crisis within the Wansaho world. They were the chief enemies of Yzur and Tezelt, and any interpreted moment of one them slain was a cause of great celebration.

Cosmology

The Wansaho believed the universe as constituted by Nur in the center, enveloped with and above by Tazherat, who formed the boundary of the universe. Tezelt and Yzur were transcendent to the boundary, able to enter and exit the universe at will, forming day and night when one or the other was gone respectively.

While both would leave the universe to protect it from outside malevolent spirits, Tezelt had the primary responsibility of life giver and provider to the universe, and Yzur most of the protection work. His comings and goings, as reflected in the lunar cycle, and dimmer light, when compared to Tezelt, were evidence of this to the Wansaho. A full moon signified that Yzur's protection was fully inside the universe, and a new moon signified that Yzur's protection was fully outside the universe, marking a significant vulnerability of the Wansaho to threats inside the universe, and thus a time of fear and preparation. To aid in Yzur's hunt of malevolent spirits within the universe, the ancestors were said to help shine their light in the night sky, joining Tazherat in the sky as stars.

Eclipses were of great significance to the Wansaho and were often celebrated or anticipated as moments of celebration or wariness. A partial lunar eclipse, when Yzur was partially red, signified to the Wansaho that either an internal or external threat to the universe was slain, creating a moment of celebration and libation. When a total lunar eclipse happened, Yzur becoming completely red, it was believed that a "great enemy was slain," the celebrations and libations becoming much more grandiose and appreciative. Solar eclipses, on the other hand, were seen as moments of significant reverence as in Wansaho mythology, the solar eclipse was the sexual intercourse of Yzur and Tezelt and the first act that created the universe. Thus, they were seen as existential moments of creation and prophecy to the Wansaho, and whether partial or total, the Wansaho would celebrate and offer significant libations, hoping that this act of sexual intercourse would either produce a spirit that would help them or produce a spirit that may come to harm them as not all intercourses of Yzur and Tezelt created good beings. "The Great Intercourse" or a total solar eclipse marked a significant birth to the Wansaho, who would watch for signs and consult with the priests on whether this intercourse would lead to good things or signal something worse to come.

Human beings, like all the spirits and animals created by Yzur and Tezelt, were said to have light within them, with darkness as the antithesis of creation, symbolizing chaos, destruction, fear, and possession.

Mythology

Yzur and Tezelt's act of procreation and the birth of the twins created the world as earth, sky, and water were created from the darkness.