Reincarnation

Reincarnation; literally "to be made flesh again", is a belief among the faith of Yuriban Animism in which the souls of the living do not pass on to an afterlife upon death, but instead carry onwards along the Spiral to continue learning of the world and themselves.

The Process of Reincarnation

Yuriban reincarnation blurs the lines between eastern notions of spiritual reincarnation and transmigration where the souls of the dead move away from the center and up from a beginning point along a Spiral unique to each creature, ever-expanding. This belief in reincarnation incorporates the traditions of Yuriban Animism as well, in that everything walks the spiral; plants, trees, animals and even the world itself. Though there is debate among religious castes in Underhill as to the end product of reincarnation and the journey that it encompasses, the earliest steps are universally agreed upon.

The Path Down the Spiral

All souls be they from any world, according to the native Yuribans, walk along the Spiral whether they know it or not. To them, the Lady encompasses the totality of the world and this journey, while the goddess Zokutou is the embodiment of the spaces between the turns of the spiral. During this journey, souls pass from life to life, gaining an understanding of their society and culture as well as themselves both physically and spiritually. It is a perceived cycle of self-betterment that also lends to a positive outlook on death.

Death

When the physical body that encompasses a soul has reached the end of its time, the spirit moves off of the spiral for a brief time and into the care of Zokutou. During this time the soul of the departed is bathed clean of the experiences of its life, removing the direct impression of memories, individuals and events, but retaining the value and worth of these experiences without having to be weighted down by the memories connected to them. Though occasionally there are examples of extremely sensitive individuals retaining significant amounts of their imprinted memories from a previous life, this is the exception and not the norm, and is considered to be allowed for a specific purpose important to the further progress of that soul along the spiral.

A Rotation of the Spiral

A journey of one life down the spiral is called a "Rotation". Traditionally, it's believed that the rotation of the spiral can be seen in cycles of things that are similar but slightly different such as the seasons. In the same sense, it's believed that the lives of most individuals will show several repeating trends; often these are seen as being a clue to something important to be learned in this life.

Terminus of Reincarnation

The ultimate end of reincarnation is debated hotly among Yuriban scholars. One sect of the native Yuriban faith known as the "Ascendants" believe that the Spiral is an unending journey, and that the cycle of reincarnation and experience is one that is unending, that there is "always a way to improve" and believe that the Goddesses are those who are simply further along on the spiral than themselves, but even they still have more to learn and further to go. The "Transcendent" sect, however, believes that the Spiral is a journey of improvement for a specific goal--the transmigration of the mortal soul into the divine. They believe, contrary to the beliefs of the Ascendant sect that once a soul has accumulated enough experience and knowledge in life, that there will be a need for a new goddess, and that the soul will transcend the bonds of mortal existence and reach the end of the spiral to join the other goddesses of the Yuriban pantheon. As Yuriba's goddesses are bound to nature, this belief asserts that the process of transcendence will cause the deified soul to bring a new aspect of nature into existence. The Transcendents believe that all of the deities, excepting the three eldest (the Lady, Zokutou, and Inishie) came from such a spiritual change. However, despite this belief, there is an unquestioning agreement among the sect that it has been at the least several millennia since such an ascension has occurred; to even speak of the notion that a living individual may be close to their own deific rise is among the greatest of all possible blasphemies in the native faith to both sects.

Though these sects disagree on a rather fundamental aspect of their religion, neither is particularly antagonistic to the other.

Native Outlook

The belief among all natives is firm that the body is merely a vessel in which the spirit travels along its spiral, and that each and every individual thing in existence travels their own. Many natives liken this relation to a person and their clothing; "Worn-out garments are shed by the body; Worn-out bodies are shed by the dweller within the body. New bodies are donned by the dweller, like garments." While Yuribans expect to be reincarnated on Yuriba, many are open to belief in the possibility that people in and from other worlds may have been once Yuriban, or will become Yuriban in another life. The obscure native slang term Homewalker is used to refer to an immigrant that a native resident believes has fit into the island so well that they are probably the reincarnation of a former Yuriban returned to their spiritual home. (Merin is an excellent example of a being most Yuribans might refer to as a Homewalker; while not born on the island, she has been there so long, and blended so utterly into the world that most forget she wasn't always there.)