Northern Faith
Descendants of the Eltiri, who lived in the lands of Tenwä, practiced traditions and rituals revolving around their animist beliefs—the belief that all the world—whether seen or unseen—was alive around them. They believed that a person was an entity formed of many parts, some physical while others more abstract, but all of them important.
Soul Dualism
The body, according to the traditional northern beliefs, was formed of multiple parts. The physical body, kanrï, held within the rest of the parts which were lojtï (breath: physical warmth and life and heartbeat), elwä (the self: thoughts, skills and memories) and lutï (the nature or guardian: instinct and emotion, also defense against nonphysical threats).
Cosmological Views
The world was a disk moving around a central pillar. This central support structure could be an unseen pillar of unknown shape, or, as in the traditions of the Lennöri and Allorï, a great tree reaching from the depths of the world to its highest peak. When spoken of as a tree, birch, oak and pine were the usual words used to describe this world pillar.
A living energy formed entities collectively called the folk, such as the folk of nature, the folk of the winds, lakes, rivers, animals, and more. Everything that lived had their guardians, their folk, even humans, whose guardian was an integral part of their being.
Animals (and sometimes trees) each had their emi, a mother spirit or a guardian whose depiction shifted depending on the teller. They could be the collective entity who was in, or was itself, every instance of that animal, such as Ëkwamë, the mother of seals. In Astuorë tales, she was every seal as much as she was the mother, guardian and ruler of seals.
Worlds
Three worlds, or realms, shared the universe according to old northern belief. The above, where sun and moon and stars lived with the winds and clouds. The below, where the self descended during sleep and trance and where dreams gave a foothold to a mind not used to a more abstract existence.
Finally there was the world in-between these two, the physical realm lying atop the primal waters, with earth and woods and seas and mountains coloring the landscape. This was, to the northern people, uma (the real). The physical world, neverchanging and protected by light of day and warmth of the sun.
Priesthood
The northern faith was not an organized one. Beliefs shifted and evolved as people adapted in their surroundings, but details could differ somewhat even between clans living within the same region.
Within clans, however, a singular person was often assigned the role of a wiseman (or wisewoman) who took in on themselves to understand the world and the human body enough to offer guidance, aid and healing when necessary. While demanding, the role came with the respect of not only one's own family, but that of surrounding clans as well.
The wisemen were responsible of raising and teaching their own apprentices in secret and often in some seclusion from the rest of the clan. While a wiseman usually chose his apprentice from among his own family, this was not an absolute and rules varied depending on clan, wiseman and the general tradition of the region.
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