G'ecko Religion

The goddess of the G'ecko is the "Mother of All G'ecko," Amitam. She is honored as the very first of her species, who was born from the giant egg that makes up the main structure of Egg-Home. From her, all G'ecko claim decendance, and it is mostly her direct children who fill the rosters of the Demi-Gods, though this does not include all of the Demi-Gods. She is considered to have been the source of the G'ecko's love for Life and their inability to kill a sentient life form. She is also the primary source for much of the G'ecko's understanding of themselves, magic, ethics, morals, and many of their cultural norms. The story of her awakening/hatching from the Egg-Home, her early life traveling the world, and her subsequent lonliness and the birth of the G'ecko race through her children is most often told in the form of a massive epic song that is the foundation stone of the G'ecko religion and culture. There are also a myriad of smaller songs which explain various parabels associated with her. These most often teach some key moral virtue to the G'ecko, or explain some key facet of life.

The G'ecko often refer to their inability to kill as the "Great Promise" or the "Great Blessing." This refers to how in the Song of the G'mah, upon the hatching of her children, the first Demi-Gods, Amitam emparts upon them her most important lessons. The first of these lessons is the G'ecko understanding of "sentience and the soul." Amitam explains that inside of every sentient lifeform there are two wells, one of life and one of "Aysmirah." Aysmirah in Ahkahdeh is a complex word that means both "the potential to do good things" and "magic." Amitam explains that it is the Well/Spring of Aysmirah that makes a creature sentient. It is the existence of this well that allows a creature to make decisions about how to act in the world. Without their personal Spring, they would be chained to their base instincts. She goes on to explain that all Good and Evil flow from actions made with these Springs. Good actions embolden the Spring and the "Waters of Aysmirah" will flow freely throughout the body. Bad or Evil deeds will corrupt the waters and muddy them, filling the body with bad feelings and thoughts. Thus a good G'ecko should consider what they do and say in order to maintain their own personal Spring and endeavor to never corrupt it if they can avoid doing so. Amitam also explains that without lifeforms with these springs, the world would exist in a dull infinite cycle of gray. Animals and plants would be born, consume, grow, and die. No games would be played, no dances danced, no songs sung. The suns and moon would continue to traverse the skies, but nothing would change. The world would become musicless and colorless, nothing more than the same things happening over and over again. Thus she charges her children with a sacred task, and makes them swear that they will NEVER willingly damage or close a Spring of Aysmirah. Should they do so, she will call their own Spring to her, and they will die. This is the explanation the G'ecko have for why they cannot kill.

There are many Demi-Gods amongst the G'ecko and not all are accepted across the entire species. Some are specific to certain tribes. There is however a small group/canon of demi-gods which are revered throughout all of G'ecko society. First of the Demi-gods is "The Hunter," (Name TBD) this is a male G'ecko who is honored as the penultimate hunter and the one who first learned how to track and catch prey. He is also considered to be the source of most G'ecko combat knowledge and skills. Then there is "The Wanderer," the first nomad of the G'ecko. He who tamed the sands and learned to speak with the elements. He is highly reveered by the G'ecko tribes who wander afar from Egg-Home, and by the shamans. He is considered to be the source for much of the G'ecko's herb-lore and knowledge of the flora of their home. The shamans also revere "The Trickster" for she was the first to practice the skills of magic and there are many stories of how she tricks various elementals and spirits into sharing their knowledge with her, and thus the G'ecko species. This Demi-God stands out amongst her peers as being the only Demi-God that has been recorded as actively being spoken of by various elemental spirits, thus making her existence substantially more concrete. Lastly, there is "Assam, the Smiling One" also known as "He who Smiles." Assam is the Demi-God of parties, good times, and dancing. Many stories point to him as the source of many cultural holidays and in-tandem with the Trickster, as the origin for many G'ecko sports and games. Outside of "The Mother," Assam is probably the Demi-God referenced most often in G'ecko daily life, and it is often claimed that he still makes appearances at many G'ecko festivals.

The G'ecko do not worship these Demi-God ancestors. Instead these Ancestors are used more broadly as the subjects of folk myths and stories to educate children and to have a communal story of their own species to unite behind. Many stories of these ancestors will be shared around campfires or told on special holidays. Some of these stories are even acted out by various performers. These stories act as parabels and moral stories, as well as an oral history of the G'ecko and their various accomplishments and traditions. These ancestors do not often have offerings made to them, nor are they necessarily enshrined anywhere. The Mother does have a shrine to her inside of "Egg-Home," though it is not so much a place of worship as it is a memorial marker. Some festivals will build temporary shrines of Assam or have one esteemed member of the party dress up and act as Assam for the duration of the event, but this is more a recognition of a tradition and honoring of an important member in the history of the G'ecko and not a diefication of Assam.

The G'ecko may share stories of the ancestor Demi-Gods, but they more personally relate to and talk much more often of their personal ancestors. These ancestors contain lineages that allow for familial bonds between tribes, and also can sometimes record long standing tribal feuds and competitions between tribes.

A G'ecko is taught at a young age to be respectful to their elders, specifically to the tribal elders who act mostly in advisorial roles for the tribe. These would typically be the G'ecko's grandparents. Unlike more authoritary civilizations, this cultural edict to respect one's elders very much ends with respect. There is no compulsion to be subervient to an elder, only to respect them as a source of wisdom, information, and often as the personal links to many of the other tribes. (At leasta one G'ecko out of any mated couple is often from a tribe different from the one they currently reside in.) Many times children are called upon to help in the care of their elders, and this is often not seen as something that can be opted out of, however this is not an act of subservience, but as a way to teach children dilligence, kindness, and various skills that will be necessary for all G'ecko to know as part of a tribe. If an elder is found to be particularly authoritative to a child, then that is considered to be poor behavior on the part of the elder and the matter will be addressed by the parents of the child, or by the whole tribe if necessary. It is quite common for the elders to be the main caretakers of the tribe's children between the ages of 4-14 years. During this time, the care and respect for the elders given by the children is exchanged by the elders providing the children with stories of their tribe's lineage and being trained in trades/crafts/skills specific to the tribe.

Other aspects of G'ecko tribal worship are found in G'ecko turbans, and in tribal shrines. The G'ecko all, regardless of gender wear a tribal head wrapping or turban. This turban consists of a specific set of colors and patterns unique to their tribe. Often there are tribal stories associated with the colors and patterns chosen. These stories either ascribing meaning to the features of the turban as part of a tribal narrative or as a mnemonic to remember specific tribal practices/beliefs. The turban is of great importance to a G'ecko and is often recieved upon completion of a "coming of age" rite.

G'ecko tribal shrines are highly varied across all the tribes of the G'ecko. More sedentary tribes may have larger shrines, made of heavy materials and thus be more resilient to wear over time. Others might be smaller, more capable of being picked up and carried with the tribe. Some are even found in the form of great tapestries, woven from the silk the tribe produces from their livestock. These shrines typically will include a recording of all the G'ecko who have been members of the tribe throughout the tribe's history. The G'ecko having no written language, this record usually is in the form of handprints, pictographs, simple drawings, or some other mnemonic means understandable only by members of that tribe. Many of the shrines of tribes who have disappeared, either through the actions of hostile lifeforms or simply through the passage of time, are collected at Egg-Home, near to the Shrine of the Mother. All G'ecko tribal shrines are treated with holy reverence, even by members of other tribes or tribes actively hostile with each other. The tribal shrine is considered to be the repository of the tribe itself and thus the tampering or destruction of a tribal shrine is considered to be the same as the killing of the tribe itself.

The G'ecko hold one abstraction above all others in their religious faith, and that is the sanctity of all life. The G'ecko believe that every living thing, from plant to animal to G'ecko and the other sentient species, contains an inherent value. To this end the G'ecko have many rituals and practices around this tenannt. The G'ecko give thanks whenever they are required to "harvest life" in order to sustain themselves. They consider the over-harvesting of life as an issue of morality and it is something much discussed in their daily lives. "Do we have enough food to sustain us? Should we hunt more? How many of _________ prey have we seen? Should we hunt for something else? etc." The G'ecko do not refrain from the hunting or harvesting of those things necessary to sustain them and to foster their economic success, but they can often be seen to worry or consider how much they are utilizing, how sustainable it is, and whether or not they are showing a proper amount of appreciation for what their harvesting gets them.

With regard to this religious devotion to life, the G'ecko make a major distinction between sentient life and non-sentient life. The G'ecko record it as a major teaching of "The Mother" that all sentient life have a "well" inside of them, through which the waters of kindness flow. To destroy a well, a source of water and kindness, is the most deplorable thing to a G'ecko. This social taboo, in tandem with their Bio-Psychological reaction to the death of sentient life, make the G'ecko extremely sensitive to violent deaths, especially those that could be avoided such as murder, starvation, etc. The G'ecko consider it a highly moral duty to prevent the "closing of a well" to the best of their ability.

Another, more personal and individualistic side of this "Life Worship" comes in the phrase, "To live a good life." Each and every G'ecko considers this to be the penultimate accomplishment of any individual. Every G'ecko will have their own idea of what a "good life" contains, but some aspects are consistent across most of the species. These common aspects are the pursuit of experiences, the appreciation of challenges, the appreciation of tragedies, and the value of living in and of itself. Each G'ecko will have in mind a "bucket list" or guiding principle behind what kind of experiences they wish to pursue and value whether it be a variety or a specific set. They seek out personal challenges to varying degrees, and can often be just as happy in their failures as the are in their successes. They are appropriately sad and distraught when tragic events happen to them, but elder G'ecko are often heard remarking on how thankful they are for not only their good memories, but also their "bad" ones as well. To a G'ecko, to be alive and experiencing the world is a personally holy bliss and something only each individual can do to their utmost and they are often characterized by the zeal with which they attack this passion.

Many of the G'ecko, not just their shamans, engage in conversing with the miriad of elementals who inhabit their world. Spirits of the air tell them when storms approach, spirits of the water whisper to them from far away, leading them to oasis and wells, the sands literally move under their feet, propelling them across the deserts faster than any would-be assailant. This relationship is not the product of any formal worship, but from generations of mutual respect and friendship. The G'ecko, ever since their ancestor known as "The Wanderer," have cultivated these relationships with the local elemental spirits, listening to their wants and needs and attending to them as much as they are able. This has lead these spirits to offer much aid to the G'ecko. This does not fully protect the G'ecko from wrathful elementals, nor does it fully protect them from the various hazards of their environment, but it does give them a leg up on any of the other species who seek to enter their homeland.