The Cult of MolikEspecially in rural societies, the Cult of Molik is still vivid. Although the High Priests have let known that the Old Gods are defeated and no longer supposed to be worshipped, the believe in Molik, but also in the other Old Gods Nox, Vaya-Marei and Trigo still lives among some people. The Cult of Molik however, is much larger than any other cult.Molik, as the priests will tell, used to be the husband of our goddess Gräins. She is our goddess of life, and Molik, her counterpart, was the god of Death. The Molik cult celebrated in the rural societies stresses on the aspect of death. It is not unthinkable the rites include human sacrifices, murder and mutilation. The Molik idol can be found in the Weslanan fields. Most people claim the idol scares away the birds. This can be, but some birds don’t let themselves get scared away, and the idols are a warm home to kaurnwyrms. Many farmers probably don’t know the meaning of the idols raised in the wheat fields, but some do. It has been reported that travellers who were looking for some shadow from an idol found the remains of slaughtered animals under it - probably a sacrifice to the evil god. Research in the Weslanan taught us the cult was way beyond a pure ritual of people who were thinking in past times. A priest of Gräins in the county of Tarnov, who wants to stay anonymous, told: “Do not forget the Weslanan are the heartland of a different kind of people as De Erflanden. Where they once came from, they probably had a god like Molik, male, evil, dead related, and therefore powerful. This might have stuck in their memories, and still has a part of their life. Faith is an unexplainable strength, and we do not know where it comes from, and the faith in Molik might come from the same place.” “Further, life can be hard here on the fields - and both Gräins and Molik are the best suitable gods for the fields, the harvest and the seeds. Molik provides a target to focus on when things are bad, when the harvest is bad, when cattle dies and children too. He can be both the cause of this and the solution. So they pray to Molik, and offer him life in the form of small, killed animals. No, I can not confirm they also ritually murder humans.” The anonymous priest was very careful in his words and was alert to any sound in the temple garden. It was obvious he was scared of something, and later he confessed he did not want to talk about Molik in public, the followers of the Cult could be dangerous. Although asked several times, he did not answer to the question what he meant by dangerous. A traveller of old age in “De Schele Vos”, Tarnov, told how the followers could be recognised. He said he had to know, for all his life he had been along the roads of the Weslanan, and he always wanted to be sure to survive the night. It turned out he had slept in the fields or, if he found work, with the farmers of the Weslanan. “The Molik idols in the fields do not speak. Everyone can have an idol. But if it is well kept, with clean clothes, and a nice hat, that a kid like I was might want to nick, it is a bad sign. Finding food at the feet of the idol might point in the direction of a sacred place, but all the same, many farm workers like to come together at the idol to eat at noon. In the wide fields of De Gouden Velden, there are hardly any other places to recognise as a meeting point. But I do have found killed animals on some occasions, they were placed in a dish, so it could not have been the slaughtering by any prey bird or scavenger. By the way, kaurnwyrms are considered a part of Molik, so they are not killed.” “Talking of kaurnwyrms, the clothes of the Weslanan people might be decorated with the fur of this creature. If it is fashion in the salons, there is no problem with that, the people here like to show off their wealth. But when the wealth of a kaurnwyrms fur is hidden or in the clothes of the poorer people, it might be a sign of the cult. The very poor cannot afford the fur, and they do decorate themselves with straw around their necks and arms. The richer people sometimes use golden straw to decorate themselves, gold braces in the form of straw, very expensive, but it separates them from the normal kaurnwyrms fur wearing people.” “But you have to look very carefully to recognise the straw from the wheat ears. Ears are used by the followers of Gräins, and are very common.” “Inside the houses, you can find straw dolls. Any young girl might want to play with these dolls, and they do. They are cheap, and easy to make. But girls do play with them, take them along, make the dolls dirty and worn. Not so the dolls that are used for the cult. They sit on the windowsills to protect the house from evil, from death. They are neatly dressed, sometimes even in kaurnwyrms furs. Girls are not allowed to play with them. Dolls like that are taken into the fields, during harvest. Because they believe Molik might hide in the wheat fields and the sheaves, and they want to show they believe in his power.” More south, in the small village of West, a young man tells about the rituals: “In the nights when Lukarna hides her face, you can see the fires of the followers of Molik. They set alight a sheave - all through the year, they save them to use for this purpose. I do think they put some things in these sheaves - gifts for Molik. I once was close to such a ritual and I think I heard something scream inside. It might have been a baby or an animal.” “I heard this story from a girl in Angrazn, she told me that she and her lover went into the fields at night, and hid in a shed where not a stond later a ritual for Molik took place. She said that they made and idol, and brought it to life with spells and the blood of a goat. I do not know if this is true, but she seemed intelligent and sober to me. And I did hear about an army of Molik idols, marching to Ildritz in the last war... it was spotted by many men here in the Weslanan.” A famous place for the Cult of Molik is the grave of Molik, west of Arhym. It is a hill, not very high, but rather long - an enormous grave it might be. The lifeless surroundings make the place rather morbid. Twice a year, so the people of Arhym say, the followers of Molik gather at the grave, and celebrate their God. The field kindins however, never reported anything out of the ordinary on these days. But, like the priest said earlier, they might be part of the cult, or, more probably, too scared to take action against the cult. But is the Cult of Molik so dangerous to our empire? The cult itself, as celebrated by the farm workers of the Weslanan, is not dangerous to the position of Daleth and the Emperor. Although people might get killed -which should be condemned at any time- during the rites, it is no threat to society in general. But there are some followers of Molik who do not want to wait till Molik himself gains power, and they will use any means to get more power. These people are found among the leaders of the cult, although the normal followers do not accept any leadership in religious actions. Driven by power over people, these leaders can also be found in the upper classes of society, and therefore they can have an influence on politics in Daleth. Their agendas include the return of Molik in the elemental religion, human sacrifices each night Lukarna hides her face, and an active role for the Emperor in the religion. Natural fundamentalistsAs a branch of both the natural religion as the elemental religion, the natural fundamentalists should have a stable position in Dalethian culture. It has not.The natural fundamentalists are usually Naglani who made contact with the elemental religion, but other people can be involved as well. The core of the movement exists of students, scientists and intellectuals; they do have helpers in any class of society. Priests of the elemental religion and shamans of the natural religion can be part of the movement, but this is in most cases against their will or they are manipulated without knowing. The goal of the movement is to bring all elements together and reform Alls. This will be according to popular believe, the end of the world. They are researching technics, such as alchemy, and religions (with meditation) to find clues to do this. The natural fundamentalists have contacts with the steampriests for the knowledge of steam, to some the superior element - the element of Alls. SteampriestsClose related to the natural fundamentalists are the steampriests. The steampriests claim that steam has it’s own god, Alls, for steam brings all elements together. They work together with the natural fundamentalists and some steam engineers. Their worst enemies are the refusers, and the refusers might take violent action to any ceremony led by steampriests.The steampriests usually work in Ildritz, but can also be found in any place where steam is more developed than elsewhere, such as Nieuw-Gamoor, Sterrenbos and Ciniz. They make engineering a part of religion, and put religion into technics. The more theoretic steampriests have developed plans for steam engines that are far beyond the possibilities of mankind and the laws of nature. The fantasies these people are spreading among our society are endless. But some people believe in those fantasies and either put money in those projects or volunteer for tests - and die. The steampriests do not have their own temples yet. They celebrate steam in salons and steam powered factories. They are dressed in modern fashion -sometimes even trendy, like the people in the Glassgardens- and have no signs that makes them steampriests to the common eye. They will hand out pamphlets in the streets to anyone interested. Some attract interest by showing a small, working steam engine model. The danger of these priests of steam lays in the commotion they can cause among the citizens, and the riots they rouse when confronted with refusers. The Empire also has to be aware of the illusions of a steam future these priests project on our society. Related topics: |