Hehehe, I get kinda giddy when people want to know about the scenarios I build because I put way too much thought into these things. The Purists and Neo Purists are two sister religions as it were that share their origins but deviated from one another at a critical juncture that caused them to be dramatically different. I guess we’ll start with the similarities and that starts with the creation story.
In the beginning there were only two gods, Kami and Magi, life and death, light and dark. Wherever one did not exist, the other did and they swirled against one another in constant conflict until Kami decided to break his power into countless pieces and fill the sky with stars. To combat this, Magi used her power to create the planets which would always block the light of the stars and create shadow. Where the light and dark met, the gods beget their first children, the demigods Ki and Psy, body and mind- for without life and death, there could be no mind or body. Unlike their parents, Ki and Psy did not fight but worked together to create all living things, pleasing their father Kami with each life they created and pleasing their mother Magi with their inevitable death. Together they created all the plants and animals in the world and, after marveling at their creation, went to rest for a thousand years.
When Ki and Psy awoke, they found that the world was virtually unchanged. The plants and animals continued from day to day same as they had when Ki and Psy created them and they were not pleased with this. They did not want the world to stay the same but to grow and flourish and so, combining their efforts once more, they introduced thought to the world with their final creation: Mankind. And this is where the two religions deviate.
Purists believe that before mankind, the world was pure and innocent. While free will may have caused it to flourish, it also brought with it jealousy and hatred. They believe that mankind’s ambition is responsible for all of our conflict and evil in the world and it is only by forsaking all desires can we truly use our free will to work for a better world. Due to this perspective, some sects of Purists believe that the source of all evil in the world stems from Mankind and is used as justification to hate humans. Most Purists are Anthros. Many Purists pray to Ki and Psy through meditation and careful physical activities to better hone their minds and bodies.
Neo Purists believe that before mankind, the world was dumb and ignorant. Humans came bearing the greatest gift of all, free will, and it was the rest of the world that corrupted this gift and turned it towards savagery and squabbling. Many, if not most sects believe that humans are the rightful inheritors to this earth and it is through their guiding hand that all other creatures can live rightly. They pray to Kami and Magi and as life and death are laws of the universe, so do Neo Purists believe that it is through laws and justice that the world can be made a better place. With this perspective- and their beliefs being manifested through humans conquering all they perceived as savages to institute their laws upon them- most Neo Purists are humans and use their religion as justification to hate anthros.
As for Wiccans like Ri, these are people that pray strictly to Magi and believe all lights are eventually extinguished and give way to darkness and we can only look forward to embracing our eventual and eternal return to darkness- and act out Magi’s will in life. This is often ritualistic and may include sacrifices among certain sects but human/anthro sacrifices are a thing of the past for it is with our light that we can light new flames which too will eventually be extinguished.
-TB
