-Standard Religion of the Karitzuian Galaxy-
Many Karitzuians take their religions very seriously, even if no one else does, and since there are no intergalactic restrictions on religion all cultures have free reign with their beliefs. Some Karitzuians have quite serious religions, demanding devout worshipers and daily services. Other religions, however, are much more relaxed, and as long as you believe in <X thing> you're considered a part of the religion regardless of your related activities in churches or at home.
Because the Karitzuian Galaxy is so vast, with so many different races populating it, there are hundreds of religions, and hundreds of sects of religions. However, due to be united much of the Galaxy shares a similar belief system. Below are listed several systems that are widely accepted within the galaxy.
Because the Karitzuian Galaxy is so vast, with so many different races populating it, there are hundreds of religions, and hundreds of sects of religions. However, due to be united much of the Galaxy shares a similar belief system. Below are listed several systems that are widely accepted within the galaxy.
The Planes
Most Karitzuians religions (and religions in general) believe in planes; that is, other levels of existence within the same universe. Karitzuians bundle up these planes into Realms. Realms don't have a strict size limit the way a creature has a territory, or a nation has borders; rather, Realms can expand and contract because their borders are constrained only by belief. Some Karitzuians say that mortals control this expansion, and that mortal belief in a religion can make a Realm huge or annihilate it entirely. Other Karitzuians argue that the spectral beings (non-mortal beings) within the Realm - specifically those that have positions of power - are in control of the existence of the Realm, and that Realms can continue to exist even if there is no mortal support backing them. Regardless, Realms are based entirely upon religion, and due to being religious their existence is entirely theoretical; however, the evidence of supernatural phenomena (miracles, ghosts, superstitious practices, odd creatures, and the still-unexplained mysteries of the universe) begs the question of whether or not Realms do actually exist, which then asks, how many religions are true in their beliefs, and are there any that are wrong or do not actually exist?
Realms raise a lot of questions, and those with science-based minds often dispute the existence of such things entirely. Religious Karitzuians often agree though that if Realms do exist, then that means each religion has its own Realm, and - like states in a country - Realms that are similar or support each other can be amassed under a "Mother Realm", which is simply a base system that serves as a category that these Realms fit into. Some Karitzuians believe that there is a Karitzuian Realm, which is filled with many smaller Realms all originating from religions based within the Karizuian Galaxy. Due to the existence of the Mother Realm lots of Karitzuians inevitably end up believing in the base structure of the Realm, even if they don't fit into any actual religions within it. This base structure is as follows:
Realms raise a lot of questions, and those with science-based minds often dispute the existence of such things entirely. Religious Karitzuians often agree though that if Realms do exist, then that means each religion has its own Realm, and - like states in a country - Realms that are similar or support each other can be amassed under a "Mother Realm", which is simply a base system that serves as a category that these Realms fit into. Some Karitzuians believe that there is a Karitzuian Realm, which is filled with many smaller Realms all originating from religions based within the Karizuian Galaxy. Due to the existence of the Mother Realm lots of Karitzuians inevitably end up believing in the base structure of the Realm, even if they don't fit into any actual religions within it. This base structure is as follows:
- There is an ultimate Creator who created everything. It is often depicted as a male, fatherly figure, and is benevolent and merciful.
- There is a Mortal Plane, which is life as we understand it within the (universe, gigaverse, etc.) as we understand it.
- When a mortal dies, it goes to a Spectral Plane (sometimes called the Between Plane) in a ghost form. It can still interact with the Mortal Plane, but there are often restrictions in place that prevent it from having free reign. In some scenarios, ghosts are trapped within the Spectral Plane for whatever reason. In most other cases, the ghost will travel to a different Plane befitting their experiences in the Mortal Plane and their personalities.
- There is a Heaven Plane, which is the origin of spirits. The Creator creates spirits and gives them the chance of a mortal experience by giving them bodies to inhabit in the Mortal Plane. Thus, Heaven is the home of all spirits. Heaven is also the home of the Creator, and of angels; depending on the religion, angels may be servants of those in Heaven, guardians of Heaven, messengers, or play other, similar roles. In many cases they are subservient to spirits who enter Heaven, though sometimes angels are superior to them.
- There is a Hell Plane, which is where spirits who have had foul lives go. In many religions Hell is a punishment for wrongdoings committed in life, though many Karitzuians actually believe that Hell is a prison, and that the Creator isn't punishing those who go into it, but rather that entering Hell is a decision - indirect or not, conscious or not - of the person in question. Because of free will, those who enter Hell end up doing so on their own accord by choosing to stop following their Creator, rather than being forced by evil or superior entities; and because Karitzuians believe Hell is a prison, rather than an opposite of Heaven that wants to destroy everything, or a dungeon, or a torture chamber, etc., they also believe that demons are actually guards stationed to keep the bad souls inside, rather than being soldiers of some dark entity. The leader of Hell, similarly, acts as a prison warden and a war leader, and is actually appointed by Heaven in order to manage Hell.
- Karitzuians additionally believe in an Abyss Plane. The Abyss is sometimes portrayed as a place darker than Hell, though not in the sense of being more evil; most of the time it is displayed as a place of dreams, or a place of retirement, with skies of perpetual night. Karitzuians believe that the Abyss is a place conjured up by the mind, and manipulated by infinite beings. When a mortal goes to sleep, its spirit temporarily leaves its body; in some cases the spirit will first go to Heaven and record its experiences in mortal life there, before journeying to the Abyss. Here the spirit can manipulate the environment in order to create a "playground" that it can be productive and creative in. Sometimes the denizens of the Abyss can twist these playgrounds into nightmares, and sometimes the spirit can encounter other spirits of sleeping mortals, hence the wide spectrum of dreams one can have. By itself, without spirit manipulation, the Abyss (sometimes called the True Face of the Abyss) is often depicted as an alien world filled with the glowing souls of creatures, both those who are visiting and those who have died and simply want respite from the difficulties of existence.
According to legend the Abyss was once created by the Creator's opposite, some kind of Darkness creature. This other god is no more evil than the Creator, but does have a different outlook on things that balances out the Creator's light and life. The Darkness created the Abyss as its version of Heaven, and resides in it. It has only a few species that it created that are native to the Abyss and have never been mortal, similar to how Heaven has few creatures in it that did not live mortal lives. The biggest difference between the Darkness and the Creator is that the Creator makes things, gives them life, and enlightens them, whereas the Darkness will create things that destroy and deprive of life, and shroud information to create secrets. Not necessarily an angry, vengeful beast that wants everything destroyed, but definitely a contrasting personality.
Sharing Borders
An interesting fact to add is that, because Karitzuians believe that each religion is bundled as a Realm, which theorizes that no religion is false and that all religions exist, this raises the question of how each religion is organized so that they can tolerate each other. This creates the "Sharing Borders" theory. This theory explains that each Realm has dynamic borders in its planes, and that each border stitches to another Realms' border in the same plane the way countries share borders. So even though each Plane is separate, each Plane is so vast that it can encompass hundreds of religions' takes on that Plane. For example, Karitzuians Phoenixes believe in a High Sky, which is their Heaven. They also believe in the Caverns, which is their take on Hell. Christian religion also has a Heaven and a Hell, and ancient Egyptians additionally believed in a Paradise among the gods and a Plane of Trials, which is a difficult plane that spirits had to cross through in order to reach the paradise. According to the Sharing Borders theory, the High Sky could share borders with Christian Heaven, which could share borders with Egyptian Paradise. However, none of the other planes of those religions would share borders with each other in the Plane of Heaven. Similarly, the Caverns and Christian Hell would share borders, but none of the other planes in those same religions would share borders. Because neither the Christians nor the Karitzuian Phoenixes believe in a Plane of Trials, while that plane does theoretically exist, none of their planes would interact with it despite the Egyptians having that Plane. So basically, one Realm can share its borders with all of the planes within itself, but only the respective planes within other Realms.
An easy way to visualize this is with a Neapolitan cake sprinkled with chocolate chips (best example ever): the top strawberry layer could represent the Plane of Heaven, the middle vanilla layer the Plane of Mortals, and the bottom chocolate layer the Plane of Hell each as a whole (the three most common planes in any religion). The chocolate chips on top of the cake represent different religions. Now let's pretend that each chocolate chip is actually the top chip of a string of chips descending through the cake, down to the bottom. But because baking with chips suspended in cake can be erratic, a lot of the chip chains are broken; thus, some of the religions have a place in some of the layers of the cake, but not all of them. So each chocolate chip becomes a marker for whether or not a specific religion does or does not believe in a specific Plane; thus, some of the Realms have no presence within certain Planes. So several chocolate chips can be present in the Heaven (strawberry layer), but they won't always be present in the Mortal (vanilla) and Hell (chocolate) layers too.
One last thing to note is that this theory does allow beings from different planes to meet one another, and to have their territories expand and contract, just like borders in the Mortal Plane. So technically a demon from one Realm can meet a demon from another Realm, but unless a severe cataclysm occurs that upsets the balance of the Planes, or unless beings other than demons can visit that other Realm's plane that houses demons, that same demon won't be able to interact with any other creatures within that Realm that are from different Planes. However, the demon can still interact normally with other beings from other Planes as long as its Realm's religion permits it.
An easy way to visualize this is with a Neapolitan cake sprinkled with chocolate chips (best example ever): the top strawberry layer could represent the Plane of Heaven, the middle vanilla layer the Plane of Mortals, and the bottom chocolate layer the Plane of Hell each as a whole (the three most common planes in any religion). The chocolate chips on top of the cake represent different religions. Now let's pretend that each chocolate chip is actually the top chip of a string of chips descending through the cake, down to the bottom. But because baking with chips suspended in cake can be erratic, a lot of the chip chains are broken; thus, some of the religions have a place in some of the layers of the cake, but not all of them. So each chocolate chip becomes a marker for whether or not a specific religion does or does not believe in a specific Plane; thus, some of the Realms have no presence within certain Planes. So several chocolate chips can be present in the Heaven (strawberry layer), but they won't always be present in the Mortal (vanilla) and Hell (chocolate) layers too.
One last thing to note is that this theory does allow beings from different planes to meet one another, and to have their territories expand and contract, just like borders in the Mortal Plane. So technically a demon from one Realm can meet a demon from another Realm, but unless a severe cataclysm occurs that upsets the balance of the Planes, or unless beings other than demons can visit that other Realm's plane that houses demons, that same demon won't be able to interact with any other creatures within that Realm that are from different Planes. However, the demon can still interact normally with other beings from other Planes as long as its Realm's religion permits it.
The Ikarus Balance System
The Ikarus are space-faring Karitzuians who were first allied with the Arokians. These insectoid beings had a global, civil war at a point in their history, based solely off of belief. Religious wars are the most catastrophic wars due to passion alone, and the fighting went on for a long time. The problem? The Ikarus had two dominant religions at the time, both similar and yet vastly different in principle. The first religion was a religion of Balance of Equalities: it explained that balance within oneself and the universe can only be achieved by making everything the same, so that nothing can conflict with other things; that is, only grey and grey can equal grey. However, the other religion protested that balance can only be achieved through opposites. This Balance of Radicals explained that only black and white can equal grey. On other levels the religions agreed on things; that life must always function through balance, that upsetting the balance always required a greater event to cancel it back out to achieve balance, and that the only way to maintain peace within oneself and in life as a whole was to become tranquil to the things that must exist in order to achieve balance. Yet, the silly creatures couldn't agree on how balance was achieved in the first place, leading to a war driven mainly by fear and passion about trying to keep things balanced in order to prevent future calamities! Both religions were so stubborn that they refused to consider what their new Arokian friends immediately asked; " Why not both?"
It took quite a lot of time and effort for things to eventually be sorted out, but as soon as the Ikarus leaders realized that neither belief was necessarily wrong, they promptly put a stop to the war; at that point, they were only wasting resources! However, the Arokians, not usually ones to be sucked into the cultures of their allies, found the Balance systems to be very interesting. It quickly caught on as a trendy practice that encouraged tranquility, a mindset that allowed one to becomes less devastated by tragic events. With such positive results from those who practiced it, and began practicing it, it quickly began to spread throughout the galaxy.
Not every Karitzuian switched to the Ikarus religion, but the Balance System quickly became regarded as "common sense knowledge", meaning it was a neutral idea that could be taught in schools without infringing on beliefs. Now many Karitzuians belief in the balance system, even if they aren't religious, as it is no longer regarded as a religious matter and its effects remain psychologically positive on most individuals.
It took quite a lot of time and effort for things to eventually be sorted out, but as soon as the Ikarus leaders realized that neither belief was necessarily wrong, they promptly put a stop to the war; at that point, they were only wasting resources! However, the Arokians, not usually ones to be sucked into the cultures of their allies, found the Balance systems to be very interesting. It quickly caught on as a trendy practice that encouraged tranquility, a mindset that allowed one to becomes less devastated by tragic events. With such positive results from those who practiced it, and began practicing it, it quickly began to spread throughout the galaxy.
Not every Karitzuian switched to the Ikarus religion, but the Balance System quickly became regarded as "common sense knowledge", meaning it was a neutral idea that could be taught in schools without infringing on beliefs. Now many Karitzuians belief in the balance system, even if they aren't religious, as it is no longer regarded as a religious matter and its effects remain psychologically positive on most individuals.
The Blending of Supernatural and Physical Phenomena
Many races will conflict on whether science or religion should be believed, and some settle on only one or the other, but Karitzuians take a different stance: they blur the lines so much, there are no lines! Karitzuians believe that supernatural phenomena - demons, ghosts, angels, fate, miracles and wisdom - are no more questionable than phenomena proven by science, non-magical or miraculous things like gravity, thrust forces, or chemical reactions in the brain. How do they blur these lines so effectively though? The answer is simple enough: both interact with one another as different forces in the environment; for the most part, it is hard to distinguish between the phenomena because they can both do similar things.
One great example for explaining this is possession. Some people believe that possession is actually a misunderstood psychological condition, a common explanation being epilepsy. Others believe that demonic spirits force their way into one mortal's body and seize control of it, and the erratic behavior is a result of the mortal in previous control of the body fighting with the demons. Karitzuians see it both ways though; regardless of how it started - whether a demon messing with one's brain, or a surfacing mental condition - as the condition worsens it could be the result of BOTH happening at once! A demon could interfere with the functions of a person's brain, which could cause disorders down the line, and a previous weakness in mental stability could lower one's guard and allow lesser demons in, which could prompt the arrival of stronger, malevolent forces; and because demons don't want to be caught, they will disguise their actions, resulting in either breaking down the person's brain further so the mental condition worsens and is accepted as the only cause, or they simply mimic the symptoms for the same effect. Conversely, a bad mental condition can result in a person thinking that he's seeing demons, even though he can't actually see them despite them being there (or perhaps they reveal themselves in due time?).
Certainly not everyone agrees on this 50/50. There are definitely scientifically-minded Karitzuians that don't believe that supernatural forces can work so well in the Mortal Plane, and accept medical diagnoses more than a priest's word; and of course, there are others who beg to differ and lean toward supernatural causes. However, the idea that both forces and cause and interact with one another is such a popular, compromising idea that a pure atheist or purely religious Karitzuian is a rare sight.
This idea doesn't just address the flaws and malevolence in reality though, it also addresses good things. A Karitzuian argues, why can't God split the sea with science? Why not make it rain with science, or cure diseases with science? Science is just how we measure and further digest the functions of reality; if God created reality, why would he not work according to his own laws? They have a similar mentality with magic; anything they call "magic" is just their way of saying "science that we don't yet understand". After all, if you gave a Native American, who was born in raised in the 1700s a functional plasma-screen television, wouldn't he think that the moving picture and synced-up sounds were magical? If you gave a modern person a pair of metal wings that gave them such bird-like flight it was boggling, wouldn't he too call it magic?
While their reasoning is fairly sound, many other races find Karitzuians exceedingly frustrating because of this, because this kind of mentality makes Karitzuians questioners; they question everything, pick things apart, reverse-engineer them and take every claim with a grain of salt the same way a seasoned NYPD detective would. When you're an alien ally trying to get a simple message across that, hey, this other nation over here is stealing your supplies, it can be an extensive, tiresome process trying to convince Karitzuians that you're telling the truth. The advantage to this is that once you convince a Karitzuian, it will question the validity of the information less and also have a stronger opinion about it; that is, it's less wishy-washy and prevents the awkward switching of alliances in the future.
Back on topic though, one can easily wonder, " How do Karitzuians diagnose things if they see so many possible explanations? That must be maddening!" In truth, it really is pretty maddening, but it also gives Karitzuians a critical thinking edge and gives them "hyper-awareness", in a sense. If one solution doesn't work, then surely another will! So instead of trying to hit the nail on the head first things first, they try out as many solutions as they possibly can until they do actually hit that nail. If medicine isn't helping the epileptic person, then perhaps therapy will. If not therapy, why not try exorcism? If not exorcism, then let's take a closer look at that brain and try something completely stress-free? In the end, if nothing works, Karitzuians will simply resort to research and symptom-reduction, just like any other intelligent creature that wants to help. As a summary though, Karitzuians don't just resort to science, or religion, or superstition; they will try anything and keep an open mind about any evidence collected from those tries, and if science can't explain anything about what is seen then they will willingly accept that, perhaps, the phenomena is simply supernatural in origin.
One final note is that Karitzuians aren't afraid of death. Why is this? Races with more concentrated pockets of advanced technology than them are afraid of pain and death! The reason ties into the above, as well as yet another simple conclusion: mortality is brief, but it isn't all there is. If one believes in supernatural things, those things must come from somewhere, and like most religions Karitzuians believe they come from planes outside of the Plane of Mortality. But the question is, do you start out in the Mortal Plane, or not? Karitzuians say that you don't; they believe in something called the preexistence, which is the idea that you start out as a pure soul in Heaven and that you eventually decide to stay briefly on the Mortal Plane.
" Simple enough, " you think, " But the great question: Why would you ever want to do that?!" Yes, it's fairly common knowledge that life will never be completely good; a perfect utopia is an almost-ludicrous idea, despite what any religious zealot of aspiring politician might tell you. Because of free will, there will always be dissenters who want more, and because of every resource in reality being limited to an extent there will never be enough to satisfy everyone and everything within the known universe. Life is hard. So what soul, in its right mind, would decide " Hey, let's visit mortality!"? Some religions explain that it's because we must prove to our creator (whomever he may be) that we are still righteous and worthy of the fruits of Heaven; other religions say that we are in an everlasting conflict between good and evil, and that mortality is the no-man's-land, the battleground for this. Others still explain that mortality is like a serious hobby, and we need to maintain and spread good things otherwise, like a garden, it must be weeded (destroyed) later on. Karitzuians have an interesting take on it as well: while many will believe in the above, others say that mortality is the tough-learning school for immortals. They explain it like so:
In the preexistence, you are in Heaven (because a benevolent Creator would not put his children in Hell, right?). But in Heaven you can't understand half of the things that your Creator does, despite wanting to be masterful like he is, maybe even gain the privilege of building worlds or guarding the souls of others! This is simply because these things don't exist in Heaven; pain, suffering, misunderstandings and mistakes, these aren't heavenly things. So how could you possibly fathom them, know these things inside and out? It is known that wisdom is greater than knowledge, and wisdom allows one to be more responsible. The best way to gain wisdom is through trial-and-error, something that nature and fate herself teaches us. As a result, Karitzuians believe that the Mortal Plane was created specifically so that pure souls in Heaven could go through the trials to better understand the negative side of reality, which results in the wisdom and knowledge that is needed to gain a higher level of trust and responsibility when one returns to Heaven.
But what about Hell? It's heard constantly in every religion: " Do this and you shall suffer eternally!" But what do Karitzuians have to say about this?
Because Karitzuians believe that, in the preexistence, a soul purposefully chooses a certain life in the Mortal Plane in order to learn in that life, and it is entirely willful; this independence carries on into the Mortal Plane, however, and because one doesn't exactly remember the preexistence when entering mortality (some Karitzuians "see" exceptions in this) there is always that chance that someone will choose to forsake their chosen path, and even forsake being good, and choose to be evil instead, whether consciously or not; and of course, malevolent beings and their superiors are always out to try and convince you to do this, usually using mortal pleasures to do it (which is why Karitzuians make such a distinction between mortal pleasures (eating, high status, wealth, etc.) and immortal pleasures (charity, humbleness, devotion)!). So going to Hell in the end isn't because the Creator banished you, or you didn't pass the trials in a worthy manner, or even that you led a bad life; rather, it is the result of your own doing, like choosing to sow the seeds of weeds rather than wheat.
Things do grow a bit more complicated than that when evil forces are brought into the equation, and every religion defines evil from good in different ways, and condone "grey zones" in different ways as well, but for the most part Karitzuians that believe in this kind of "Mortal Plane = Learning experience of souls" tend to be much more responsible people; they can also be much more wicked and terrifying villains, like what you would read out of a comic book, because as soon as a Karitzuian decides that it is past the point of return (which, with an all-merciful Creator, is quite a ridiculous thought), it will do everything in its power to do everything it can in mortality before it dies regardless of how evil those things may be; these kinds of Karitzuians are the few that do actually fear death, because they feel that they know where they're going once their time is up. Conversely, Karitzuians that feel they has been forgiven, or will be, tend to live very stress-free in regard to death, and those that feel that they haven't been forgiven yet tend to be the most charitable and loving, doing everything in their power to atone for what they've done (in conjunction with the learning experience, they'll return all the more wiser!)
In short, Karitzuians have a rather interesting take on good and evil, supernatural and physical, and life and death. To them everything is connected, which actually influences societal behavior and morals quite a bit. It is a well-known fact that Karitzuians fight until the end, and seem more bothered by trauma and pain than loss of life; interesting how belief interacts with behavior, huh?
One great example for explaining this is possession. Some people believe that possession is actually a misunderstood psychological condition, a common explanation being epilepsy. Others believe that demonic spirits force their way into one mortal's body and seize control of it, and the erratic behavior is a result of the mortal in previous control of the body fighting with the demons. Karitzuians see it both ways though; regardless of how it started - whether a demon messing with one's brain, or a surfacing mental condition - as the condition worsens it could be the result of BOTH happening at once! A demon could interfere with the functions of a person's brain, which could cause disorders down the line, and a previous weakness in mental stability could lower one's guard and allow lesser demons in, which could prompt the arrival of stronger, malevolent forces; and because demons don't want to be caught, they will disguise their actions, resulting in either breaking down the person's brain further so the mental condition worsens and is accepted as the only cause, or they simply mimic the symptoms for the same effect. Conversely, a bad mental condition can result in a person thinking that he's seeing demons, even though he can't actually see them despite them being there (or perhaps they reveal themselves in due time?).
Certainly not everyone agrees on this 50/50. There are definitely scientifically-minded Karitzuians that don't believe that supernatural forces can work so well in the Mortal Plane, and accept medical diagnoses more than a priest's word; and of course, there are others who beg to differ and lean toward supernatural causes. However, the idea that both forces and cause and interact with one another is such a popular, compromising idea that a pure atheist or purely religious Karitzuian is a rare sight.
This idea doesn't just address the flaws and malevolence in reality though, it also addresses good things. A Karitzuian argues, why can't God split the sea with science? Why not make it rain with science, or cure diseases with science? Science is just how we measure and further digest the functions of reality; if God created reality, why would he not work according to his own laws? They have a similar mentality with magic; anything they call "magic" is just their way of saying "science that we don't yet understand". After all, if you gave a Native American, who was born in raised in the 1700s a functional plasma-screen television, wouldn't he think that the moving picture and synced-up sounds were magical? If you gave a modern person a pair of metal wings that gave them such bird-like flight it was boggling, wouldn't he too call it magic?
While their reasoning is fairly sound, many other races find Karitzuians exceedingly frustrating because of this, because this kind of mentality makes Karitzuians questioners; they question everything, pick things apart, reverse-engineer them and take every claim with a grain of salt the same way a seasoned NYPD detective would. When you're an alien ally trying to get a simple message across that, hey, this other nation over here is stealing your supplies, it can be an extensive, tiresome process trying to convince Karitzuians that you're telling the truth. The advantage to this is that once you convince a Karitzuian, it will question the validity of the information less and also have a stronger opinion about it; that is, it's less wishy-washy and prevents the awkward switching of alliances in the future.
Back on topic though, one can easily wonder, " How do Karitzuians diagnose things if they see so many possible explanations? That must be maddening!" In truth, it really is pretty maddening, but it also gives Karitzuians a critical thinking edge and gives them "hyper-awareness", in a sense. If one solution doesn't work, then surely another will! So instead of trying to hit the nail on the head first things first, they try out as many solutions as they possibly can until they do actually hit that nail. If medicine isn't helping the epileptic person, then perhaps therapy will. If not therapy, why not try exorcism? If not exorcism, then let's take a closer look at that brain and try something completely stress-free? In the end, if nothing works, Karitzuians will simply resort to research and symptom-reduction, just like any other intelligent creature that wants to help. As a summary though, Karitzuians don't just resort to science, or religion, or superstition; they will try anything and keep an open mind about any evidence collected from those tries, and if science can't explain anything about what is seen then they will willingly accept that, perhaps, the phenomena is simply supernatural in origin.
One final note is that Karitzuians aren't afraid of death. Why is this? Races with more concentrated pockets of advanced technology than them are afraid of pain and death! The reason ties into the above, as well as yet another simple conclusion: mortality is brief, but it isn't all there is. If one believes in supernatural things, those things must come from somewhere, and like most religions Karitzuians believe they come from planes outside of the Plane of Mortality. But the question is, do you start out in the Mortal Plane, or not? Karitzuians say that you don't; they believe in something called the preexistence, which is the idea that you start out as a pure soul in Heaven and that you eventually decide to stay briefly on the Mortal Plane.
" Simple enough, " you think, " But the great question: Why would you ever want to do that?!" Yes, it's fairly common knowledge that life will never be completely good; a perfect utopia is an almost-ludicrous idea, despite what any religious zealot of aspiring politician might tell you. Because of free will, there will always be dissenters who want more, and because of every resource in reality being limited to an extent there will never be enough to satisfy everyone and everything within the known universe. Life is hard. So what soul, in its right mind, would decide " Hey, let's visit mortality!"? Some religions explain that it's because we must prove to our creator (whomever he may be) that we are still righteous and worthy of the fruits of Heaven; other religions say that we are in an everlasting conflict between good and evil, and that mortality is the no-man's-land, the battleground for this. Others still explain that mortality is like a serious hobby, and we need to maintain and spread good things otherwise, like a garden, it must be weeded (destroyed) later on. Karitzuians have an interesting take on it as well: while many will believe in the above, others say that mortality is the tough-learning school for immortals. They explain it like so:
In the preexistence, you are in Heaven (because a benevolent Creator would not put his children in Hell, right?). But in Heaven you can't understand half of the things that your Creator does, despite wanting to be masterful like he is, maybe even gain the privilege of building worlds or guarding the souls of others! This is simply because these things don't exist in Heaven; pain, suffering, misunderstandings and mistakes, these aren't heavenly things. So how could you possibly fathom them, know these things inside and out? It is known that wisdom is greater than knowledge, and wisdom allows one to be more responsible. The best way to gain wisdom is through trial-and-error, something that nature and fate herself teaches us. As a result, Karitzuians believe that the Mortal Plane was created specifically so that pure souls in Heaven could go through the trials to better understand the negative side of reality, which results in the wisdom and knowledge that is needed to gain a higher level of trust and responsibility when one returns to Heaven.
But what about Hell? It's heard constantly in every religion: " Do this and you shall suffer eternally!" But what do Karitzuians have to say about this?
Because Karitzuians believe that, in the preexistence, a soul purposefully chooses a certain life in the Mortal Plane in order to learn in that life, and it is entirely willful; this independence carries on into the Mortal Plane, however, and because one doesn't exactly remember the preexistence when entering mortality (some Karitzuians "see" exceptions in this) there is always that chance that someone will choose to forsake their chosen path, and even forsake being good, and choose to be evil instead, whether consciously or not; and of course, malevolent beings and their superiors are always out to try and convince you to do this, usually using mortal pleasures to do it (which is why Karitzuians make such a distinction between mortal pleasures (eating, high status, wealth, etc.) and immortal pleasures (charity, humbleness, devotion)!). So going to Hell in the end isn't because the Creator banished you, or you didn't pass the trials in a worthy manner, or even that you led a bad life; rather, it is the result of your own doing, like choosing to sow the seeds of weeds rather than wheat.
Things do grow a bit more complicated than that when evil forces are brought into the equation, and every religion defines evil from good in different ways, and condone "grey zones" in different ways as well, but for the most part Karitzuians that believe in this kind of "Mortal Plane = Learning experience of souls" tend to be much more responsible people; they can also be much more wicked and terrifying villains, like what you would read out of a comic book, because as soon as a Karitzuian decides that it is past the point of return (which, with an all-merciful Creator, is quite a ridiculous thought), it will do everything in its power to do everything it can in mortality before it dies regardless of how evil those things may be; these kinds of Karitzuians are the few that do actually fear death, because they feel that they know where they're going once their time is up. Conversely, Karitzuians that feel they has been forgiven, or will be, tend to live very stress-free in regard to death, and those that feel that they haven't been forgiven yet tend to be the most charitable and loving, doing everything in their power to atone for what they've done (in conjunction with the learning experience, they'll return all the more wiser!)
In short, Karitzuians have a rather interesting take on good and evil, supernatural and physical, and life and death. To them everything is connected, which actually influences societal behavior and morals quite a bit. It is a well-known fact that Karitzuians fight until the end, and seem more bothered by trauma and pain than loss of life; interesting how belief interacts with behavior, huh?
All content displayed on this site is copyright of the creator. Before doing anything on this site, please review this page for distribution rights.