After reading the books on the Tokatah rooftop I began to think: Why is there no religious temple in the City? It seems the D'ni were very religious people who formalized marriage and other life walks with ritualized intricacy. It seems we should have a place for ceremonies for Death, Birth, Growth (puberty ceremonies, religious instruction, et. al. ), Maturity, and Old Age.

I could see a new bevin for the religious minded with High Priestesses and Priests, etc... Volunteers who could formalize the rituals and creeds of the D'ni. And exploratory Ages where the rituals and ceremonies are enacted with participation: marriage ages, burial ages, puberty ages, any cycle of life age...

I read about the "Bracelet of Knowledge" in one of the books. It represented a station in the life cycle of maturity. I could see avatars assigned differenet colored bracelets to wear as they reach different levels in the game cycle. Others could be seen as Leaders, Priests (esses), Guild hierarchy etc....

These could be bestowed on members who show a level of understanding and respect within the community, and given as acknowledgement of their understanding and maturity. I see a URU game that really enters the full mythology of the D'ni in a participatory way...

Right now it seems that certain members tried with the DRC affiliation, but that it was disbanded... I'm not versant in the full hisory of the online version, but see that the Bandwidth issues are becoming resolved with the new Game Tap implementation. Now it seems that Cyan needs a few more visionaries rather than just hard-core engineers to enable a fully-participatory mini gameverse....

I found the John Lynch (http://religion.theurulives.com/index.php) information very useful... Looks like there is a beginning of a restoration project for the religious sector in this small kernel of information.

One of the things discovered is that the Great Temple of the King lies buried below the Guild Hall. The Temple was a late addition. The original inhabitants of D'ni were the Ronay who brought their religious ideology with them to Ronay. Later kings had it sealed off and made into a Tomb, then King Mer'ta had the seal broken and the books removed.

The official religion was that of Yahvo with the Church of Yahvo being the body that determined what the official religion taught. However in addition to the Church were numerous sects that sprung up around particular prophets of Yahvo. In 2500 DE there were 2000 of them registered at that time. Despite the large number of sects only a few are known today.

We may need to explore the ability in the future of excavating or tunneling below the Guild Hall to discover the ancient runis of this Temple.

Now we need to codify all the known facts in the King's Books.

There is a mention that some books were taken from the Temple of the King and placed in the Temple of the Tree. This is another item that needs to be explored and thought about. Where was the Temple of the Tree?


I plan on doing a thorough study of the books over the next week or so and will report back any new findings.

thanks all who contributed information...

P.S. I'm thinking of deleting my current Bevin and then creating a D'ni Temple Hood that will allow others of like persuasion to join in this type of discussion.

Before I do it I may do a poll and discover how many would join such a Hood... and also discover what name we should give it.

This might actually become the D'ni Temple Hood where people could join in and discover, write hymns ... songs ... etc... that could then be posted on either a website or a new Forumn devoted to Religion....

Well, just an idea.... any others have suggestions?

thanks, earthwiz....
Just a thought...

c'ya earthiwizard...

May the gods and goddesses of D'ni bless you!

Last edited by earthwizard on Sun Jan 21, 2007 7:09 am; edited 1 time in total

Hi Earthwizard

If you haven't read the king's journals in the Hall of Kings, then I really recommend them. Lots of references to various religious movements in the D'ni history.

from what I've read a lot of the religious buildings were destroyed by various Kings throughout the years. And some are buried beneath renovations and constructions of new buildings, such as the Tomb of the Great King, the Great Temple I'm not quite sure about.

Nigel

I very much want to second this. In Until Uru, I got involved in a subplot involving D'ni spirituality. Basicly, my IC self was hearing "voices" reciting what sounded like D'ni psalms and stuff (had loads of fun writing them, BTW).

I would really love to get more info on D'ni religion. And, to you listening Cyanites, if you want a psalm-writer, I'm your girl.

~Shiloh

I'll third it. After reading in the Hall of Kings about several temples built, I'd love to see some of them, and see them tie into the story somehow.

_________________
~Bugsy~

"I'd rather be hated for who I am...than loved for who I'm not..."

Vant Zant~Help Somebody

You know those giant floating monoliths in the Eders?

I can't help but think that those have religious significance of some kind.

Same design. Same massive prominance, same seemingly useless bit of "art", so it might have meaning behind it.

Symbol of the Maker, perhaps?

I'm sure the monoliths are of King Shomat who had the Ages written. Sure it's mentioned in one of the journals, but could be wrong

In-depth coverage of D'ni religion (and by this I mean Ages, written materials, new areas in the City, etc.) is something I've been looking forward to seeing for a very long time.

The following quote from Dr. Watson's letter to Mathew, found on the Tokotah Rooftop, has given me hope of one day seeing such things made available to Explorers:

Quote:

3. We still have religious writings we need to translate. These are going to be the most difficult but I think they can give us large amounts of helpful information.

Here's hoping that Mathew did as he was asked!

-Alex

_________________
"The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen."
-G.K. Chesterton

In fact , I think there's a kind of religious building on A'egura.

There's this semi round structure carved directly in the rock wall between the stairs going to King Hall and the end of Great Zero Line. You can see all theses windows with blurred Stained Glass...

Well, I really thing it a church or something......

NSymon wrote:

I'm sure the monoliths are of King Shomat who had the Ages written. Sure it's mentioned in one of the journals, but could be wrong

I don't know why this constitutes a spoiler, but what the heck: The garden Ages released by the DRC were written during the 8100s DE, more than 7000 years after Shomat died. Given Shomat's history, it is very doubtful that the D'ni of that time would have been erecting statues in his honor.

_________________

*SLMW 1.0* No animals were harmed in the production of this message.

There are some useful notes on what we know of D'ni religion over at John Lynch's Uru Lives site: http://religion.theurulives.com/index.php

_________________
Your story is Unwritten.
Unwritten - Adventures in the Ages of Myst and Beyond
MOULagain KI#27460 - Second Life: Vax Sirnah

I found the John Lynch information very useful... Looks like there is a beginning of a restoration project for the religious sector in this small kernel of information.

One of the things discovered is that the Great Temple of the King lies buried below the Guild Hall. The Temple was a late addition. The original inhabitants of D'ni were the Ronay who brought their religious ideology with them to Ronay. Later kings had it sealed off and made into a Tomb, then King Mer'ta had the seal broken and the books removed.

The official religion was that of Yahvo with the Church of Yahvo being the body that determined what the official religion taught. However in addition to the Church were numerous sects that sprung up around particular prophets of Yahvo. In 2500 DE there were 2000 of them registered at that time. Despite the large number of sects only a few are known today.

We may need to explore the ability in the future of excavating or tunneling below the Guild Hall to discover the ancient runis of this Temple.

Now we need to codify all the known facts in the King's Books.

There is a mention that some books were taken from the Temple of the King and placed in the Temple of the Tree. This is another item that needs to be explored and thought about. Where was the Temple of the Tree?


I plan on doing a thorough study of the books over the next week or so and will report back any new findings.

thanks all who contributed information...

P.S. I'm thinking of deleting my current Bevin and then creating a D'ni Temple Hood that will allow others of like persuasion to join in this type of discussion.

Before I do it I may do a poll and discover how many would join such a Hood... and also discover what name we should give it.

This might actually become the D'ni Temple Hood where people could join in and discover, write hymns ... songs ... etc... that could then be posted on either a website or a new Forumn devoted to Religion....

I see there is a History and Myth forum that could be used for this instead of the Game Discussion forumn.

Well, just an idea.... any others have suggestions?

thanks, c'ya earthwiz

There was a discussion by a character named Harlan Mason in the city that went in some of this direction, I think. So I think it's a part of the D'ni history that people are interested in.

_________________
Your story is Unwritten.
Unwritten - Adventures in the Ages of Myst and Beyond
MOULagain KI#27460 - Second Life: Vax Sirnah

If I understand your post, you are suggesting combining the study of an ancient religion with adopting the practice of it.

As an anthropologist, my interest lies in discovering how the D'ni culture was shaped by their belief systems. Excavating the tomb of the King and studying the artifacts found there is something I'd be very interested in from a historical perspective.

Using religious principles to create distinct groups has been the cause of much human suffering (not your intention, I"m sure). I just don't think it would be wise to recreate the opportunity for similar situations to occur in the cavern.

I believe we should focus on studying the D'ni religion and learning how it worked for them, not practicing it.

Amrita wrote:

If I understand your post, you are suggesting combining the study of an ancient religion with adopting the practice of it.

As an anthropologist, my interest lies in discovering how the D'ni culture was shaped by their belief systems. Excavating the tomb of the King and studying the artifacts found there is something I'd be very interested in from a historical perspective.

Using religious principles to create distinct groups has been the cause of much human suffering (not your intention, I"m sure). I just don't think it would be wise to recreate the opportunity for similar situations to occur in the cavern.

I believe we should focus on studying the D'ni religion and learning how it worked for them, not practicing it.

I really should have clarified this very point in my own post earlier, but I'm glad that someone else has so that I can chime in and agree with him (I have less to type this way, you see!).

Although I am very much looking forward to learning more about the D'ni religion, I have no interest in practicing it - offhand, I'd say that only a very (very!) few people actually would. I already have my own religion, and I'm very happy with it.

Whatever parallels may exist (and there appear to be quite a few) between my own faith and that of the orthodox D'ni church will surely make for fascinating study and conversation at such time as the relevant materials are made available to the public, but I've no desire to don the robes of a D'ni priest and go attend sacred mysteries while incanting ritual songs and swinging braziers of smoking incense.

-Alex

_________________
"The most incredible thing about miracles is that they happen."
-G.K. Chesterton

Yes I agree... I did not mean to cause confusion.

My intention more along the lines of a scholarly exploration of this ancient culture.... religion being only one facet of it (although one of the main aspects of it).

The idea of trying to "practice" this ancient religion would be like trying to revive the ancient cults of the pre-Roman and Greek cultures. Who would know where to begin...

I see this only as a scholarly pursuit with fellow explorers sharing information and ideas and creating a forum or website to keep the details that are found. As well as allowing creative artists, mythographers, poets, essayists, etc... a place to share their ongoing discoveries and reconstructions of imaginative explorations into the D'ni Culture and Civilization....

I think this is a viable way to go.

P.S.

Found something on the DPWR.net site that gave quite a bit of detailed information:

http://www.dpwr.net/archive.php?showarticle=2824

Something I recently found on a site about the ancient civilization of Uru in Australia: http://www.rexgilroy.com/index.html

His (the ancient Sun God A'yi ) name was also inscribed as Ki, the same word of the later Indo-Aryan language for “life force”. It was He who created the universe within a great cosmic egg and brought all earthly life into existence beginning in the land of Uru, where He created an earthly paradise. To tend His paradise and all the creatures in it, He breathed life into the soil to create Nif, the Earth-Mother Goddess.

To light His world, Ay-i mated with Nif to produce his children; Nim, the Sun-God to bring life-giving light and warmth by day; and Ara, the Moon-Goddess, to bring illumination at night, and light the way to the underworld for those who died at night.

--------------------------------------

This seems to have many parallels: the cosmic egg, light god, etc.
Worth a look...


earthwiz