Gilnean Paganism (Open)

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Gilnean Paganism is a family of small religions found almost entirely in the Gilnean Peninsula, the bulk of which identify with the quasi-mythical 'old ways' and share elements of a common framework of mythology, spiritual belief, and quasi-Druidic or Shamanic magical rituals. While the bulk of the sects of Gilnean paganism can be traced back over the centuries, either as an unbroken line or as a presumed and plausible renewal, an increasing number belong to the subfamily of 'Gilnean Neopaganism' or 'Reconstructed Paganism' - a cluster of recently created cults and sects that claim to restore old practices, often syncretizing practices from several 'authentic' pagan sects and Kaldorei teachings.

While Gilneas is a predominantly Orthodox Light nation, a number of old and syncretized pagan practices remain common among both the commoners and the aristocracy of the increasingly industrialized nation. Thus, even in its much diminished modern form, Gilnean paganism remains a significant factor in the politics and society of the isolated and largely ruined nation.

Common Practices

Votive Offerings and Sacrificial Offerings

One of the most common, and enduring, practices of the Gilnean pagan faiths was that of making offerings to their deities or to the elemental spirits themselves. Historical records and folklore indicate that many of these offerings took the form of animal or human sacrifices, usually only offered in part and largely consumed by the offerers or the priests conducting the ceremonies. Less common options for animal sacrifices included the practice of the holocaust or of ritual drowning in the sea, while the usual practice for votive offerings was to leave the goods in sacred places or to cast them into a well.

Such sacrifices could be made for many purposes - to attain a blessing, to end a curse or invoke one on an enemy, to make amends for a sin or misdeed, to show respect in hope of maintaining good will, to prove a claim, or to propitiate angry spirits and ghosts. Many such practices continued after the near-eradication of the Pagan faiths, both among the rural people who retained faint memories in the form of the Harvest Witches and among the Light-worshipping upper classes. The most prominent recent example of votive offerings took place during the Gilnean Exodus, where Genn Greymane, King of Gilneas, made an offering at the tomb of Aderic. While conducted in the name of the Light, this votive offering was carried out to appease the spirits of the ancestors.

Hallow's End

The festival of Hallow's End, though practiced broadly across Azeroth (and hypothesized, consequently, to be a true remnant of the 'old ways'), holds special resonance in Gilnean paganism. With the Day of the Dead following immediately in its wake, the last half of October is considered a crucial time for ritual and for shedding burdens. Many also take the time to observe and remember the fallen as they cast away these burdens, a practice which has gained more fervor following the Invasion of Gilneas, in order to not forget the lessons the past has taught them and to revere those who have passed on. With the boundary between the world of the living and that of the dead diminishing daily, most sects practice some form of celebratory fire - often involving a human effigy - and the symbolic destruction of painful memories in order to shed themselves of unfortunate resonances that might draw negative spirits, rather than those of their ancestors or beloved departed. Rumour speaks of a number of older and obscure sects forgoing the burning of a straw effigy in favour of a genuine human sacrifice, a scapegoat whose blood protects them from spiritual harm when worn - a practice unnervingly similar to the Forsaken practice of daubing the face with the ashes of the Wickerman.

Noblegarden

Noblegarden is a festival that celebrates fertility and growth, with the hopes of bountiful harvests, healthy lives and for some couples, healthy children. The holiday is typically portrayed using bright colorful colors and flowers alongside typical festive celebrations such as dancing and feasting. In more modern times, the holiday has taken on celebrations through that of things such as bright colorful eggs and treats of various confections.

Notable Sects and Religions

Harvest Witches

Harvest Witches were called upon during great famine in Gilneas to use their druidic magic to bring forth more plentiful harvests that would help the people of Gilneas with their shortage of food. The Harvest witches believed in a multitude of spirits who resided in the various Flora present in Gilneas, but most importantly in the spirits of harvest, from which they took their name as a result they mostly resided among agrarian communities. Some of these harvest spirits are listed here:

Vehnanie

Vehnanie is a spirit commonly worshiped as the keeper of wheat, agriculture, fertility of the land, birth and rebirth. Vehnanie is associated both with the harvest as well as the spring. Shrines dedicated and set with offerings of wheat grain were set up to hail this spirit in hopes of plentiful and rich harvest. The spirits representation are bundles of wheat.

Omenae

Omenae is a spirit commonly worshipped as the keeper of orchards and fruit trees. Like many other agricultural deities, Omenae is associated with the harvest itself as well as the flourishing of fruit trees. The spirit is generally portrayed and associated with Apple Trees and it is not uncommon to find a large, ancient Apple tree among an orchard that is dedicated to it.

Köynnös

Köynnös is a spirit commonly worshiped as the keeper of vines and grapes and vineyards. Unlike many other agricultural deities, Köynnös is associated mainly with the harvest rather than both spring and harvest. Köynnös was one of the most celebrated spirits during the harvest time, due to the nature of a successful Harvest allowing for fermentation of grapes and eventual wine. Vinyards and those working with grapes would often dedicated their first vintages to the spirit for continued success with future harvests.

Kurptsae

Kurptsae is revered and worshiped as a Keeper for vines of pumpkin, pumpkins generally grew well in Gilneas and as such spirits of harvest who identify with the pumpkin like Kurptsae are revered for the harvest and food they bring with them. Pumpkins are also used during Hallow’s End to this day, in a sense a continuation of celebration of Kurptsae, among others.

Vilija

Another Harvest spirit is Vilija this spirit is believed to be responsible for the growth of maize and corn among the Harvest Witches. Vilija is honored with wreaths made of maize leaves which are hung around a field in hopes of attracting the spirit to enrich the ground and cause fruitful harvest.

Koivae

Koivae is a spirit of neither spring nor harvest, but rather Koivae is seen as a protector and the keeper of souls. Symbolized as a birch tree which stands for both wisdom and youth, life and death all in one. When Harvest Witches pass on, they are burned with a bundle of birch wood to help their spirits move on.

Wolfcult of Alpha Prime

The Wolfcult of Alpha Prime, or just simpy the Wolfcult, was a group that fervently supported and worshiped Alpha Prime, the original worgen. Alpha Prime, originally Rellar Fangfire, was a night elven druid that worshiped the ancient, Goldrinn alongside his other Druids of the Pack. After having turned into a worgen by way of the Scythe of Elune, Alpha Prime plotted against those that had exiled his fellow druids, namely Malfurion Stormrage. The wolfcult's practices are largely unknown and the organization disbanded when Alpha Prime was slain during the Invasion of Gilneas.

Sacred Sites

Aderic's Repose

Aderic's Repose is a large burial mound and graveyard on the Bay of Gilneas, situated due west from Gilneas City. It is a significant site for the peoples of Gilneas, as it is the burial ground for many of their kings, princes, and religious leaders - and served as a major waypoint during the Gilnean exodus. Notably, it is one of the largest necropoli in the Eastern Kingdoms and is believed to date back to the Pre-Imperial Period, and to have been first constructed by the practicioners of the nebulous 'Old Ways' of Gilneas. It is hypothesized by Gilnean historians and Druidic Reconstructivists that the burial site held a rich spiritual and magical significance to the early Gilnean peoples - a significance that lasted into, and became syncreticized with, the settlement of Gilneas by 'civilized' peoples and the influx of the Holy Light into the Gilnean Peninsula. Most of these theories espouse a perspective of the burial ground as constituting an ancient necropolis, specifically located away from settlements and centred around a great central stone - which may still be seen towering over the burial mound.

The fringe theories of Professor Everen Corelas, espoused during his time as a lecturer on theology and history at the Royal University of Stormwind, remain an unsubstantiated but distinctive approach to the site. His 'Deathly Mirror' hypothesis suggests that the site was specifically located across the bay from the nascent capital city of Gilneas - at that time, according to his theories, a crannog settlement - and built to act as a mirror of the primitive city, consecrated for the dead. Its positioning across the western sea, the shared artificial circular nature of the two sites, and the deliberate construction of a specialized subterranean passageway between the two are all, under this hypothesis, signs of the site being ritually significant to the Gilnean pagans who initially constructed it. Built in the same circular manner as the city and linked via a symbolic passageway into the underworld, the theory posits that during the 'ancient' practice of Hallow's End a sacred procession would be lead into the underworld and the city's spiritual mirror, to give anointed gifts to the dead - a practice ostensibly continuing today in modified form.