Bel Senir

And when the Mother and the Father laid down, the sun rose over the horizon, and for the first time they saw their creation in all its glory.

— The Testament of Parturition

The Mother and the Father

The core beliefs of Bel Senir state that the Mother and Father are the creators of all, and all is created by the Mother and Father. These two great powers keep the world in balance, and people who follow their example will reach spiritual enlightenment, while transgressors will be punished for disrupting the delicate cosmic harmony.
To maintain cosmic balance, the Mother and Father uphold slightly different values. For example, the Mother represents tenderness, mercy and imagination, while the Father represents strength, justice and insight. This, however, does not mean that no man should be tender and no woman just. It means that within an individual the scales should be tipped a little one way or another, and their role within society befitting their traits.

The Holy Church of Bel Senir

At the head of the church sit a priest and priestess. It is said that the priest is chosen by the Mother to recite the words of the Father and the priestess is chosen by the Father to recite the words of the Mother. In reality, the priest and priestess are chosen by the high council of priesthood.
Bel Senir’s central religious text is the Bel Teri. It is divided into two sections: the Mother’s word and the Father’s word. The book does not have a front or back. Instead, read from one side the word of the Mother and from the other side the word of the Father is told, both words meeting in the middle of the book. One word does not precede or succeed the other. They both tell the same story from a different perspective.

Global Spread

Bel Senir originated in Enthuri in eastern Erumir. Lilinil and Ilbri were the first prophets to spread the words of the Mother and the Father and denounce the false gods. With the Grand Malum Empire adopting Bel Senir, the religion quickly spread across the continent with the empire’s expanding borders.
Growing connections with oversea nations encouraged missionaries to travel west and promote Bel Senir far across the sea. It first found its foothold in Namda within the Empire of Garyiala, and, following the Sun Road, spread further to Utreas, Aventarle, and even to the Green Belt in Taklasil.

The Embrace

The most common symbol in Bel Senir is the Embrace. Most recognizable as two figures embracing sculpted from wood or stone. The two figures represent the Mother and the Father, but can also represent two lovers or two family members. Sometimes a third figure is seen at the centre of the embrace, an individual embraced by the Mother and the Father, or a child by their parents.
A more abstract version of the symbol depicts a circle with a smaller circle on both the left and right side. From the smaller circles two curved lines reach around the central circle, as if two pairs of arms are about to embrace it.