Post by Rin on Oct 23, 2010 11:08:45 GMT -5
Yevon:
In Final Fantasy X, the people of Spira follow the Teachings of Yevon ("Yevon" and "Yu Yevon" refer to the same person). Yu Yevon (Ebon Ju in the Japanese version; エボン・ジュ Ebon Ju) was a summoner who lived in Zanarkand one thousand years before the start of the game.
Nearly all the peoples of Spira follow the teachings of Yevon, including the Ronso and the Guado (converted in recent years by Jyscal Guado). The Al Bhed, viewed as heretics by the autocracy for their use of machina (a practice strictly forbidden by the church), do not follow the teachings. As for the Hypello, whether or not they follow Yevon’s teachings is never explored in the game.
Temples of Yevon are found throughout Spira. At the heart of each temple is a Chamber of the Fayth, a room that contains a Fayth -- a statue that houses a willingly-given human soul. It is through this soul bonding to a Summoner that mighty creatures called Aeons may be made manifest (see "Summoners" below).
There are five official Temples of Yevon, each with their own Fayth:
Bevelle – Home to the Fayth Bahamut. Also the central temple of the Yevon Church.
Macalania – Home of the Fayth Shiva.
Djose – Home of the Fayth Ixion.
Kilika – Home of the Fayth Ifrit.
Besaid – Home of the Fayth Valefor.
There are two lost Temples of Yevon:
Remiem – Home of the Fayth for the Magus Sisters. The location was lost after High Summoner Gandof's battle with Sin.
Baaj – Home of the Fayth Anima. At some point in history, Baaj Island was attacked by Sin and left in ruins. Since Anima's Fayth, Seymour Guado's mother, was created only recently when Seymour was a child, this may not have been the temple's original Fayth, if, indeed, it housed one prior to Anima.
There is also the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth – Home of the Fayth Yojimbo. Centuries earlier, the Yojimbo Fayth was stolen from an unknown temple and taken to the cave to impede Summoner journeys.
When Summoners journey to defeat Sin, they arrive at the final temple, located in "the city at the end of the world":
Zanarkand – Home of Yunalesca, the first Summoner to defeat Sin. There is a Fayth in Zanarkand, Lord Zaon, Yunalesca's husband and the first Final Aeon, however, it lost its power as a Fayth long ago. Now, Yunalesca turns a Guardian of the Summoner's choosing into the Final Aeon.
At the top of the Yevon church’s hierarchy, there is the position of the Grand Maester, an office similar to that of the Catholic church's Pope. In the game, Grand Maester Yo Mika has held the position for 50 years. Below the Grand Maester are three positions simply referred to as by the title "Maester," a station similar to that of a Cardinal in Catholicism, though one casually addresses a Maester as "Your Grace", a title reserved for bishops, instead of "Your Eminence", as is the custom regarding Cardinals. Maesters have many duties within the church including making laws, presiding over Yevon’s High Court, and overseeing the church's civil, military, and spiritual affairs.
The next step down are the Priests of Yevon. Their job is to attend to the temples throughout the land. Each temple has a High Priest who presides over the temple and its staff, Maester Seymour himself being the High Priest of Macalania Temple. Many priests are Summoners or former Summoners. Priests tend to wear multicolored vestments of white, green, and orange.
Below the Priests are Summoners, a position similar to a cross between a priest and a miko. Summoners are charged with the greatest responsibility of all, to journey to Zanarkand, obtain the Final Aeon and destroy Sin. Summoners also perform the Sending, a ritual that guides the souls of the dead to peace on the Farplane. The title of "High Summoner" refers to Summoners who have defeated Sin.
Lastly, the church has a number of Acolytes, similar to deacons or nuns. They work throughout Spira performing various duties for the church.
Prayer to Yevon is conducted with a complicated gesticulation that starts with the hands out to either side before bringing them into the chest, as though holding a sphere, and bowing. This evolved from a Blitzball ritual.
Additionally, Summoners are obligated to perform the Sending for the deceased. This is a ritual dance that sends the pyreflies (multicolored lights that represent a person's life energy) of the deceased on their way to the Farplane, preventing the pyreflies from coalescing into a fiend.
,000 years before the events of Final Fantasy X, there was a great war between the cities of Zanarkand and Bevelle. Yevon, Zanarkand's ruler, could see that his people would not be able to defeat Bevelle's machina, but he was unwilling to allow his city to be swallowed up into history. He devised a plan to preserve its memory for all eternity, even if he could not save the city itself. At Yevon's order, most of the surviving citizens of Zanarkand gave up their lives to become Fayth, who Yevon could then use to conjure a summoned form of Zanarkand based on the memories of its citizens. This summoned replica of the city was to be an ideal paradise, removed from conflict and those who may infringe upon this city of memories.
In order to accomplish this, Yevon manifested the city out at sea in an undisclosed location, far removed from the Spiran mainland and the warmongering Bevelle. Further, to prevent technology from allowing Bevelle or anyone else to easily locate his summoned city, Yevon used Gravity magic to surround himself with disembodied spiritual energy called Pyerflies, and used them to create an invincible armor called "Sin"; this armor would protect him while he summoned Dream Zanarkand, as the summoned form of the original is called. Additionally, Yevon "programmed" Sin to attack areas with high populations and advanced technology, thus bringing technological progress to a halt and keeping the people of the mainland from giving much thought to what may lay far out at sea.
Unfortunately for Yevon (now to be known as "Yu Yevon"), maintaining his summoned city and creating Sin was a greater strain on his human mind than even he, who was considered peerless amongst Summoners, could handle. His humanity faded from him, leaving only his instincts to maintain Dream Zanarkand's order and to protect himself. Sin's first act as an instinctual beast, "programmed" to attack advanced technology, was to destroy the original Zanarkand.
At the end of Final Fantasy X, Tidus, Yuna, and Yuna's other guardians entered Sin and killed Yu Yevon, ending his control over Spira and breaking the people's faith in Yevon. Along the way, they exposed the church's corruption, hypocrisy, and horrific internal workings, a trait commonly found in religion and government in Final Fantasy games.
Two years later, in Final Fantasy X-2, the moral teachings of Yevon were revitalized in the form of the New Yevon Party under Praetor Baralai. Although technically a splinter group of Yevon, the New Yevon Party was not a religion, but a way of life, their motto and position on technological advancement being "One thing at a time."
In Final Fantasy X, the people of Spira follow the Teachings of Yevon ("Yevon" and "Yu Yevon" refer to the same person). Yu Yevon (Ebon Ju in the Japanese version; エボン・ジュ Ebon Ju) was a summoner who lived in Zanarkand one thousand years before the start of the game.
Nearly all the peoples of Spira follow the teachings of Yevon, including the Ronso and the Guado (converted in recent years by Jyscal Guado). The Al Bhed, viewed as heretics by the autocracy for their use of machina (a practice strictly forbidden by the church), do not follow the teachings. As for the Hypello, whether or not they follow Yevon’s teachings is never explored in the game.
Temples of Yevon are found throughout Spira. At the heart of each temple is a Chamber of the Fayth, a room that contains a Fayth -- a statue that houses a willingly-given human soul. It is through this soul bonding to a Summoner that mighty creatures called Aeons may be made manifest (see "Summoners" below).
There are five official Temples of Yevon, each with their own Fayth:
Bevelle – Home to the Fayth Bahamut. Also the central temple of the Yevon Church.
Macalania – Home of the Fayth Shiva.
Djose – Home of the Fayth Ixion.
Kilika – Home of the Fayth Ifrit.
Besaid – Home of the Fayth Valefor.
There are two lost Temples of Yevon:
Remiem – Home of the Fayth for the Magus Sisters. The location was lost after High Summoner Gandof's battle with Sin.
Baaj – Home of the Fayth Anima. At some point in history, Baaj Island was attacked by Sin and left in ruins. Since Anima's Fayth, Seymour Guado's mother, was created only recently when Seymour was a child, this may not have been the temple's original Fayth, if, indeed, it housed one prior to Anima.
There is also the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth – Home of the Fayth Yojimbo. Centuries earlier, the Yojimbo Fayth was stolen from an unknown temple and taken to the cave to impede Summoner journeys.
When Summoners journey to defeat Sin, they arrive at the final temple, located in "the city at the end of the world":
Zanarkand – Home of Yunalesca, the first Summoner to defeat Sin. There is a Fayth in Zanarkand, Lord Zaon, Yunalesca's husband and the first Final Aeon, however, it lost its power as a Fayth long ago. Now, Yunalesca turns a Guardian of the Summoner's choosing into the Final Aeon.
At the top of the Yevon church’s hierarchy, there is the position of the Grand Maester, an office similar to that of the Catholic church's Pope. In the game, Grand Maester Yo Mika has held the position for 50 years. Below the Grand Maester are three positions simply referred to as by the title "Maester," a station similar to that of a Cardinal in Catholicism, though one casually addresses a Maester as "Your Grace", a title reserved for bishops, instead of "Your Eminence", as is the custom regarding Cardinals. Maesters have many duties within the church including making laws, presiding over Yevon’s High Court, and overseeing the church's civil, military, and spiritual affairs.
The next step down are the Priests of Yevon. Their job is to attend to the temples throughout the land. Each temple has a High Priest who presides over the temple and its staff, Maester Seymour himself being the High Priest of Macalania Temple. Many priests are Summoners or former Summoners. Priests tend to wear multicolored vestments of white, green, and orange.
Below the Priests are Summoners, a position similar to a cross between a priest and a miko. Summoners are charged with the greatest responsibility of all, to journey to Zanarkand, obtain the Final Aeon and destroy Sin. Summoners also perform the Sending, a ritual that guides the souls of the dead to peace on the Farplane. The title of "High Summoner" refers to Summoners who have defeated Sin.
Lastly, the church has a number of Acolytes, similar to deacons or nuns. They work throughout Spira performing various duties for the church.
Prayer to Yevon is conducted with a complicated gesticulation that starts with the hands out to either side before bringing them into the chest, as though holding a sphere, and bowing. This evolved from a Blitzball ritual.
Additionally, Summoners are obligated to perform the Sending for the deceased. This is a ritual dance that sends the pyreflies (multicolored lights that represent a person's life energy) of the deceased on their way to the Farplane, preventing the pyreflies from coalescing into a fiend.
,000 years before the events of Final Fantasy X, there was a great war between the cities of Zanarkand and Bevelle. Yevon, Zanarkand's ruler, could see that his people would not be able to defeat Bevelle's machina, but he was unwilling to allow his city to be swallowed up into history. He devised a plan to preserve its memory for all eternity, even if he could not save the city itself. At Yevon's order, most of the surviving citizens of Zanarkand gave up their lives to become Fayth, who Yevon could then use to conjure a summoned form of Zanarkand based on the memories of its citizens. This summoned replica of the city was to be an ideal paradise, removed from conflict and those who may infringe upon this city of memories.
In order to accomplish this, Yevon manifested the city out at sea in an undisclosed location, far removed from the Spiran mainland and the warmongering Bevelle. Further, to prevent technology from allowing Bevelle or anyone else to easily locate his summoned city, Yevon used Gravity magic to surround himself with disembodied spiritual energy called Pyerflies, and used them to create an invincible armor called "Sin"; this armor would protect him while he summoned Dream Zanarkand, as the summoned form of the original is called. Additionally, Yevon "programmed" Sin to attack areas with high populations and advanced technology, thus bringing technological progress to a halt and keeping the people of the mainland from giving much thought to what may lay far out at sea.
Unfortunately for Yevon (now to be known as "Yu Yevon"), maintaining his summoned city and creating Sin was a greater strain on his human mind than even he, who was considered peerless amongst Summoners, could handle. His humanity faded from him, leaving only his instincts to maintain Dream Zanarkand's order and to protect himself. Sin's first act as an instinctual beast, "programmed" to attack advanced technology, was to destroy the original Zanarkand.
At the end of Final Fantasy X, Tidus, Yuna, and Yuna's other guardians entered Sin and killed Yu Yevon, ending his control over Spira and breaking the people's faith in Yevon. Along the way, they exposed the church's corruption, hypocrisy, and horrific internal workings, a trait commonly found in religion and government in Final Fantasy games.
Two years later, in Final Fantasy X-2, the moral teachings of Yevon were revitalized in the form of the New Yevon Party under Praetor Baralai. Although technically a splinter group of Yevon, the New Yevon Party was not a religion, but a way of life, their motto and position on technological advancement being "One thing at a time."
