Spirituality In Moonstone
The city of Moonstone, which is a multicultural city, has a variety of religious traditions, and it was important to me to create a coherent worldview for each tradition. Characters’ personalities and situations are often partly determined by their tradition of origin and/or their own spiritual worldview.
First, let me say something about the Sha’an beliefs which are in some way at the heart of the novel. Istehar, one of our main characters, is Sha’an: of the forest tribe that has taken refuge in the city of Moonstone. Although I tried not to think too much about this when I was writing, the spiritual practices of the Sha’an really arise out of my own unique experience of both being a book-lover and a teacher of Jewish sacred texts, and feeling deeply connected to the natural world, particularly tress. Istehar and the other Sha’an people in The Moonstone Covenant do have sacred books, but those sacred books don’t have words—instead, they contain the spirits of trees, and also store the sense-memories of past and present humans. The Sha’an honor an all-encompassing entity called the Great Tree, an image/concept that is reminiscent of kabbalistic lore in which a network of divine aspects forms a tree-shape called the Tree of Life. Sha’an rituals reflect these beliefs, and also reflect their connection to the magic of trees. Their sacred spaces are called “silvirium”— from the Latin silva or forest, to refer to the sacredness of trees.
Silvillines, who are a minority in the city, are essentially Sha’an once removed: people descended from Sha’an families who came to the city long ago, and who still follow the traditions of the Great Tree but in a more assimilated and abstract way. Olloise, another of our main characters, is Silvilline. Sometimes the word Silvilline is used to mean any people who follow the Great Tree, whether Sha’an or the descendants of Sha’an, or others who might have chosen that path.
The Abbatines, who are the majority in the city of Moonstone, are ancestor-worshippers—they pray to a group of once-human spirit entities called “the saints” and also believe in “fiends” or demonic enemies of the saints. The Abbatine faith forbids sorcery, which is an important tension in the novel. I wanted to portray a complex reality where some powerful Abbatines are using their faith to control people or to fight against things they don’t understand, while others are naively imbibing those prejudices, and still others are pious people who are using their faith for good. Most religions can be used to oppress, and yet can also bring out the best in people. Annlynn, the warrior librarian, is Abbatine.
There are also Errantines, who believe in the Pattern—essentially in Fate as a guiding force in the universe. The Errantine religion began as a heresy from the Abbatine religion and is particularly popular among those who came to Moonstone from the nations of Lower Phantos and the Fenge, countries that have experienced political upheaval.
The country known as the Fenge also gave rise to a goddess tradition which is practiced by the class of people in Moonstone known as concubines (professional erotic and social partners to high-level aristocrats). This tradition carefully avoids naming itself and also does not name its goddess, who prefers anonymity. The nameless goddess is known to particularly champion women and those at the edges of society. Vasmine, a former concubine, practices this tradition.
The tradition of the Zhinj is the nature-based tradition of people native to the Moonstone archipelago, which is particularly focused on the spirits of birds. Some of the important ancient sites of Moonstone relate to Zhinj traditions. There is also the Bo tradition, originally from Gengrassia, which is a meditative tradition focused on equanimity, and the Ourea tradition from Belakkos, which honors the elements. Some Moonstone residents practice these indigenous traditions by themselves or in combination with Abbatine or Errantine religion.
I hope this tour of Moonstone’s spiritual traditions helps you navigate the book!—Jill Hammer