HELP! What's the name of "the religion of the Na'vi"!

P.A.'li makto · October 02, 2011, 09:51:47 AM

Ma smukan sì smuke!

It is a very urgent subject! There is a census in our country (Hungary), and some of us would like to name our religion as "Na'vi" or something that expresses the essence of it! (Ewyaism does not really sound good, isn't it?) If there exists an official name of the Na'vi religon, please let us know! If there isn't one, than we very urgently need a word or expression for it!
Rutxe, srung sivi pxoeru, ma eylan!
Somebody who's in constant contact with Dr. Frommer may mention this problem to him...!
We need to get this information until 16th October. We have a Hungarian page on facebook with the title "Name your religion as Na'vi at the census".

Irayo!
Eywa livu ayngaru frakrr!
ta Pam

Clarke · October 02, 2011, 10:16:00 AM

I don't think there is one. Certainly when humans lived with that lifestyle, they were usually not self-aware enough to have an explicit "religion;" there was just a collection of things they knew about the world, and some of them were more mystical than others.

Yayo · October 02, 2011, 10:16:41 AM

It was more of a way of life, rather than a religion. Like Buddhism.

Kamean · October 02, 2011, 10:27:40 AM

Quote from: Yayo on October 02, 2011, 10:16:41 AM
It was more of a way of life, rather than a religion. Like Buddhism.

Or philosophy.

Yayo · October 02, 2011, 10:29:25 AM

They're one and the same - the go hand in hand. Don't you think? I philosophy is your view and perception of existence, ultimately a way of life. Correct me if I'm wrong. $:-\$

Tìsrusewä Karyu · October 02, 2011, 11:16:49 AM

Sorry, I don't have an answer. As I see it, there is only one religion on Pandora. Since there is only one, there is no need to name it to distinguish it from any other religion. See the last paragraph here for the "official" description: <http://www.pandorapedia.com/navi/appearance_behavior/language_history>. Hoped it would help you, but it is not promising. "Eywa-ism" might be the most definitive name. Wish you the best on this quest.

Swoka Ikran · October 02, 2011, 11:30:44 AM

Quote from: P.A.'li makto on October 02, 2011, 09:51:47 AM(Ewyaism does not really sound good, isn't it?)

I'd personally put an "n" in it ("Eywanism", with followers being "Eywanist" or just "Eywan").

As others said though, there is no official name, and their "religion" isn't just religion, but also their way of life.

P.A.'li makto · October 02, 2011, 12:13:17 PM

Quote from: Tìsrusewä Karyu on October 02, 2011, 11:16:49 AM
As I see it, there is only one religion on Pandora. Since there is only one, there is no need to name it to distinguish it from any other religion.

It is definitely true. But! There wasn't need for the Na'vi to name the object "computer" for example either, but humans wanted the Na'vi word for it, so now we have it! And now we desperately want a word for this "religion" or "way of life" or whatever (it doesn't really matter in this case), and we do hope that this word will be "Na'vi" as for the people and the language. What do you think? (It would be the most simple for everyone, I think.

)
Anyway, thank you very much for your replies, and keep on arguing about it, please, it's very interesting! And if anyone comes up with a good idea, we will be pleased.

archaic · October 02, 2011, 02:08:33 PM

From the Na'vi point of view a religion is a system of beliefs, such as Christianity. But this deity isn't some mystical entity, Eywa is real. There is no belief, only knowledge. No gospel, only facts.
They have no religion, as 'Eywaism' might be, there is only what really is, it is ..... truth.

Tìngay.

Possibly.

Kamean · October 02, 2011, 02:33:03 PM

Quote from: archaic on October 02, 2011, 02:08:33 PM
From the Na'vi point of view a religion is a system of beliefs, such as Christianity. But this deity isn't some mystical entity, Eywa is real. There is no belief, only knowledge. No gospel, only facts.
They have no religion, as 'Eywaism' might be, there is only what really is, it is ..... truth.

Tìngay.

Possibly.

Тotally agree. No faith - only knowledge.

Lolet · October 02, 2011, 03:15:47 PM

Pantheism?

P.A.'li makto · October 02, 2011, 03:17:09 PM

OK. I understand what you, guys, are talking about. And I agree with it. The question is: what can we write when we arrive at the "religion" question in the official questionnaire? Star Wars fans write "Jedi", and there are thousands of them only in Hungary! We want to express our philosophy similar to that of the Na'vi people. So we need a word for it. I see that there isn't a special word to express it now. I think we'll simply write "Na'vi" in that column...

Swoka Ikran · October 02, 2011, 03:20:08 PM

Quote from: archaic on October 02, 2011, 02:08:33 PM
From the Na'vi point of view a religion is a system of beliefs, such as Christianity. But this deity isn't some mystical entity, Eywa is real. There is no belief, only knowledge. No gospel, only facts.
They have no religion, as 'Eywaism' might be, there is only what really is, it is ..... truth.

Agreed there's no belief/faith for the Na'vi. They know Eywa exists, and they are capable of proving it.

Humans must adapt the Na'vi system into belief/religion ('Eywanism') in order to practice/follow it though, so the "religion" form of it probably does need a name...

P.A.'li makto · October 02, 2011, 03:22:42 PM

Quote from: Swoka Ikran on October 02, 2011, 03:20:08 PM
Agreed there's no belief/faith for the Na'vi. They know Eywa exists, and they are capable of proving it.

Humans must adapt the Na'vi system into belief/religion ('Eywanism') in order to practice/follow it though, so the "religion" form of it probably does need a name...

Exactly! That's what I'm talking about! Irayo, ma 'eylan!

Kamean · October 02, 2011, 03:29:29 PM

Quote from: P.A.'li makto on October 02, 2011, 03:22:42 PM
Quote from: Swoka Ikran on October 02, 2011, 03:20:08 PM
Agreed there's no belief/faith for the Na'vi. They know Eywa exists, and they are capable of proving it.

Humans must adapt the Na'vi system into belief/religion ('Eywanism') in order to practice/follow it though, so the "religion" form of it probably does need a name...
Exactly! That's what I'm talking about! Irayo, ma 'eylan!

Agree. Na'vi know that Eywa is real, and look to her for help.

Clarke · October 02, 2011, 03:35:42 PM

Quote from: archaic on October 02, 2011, 02:08:33 PM
From the Na'vi point of view a religion is a system of beliefs, such as Christianity. But this deity isn't some mystical entity, Eywa is real. There is no belief, only knowledge. No gospel, only facts.
They have no religion, as 'Eywaism' might be, there is only what really is, it is ..... truth.

Tìngay.

Possibly.

This is what all religions look like from inside, though.

hemmond · October 02, 2011, 04:28:01 PM

Quote from: Thomas R on October 02, 2011, 03:35:42 PM
Quote from: archaic on October 02, 2011, 02:08:33 PM
From the Na'vi point of view a religion is a system of beliefs, such as Christianity. But this deity isn't some mystical entity, Eywa is real. There is no belief, only knowledge. No gospel, only facts.
They have no religion, as 'Eywaism' might be, there is only what really is, it is ..... truth.

Tìngay.

Possibly.

This is what all religions look like from inside, though.

Yeah, but Eywa is detectable and proven by science...

Human No More · October 03, 2011, 11:09:33 PM

They don't have mythology.

They have a close relationship with a provable sentient being, in a way which has no human equivalent, but nothing supernatural, and where they understand the nature of her existence.

Dreamlight · October 03, 2011, 11:10:46 PM

I don't think there's a name for the religion, if it is one. They're just Eywa-worshippers. I want to compare it to Druidry, with their veneration of nature, but the connection seems vague at best. If anything it is a form of shamanism.

Txur’Itan · October 04, 2011, 12:32:30 AM

The humans called Eywa a deity, or a god.

The Na'vi did not.

Eywa is best thought of as a organism like the rest of the creatures on Pandora, more intelligent, but less mobile and communicative. They named this being Eywa, and they also called it the great mother, which is in line with considering the Viperwolves as brothers or sisters as they would say to their fellow tribe members.

The Na'vi have a spiritual leader who "Interprets the Will of Eywa." and as such, grace considers Mo'at to be like a Shaman as she said when briefing Jake. This is also related to human interpretations which may not relate directly to what the Na'vi actually consider real and imagined.

In Conventional terms this relationship to the natural world was presented in the movie with similarities to a mix of Animism and Shamanism, but there are only human translations of concepts to base this on, and not really a one to one relationship here.