Indijesmi

“I think Indijesmi is wholly indifferent to our plight.” –Nihi

Indijesmi—literally “power beyond the sky” in Jijid—was the deity of Jidera religions. The exact characteristics and interpretations of Indijesmi varied from village to village on Jidshi, but it was generally imagined to be a powerful cosmic entity that created the universe.

History
The origin of the concept of Indijesmi was something of a mystery. It was believed that early Jidera created the idea of Indijesmi to explain their world. As Jidera shamans were appointed to leadership roles in villages across Jidshi, they were tasked not only with leading the village but interpreting what Indijesmi was. Village policies were often modeled after a dominant interpretation of Indijesmi.

Interpretations
There was little consensus among Jidera shamans on what Indijesmi was. Some believed Indijesmi was a sentient, perfectly benevolent god that looked like a Jidera male, others that Indijesmi was a formless entity that merely created the universe without intentions.

Many words in Jijid referred to “heaven,” which in all interpretations was both the location where Jidera souls went to in the afterlife as well as the domain of Indijesmi. There was dispute however as to what “heaven” was, as well as what Indijesmi’s relationship to it was. The Jidera-resembling Indijesmi was said to walk the halls of heaven caring for the souls of Jidera there. Other less intimate interpretations of Indijesmi thought that “heaven” was merely the cosmos itself, and that there was no afterlife for Jidera at all.

During the Embrace, many Jidera and their shamans openly questioned Indijesmi’s motives and even existence. Some believed the Embrace was a test from Indijesmi of Jidera willpower and faith, and others that Indijesmi was indifferent and capricious. Many Jidera began to resent Indijesmi, while others dismissed Indijesmi’s existence as myth. When the Embrace finally passed, some Jidera who had questioned Indijesmi’s existence returned to their faith in it.