Bright Way

The Bright Way is the oldest, and historically most widespread, religion among yinrih. It is a monotheistic faith with a strongly apophatic theology. Its clerics, called hearthkeepers, are tasked with tending star hearths (ceremonial nuclear fusion reactors). This along with the fact that the clerical state is reserved for females, draws comparisons to the Vestal Virgins of ancient Rome. Its followers are referred to as Wayfarers.

The faith was not founded by a single person, and can trace its roots back to nearly the beginning of yinrih history to an event called the Theophany, where the Creator of the universe is said to have revealed itself to the entire yinrih species. It shares many characteristics with human monotheistic religions, though the Supreme Being is explicitly claimed to lack both a name (as that would imply there are more than one of its kind that would need to be distinguished with names) and a gender (as that would imply that there others of its kind of the opposite gender with which it must beget young). In English, it is properly referred to using the neuter "it". Indeed, it is said to belong to no broader category to which even a common noun can be applied. Very orthodox Wayfarers hesitate to refer to it using words like "God" or "deity", though when pressed most will admit those terms fit well enough. It is properly addressed using epithets or kennings, with "The Uncreated Light", or just "The Light" being the most commonly used term.