Branches of Raa-dyanism

Raa-dyanism (or raa-dyan as it's known in Syan), gets its name from the words "Raa" (on) and "Dyan" (stone tablet). This is because, up until the invention of the Syan script, the stories and knowledge of the religion were passed down orally or through symbolic pictures carved onto a large circular stone known as a Dyan.

The traditional form of Raa-Dyanism, called raa-dyan di-roa, is comprised only of worshipping the gods and the telling of the ancient religious tales. The more modern but also more common form of Raa-Dyanism, called raa-dyan di-akara-so, also includes the scripture and aspects of the religion introduced during and after the period of rapid modernisation that Syana underwent during its first years as a nation, known as the "modern rebirth" (oda-jaras di-minil).

When people refer to Raa-Dyanism or raa-dyan they are in most contemporary cases refering to raa-dyan di-akara-so since the name of the religion as a whole has become a general term for its modern form. When they are speaking about the original tribal form of the religion, most people will specify that they mean raa-dyan di-roa.

Although there is no symbol for the traditional form of Raa-Dyanism, the bia-o'bosan (which is shown below) is used by followers of raa-dyan di-akara-so and is often used by people to represent Raa-Dyanism as a whole.

The large outside ring is symbollic of the Dyans which the religion stems from and the 20 smaller rings along its perimeter represent each of the o'ka which distinguish raa-dyan di-akara-so. The three central circles show the three realms of Raa-Dyanism (the living, dead and divine realms).