Due to the colonisation of the Syan islands, much oral history about tribal society and culture was lost. It is for this reason that most historians call the pre-colonial history of the religion the "invisible past". What is known about traditional Raa-Dyanism comes from the folktales and beliefs passed down through families during the great enslavement.
The phrase raa-dyan di-roa is an umbrella term that actually encompasses many smaller local beliefs and practices, although there are 4 major groups that these local beliefs fall into (known within the faith as the o'raa-dyan-o'daalad).
There are several aspects of Raa-Dyanism that are present across all raa-dyan di-roa traditions, the most important being the pantheon. There is no variation in the names/roles of the deities within Raa-Dyanism across both the Di-roa and Di-akara-so branches of the faith, what differs instead is how the gods are worshipped and in what capacity.
Another common feature of Raa-Dyanism is the concept of a divine heirarchy, with the bia-laas o'kaara (major deities) being the most powerful beings in existence, who are responisble in some way for the creation of all other things. The further down the heirarchy you go, the less standard the beliefs about that group become. For example, some of the o'raa-dyan-o'daalad view great heroes on the same divine level as the o'kaara-isala (minor deities), whereas others do not worship great heroes as divine beings at all.
Despite there being 4 major groups of o'raa-dyan-o'daalad, the only Raa-dyan di-roa beliefs that have a significant following in the present day are the di-mokoso di-roa faiths. This is due to the large areas of highly rural population found in the northeast of Syana, who still commonly practice traditional Mokosan worship.
Across the rest of the country almost all Raa-Dyanists follow the modern, structured raa-dyan di-akara-so branch of the religion. This means many niche or highly localised practices of raa-dyan di-roa are in danger of becoming extinct as the more traditional or rural older generation die out and are replaced with a younger population who are more likely to have grown up in an enivronment were raa-dyan di-akara-so is the dominant faith.
These are the "families" of beliefs that can be used to organise the many raa-dyan di-roa traditions by their themes as well as their geographic location. Some of these groups are large and relatively vague/broad whereas others are smaller more concentrated sub-groups.
One of the largest groups within the o'raa-dyan-o'daalad, this label is given to the traditional beliefs of the Mokoso people, which revolve around oral tradition amongst family and the importance of divine history. This is belief in the concept of a chain of cause and effect meaning everything that has ever happened in the universe can be traced back to the birth of the universe. This unique theology results in the foundation of most di-mokoso di-roa beliefs being a patchwork of interconnected folk tales in which the events greatly impact all other folk tales as well as human history as a whole.
Another feature of this group is the relative flattening of the divine heirarchy in terms of importance of worship. Whilst a heirarchy of power is still observed and respected, members of this religious group worship all members of the pantheon in an equal way, including great heroes and minor subgroups of the divine.
This raa-dyan-o'daalad is based around kira (collective worship), which is a traditional practice found in the Kima Bia-di-laka and O'maani Di-kamisaal regions in the south of Syana. The practice of kira is often done regularly as a community or in areas where this belief is not common kira may be practiced as a family.
Worship in di-kira tradition consists of a large group of people gathering and honouring one of the bia-laas o'kaara, since deities lower down in the divine heirarchy are often only worshipped through individual prayer. An exception to this can be found in a mia-o'daalad di-kira di-o'gisa tradition, which is a small group of di-kira beliefs found in the area around the large towns of Kaa-mia-daal, Bia-maalon and Aalosi Bia-maalon. Within this group all members of the pantheon are worshipped through kira, regardless of their place in the divine heirarchy.
What happens exactly during kira varies amongst di-kira beliefs, however one aspect common to many is the leader of the worship calling out prayers or chants, and the group repeating this back as a way to confirm the words and worship as their own.
Another large o'daalad group are the di-adaad beliefs found in the northern regions of Syana (such as A Kima Bia-di-adaad, A Naal-isad Di-adaad and Lyan Biaa Li). While being primarily grouped together due to geographic location, these beliefs all share the common element of worship through music as a core aspect of the faith. Ritual and storytelling songs are a traditional pillar of Balisan culture and so the religious beliefs of this tribal nation naturally centre around similar concepts.
The small and local practice of a mia-o'daalad di-salilan-daal, which has a dwindling following in modern day Salilan-daal, is built around the belief that the only way to converse with the gods and send them prayers is through the divine language of music. Prayer is often done individually through a hand-drum accompanied by rythmic chanting of a statement the person wishes the gods to hear.
Perhaps the most unique raa-dyan-o'daalad, this group consists of a small collection of beliefs found in the far nothern region of A Kima Bia-di-adaad. What seperates this group from the other traditional beliefs across the country is their view of the deity Dara'kaara (seen by all Raa-Dyanists as the original creator of all things) as what is known as a biakaara. This means that she is a divine being other than a god, instead being a force/energy from which everything else is made.
This view leads to many folk tales surrounding Raa-Dyanism being interpreted in a more metaphorical manner, rather than a literal account of historic events. However, this does not mean that all the gods are seen in this light. Aside from Dara'kaara being a primordial force with no real form or identity, the rest of the pantheon are seen as literal beings who exist as people and can interact with the world and its events.
Follow the links below to read more on the smaller sub-catgeories of raa-dyan di-roa faiths, many of which are highly localised forms of larger raa-dyan-o'daalad families: