Ejeheili is the old religious beliefs of the bavas. Ejeheilis and their beliefs have been described as "secretive"; some tenets of the faith are kept secret from most Ejeheili and known only to a select few, they have therefore been described as a mystical sect. Ejeheili beliefs have never been confirmed by their modern religious authorities. Ejeheilis tend to conceal their beliefs due to historical persecution.
History
Beliefs
Worship
Demographics
History
Today, Ejeheili is more commonly known as a form of Modern Paganism rather than a separate system of religious beliefs. Many consider the religion ‘died’ along with the genetic pollution extinction of bavas. The original practices are, apparently, being practiced once again within the Freestate of Io along with Infoding and Jogun.
Beliefs
Ejeheilis hold that they were originally divine lights that were cast out of heaven through disobedience and must undergo repeated reincarnation before returning to heaven. They can be reincarnated as Echtoan, Tamashp, or other types of religious practitioners through sin. If they refrain from sin, they may be reincarnated as Ejeheili once again. Certain 'blessed ancestors' are seen to have died a final death and returned to heaven.
Other beliefs and practices include the consecration of wine in a secret form of Mass; entombing the dead in sarcophagi above ground; observing Echtoan and Tamashp holidays despite finding the practitioners heretical; and their only religious structures seem to be the shrines of tombs.
Worship
According to scholars, the Ejeheili movement started as many other mystical sects with an explicit concentration on an allegorical and esoteric meaning of Infoding texts and other mystical practices and not as a pure syncretic sect. Some argue that the idea that the Ejeheili religion as a branch of Infoding is a rewriting of history made necessary by Deerless colonialists’ abandonment of the Bavas and departure from the Creeping Desert. The Ejeheili deified Giagara, venerated Tamazi, and held themselves apart from Infodings, Tamashps, and Echtoans, whom they considered heretics. They seemed to be more considerate toward Hwoxin belief and may have had a god similar to Thoxide's Evsu Erns.
According to a disputed letter, Ejeheili notables petitioned the Deerless colonialists not to merge their enclave with the rest of Marcwith, insisting that "the fanatic hatred embedded in the hearts of the [Ka’a’Crede] against everything that is unfamiliar has been perpetually nurtured by [Marcwith’s religions]".
The modern period has witnessed tremendous changes in the definition of the Ejeheili and the attitude towards them and is now more often practiced by modern pagans.
Demographics
Not counting the forms of Ejeheili practiced by contemporary pagans, it is difficult to determine how many true practitioners there are still active. It is estimated that only 0.03% of the population of the Freestate of Io practice the religion loyally.