Mandalorian religion

The Mandalorian religion was the accumulated spiritual and mythological beliefs of the Mandalorian warrior culture. Like the Mandalorians themselves, their religion saw numerous changes throughout the course of history, with several concepts evolving or falling out of popular practice over time. The ancient Mandalorians and the culture's Taung founders were intensely devout in their beliefs, forming a deeply religious society. Creation myths such as the Akaanati'kar'oya—the "War of Life and Death"—were viewed literally, and ritual combat was waged in worship of Kad Ha'rangir the destroyer god, who the Mandalorians believed represented change and was opposed by Arasuum, the stagnant sloth-god. This obsession with battle reached its pinnacle when the Mandalorians came to deify war itself, and believed that to wage war was to be divine.

However, this zealotry did not last. Over time, the Mandalorians grew disillusioned with their former fanaticism and war-worshiping ways. Mandalorian beliefs became more secular and pragmatic: their ancient myths of warring gods, and stories portraying the fallen rulers of Mandalore as the nighttime stars, were viewed as philosophical parables. Modern Mandalorians sought to derive allegorical insight from these tales rather than fact, as their ancestors did. The belief in a literal afterlife waned in favor of a belief in the manda, a collective oversoul described as the very essence of being Mandalorian. A Mandalorian ignorant of their heritage and culture was considered to be dar'manda—soulless—and would have no place in the manda after death; to be dar'manda was considered a terrible fate by Mandalorians, and a great importance was placed upon knowing and living their culture as defined by the Resol'nare, the culture's six tenets.

Text and facts from the “Mandalorian religion” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.