River Civilizations
As Utilized by the Gnostic Manichaean Teachings of the Naz-Mani
In the Living Gods, Let the hallowed Light of Transcendant Truth be praised. Let the Sweet Mystery of Miryai awaken in the heart of hearts.

At the dawn of human consciousness, at the awakening of awareness of unseen forces, mountains represented the Great Mystery as well as the sources of life via the snow melt that fed the rivers around which humanity flourished and eventually farmed. The rivers flowing from their snowy heights came to represent the feminine mystery of life, and the unassailable heights of certain snow capped mountains came to be associated mostly with male mountain divinities. From these earliest urges evolved the later ideas of gods and spirits that characterized the earliest civilizations of earth and which still linger in our subconscious and in some traditions such as Bonpo and Shugendo. These early nascent cultures, sometimes called River Valley Civilizations, gradually evolved and transformed themselves into the 5 diverse spiritual Paths honored here.

Soul's Journey
Fortnight Associations table
5 Mts Images of the five mountains of the five River Civilizations

These 5 Mts, and their associated River Valley Civilizations and traditions, "represent" the source codes for the Spiritual Traditions honored on Miryai Mt. Much nonsense and encrusted false traditions arose in these areas as well as truth, and so the selection of concepts and practices from each of them has been precise and surgical. Unlike most movements of the past, Miryai-ji uses the synthesis of  5 x 5 different Cultures/traditions in its pursuit of perfection, doing so to increase the diversity and flavor of various periods of practice in the same way that different cuisine's and spices are used to enhance  culinary experience. It is thought that thru balanced  juxtaposed difference comes transcendence. (Note: These mundane mountains, and the polluted rivers, are not themselves sacred, but are only symbols of the sacred.)

The Himalayan region’s early societies expressed reverence for the five elements through distinct practices during their proto-religious phase.

• Fire: In the Indian subcontinent, Vedic fire altars facilitated rituals where offerings were burned, symbolizing a transfer of material goods to an unseen realm. In pre-Bön Tibet, purification fires were used to cleanse individuals and spaces, reflecting a belief in fire’s transformative power.
• Wind/Air: In India, storms associated with later Vedic concepts of Indra were seen as a vital force of renewal, while in Tibet, winds were believed to carry a life-sustaining essence, evident in windhorse flags raised on high ridges. Along the Yangtze, smoke from rituals was interpreted as a manifestation of air’s generative energy, linking human actions to cosmic patterns.
• Ether: The Vedic concept of Rta in India and the early Yangtze notion of Tian suggested an abstract cosmic order governing existence, while Tibetan mountain rituals aimed to connect with an unseen unity beyond the material world.
• Earth: In India, the earth was revered as a foundational entity (later personified as Prithvi), while Tibetan practices included consecrating sacred mountains, retreat caves, stone chortens, and earth mandalas as sites of stability and connection. Yangtze burial pits positioned the earth as a resting place for ancestors, emphasizing its role as a source of continuity.
• Water: Rivers in Vedic India and Himalayan streams were regarded as purifying forces, integral to rituals of cleansing. The Yangtze’s flow was honored with offerings, symbolizing a connection between the living and the eternal through water’s movement.

The Nile Valley and related cultures demonstrated elemental reverence through practices that bridged daily life and cosmic cycles in their proto-religious phase.

• Fire: Along the Nile, funeral torches illuminated rites of passage for the dead, while solar worship (later tied to Ra) emphasized fire’s life-giving role. In Europe, bonfires at sites like Stonehenge (c. 3000 BCE) served communal purposes, purifying participants and fostering unity during solstice gatherings.
• Wind/Air: In Egypt, air was conceptualized as a balancing force (later linked to Shu), separating earth and sky, while in European traditions, winds were carriers of omens, evident in maypole rituals and forest dances that interpreted breezes as signs of cosmic intent.
• Ether: Egyptian sky myths (later embodied by Nut) and European solstice alignments at megalithic sites reflected a desire to connect with a transcendent order, often termed Aether in later traditions, which existed beyond material chaos.
• Earth: In Egypt, creation mounds (later tied to Geb) symbolized the earth’s generative power, while in Europe, cave art and stone structures like megaliths anchored rituals to the earth as a stable foundation for cosmic cycles.
• Water: The Nile’s annual floods (later associated with Hapi) were celebrated as a life-giving phenomenon, while in Europe, offerings in bogs and early baptismal practices in springs underscored water’s role as a source of renewal and vitality.

In the Euphrates region, early Sumerian and neighboring cultures developed proto-religious practices centered on the five elements as fundamental forces.

• Fire: Sumerian ziggurats hosted fires that burned offerings, believed to transmit them to higher realms (later associated with Enlil), while Elamite purification fires, precursors to Zoroastrian rituals, cleansed individuals and spaces of impurities.
• Wind/Air: Storms in Sumer were seen as a dynamic force of creation and destruction (later tied to Enlil), while Hurrian traditions attributed winds to a divine breath (later linked to Teshub), embodying both chaos and growth across the region.
• Ether: The Sumerian concept of the sky (later An) and Indo-Iranian sky-oriented rituals suggested a unifying principle above the earth, accessed through ziggurats and elevated ritual sites.
• Earth: In Sumer, the earth was a generative entity (later Ki), honored through sacred mounds, a practice echoed in Hurrian traditions that treated earth as a cosmic foundation.
• Water: The subterranean waters of Sumer’s Abzu (later tied to Enki) and offerings cast into the Euphrates represented water as a source of wisdom and purification, further emphasized by nine-day rituals in pits involving water cleansing.

The Yellow River region’s early societies integrated the five elements into proto-religious practices, emphasizing their role in cosmic and social harmony.

• Fire: In China, oracle bone divination involved fires that cracked bones to reveal cosmic patterns, while Yayoi Japan’s rice-burning rites aimed for agricultural renewal; early Goma fires and lunar observances in Japan used fire as a medium of transformation.
• Wind/Air: Chinese rituals interpreted rising smoke as air’s generative force, aligning human actions with celestial rhythms, while in Japan, winds guided planting cycles and incense carried offerings skyward, air functioning as a harmonizing breath.
• Ether: The Chinese concept of Tian and Yayoi communal rites emphasized a cosmic unity beyond the material, pursued through meditation on the Void and collective rituals.
• Earth: Chinese burial alignments and Korean dolmens treated the earth as an ancestral realm, while pre-Shinto practices in Japan revered salt, stone, and mountains, as seen in Yamabushi traditions honoring mountain spirits.
• Water: The Yellow River received offerings as a life-giving force, and Japanese rice paddy blessings underscored water’s role in sustenance; purification practices, such as standing under cold waterfalls or soaking in warm onsen baths, highlighted water’s cleansing power.

In the Eastern Mediterranean, early cultures like the Minoans, Mycenaeans, and Levantines revered the elements through rituals that connected the material and cosmic realms.

• Fire: Minoan burnt offerings and Mycenaean hearths marked sacred rites, while Levantine fires dedicated to storm forces (later Ba’al) served purificatory roles in communal ceremonies.
• Wind/Air: At Dodona in Greece, winds were interpreted as carriers of divine messages, a belief paralleled in Levantine storm rituals (later tied to Ba’al); incense in both regions was seen as a growth-force, linking air to cosmic harmony.
• Ether: Mycenaean sky-oriented rituals and Levantine high places aimed to access a celestial unity, reflecting a proto-concept of Aether as an overarching order.
• Earth: Cretan peak sanctuaries and Levantine stone altars grounded rituals in the earth’s stability, serving as physical anchors for cosmic interactions.
• Water: Cretan libations and later Jordan River baptisms treated water as a source of life and renewal, integral to purification and communal rites.