In the world of religion there are few religions more mysterious and unique than the Shekker. This little known faith originated in northern Iran and has spread to the west in the 50s. It has recently been gathering an increased number of followers and, as a
result, there have been some claims made about a supposed Satanist element in the religion (not unlike the claims made about the yezidi. These claims have no basis in reality and are merely propaganda spread by ignorant and paranoid people.
Shekk'er is a monotheistic religion that has elements in it from a few other religions of the middle eastern region such as Judaism, islam, Zoroastrianism etc. This is thought to hav.come about because the original Shekk"er, a confederation of clans and tribes, who
travel with herds of goats around the Arabian deserts, encountered people of other faiths and incorporated some elements of their religions into their own.
Similarly to Zoroastrianism, Shekk"er is an elemental religion, meaning that its followers worship elemental powers. Unlike in Zoroastrianism though, the Shekk"er worship water, which they see as the ultimate purifying force. This is understandable, as the Shekk"er religion developed in the desert, where water is both sparse and valuable.
It is also unsurprising that the Shekk"er embraced a monotheistic belief system, as it has been theorized that nomadic people are less likely to attach significance to fixed places of worship and associate those with local deities.
The Shekk"er do not attach much significance to local mythology, but they do erect shrines near watering holes, oases etc. which they frequent on their journeys.
One curious fact about the Shekk"er faith is that the Shekk"er advocate a strict vegetarian doctrine. This must be difficult to follow in the desert and is especially curious considering the fact that the original (or Strue) Shekk"er are goatherds. The Shekk"er use their goats mostly for milk and trade them with other tribes for other goods. They never kill the goats themselves, except on one particular holiday, Tatna"Zamgaazi (SFestival of Death) where each tribe must kill a single goat.
The Shekk"er believe that God is in the heart of every man and woman and resides in the heart. To get to the divine within, one must journey along the SCrimson path until one is reunited with the divine and all creation.
To do this, the Shekk"er believe they must purify their soul. Apart from the strict vegetarianism already mentioned, this also involves meditation and prayer, charity/helping the weak and physical/spiritual purification.
The daily water purification ritual, the Shiriya, is still practiced by most Shekk"er today in one form or another and is considered essential to achieving reunification with the divine.
The Shekk"er does not have any sacred texts and its teachings are passed on solely by oral tradition. The role of preserving this tradition lies in the hands of the Rams or holy men. While the core of the teachings stays the same, it i.common for different Rams to have slightly differing ideas about certain customs. As a result, the Shekk"er is pretty organic in nature.
The followers of the Shekk"er believe that the Rams have supernatural powers and can perform miracles. As a result, a powerful Ram, believed to be particularly gifted, can introduce larger changes to the religion, which would be accepted by most.
A good example of this process is the introduction of the Shekk"er to the west by Ram Zafran Kefir of Iran.
Shekk"er was virtually unheard of in the west until World War two, when the first contact was made between a Shekk"er tribe and a white man: the little known English author D. Algernon Barclay. Barclay was on the run from the British army and lost in the desert. He was found by the Ett"u tribe and rescued. Ram Zafran Kefir, the leader of the Ett"u tribe, developed a close bond of friendship with Barclay and, as a result reformed the religion to allow for outsiders to follothat this is because of the increasing appeal of eastern religions in the west, especially those advocating peacefulness and meditation. This beautiful and greatly misunderstood faith deserves to be treated with respect.
Some information about the Shekk'er can be found on:
nilabshakur.tripod.com The Shekk'er guide
geocities.com/anilamaskari/ The Zavalan Page
