Yevon

Yevonism is a fictional religion in Final Fantasy X, a computer role-playing game, by Squaresoft for the PlayStation 2.

In Final Fantasy X, the people of Spira follow the Teachings of Yevon. (Yevon and Yu Yevon refer to the same person). Yu Yevon (Ebon Ju in the Japanese version; エボン・ジュ Ebon Ju) was a summoner who lived in Zanarkand one thousand years before the start of the game.

Yevonism&mdash;the Teachings of Yevon&mdash;was practiced throughout Spira in the various temples of the fayth (people's souls trapped in statues whose dreams manipulate a phenomenon called pyreflies, which are 'lights' that emanate from an organism upon its death). Priests of Yevon were usually summoners or ex-summoners, and would tend to the temples in multicoloured vestments of white, green and orange.

The people of Spira venerated Yevon by attending the temples (found in Besaid, Kilika, Djose, Macalania Lake, and Bevelle, as well as secret temples at the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth, Baaj, and Remiem Temples) and by praying to him through a complicated gesticulation that starts with the hands out to either side before bringing them into the chest, as though holding a sphere, and bowing. This evolved from a Blitzball ritual.

The Maesters of Yevon were the leaders of Yevonism&mdash;with Grand Maester Mika their leader. Other Maesters included Maester Seymour, Maester Wen Kinoc, and Maester Kelk Ronso.

At the time when Yu Yevon was a summoner there was a great war between Zanarkand and Bevelle. It was at Yevon's order, many of the people of Zanarkand gave up their lives to become fayth. Yevon merged with the life-force (pyreflies) of the people to create an invincible armor called Sin. With Sin, he decimated Bevelle's army but also destroyed Zanarkand in the process as well as the other machina cities of the world to prevent them from starting another war. He ordered the Fayths to create a dream of Zanarkand as it was before its destruction, so Zanarkand would never truly fade into history.

Yevon had a daughter, Lady Yunalesca, who created a technique called the Final Summoning, the only way Sin's hard armor could be pierced. A summoner who trains his/her aeon-summoning abilities could call the Final Aeon at the end of her/his pilgrimage which Guardians travel with her/him to ensure her/his safety. The Aeon is an ultimate summon created from a guardian of the summoner, who has a close bond with her; the guardian is killed and turned into a fayth, who then controls the aeon. Summoning the Final Aeon destroys Sin, but Yevon would endure and merge with the Final Aeon to craft a new Sin from it. The summoner, after defeating Sin with the Final Aeon, loses her life to it because of Yevon merging with the Aeon and killing the summoner in the process. Yunalesca proclaims that this rite can defeat Sin for a time and give Spira hope for a short while, but unless the world embraces the teachings of Yevon and atones for their sins, Sin will never disappear completely.

Bevelle was still terrified of Yevon and Sin, and in order to appease Yevon, St. Bevelle began to follow his teachings. The teachings mainly revolve around the Final Summoning and the ban of machina, as it was Yevon's wish that there should never again be another machina war. St. Bevelle began to set up temples throughout Spira, and in each temple is a Fayth. To govern these laws, the Order of Yevon came to be, with four Maesters at the top, a High Priest for each temple, and many other priests, monks and nuns.

A Zanarkandian song which later becomes known as the Hymn of the Fayth is taken up by those who defy Bevelle, including the fayth inside the temples. At first Bevelle prohibits the use of the song, in which the Al Bhed then pick it up, change it into a song against Yevon in which Bevelle couldn't do anything to stop them. Then a new story started spreading from Bevelle about how the song was sung to soothe the souls of the dead in which they made the song into scripture and it spread throughout all of Spira in connection with Yevonism as a holy song.

The end of Yevon
At the end of the game, Tidus, Yuna, and Yuna's other guardians entered Sin and killed Yu Yevon, ending his control over Spira and breaking the people's faith in Yevonism.

Two years later, in Final Fantasy X-2, the moral teachings of Yevon were revitalized in the form of the New Yevon Party under Praetor Baralai.