A bit on Amazon religion and family

Basics of Amazon Faith
Amazon Religion is a combination of Animistic, Pantheistic and Monotheistic beliefs. They believe in Spirits. Everything has a spirit, from the small pebble on the shore to the soul of the Amazon nation itself (Arteɲei). The Amazonian people have for years kept alive their native religion via a written accord simply called the Codex. A gathered source of documents and scrolls detailing their old rituals and their history as a people. One aspect of the Codex is how it plays into the Amazon Clan system.

Amazons are split into roughly (currently) four clans: Snowleopard, Runninghorse, Longtalon and Stormcrow.

Each Clan is in turn descended as a group from a powerful Spirit Totem. The Totems are the most powerful spirits worshiped by their individual clans and are the guiding forces behind the people of their clan. Clans often pay respects to another Clan's totem, but they do not call upon it in faith. That is for the named Clan ONLY. So Snowleopard Clanswoman do not look to Runninghorse as a guiding spirit or as a source of faith. They pay homage to Snowleopard alone as a source of wisdom.

Each Totem also symbolizes a given aspect. Snowleopard means wisdom, motherhood and life. Runninghorse is strength, sincerity and passion. Longtalon (whose totem is a Steppe Eagle) represents acumen, agility and learning. Stormcrow symbolizes intelligence, adaption and survival. Besides the four clan totems there is the ultimate or Soul Totem. Who the Amazons call Arteɲei, or in the Greek, Artemis. Arteɲei is the mother of all Amazones and is considered the very soul of the Nation. She is the inspiration for all Arrow Children (prophets or great leaders) who have led the nation in times of peril.

In Amazon Cosmology Arteɲei came to them when they became a nation and left the Olympians to join her daughters among the Spirits. The Totems in turn set aside their original mantle and became the advisors and guides to Arteɲei and her children. In this manner Arteɲei is not a sole god, but is the Amazones connection to the universe at large. They as a people acknowledge other faiths and wholeheartedly respect them. What they dislike is when others attempt to interfere with their connection to the world. To them the ability to speak to the Spirits, Ancestor Spirits (honored dead and source of Ozikon) and the Totems is a major part of their identity as a people. For it was Snowleopard who taught them humility and strength and it was Runninghorse who inspired the first Rakei (queen).

Amazon Family and Clan
All Amazones claim descent from a powerful Clan Moiety (as stated above). They gain their clan through their mother and in turn can change it if their soul desire does not align with that of the Clan. Each Clan in the Nation had its purposes and connections born out of the original Band and Warband lifestyle of the people. Originally the Snowleopards were priestesses and leaders among the Tribe. The RunningHorse were calvary and warriors. The Longtalon evolved into scouts and hunters while the Stormcrows became masters of Lore. Over time this attitude evolved and the Clans took on different means with each in turn donating it's own powerful blood to the ruling Dynasties of the Nation.

Clan is more of a spiritual connection than a real descent. Amazonian kinship is marked by what is called and Ozikon (from the Greek, Oikos). Ozikon are an assorted group of common lineages that in turn are aligned with a given Clan. In the story of Arrow Child, the Asker  family claims descent from the Ozikon of Hippolyta, while the Alkaiel are descended from Alkaia.

Many surnames and family names can be attributed to one Ozikon. For an Ozikon is the Sisterhood (and brothers for those who are born Amazon as males) of bloodlines that descends from an honored dead or Ancestor Spirit. The actual connection one has to the honored dead in Amazo society falls more into an ideal of inspiration rather than actual worship. Unlike full ancestor worship, the honored dead are revered as guides much like the Totems. With each Ancestor or Ancestral Spirit group giving an individual ideology to their descendents via the Ozikons Codex, a special copy of the Amazo holy texts where all members of a given Ozikon are recorded. Some Codex are old enough to record several generations spanning several centuries.