Editing Covenant religion

{{Era|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}}

The [[Covenant]] was founded on and united by a single '''religion''', based upon the worship of the ancient race of beings known as the [[Forerunner]]s. The Covenant commonly referred to the religion and its teachings as '''the Path'''.<ref name="h2reg"/><ref>'''Halo: Broken Circle''', ''page 304''</ref>

[[File:H5Concept -The Path.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A symbol associated with the Path to the Great Journey.]]

Even amongst the [[Covenant remnants]] their belief in the Forerunners as gods was not completely abandoned, but rather the Schism marked a return to more ancient systems of belief. As one [[Unidentified Sangheili Shipmaster (The Return)|Sangheili Shipmaster]] believed, "he knew his gods were out there, but he had no idea what they wanted."<ref name="return500s"/> Members of the Covenant had relied on the Prophets to lead them in spiritual matters. The devout Sangheili, in particular, had not had any need for their own religious leaders for centuries, and now found that few among them had the knowledge or the ability to comprehend the will of the gods. For a people whose sole purpose had been enforcing their gods' will, this was a terrifying prospect.

The '''Great Journey''' is the central goal of the Covenant religion. According to the Covenant, the Forerunners initiated the first Great Journey through the use of the seven Halos, or sacred rings, which unleashed a "divine wind" that swept through the galaxy and elevated the Forerunners to godhood. The Covenant seeks to do the same by finding and activating the sacred rings, which would transcend those worthy to the divine beyond, a heavenly paradise they will share with the Forerunners. The non-believers and those unworthy of the journey would be left behind, as punishment for their heresy.

From the inception of the Covenant religion, the Covenant Empire scoured all known star systems within their reach, relentless in finding at least one of these Sacred Rings. The search for the rings spanned over [[History of the Covenant|seven Ages]]; the Age of Reclamation was the age in which the Covenant finally came into contact of two Sacred Rings. The first contact was short-lived, as the first Halo was destroyed by a [[John-117|demon]], while the firing of the second was stopped due to Sangheili defectors who teamed up with the UNSC.

The Flood, or "The Parasite" as referred to by members of the Covenant, are an unholy, virulent species regarded as one of many tests and obstacles that the believers of the Covenant must conquer in order to achieve the Great Journey. According to the Covenant, the Flood were vanquished by the Forerunners long ago, and were purged from existence when the Great Journey commenced. The latter was later revealed to be false, however, when the Flood reappeared on one of the Sacred Rings.

Some of the Banished believe the Parasite was propaganda and lies made by the Prophets, but Atriox was aware that the parasite may exist in the Ark. Voridus, one of the Jiralhanae High Commanders who did not believe in the Parasite's existence, was responsible for starting the second Flood outbreak on the Ark after breaking through the containment shield around the ruins of High Charity.

The Covenant refer to the UNSC's Spartans as "demons," and regard them with a mixture of contempt and superstitious fear.<ref>'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 243'' ("Voro strained to isolate the human word for demons from their objectionable speech... ''Spartans''".)</ref><ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 349'' ("They would take no chances with these human demons, these 'Spartans' ".)</ref><ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 372''  ("The Fleet Master Elite snarled at Kurt, and the translation filtered through his helmet's speaker: 'One last fight, demon' ".)</ref> Low ranking client races such as the Unggoy and Kig-Yar would frequently panic upon engaging Spartans, their numbers and advanced technology providing little benefit in a protracted fight. The same would prove true of the San'Shyuum Hierarchs, despising demons for their blasphemous defiance of the Great Journey, yet fearful of their lives in the presence of one. Mgalekgolo{{Citation needed}} and Yanme'e were unaffected by the presence of a SPARTAN, as their drastically different nervous systems left them incapable of feeling fear. Sangheili held a more spiteful, begrudging opinion of demons, incredulous that unworthy "vermin" could be the cause of so much havoc. Often, Sangheili or Jiralhanae would disregard tactics and hurl themselves at demons, fighting for the honor of the kill. However such impromptu duels usually resulted in the deaths of the challengers, not the demons. However, after the Great Schism a few Sangheili came to admire the prowess and courage of these warriors, though such views remained rare. [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]]s have been referred to as "imps" in much the same way. The term has also been applied to the renegade Arbiter [[Fal 'Chavamee]].<ref>'''[[Halo Legends]]''', ''[[The Duel]]'', ('''Unnamed Unggoy''': ''"He's the Demon!"'')</ref>

Amongst the Covenant, [[John-117]], otherwise known as the Master Chief, the SPARTANs' ''de facto'' commander gained the title of The Demon from the Covenant, setting him aside from the rest of the SPARTANs. This came from his destruction of [[Installation 04]]. According to [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]], this was done as an insult but also with a modicum of respect, showing that even the Covenant, while fearing and insulting their most hated enemy, also had a level of respect for him and his skills as well. Indeed, 'Vadam himself displayed a level of respect for the Master Chief after the events of ''[[Halo 2]]'': while they came close to fighting at the beginning of ''[[Halo 3]]'' and didn't like each other, Thel worked side by side with his old enemy. Thel trusted the Master Chief and vice versa by the time of the death of the [[Prophet of Truth]] to fight back to back with him against the [[Flood]]. Thel continued to refer to him as the Demon even while fighting with him, but showed more respect later, changing to calling him "Spartan" instead. Thel would later state to [[Jameson Locke]] that he had come to see the Master Chief as both his ally and his friend while working together.

Even after the Covenant War's conclusion, the nickname "demon" remains emblazoned on the Spartan operatives. [[Atriox]], leader of the [[Banished]], condescendingly referred to the members of [[Red Team]] as "little demons" after he single-handedly defeated [[Douglas-042]], forcing [[Alice-130]] and [[Jerome-092]] to retreat, though without the religious undertone.<ref>'''[[Halo Wars 2]]''', campaign level, ''[[The Signal]]''</ref>

*On [[Installation 00]], a [[Terminal/Halo 3|Terminal]] left behind by the Forerunners uses "Great Journey" as a translation for the exile undertaken by the surviving Forerunners after the firing of the Halo Array.<ref>'''Halo 3''', ''[[Terminal/Halo 3|Terminal 7]]</ref> Through similar records on other Forerunner installations, the Covenant may have learned of the name and used it to apply to their religion in yet another case of misinterpretation. Another possible explanation for the beginning of the Covenant belief in the Great Journey is that, as seen in ''[[Promises to Keep]]'', the [[Forerunner]]s kept the [[San'Shyuum]] on [[Installation 00|the Ark]] for a few years before reintroducing them to their homeworld. During this time, some San'Shyuum were curious enough to approach the Forerunners who were aware that their discussions might be overheard, but did not care enough to stop it. A major topic of discussion was their planned Great Journey wherein the Forerunners would leave the galaxy forever.