Within our Bessus and Gaulish Polytheism, it is important to find words that describe what we do in our own Tanuâ—our tongue. Language is not only a tool of explanation, but a vessel of understanding. When we name our actions in our own speech, we clarify not only meaning, but intention. Words shape how practice is understood, remembered, and transmitted. To rely only on borrowed terms is to borrow their assumptions as well. By forming and refining our own vocabulary, we ensure that our customs are expressed according to our values, our worldview, and our relationship with the gods.
For this reason, we employ the word Ateurextu to describe applied, reflective doing: action returned to again and again with awareness, correction, and purpose. It is the manner by which custom becomes lived reality, and belief becomes embodied practice.
In Bessus Nouiogalation, language, virtue, and action are not separate. They are shaped together, spoken together, and lived together.
Term
- Ateurextu (n. neut., u-stem)
- Genitive: ateurextous
- Pronunciation: ah-teh-wreks-tu
Etymology
- From ate (“again, back, repeatedly”) + urextu (verbal noun of ureget / uerget, “to do, make, work”). Literally: “doing again”, understood as action returned to with intention.
Definition
- Ateurextu is applied, reflective action—practice shaped by thought, experience, and ethical awareness. It is the movement by which knowledge, belief, or intention becomes lived reality.
Doctrinal Function
Within Bessus Nouiogalation, ateurextu is the bridge between belief and virtue.
- Bessus provides inherited form and custom
- Îanoi defines what is right and worthy
- Ateurextu is how these are made real through action
Without ateurextu, custom remains inert and virtue unrealized.
Philosophical Scope
Ateurextu aligns with the classical concept of praxis:
not action for its own sake, but doing that transforms the doer.
It implies:
- repetition with awareness
- correction through experience
- embodiment rather than abstraction
Ateurextu is not merely uergon (work), nor simply axtâ (an act), but ongoing, formative practice.
Bessus is known, Îanoi is discerned, Ateurextu is lived.
Thanks to Cunolugus for the language help.
Bessus Nouiogalation 