Celestialism
For a list of Celestials, see Celestials
Celestialism is the religion focusing on the Celestials -- the holy Archangels and the infernal Archfiends. Archangels and Archfiends take the place of deities for almost all people on Myrion.
Each Celestial has their own areas of concern, edits, anathema, and domains. The worshipers of each Celestial also have their own cultures and traditions. (In short, all references to a "deity" in the rules apply to a Celestial.)
Clerics must choose a single Celestial to be their patron. Most ordinary people take one particular Archangel who allows followers of their alignment to be their patron too, but nothing stops people from offering prayers to other Archangels when a specific blessing or challenge comes up.
All of the Archfiends are evil, and almost all the Archangels (except Beuben) are good. People who are neither good nor evil still worship the Archangels just as much as good-aligned people do. They tend to see the Archangels as ideal paragons, while not necessarily feeling the need to live up to those ideals. Some Archangels even allow evil worshipers who are nevertheless dedicated to that Archangel's cause.
Celestialism and the Nameless Gods
According to Celestialist teachings, the Nameless Gods created the worlds, along with mortals and Celestials alike. But the Nameless Gods are aloof and impersonal, and do not care for mortal prayers or requests. In fact, it should be thought of as arrogant to assume that the Nameless Gods would deign to respond to a mortal. Nevertheless, there is a philosophy called the Nameless Cult that says that the Nameless Gods should be worshiped directly, not the Archangels or Archfiends. This is considered heresy by Celestialist churches, but it is rarely prosecuted.Celestialism and the Archfiends
The teachings state that the Nameless Gods filled Heaven with Archangels and gave them the divine mission to guide humanity to holiness and worship of them. But some Archangels rebelled. They fled the heavenly planes and ran to the infernal planes to set up realms where they could plot against humanity and the Archangels. Worship of Archfiends is considered blasphemous and punishable by law in all civilized places in Mistglow Bay, and across the Old World.Structure
There is no unified church of Celestialism - rather, each Archangel has its own church structure.
The closest thing to a unified Church is the High Synod, a gathering of representatives from each of the Celestialist churches. It takes place once every 20 years, and helps keep peace and order between the various churches.
Mythology & Lore
In the time before time, the Nameless Gods created the natural world, Humanity, and the Celestials all together. The gods set the Celestials in charge of their creation, and the mortals beneath them to inhabit it. They then retreated to realms unknown to watch from afar.
In the ancient days, the Celestials were aloof, much like the gods themselves. This allowed Humanity to fall into confusion. They gave the Celestials all manner of names and titles, and began to confuse the Celestials with gods. What's more, the followers of some Celestials turned against the followers of others. And the discord on Myrion began to be mirrored in Heaven. Some of the Celestials rebelled against the mission given them by the gods, becoming Archfiends instead of Archangels.
But things changed when the Archangels decided to reveal themselves to the mortals. Over the course of one year, a year that is now known as year 0, the Celestials showed themselves openly. They overthrew a great evil that threatened to conquer the world and did many miracles. They began to send prophets to the mortals, teaching them the correct way to worship the Archangels. (The Archfiends also send prophets of their own during this time.)
When the year was over, the Celestials withdrew. But their clerics and churches remain. They still grant spells to their faithful, and they still actively intervene in the world. At times of great trial, they may even reveal themselves.
Founding Date
0 YC
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Demonym
Celestialist
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