Illuminated Path
The Illuminated Path is a religion founded on the ideals of understanding oneself and the universe will lead to harmony in the world. This religion is based on three of The Fates, 9- The Hermit, 11- Justice, and 12- The Hanged Man. These three forces represent different aspects of the goals of the religion.
Domain: Knowledge
Structure
The Illuminated Path is broken up into different communites for each site, where the wisest of the church members are the leaders of each community. This is determined by grand debates that they hold every 50 years or so, or in the event of a passing of a sage. The sages also meet together once every 13 years in order to have a grand debate and to share their knowledge with the other chruchs, helping to further elevate the total knowldge of the church as a whole.
Culture
Those of the Illuminated Path beleive that a ture understanding of the world can be found once one has enough knowledge. Because of this, many people view the members of the Illuminated Path as monks or fanatics. When a member of the church is researching one topic with such furvor it borders on obessession, many people of the public can view them as even mad. However, there is a general understanding from the public that this knowledge can be shared with them so long as they are respectful, though this is not always the case.
Cosmological Views
The Illuminated Path beleive that the plains of existance as the result of the collective knowledge of The Fates. Their understanding of the world is what allows the world itself to exist. Because they are being of such siginfigant power, their knowledge is akin to a power itself, allowing creation to take form. There are disputes with other religions as this would mean that Hellions are also a creation of the The Fates as well, but for some unknown purpose.
Tenets of Faith
- Knowledge must be used responsibly by those who obtain it. It is a tool that doesn't know good or evil.
- Knowldge sometimes requires sacrifice in order to obtain it. Hard work and letting go of bias is required for true enlightenment.
- In order to gain a better understanding of the world around you, you must also learn things about yourself.
Worship
One way the Illuminated Path worship is by going into isolation in order to gain a deeper understanding of one's self. This is considered a vital step in the process of gaining true understanding because your perception of the world will determine how you learn about it. Once they have proven they have a deep understanding of themselves through this trial, members of the religion join into communities known as "Trees" where they debate what they have learned about the world. These "Trees" also second as vast libraries of knowledge. Lastly, when they are particularly curious about something, they will set out on pillagrimages to learn as much as they can about that subject in order to bring that information back to the communities and continue their debates.
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