Panpyschism

Summary

A transcendentalist belief system in universal consciousness that is believed to various degrees through Bailen Island. Panpsychism has loosely infiltrated all parts of Ecumene life, from food and flower choices to exercise routines (think Qi Gong style stretching and movements) to hobby terrariums. Panpsychists meet in cafes and exercise schools. They also host salons, but current Panpsychist hubs have different beliefs and hold different events, running from very intellectual to very flaky.

Beliefs

There are lots of flavors of panpsychism, from casual interest in natural balance to radical luddism, but center tenets are always true.
Panpsychists always believe that everything is conscious and perceives in some way. Everything has a soul, and everything is a part of divinity. Human beings are not special that way; they are just the only self conscious part of global consciousness.
Panpsychists are skeptical of progress and unfettered resource use. They believe that respect must be paid to living and non living things, and that technology and capitalism should be checked to preserve natural order.
Almost all panpsychists are vegetarian, although animal products such as eggs and milk are fine. They are also hyper conscious of environment manipulation and exploitation and avoid waste and excess. That said, they are very body focused. They believe pleasure is a form of self worship as long as it's in moderation. Exercise is very good. Healthy eating is good. Intimacy is good.
Panpsychists are also very negative on the colonization of Umbra. They want the powers to pull out of Umbra altogether. That is clearly not going to happen, but very radical panpsychists are starting to take more direct action against what they call the occupation.
Most panpsychist belief is loose and somewhat facile. A lot of people do some panpsychic practice and talk the beliefs (eat vegetarian, do the stretches, privately dislike the occupation) without actually dropping out of capitalism or giving up other faiths. There is a minority that is now radical though, but that is a minority with little power and grudging frustration. Nonetheless, non believers, even strict objectivists, often do a couple of mild panpsychist practices.

History & Organization

Soldiers and explorers weren't the only ones who went to Umbra to try their luck. Once everyone realized there were inhabitants, missionaries started go. The church goals were to redeem natives, but the church was given permission by the colonial powers as part of a larger covert pacification agenda. But this plan completely failed, notably because while soldiers and explorers sometimes came back, feverish, mad, amnesiac, and claiming to be injured with no visible wounds, missionaries never did. It didn't matter if one person returned from the team or the whole squad made it back -- if someone was missing, it was always the missionary. No one ever remembered what happened to them, but the most mad and feverish would mumble things in delusional states that were very, very dark.
There has been only one exception to this rule: Friar Sebastian Beaulieu of the Catholic Church. Friar Sebastian (as he is always known) went towards the end of the war, and he returned unconscious. After lying in a coma for five days, he awoke, ecstatic, claiming he had met God and now understood the universe.
He claimed that humanity has misunderstood the divine message, and the idea that God was in all things was far more true and literal that anyone believed. Everything has a soul, and so everything is made in the image of God. Friar Sebastian explained that he had a vision on Umbra that everything was conscious and could communicate with him, explaining the true state of the world was one of harmony, a peaceful co existence of all things, a respect for all existence.
Friar Sebastian wrote this in a treatise ("God's Infinite Gaze") that was distributed by hand through Ecumene, and the faith grew. He became the de facto leader of a new belief system. Interestingly, the Catholic Church never reprimanded him for this belief. Friar Sebastian was savvy enough not to alienate Christians in his message, and so they didn't want to have a stir about him. That said, the Catholic church in Ecumune didn't widely adopt panpsychic belief.
Sebastian died pretty young at fifty, about a generation and a half ago, and since then panpsychism had become a large minority belief in Ecumene and has drifted further from its original Catholic friendly form.
Panpsychists are much more collectivist than any other belief on Ecumene. They live and let live, and even though panosychists have deep disagreements about the true reality of universal consciousness, they see other believers as family. Of course, the disagreements are deep enough that panpsychism has very little ability to mobilize or enforce a single culture.

Key Details

Founded: 1824 by Friar Sebastian Beaulieu
Leadership: No formal leadership, but thought is largely guided by Professor Yves Périgord
Headquarters: No proper headquarters
Membership: No formal members, but tens of thousands of loose followers
Affliations: University students, French upper middle class, artisinal class of Soho Baile and the Italian ghetto

Type

Social, Group