Sacraments

In Emuna, the Sacraments are the seven "regular, ordinary, and outwardly certain" means of obtaining the blessings of the Heliand and Ancient of Days. These seven are the Covenant of Drowning, Name of Death, Priesthood, Anathematization, Espousal, Flesh of God, and Chaos Seals. These seven rituals are believed to operate "from the work performed", meaning that they will always provide the same outcome provided the actual ritual is performed.

Covenant of Drowning

The first Sacrament is the Covenant of Drowning, which initiates a candidate into Emuna. The Covenant is (as the name implies) contracted by a priest of the Church literally drowning a candidate to death in holy water (or Blood Sea water, which is considered holy). The person so drowned is then resurrected by the Heliand without fail, and considered part of the Church thereafter. The Covenant imposes several restrictions on a person: they are fated to die on the 120th anniversary of their drowning if they do not die sooner; they are subject to the moral law of the Heliand, and may still be sent to the Under Deep for transgressions; they cannot marry outside the Church; and they are obliged to initiate their children into the Covenant. In exchange for these restrictions, the Covenant grants the drowned total immunity to all forms of mental manipulation by magic, and they are able to kill the gods, a feat not possible outside the Covenant. If a god is drowned, they will die and be resurrected, subject to the full Covenant. This was the case with Efkaris, who died 120 years after being drowned by Acacius.

Name of Death

The second Sacrament is the Name of Death, which is the second degree of initiation. It is necessary to hold the Name of Death for access to the other Sacraments. In the Name of Death, a Presbyter (or Hierophant appointed by a Presbyter for the task) allows the drowned to adopt a religious pseudonym, which is used for all the other Sacraments. That chosen name is then written by the priest on paper, and presented on the Altar of the Heliand. The priest then rips the paper in two, consuming on half himself and giving the other to the candidate as communion. From that point forwards, the confirmed's Name of Death is used in all religious contexts, from marriage to anathematization. It is not necessary for the religious name to be different from one's own birth name, though most choose the name of a particular saint relevant to them.

Priesthood

The third Sacrament is the Priesthood, which confers the power to perform the other Sacraments. There are three species of the Priesthood: the Deacons, Hierophants, and Presbyters. It is necessary for a man to be ordained to each species of priest sequentially (i.e. to be made a deacon, then a hierophant, etc.). Only men may be ordained. Hierophants and Presbyters are the only priests capable of performing the other Sacraments, and are prohibited from drawing blood, even as doctors and surgeons. Deacons may perform the Covenant of Drowning by themselves, and have no such restrictions on drawing blood. As a result, the number of deacons is far greater than that of the other two orders, and most clerics who work in medicine remain deacons. Deacons also make up the vast majority of the military orders, though Hierophants and Presbyters of the Order of Archons are dispensed from the restriction against drawing blood. One already ordained as a Hierophant or Presbyter cannot marry, though they may be married already. It is common for priests to be married however, usually doing so before their ordination. There is no restriction on the marriage of deacons.

Anathematization

The fourth Sacrament is Anathematization, which is composed of two parts: Excommunication and Reconciliation. Excommunication occurs in either Solemn or Occult form. In the Solemn form, one who has committed a public sin is formally denounced and barred from even entering a church, and if one so excommunicated dies before Reconciliation they are considered to be damned. The Occult form is considered automatic (i.e. without action taken by a priest), wherein one who commits a sin is severed from the Church, and likewise if they die before Reconciliation they are damned.
Reconciliation occurs in one of two forms: Liturgical and Absolutory. Liturgical Reconciliation is part of the first half of the Liturgy of Flesh, and is considered to remove the Excommunication of anyone present who has previously confessed the sin to a Priest before the Liturgy. Absolutory Reconciliation occurs primarily when the penitent is sick or dying, and confers the same effect as the Liturgical form. All that is necessary for Reconciliation is that the penitent truly wishes to be saved, confesses all his sins since his last Reconciliation, and that a validly ordained Priest (in the order of Hierophant or Presbyter) hears the confession, and pronounces the following statement: "I forgive your sins."
Anathematization is considered a Sacrament because it provides for the defense of the Church as a body from taint of sin.

Espousal

The fifth Sacrament is Espousal, which creates a marriage between two drowned. The conditions for Espousal require that the two parties be of the opposite sex, and of compatible species (i.e. a human cannot marry a Saura). They both must also be unmarried, freely choose to marry, and the man must not be impotent. Espousal is considered distinct from marriage, in that it is a special form of marriage reserved to the drowned. Though monogamous, lifelong marriages of outsiders are considered valid, drowned are expected to only marry other drowned. If a drowned wishes to marry an outsider, they cannot contract Espousal, though their marriage will be valid provided they obtain the prior consent of their Elder. Both Espousal and generic marriage are considered lifelong, monogamous, and indissoluble contracts by Emuna. The dissolution of a valid marriage is possible only through two means: death or adultery. If one spouse dies, the other may freely marry again. Likewise, if one spouse commits adultery, they have broken the marriage, and the wronged party may freely marry; but the adulterous spouse is considered incapable of marriage thereafter.

Flesh of God

The sixth Sacrament is the Flesh of God, created during the Liturgy of Flesh by God at the prayer of the Priest. The actual material required is bread produced from grain, and wine produced from a vine fruit. In Eirene, wheat is used for the bread and blackberries for the wine. In the Berytusian Empire and further east, rye is preferred for the bread and rosehips for the wine.
When the Priest performs the second half of the Liturgy, the bread and wine are considered to become the Flesh of God (literally) at the words: "This is the body of God, who was drowned for us. This is the blood of God, the blood of Beorn our father, in whom the Heliand was born." It is considered absolutely necessary that the Priest handles the bread and wine and says, "This is the body/blood of God." If this condition is met, the transformation of the food into Flesh is considered actual.
Emuna teaches that only those drowned and not excommunicated may eat the Flesh, and that if one not drowned consumes it, they will curse themselves. The god Jolkir the Comic attempted to eat the Flesh when he conquered Berytus in 983, but his flesh melted off his bones immediately after consuming it.

Chaos Seals

The seventh and final Sacrament is the set of nine Chaos Seals, created by Acacius and presently held in the Tomb of Acacias in the Megabasillica of Berytus. The Seals are produced from clay taken from the banks of the Blood Sea, and inscribed in an unknown language. According to Emuna, if all nine seals are broken, the end of the world is triggered, and that they will either all be used, or the remainder will break spontaneously at the end. Each Seal triggers an apocalypse on its own, and the full rationale for their creation is unknown.
The Tomb of Acacias can be entered only by the validly elected Metropolitan, of which the two current claimants are in dispute. As a result, it is unknown whether either candidate (or both) could ever actually enter it and claim the Seals. Two Seals were used in 467 by Theodorian of Amalfi to defeat Toliman, triggering the two Tolimanic Apocalypses, which killed approximately 40,000,000 people.