The Religions
Created by Raven on 09 Aug 2007 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
The world of Metamor City was once a battleground between two rival factions of deities, the Gods of Heaven (Aedra Lords) and the Gods of Shadow (Daedra Lords). Both factions were unexpectedly drained of most of their divine power and cast to Earth in the year 708 CR. These fallen deities still walk the Earth — unaging, and more powerful than any single wizard, but also vulnerable, for any mortal who kills one of them will take his place in the pantheon. The person responsible for their fall, the half-divine theriomorph Merai hin’Dana, claims that she humbled the gods by the command and power of the mysterious Creator.
Today Metamor City is home to a diverse assortment of religions, which generally fall into three categories depending on their views of the Creator.
Theists: These people believe that the Creator is still active and involved in the world, and that relationship with him/her/it is possible. The most prominent theist religions are the Ecclesia, which is very similar to our Catholic Church, and the Church of St. Merai, both of whom worship a Creator-god called Eli.
Universalists: These people believe that there once was a Creator, but that his/her/its essence was distributed among Creation when the universe was made. Eli and the fallen gods all have pieces of that divine power, but the divine spark is in the hearts of mortals, as well. Universalists believe that the Creator divided itself into many fragments in order to understand itself; because of this, they focus on trying to emulate or embody some pure expression of the divine nature, because each portion of the Universe that achieves enlightenment will enrich the rest of the Universe by its understanding.
Agnostics: These people profess not to know anything about the nature of the Creator. Many of them believe that nothing can be known about the Creator. Agnostics may be completely non-religious, or they may devote themselves to philosophical disciplines similar to Zen Buddhism.
Is it possible to get a bit more on the differences between Meraists and Ecclesians? (for instance, what you sent to the priest who contacted you in the podcast?)
I’ve an idea, but not sure if it is right. Is it much like the difference between the EGC (gnostics) and RC (catholics)?
Hi Michelle!
I’m not very familiar with modern Gnosticism, but the ancient Gnostics that I know of didn’t much resemble the Meraists.
The Church of St. Merai contains a lot of diverse groups with differing doctrines, but three primary tenets are considered essential to the faith:
1.) Eli as Iluvatar. Meraists believe that the god worshiped by themselves and the Ecclesia is the same god that the old polytheistic religion called Iluvatar, the Creator-god who had made the world and then fallen silent. Meraists believe that the old faith was not a “false religion”, merely one that awaited the fulfillment of its revelation in Yahshua.
2.) Yahshua as the Avatar. Meraists worship Yahshua, the Onequion, as the Avatar of Eli — the incarnation of the Creator-god’s essence in physical form. (This is similar to the idea of the Emanation Body of a buddha in Mahayana Buddhism.) They look at the litany of sacrifice practiced by the ancient Lothanasi — “blood for blood, life for life, one dies so many may live” — as a reflection and foreshadowing of Yahshua’s ultimate act of compassion.
3.) Merai as the Prophet. Meraists believe that St. Merai, the Starchild, was the last great Prophet sent by Eli, the one through whom Eli pronounced judgment on the aedra and daedra lords, completed His revelation, and united the two great sundered paths of faith. They see the fact that her life mirrored Yahshua’s in many respects as a sign of her blessed status, proof that Eli chose her to do His work. Most Meraists believe that Eli chose a woman to be His Prophet in order to remind mortals that His nature encompassed both the Masculine and the Feminine, and that male and female were created equally in the image of Iluvatar.
Meraists also pay varying degrees of reverence and homage to the aedra and daedra lords, seeing them as moral teachers sent by Eli to embody the great virtues and vices on a grand scale. When they set themselves up as gods over humanity and refused to repent of their hubris, Eli judged them and cast them to earth. Many Meraists believe that the gods still have a place in Eli’s plan, and that they will one day be restored to their former glory if they serve faithfully in their roles as mankind’s guardians and teachers.
I hope this answers your questions!
Cheers,
Chris