Heterodox Church

The Holy and Heterodoxic Church of the All-Deity, generally called the Heterodox Church, is a syncretic religion which embraces many historic traditions, believing all faiths are at heart the worship of one essential god, and that there are many routes to achieving transcendence.

Heterodoxy was created as the official church institution of the Ennseperan Empire, hence it is found mainly in southwestern Anásthiasplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnásthias

Anásthias [a-NAS-thee-ass / ænæsθiːæs], or [an-ass-THEE-as] is an equatorial island continent, heart of the Civilised World. The north straddles the equator and is hot and humid, while most of the equatorial centre is an upland plateau with fertile river valleys, and stretches of arid plains and desert in the shadow of the mountains. The south is temperate but more wild, separated from the civilisations of the north by the almost impassable Harthera, particularly Hesjbagaaia and its allies in western Munatan. It is also a religious minority in Harthera where its variant church is called Northern Heterodoxy, the mother church being Southern Heterodoxy. Eastern Heterodoxy includes small independent churches in Biinmos and other parts of eastern Munatan. The church in Veedormim is called the Western Church, being part of Southern Heterodoxy but autonomous.

The symbol of the church is the many-spoked wheel, representing the wheel of the year, the change of the seasons and the progression of festivals and ceremonies, as well as echoing the circular symbol of the ancient Ensanni religion.

The early Heterodox churches were made up of EnSanni refugees from a multiplicity of imperial backgrounds, who came to work and worship together in foreign lands. Being severed from the dying Imperial church these communties were deemed “heterodox”, first as a term of scorn, since their prayers were in many different languages, and their worship in many forms. This diversity was embraced as a strength and the name Heterdox adopted as a unifying banner. In time the heterodox churches joined together as a syncretic religion, incorporating diverse customs and beliefs of the old Empire religion into a common liturgy.

Families came together to worship the One Lady in all herplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHerbs

Herbs are usually green plants cultivated and used for use in medicine, cooking or for other purposes.

Herblore is the traditional practice of making decoctions, extracts, powders and other preparations from the roots, leaves, seeds, bark and fruit of plants found across the world.greengreenAnásthiasAnásthiasgreenMunatangreengreen many guises. At each ceremony, congregations worshipped her different faces in turn, so that all the many traditions of those present were represented. This evolved into a fixed cycle of annual festivals.

The Church today is divided into two Communes: Southern Heterodoxy, the official state religion of Hesjbagaaia, with expatriot communities throughout Munatan, and the Northern Heterodoxy, found particularly in Harthera as well as parts of Ororr and other parts of the world.

They share remarkable similarities despite their vast geographic separation, and in the last three centuries they have come into close communion, and now share a common annual calendar of ceremonies, called the Progression of the Lady.

Organisationally they are very different, however. Being a state religion, Southern Heterodoxy has a system of Ecclesiarchs (male or female), who have regional temporal and spiritual powers. Southern Heterodox communities throughout Munatanplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigMunatan

Munatan [Moo-Nah-Tahn] is the southernmost region of Anásthias, south of the Dun Trisan mountains. The name possibly derives from a ancient Thalsic, meaning “Land of One Sun”, since the daystar is not visible in the southern hemisphere. Or it may be a reference to the Manthi people who were once the majority population of western Munatan. The term is an OrorrOrorrOrorrHartheraHartheraOrorrOrorrOrorrHartheraHarthera are allied to the Hesjbagaaian church.

Northern Heterodox churchs are self-governing, with the church in each city or region being independently led by a church council, who head the local religious community. This was particularly necessary in Hartheraplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHarthera

The Hartheran Union, commonly named Harthera, is an imperialist maritime nation state dominating the northeast of Anásthias. It is one of the two great powers of the modern epoch, arguably the most technologically and militarily powerful nation in the world, only matched by the vast size and wealth of its neighbour, viridOrorrMEOrorrOrorrOrorrOrorr, where maternalistic minority religions are seen as a cover for Ororran spies.

In Hesjbagaaia there are a number of reforming organisations who have challenged the centralising authority, in particular the rule of ecclesiarchs, which they claim goes against the very founding principles of a heterodox church. Many have created independent local churches with a modernising, reforming agenda, called the Autocephalic Churches.