Imperial Church

The Imperial Church was the meta-institution which regulated the diverse and syncretic faiths and practices of the Empire of Dor-en-Sann.

The vast empire had hundreds of religions, cults and local beliefs, and the Imperial Church's official policy was to find links and commonalities between all faiths, with the uniting purpose of showing that ultimately, everyone worshipped the same godhead, just in different ways. Officially all EnSanni religion was derived from the Mother of all Aspects, the universal mother goddess with a thousand faces and moods, who required and celebrated diversity among herplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHerbs

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The church bureaucracy was headquartered in the imperial capital of Gaalkedch.

Over the centuries the church developed a hugely complex philosophy, which was taught and administered by its Imperial Priesthood. Priests of lesser cults were expected to learn this system, and use it to better understanding of other, often rival religions, so that while there was often conflict, the stability of the imperial system was retained.

While there were hundreds of creation myths these were seen as all being representative of a metacreation philosophy. Ultimately all gods were part of a united being, divided into five stages or categories:

• Fount - the ultimate source conduit and conduit of all matter
• Emanation - the material prime substance
• Impetus - the force which brings it forth
• Shaper - who shaped material substance into
• Force - keeps the universe in motion and gives existence structure and purpose

All gods had a place within this system, creation a universal pantheon in which all aspects were necessary to perpetuate the universe.

Similarly the Imperial Church had syncretic concept of the soul being made up of seven distinct parts, including all the physical, spiritual and psychological parts that make up a whole human being. These had been assembled from a variety of early Thalsic beliefs:

1. Vis, vital energy of the body, embodied in the blood
2. Jhem or Generis, creative energy found in seed and menstrual fluid
3. Ken or Genius, intellect, seated in the eyes and brain
4. Bis, the simple animal instincts rooted in the abdomen, such as hunger, lust and pain
5. Ao or Ego, the sense of self and self awareness, seated in the heart
6. Tas or Virtu, the sense of right action and selfless action
7. Baat or Shadow, the dream self, unconscious impulses

All seven were required for life, and various emotions and behaviours were determined by aspects or combinations of the souls. All were required for life, but a balance between them was necessary. The Doroun believed that the ego ruled waking life, and the shadow the sleeping life.

This concept of soul was also at the heart of Imperial medicine.