Ancestral Patronism
Ancestral Patronism is a syncretic, henotheistic, and somewhat animist religion primarily associated with the Evermornan culture as promulgated by the Cobalt Protectorate. Equal parts a mythos and a living history of humanity in the Sealed Kingdoms Region from an Evermornan perspective, Patronism encompasses generations of spirits, called Patrons or Matrons according to their genders, which include pre-literate spirits associated with aspects of nature, ancient heroes of lore, and the lionized ancestors of modern-day Cobalters.
Cosmological Views
The Evermornan obsession with a return to the natural cycle was spiritual before the subsequent development of space travel and auto-fabricator technologies turned it into a practical consideration. Patronists believe that the spiritual world is overlaid on the physical world - coterminous, but generally only accessible through the transition between life and death. When someone feels a 'hunch' or 'gut feeling,' or when events exhibit an uncanny synchronicity that other people might chalk up to 'fate,' Patronists instead interpret these phenomena as arising from the activity of the Ancestors swaying the physical plane from their abode on the spiritual plane.
When a living creature dies, its spirit returns to the cycle through its compost, and, in time, returns to the continuity of being in all its multiplicity when other things grow upon it. In this sense, even the most forgotten of Evermornans still lives on in their family, clan, and people through the food, water, and blood they all share. These ancestral spirits are venerated by individual Patronists who may have descended from them or knew them in life, but it is a rare hero indeed that is elevated to the status of a Patron or Matron worthy of attestation by the religion as a whole. It is the profound hope of every Patronist to achieve this exalted status, thereby ensuring that their name will be remembered forever.
Tenets of Faith
Ancestral Patronism is a henotheistic religion, meaning that its adherents tend to treat a single divine entity as a paramount without denying the existence and powers of others. A typical Patronist will adopt a single Patron or Matron who best embodies their beliefs, profession, or station in life - typically an ancient nature spirit or mythical hero - as their primary object of veneration, but will also pay respects to the elevated spirits of their own ancestors and, in contexts where the specific portfolios of other Patrons are relevant, pay homage to the other Patrons in turn.
Ethics
Each Patron or Matron presides over a portfolio including, among other things, a set of virtues and modes of looking at the world. Adherents attempt to embody these aspects of the patron in question whenever they apply, as it is understood that the Patrons observe their living descendants (both biological and ideological) from the spiritual plane and judge their deeds. 'Making the Ancestors proud' is a common motivation for Patronists, layman and clergy alike, to undertake endeavors they otherwise wouldn't. Orison coins are common ritual items expressing this aspect of the religion by reminding the bearer of the morals they are expected to uphold. Ancestral Patronism has an aspirational aspect to it as well because a select few who accomplish great things in life might achieve apotheosis, becoming Patrons or Matrons themselves.
Worship
Ancestral Patronism is an organized religion which has a defined clergy, temples, and sacred sites. These institutions facilitate the group practice and promulgation of the religion, but may also serve secondary roles depending on the primary Patron or Matron towards which they are most oriented. For example, temples of Paulus, the Patron most often associated with the healing arts, are often connected to hospitals, clinics, or storehouses for donated medical supplies. Void priests carry the message of the religion far and wide, themselves abiding the final commands of Wurth Harkin in his guise as a Patron associated with exploration, knowledge, and craftsmanship.
Nevertheless, the worship of the Ancestral Patrons extends beyond the boundaries of sacred ground. Prayer gardens may be a physical space, but they may also be a mental or private, mandala-based practice arranged by the faithful to help achieve a meditative state. The home of an Evermornan might have a quiet spot where incense, iconography associated with the individual's chosen Patron, tokens relating to their own revered ancestors (i.e. photographs), and a cushion to sit on while praying, meditating, or simply contemplating. The faithful will call upon the Patrons to watch over them, provide signs when the path forward is unclear, and to grant favor in endeavors related to the given spirit's portfolio.
Priesthood
Priests of Ancestral Patronism guide group ritual practice, establish and maintain sacred objects and grounds, interpret and approve any editions to the Ancestral Codex, and provide various other services (marriages, funerals, etc.) to the laypeople within their jurisdiction. Though these priests are proficient in the ritual practice of all the Patrons and Matrons and pay respect to all of them in turn, each individual priest also adopts one or (rarely) two spirits towards which his own station in life is most closely aligned. For example, the Shadow Smiths are a sect of Patronist priests who serve as go-betweens among the aspirational, creative, pro-human sect of Wurth Harkin and the more shadowy, proactive, agressive sect of Shank Moswen.
Granted Divine Powers
Protectorate society, though it promulgates Patronism as a cultural touchstone, recognizes a place for skepticism with regards to claims that run contrary to known history or the laws of science. Like with all known religions in the Sealed Kingdoms Region, the fruits of Ancestral Patronism are spiritual, social, and psychological in nature rather than having concrete effects on the material world. This is not to say that the non-mythical Ancestors did not have an influence in the world during their times, nor that they have had no impact on law and culture as symbols of deep-seated Evermornan ideals, but it is also a common axiom that no amount of prayer can overturn the reality of a thing.
Political Influence & Intrigue
When the Cobalt Protectorate finds - and, ideally, signs a treaty with - a heretofore foreign group, part of that new Periphery group's embrace into the Protectorate's overarching culture is an incorporation of their beliefs and mythic history into the Ancestral Codex and the accompanying search for parallelisms within the existing Patronist worldview. Though no Evermornan would know his name, the spiritual journey of Ancestral Patronism as a whole is, at least in part, a Jungian exploration of the universal underpinnings of humanoid religious and mythological symbolism in hopes of discovering some sort of deeper spiritual truth. For example, Patronists regard Izetsu, the ancient Evermornan Patron associated with water, knowledge, and the void of space, and Raikep, the singular Northern Lepidosian deity whose strongest associations are with water, as potentially emanations of some deeper, universal force that connects water with life and consciousness. When handled with the usual care and reverence, this inter-faith dialogue serves to provide unity between Protectorate subgroups and promote mutual understanding of important cultural touchstones - something like a diplomatic auxiliary language, but for spiritual matters.
Sects
Much like the Cobalt Protectorate itself is a geopolitical core with several peripheral states which fall under its sphere of influence, Ancestral Patronism can be thought of as an 'umbrella' religion that encompasses several sects tied to specific Patrons or Matrons based on region or portfolio. Many of the spirits found in Patronism came from separate proto-Clan or near-human origins and, as such, only overlap through the historical unification of the Protectorate as a polity. Similarly, while each sect shares a cosmology, and the spirits they worship might share a history with other spirits through historical contact or ancestry, their portfolios are so diverse that there may not be significant overlap in the times and places where each are considered to hold sway. For example, the Matron of love and family, Aika Fenmount, is often associated with the trickster Patron Thetsu and the healing Patron Paulus due to their supposed coincidence in history, but Thetsu's name is not the one emblazoned on the lintel of maternity wards like the names of Aika and Paulus might be. Even with such divisions, sectarian rivalries seldom rise above the occasional gentle ribbing among the priesthood, who still recognize one another as brothers and sisters in faith even if they do approach it from different directions.
Type
Religious, Organised Religion
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Permeated Organizations
Divines
Related Traditions
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
Comments