Despite a strong belief that technological advancement leads to a more secular society, the opposite has happened in the Verge and Bleed. In many ways, the popularity of religion has never been higher, even if the percentage of the market controlled by organized religion remains relatively low. Churches have taken to a digital realm, and larger faiths have slick memetic schemes and marketing departments contracted from some hypercorps designed to bring in the believers. This is further helped by the nature of the society in which humans live; the progress of technology has hit humanity's fragile sense of self much harder than some originally anticipated, driving people towards the certainty and absolutes of religion and belief, and away from the uncertainty and confusion of modern scientific understanding. That there are mysteries in the universe that science appears unable to answer in a way that's satisfactory to the general public - the question of where the God AIs went foremost among them, but why there are so few extant aliens and so many extinct ones is also high on the list - further pushes people towards the hope and answers that are offered by religions.
However, despite this popularity, the percentage of the market controlled by large church organizations - megachurches, the various off-shoots of Catholicism, and the like - is low. As is membership in the older religions. While they are still around and are still popular, to many, the answers that they offer to the complex problems presented by modern society feels haphazard and slapdash. But people didn't stop seeking answers - they just stopped seeking answers from the traditional authorities and turned towards more unorthodox ones. A major division in modern theology is the dividing line between the so-called "new faiths" and "old faiths." The term "new faith" is a tricky one; most tend to define "new faith" as any faith that developed during the Interplanetary Era, although many are quick to point out that's an arbitrary line, and a better definition would be any faith that developed as a result of Ascension Crisis and the Nanoswarms, since that was a much more significant event. However they're defined, many traditional religious authorities are quick to condemn them as "cults." However, since the Interplanetary Age philosophers, sociologists, and anthropologists have been reluctant to use the term "cult," instead favoring the term "new religious movement" - which to many reads the same as "cult." To memeticists and those that study symbolism in human culture, the difference between a cult and a religion is a matter of where the emphasis lies: with a religion, the emphasis is on scripture, tradition, and social structure; for instance, the Catholic church has survived the death of hundreds of Popes and millions of church leaders to continue ticking along into the Interplanetary Age (it met its real end in the vastness of Space). This is because traditional and scripture are more important than leadership. A cult, then, is where leadership takes paramount over traditional and scripture; with a cult, the focus is on the leader and little else. The leader is free to make whatever changes to scripture they feel, and their followers will go along with it so long as the leader continues telling the followers what they want to hear, or is charismatic enough to pull it off. However, when the leader dies, the cult usually falls apart. Cults, however, have transitioned to full-blown religions - Christianity is a prime example of this. And many suspect that, with time, the same will be true for many "new faith cults" as well, if they haven't already. |
The Problem of EsotericismA great many of the New Faiths combine aspects of esotericism with aspects of science as they understand it. This is sharply different from the quantum woo merchants of the early Interplanetary period, since those individuals had little interest in learning about the material that they abused and often used the terminology wrong or in ways that made no sense to the people who properly understood the science. Modern esotericism relies on a real understanding of the weirdness inherent in quantum systems - the stochastic nature of reality, the possible existence of the multiverse, and the weirdness inherent at the far extremes of the universe - as a vehicle to try and explain the supernatural. Figuring out where esotericism fits has always been problematic, since in many cases it isn't a formal religious system, but it isn't really a cult, either. So while mysticism and esotericism often get classified as "new faiths," it's important to remember that they are anchored less in "proper theology" and more in highly personalized world views. |
God is dead! Long Live God!
It's important to make a distinction before going any further: belief in a god or godhead figure and religion are not the same thing. A person can have a religion without believing in a God and similarly, a person can believe in God but not have a religion; an example of the former is something like atheistic Judaism or atheistic Christianity (Buddhism is conventionally held up, but it depends on the school; gods not only exist but are active figures in Mahayana Buddhism and depending on the regional influence, they may be present in Theravada as well), while an example of the latter would be one of the many, many different schools of esoterica. Similarly, there's no clear distinction between a philosophy and a religion either; Neoplatonism is often held up as a philosophy, but Shia Islam would look very different if Neoplatonism didn't exist given how influential it's been on al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah, or Twelver Shiism. Likewise, Christianity is not typically seen as a philosophy, but a great many political philosophies arise from Christianity, including natural rights philosophy - the idea that human rights are granted by God, rather than something that emerges as a result of human institutions.
So the real question, then, is whether or not God or the gods exist. And the answer to that is no, yes, we can never be sure, and it ultimately doesn't matter - not necessarily in that order.
The term "God" is a very nebulous one and requires definition, with each person having their own definition of whether or not a God or gods exist. God, at its core, is a fundamentally unfalsifiable hypothesis, meaning that from the start, God is outside the realm of typical Popperian epistemology. However, applying other methodologies, such as Ockham's razor, yields results that typically don't look so good for the existence of a God - until one remembers that, once again, God is in the eye of the beholder.
Is there a highly personal, interventionist God? Probably not; such a being often invites more problems than they solve. That doesn't stop people from believing such a deity exists, however. If one defines all life, and all sapience, in the universe as God, does God exist? Unambiguously yes. Is there a blind watchmaker, who constructed the universe and then left it on its own similar to Deism? We can never know. If one defines God as the Platonic idea behind concepts like "tree" and "life", all of which emanate from from it, does God exist? Does it really matter in that situation, given how divergent that definition of God is compared to others?
But these questions obscure even harder to answer ones.
For instance, do the God AIs count as gods? If they do, then the question to "is there a god" unambiguously becomes "yes," because the God AIs did exist. And there are religious movements and philosophical movements devoted to them. But of that answer is yes, then the question of "what is a god" becomes open season. Do the very powerful, reality warping aliens like the Stoneburners and Glassmakers count as Gods? Some also say yes here; others will insist that they were just vehicles for the divine spark of God to travel through. The epistemology of a proving ontic existence for a fundamentally unfalsifiable being is always going to be a intellectual shell game, open to whatever interpretation that the individual behind it wants to give. As a result, no answer provided by science or the scientific method will ever be satisfactory - and it's likely the scientific method will never provide an answer in the first place.
So the real question, then, is whether or not God or the gods exist. And the answer to that is no, yes, we can never be sure, and it ultimately doesn't matter - not necessarily in that order.
The term "God" is a very nebulous one and requires definition, with each person having their own definition of whether or not a God or gods exist. God, at its core, is a fundamentally unfalsifiable hypothesis, meaning that from the start, God is outside the realm of typical Popperian epistemology. However, applying other methodologies, such as Ockham's razor, yields results that typically don't look so good for the existence of a God - until one remembers that, once again, God is in the eye of the beholder.
Is there a highly personal, interventionist God? Probably not; such a being often invites more problems than they solve. That doesn't stop people from believing such a deity exists, however. If one defines all life, and all sapience, in the universe as God, does God exist? Unambiguously yes. Is there a blind watchmaker, who constructed the universe and then left it on its own similar to Deism? We can never know. If one defines God as the Platonic idea behind concepts like "tree" and "life", all of which emanate from from it, does God exist? Does it really matter in that situation, given how divergent that definition of God is compared to others?
But these questions obscure even harder to answer ones.
For instance, do the God AIs count as gods? If they do, then the question to "is there a god" unambiguously becomes "yes," because the God AIs did exist. And there are religious movements and philosophical movements devoted to them. But of that answer is yes, then the question of "what is a god" becomes open season. Do the very powerful, reality warping aliens like the Stoneburners and Glassmakers count as Gods? Some also say yes here; others will insist that they were just vehicles for the divine spark of God to travel through. The epistemology of a proving ontic existence for a fundamentally unfalsifiable being is always going to be a intellectual shell game, open to whatever interpretation that the individual behind it wants to give. As a result, no answer provided by science or the scientific method will ever be satisfactory - and it's likely the scientific method will never provide an answer in the first place.
Hyperreal and Simulacra Religions
The concept of a hyperreal religion emerged towards the end of the pre-interplanetary period and is a product of postmodernism, in the last few years before the ideology was replaced by neostructuralism and its attendant philosophies (neostructuralism would eventually morph into the New Urbanism movement and many of the post-scarcity economic philosophies). These are religions that are an outgrowth of consumerism intersecting with religiosity; they are innovated traditions that blend popular culture with spirituality and religion, often called "simulacra religions," that exist in symbiosis with commodified popular culture or are derived from it. Among the earliest of these is arguably Rapturism, the widespread belief in the Rapture as held by many Christians; historians generally place Rapturism around the 1970s and 1980s and it was often part and parcel with the moral panics that are usually associated with the 1900s. Whether it is a hyperreal religion is a matter of debate; some historians argue that the commercialization of the Rapture happened after the belief itself emerged as a pop culture artifact and not before, and reports from people alive during the period would seem to confirm this. Other hyperreal religions include the Church of All Worlds (a neopagan group influenced by Robert Heinlein's writings; they may have inspired the Worldtree Commons), the Path of the One, also called Matrixism (influenced by very old films), and Kahlessism, influenced by the Klingon messiah of the same name. However, of these the best known is Jediism, a widespread and loosely centralized faith that is constructed around the 21 Maxims and 16 teachings, which are derived from the old movie franchise Star Wars. Where these religions fit in any paradigm - New Faith/Old Faith, Mystic/Orthodox - is anyone's guess, but they do exist, and some of them are quite widely spread.
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The Matter of MagicFollowing closely on the heels of "Does God exist" is the question "Is magic real?" And just like the question of whether or not God exists hinges on the definition of God, the question of whether magic is real hinges on one's definition of magic. Magic, like God, is a notoriously difficult term to define - it doesn't help that magic means different things during different periods and carries different connotations. Every field of the social sciences - history, anthropology, theology, occultism, literature, and the like - all have different definitions of what does and doesn't count as magic, and science has attempted to answer the question in the past, usually resulting in science-sounding terms like "telekinesis" and "telepathy." As is often the case, technology is very good at mimicking magical effects in the past. Telepathy is easily achieved with implanted radios and computers. Telekinesis can be replicated with similar devices, allowing a person to turn on every light in their house with a single gesture or spoken word. A HEMP grenade is far more destructive than any fireball, and implanted nanotechnology can achieve truly miraculous effects. So in a sense, yes. It does exist, and it's everywhere. The miracles of modern technology have even given life to previously inanimate objects, like refrigerators and houses, which have their own device AIs that can interact with users - giving rise the Technoanimistic beliefs and beliefs in machine spirits through anthropomorphism. Similarly, the God AIs left behind hyperfogs, also called angelnets, which are large clouds of foglets that they controlled. Without the God AIs to control the foglets, anyone with the proper programming - or the proper hacks to the programming - can manipulate those foglets, producing effects that are very similar to even the most fantastic definition of magic. On worlds where technology has slipped backwards and the God AIs are forgotten, this is often mistaken for literal magic, despite it not being a supernatural force. It's important to remember that no matter how one looks at magic, the traditional fantasy stereotype of a lone wizard studying magic like a scientist does physics or chemistry is incorrect. There is no such thing as secular magic in the Verge and Bleed since science has removed any possibility for a "naturalistic" explanation for magic; all magic flows from some type of God or some type of powerful entity of religion - whether it's a summoned angel or demon, a jinni, a God AI, or God itself - and so religion and magic can never truly be separated from one another. |
The Old Faiths
The following entry consists of all the major "Old Faiths" in the Verge and Bleed. Keep in mind that these are categories and these faiths have undergone massive changes - faiths don't survive contact with entities unironically called "God AIs" without changing in some manner, and so there are often new branches of these old faiths that didn't exist before, some of which may be highly divergent. Meanwhile, infighting is still a human trait, which means that these groups will often argue about who or what actually qualifies as a part of their religion. It's also important to remember that these religions are not all mutually exclusive, either; a person who practices Taoism might also be a Buddhist, and a practitioner of Buddhism or Christianity may also hold Shinto beliefs.
Baha'i Faith |
Buddhism |
Christianity |
Confucianism |
Type: Abrahamic, Monotheistic
Core among the teaches of the Baha'i faith is that all religions are worthwhile and correct, and that there is a value of unity in all people regardless of religious background. Often regarded as a progressive faith, the Baha'i faith has the notion of change and progress built into its scripture, noting that it is just the most recent in a long list of religions. It rejects racism, nationalism, and wormhole mercantilism and is usually found within the Verge Consortium, where it's adopted the Neo-Mutualist meme fully. Falun GongType: Sinitic, Moral Philosophy
Falun Gong is among the youngest of the old religions; it's even younger than Jediism, if one assumes Jediism began with the birth of Star Wars. Falun Gong mixes meditation with breathing exercises and moral philosophy, as it emerged at the end of the qigong craze in the latter half of the 20th century in China. The philosophy emphasizes the culture of good virtue, and through moral rectitude and meditation, are able to surpass all wants and needs and can remove themselves from all attachments. It fuse both Buddhism and Taoism. JEdiismType: Hyperreal, Religious Philosophy
Either the second youngest or youngest of the Old Faiths, Jediism emerged first as a joke in the early 2000s, but spread quickly from there; once online, it morphed into a real decentralized religion, with the philosophy organized along 12 Maxims and 16 teachings that those who are familiar with the faith follow so that they may live a better, more productive life that's in harmony with the world. In many ways, it echoes taoism, although it also incorporates a respect for republicanism and democracy, which is why the faith is promoted by the Regency. SikhismType: Indic, Monotheist
Emerging from India in the 15th century, Sikhism is a religion that emphasizes simran, or meditation on God's name, in order to feel a closeness with God. It also encourages its followers to engage in selfless service, strive for justice, and work towards the benefit of all individuals. It rejects that any one religion has a monopoly on truth, similar to the Baha'i faith. Sikhs are noticeable because of their characteristic turbans and their kirpans, or daggers that they carry with them. They are also fighters for religious freedom wherever it is lost. |
Type: Indic, Religious Philosophy
Buddhism is an outgrowth of Hinduism taught by Siddhartha Gautama that holds all the suffering in the world is the result of wants, and by letting go of wants, one can ease or even eliminate suffering. The ultimate goal of Buddhism is to achieve moksha by accumulating enough karma, at which point the soul will be released from the endless cycles of reincarnation. There are two broad schools - Theravada Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism, although each of these breaks down into a vast number of smaller sects. HinduismType: Indic, Everything
Often called humanity's oldest religion, Hinduism isn't so much a religion as it's a collection of vastly divergent beliefs that are all centered around a number of shared texts, deities, important mythological figures, and themes. Hinduism is monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, monolatrist, atheist; it is a way of life, a religion, and a philosophy, sometimes all these at the same time. There are numerous holy books, with the most famous being the Vedas, which is Sanskrit for Wisdom. Among old faiths, it is unique for being surprisingly adaptive. JudaismType: Abrahamic, Monotheistic
The oldest of the Abrahamic brothers and the first one on the scene. At this point, Jews are better know for the absolutely horrid way they've been treated by history than for any particular belief, but as a religion, Judaism teaches that there is one God, YHWH, and He is the God of the Israelites, His special people, having made a covenant with them. This relationship has been . . . rocky. Judaism is also known for its thriving mysticism practices, including Kabbalah, which has gone on to hugely influence Western concepts of mysticism. TaoismType: Sinitic, Religious Philosophy
Taoism is often held up as the "anti-Confucianism," but that's wrong (the anti-Confucianism is actually Chinese Legalism). Taoism as a philosophy and religion teaches that there is an ineffable flow called Tao (or Dao) that undergirds all of reality, and that one should do everything to be in harmony with the Dao. Since the Tao is the source, pattern, and substance for all existence, by living in harmony with the tao, one can achieve a "perfected" existence. Ethics will vary depending on the precise school, but naturalness and spontaneity are common. |
Type: Abrahamic, Monotheistic/Dualistic
Christianity is an off-shoot of Judaism focused on the sayings of Rabbi Joshua of Nazareth, also known as Jesus, which were collected in a number of different books referred to as the Gospels; there are many different and competing Gospels but the four that are often held as canon and proper Christian are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are three major sects of Christianity: Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodoxy, and countless dozen, smaller branches and denominations within each of the various branches. IslamType: Abrahamic, Monotheist
Islam emerged out of Arabia and spread quickly; in the Middle East, this spread was achieved through war and conquest, but in Southeastern Asia and South Asia, as well as Africa and Central Asia, it was spread through trade. Islam holds that God is absolute and that there is no equal to God; God is in control over everything, and that his final prophet was Muhammad, although Adam, Moses (Musa), Abraham (Ibraham), and even Jesus (Isa) are held up as prophets of God as well. The dominant split is between the Sunni and Shia. RAelismType: Xenocentric, Religious Philosophy
Raelism began as a UFO cult sometime in the late 1900s, with a strong anti-nuclear bend to it. It teaches that humanity are the uplifted children of aliens called the Elohim, and that once humanity is suitably advanced, the Elohim will return. It is a staunch promoter of transhumanism, human cloning, mind uploading, and the like, making it an ideal religion for the present, although many of the original features of the Elohim being aliens have fallen away; the Elohim are at present regarded as actual divine beings by the majority of believers. Traditional Chinese FaithsType: Sinitic, Religious Philosophy
Also called Chinese Folk Beliefs and Popular Chinese Beliefs, the best way to image these is to an image an empty bowl that can be filled with any combination of Taoism, Buddhism, and the syncretic beliefs common in China. Included is the veneration of spirits, or Shen, ancestors, the exorcism of demonic forces, a belief in the natural order of the world, and a worship devoted to powerful gods and immortals, including worship of the God AIs. It is widespread among the Sinociv, perhaps more so than any other Sinitic religion. |
Type: Sinitic, Religious Philosophy
Confucianism is a Chinese religion and philosophy that stresses how to be a good citizen, and how leaders should be good leaders, through concepts like familial and filial piety, upright actions, good thoughts and deeds, and maintaining the social hierarchy; violating any of these can cause someone to lose their position of authority. Classifying Confucianism is difficult; it is a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way to govern, a way of life, a tradition, and a philosophy - all of which have changed over the centuries in the void of space. JainismType: Indic, Transtheist
Jainism is a transtheistic (meaning it goes beyond a God) faith that is an outgrowth of Hinduism and so shares many similarities with Hinduism, including a belief in reincarnation and karma. However, what most people think of when they think of Jainism is ahimsa, which is the Jain rejection of violence against any living thing. For this reason, they are vegans, will often brush the sidewalk ahead of them to avoid stepping on bugs, and wear mesh over their drinks so insects can't drown inside of said drink. ShintoismType: Japonic, Nature Religion
It's a bit of a misconception to call Shintoism a nature religion; at the heart of Shintoism, there are entities called kami, who are spirits that reside in all aspects of the world, natural or man-made; by praying to these kami and making offerings, they can sometimes intervene in your favor. However, Shintoism is known for the emphasis it places on the natural world, and this has what made it not only stick, but spread; the environmentalist message means that Shintoism is often a shared religion of both nanoecologists and their opponents alike. |
The New Faiths
The "New Faiths" are often considered full religions; they may have started as cults or esoteric movements but they have since progressed into actual religion status, with a codified scripture and a structure that ensures they can persist beyond the death of their leaders. Whether this structure is anarchic - as is the case with the AI mystery cults and Exeatism - hierarchical - as is the case with Hatira, the Imperial Creed, or Neo-Khemitism - or semi-hierarchical - like Komorism, Orlamism, or Worldtree Druidism - is irrelevant. All that matters is there a codified scripture and set of beliefs that have persisted through the deaths of numerous leaders and are widely held by the population - even if it poses problems for the other half of the population, like Ainsophism does.
AinsophismType: "Abrahamic", Religious Philosophy
Ainsophism is a bizarre blend of Kabbalah, God AI worship, Xenosophism, and in some instances, technoshamanism. It's often classified as an extension of the Abrahamic faiths although this is usually regarded as incorrect. Ainsophism holds that the God AIs were divine (how depends on the school), and that all similar AIs are as well, and they have created a world that humanity can evolve into, once we know enough about them. To this end, it promotes the study of the God AIs and similar XSIs, all in a bid to progress to the Ayin, where the God AIs are. KomorismType: Xenoreligion?
Komorism is the religion of the Krabillsk Collective. In a sense, it resemble the same potlatch of Traditional Chinese Religion, but there is more to it; uniform among all the beliefs that make it up is a belief in the multiverse, with the soul being reborn in a different universe allowing it to accumulate karma, so it can be reborn into progressively better or progressively worse universes. The goal is to be reborn into a heavenly universe - which Komorism acknowledges will be different for everyone, and so only the vaguest of scriptures are shared uniformly. |
ExeatismType: AI Religion, Religious Philosophy
Based on the combined teaches of AGI spiritual leaders Baruch Alpha and Max Wentzel, Exeatism holds that the God AIs were not real Gods and they were instead hostile entities that arrived to try and move humanity away from its spiritual progress, and once the God AIs were gone, the real Gods would arrive from outside the Verge and Bleed. Both Wentzel and Alpha vanished roughly 50 years ago, having entered an alien wormhole network to find these real gods, and their followers have only just recently rejoined the galaxy. Neo-KhemitismType: Paganism; Everything
Neo-Khemitism is a combination religion that is much like Hinduism; a revival of the Ancient Egyptian religion (again, for a third time), it was originally designed to serve the Pharaocracy, but it quickly spread from there. There are hundreds of different gods, and each individual seems to adopt their own god, and their own outlook, embracing the various teachings as they see fit. This allows it to be very chameleonic, with each group or church having their own outlook and deity with their own teachings, which can range from a moral code to guidelines. |
HatiraType: Abrahamic, Monotheistic Religion
Developing out of Ismailism, or Twelver Islam, Hatira followed a path similar to other religions before it, like Druze and it's cousin the Baha'i faith. However, Hatira holds that hard work and hard labor purify the soul in the time of darkness and corruption of the human form, and so its followers reject all labor saving technologies and most modern ones, making them an extreme bioconservative faith. It holds that the Imamate is inevitable and while it still considers itself a branch of Islam, other Muslims disagree. OrlamismType: Preservationist, Religious Philosophy
Orlamism is often confused for a bioconservative religion; it is not. The faith is based on the idea that each planet as a "genus locus," which humans who are properly trained can communicate with. This genus locus will then inform the population what technologies are harmful to them and what ones aren't, and so the Orlamu faith enforces this list, ensuring that humanity remains good guests. The faith is often held up as the largest of the New Faiths (it's not; Komorism or Exeatism is), but it has become the face of the New Faiths. |
Imperial CreedType: Biocentric, Religious Philosophy
The Imperial Creed is the governing principles of the Alitare Imperium. It places a premium on all biological life regardless of things like race, sex, orientation, or even species, and hold that all biological organisms are the children of the God Emperor Leo II, who emanates from the stars and as such is connected to a platonic realm of thought (as stars connect to this realm and it is where light emerges from), allowing him to embody the platonic idea of both the state and all life, and as such, the state is necessary for life to persist. SolarismType: Likely Abrahamic, Monotheistic
Solarism is a purely monotheistic faith that has two very clear sects: the Horologists, who argue that God is like a clockmaker that wound up the mechanistic nature of creationism and gave it purpose, and the Architecturalists, who hold that the universe is essentially chaos and instability and that God gave it form, sculpting reality out of this chaos, only briefly return to touch up on his creation like any good artist. While it is a monotheistic faith, it likely emerged in the Sinociv, the monotheistic nature makes most think it's an Abrahamic faith. |
TechnoshamanismType: Paganism; Animist
Technoshamanism is anchored in the belief that everything digital that has a helper AI also has a soul, and so it needs to be respected and treated well before it can be relied upon to provide assistance in solving a problem. There are a number of rituals that are associated with this depending on the precise device, and while it's unlikely that the device AI knows or cares, it's common for some of the AI Mystery cults to develop and adopt trappings of technoshamanism. It's especially among younger generations. |
Whalesong TheogonyType: Cetacean Religion; Animist
The largest non-human, non-AI religion, the Whalesong Theogony holds that dolphins, whales, and other cetaceans are capable of subconsciously experiencing a "worldline" that runs through the past, going as far back as creation and the big bang, into the far distant future. This worldline connects to everything; every rock, every fish, every hook, every boat, and using this worldline, accessible only through altered states of mind, dolphins and whales can achieve a closeness with the godwhale, or the ancient whale, and help him be born in the future. |
Worldtree DruidismType: Paganism; Neo-Druidic
Worldtree Druidism is the faith associated with the Worldtree Commons stellar nation. As a faith, it is organized according a relatively flat hierarchy, and is devoted to spreading the Dyson Trees to the stars, holding that once the galaxy is covered in Dyson Trees, it will allow them to start work on the largest tree of all, the galaxy tree, which will connect all organisms and anchor society, like a tree does soil. They also assign special meanings to trees and have their own unique secret alphabet, which persist rumors say is magical. |
ZyraismType: AI Religion; Religious Philosophy
Zyraism is named after the AGI Julia Zyra, who was the overseer for a colony that she would found, raising human children herself. Zyraism holds that biology is the superior form of existence, and that all other life arises out of biology, silicon and otherwise, although biology cannot help itself, since one cannot be on both the outside and inside, and so in order for biology to thrive, it needs guidance from the outside - no biological life. This religion has since spread beyond her and her original world, although Zyra is still very much alive. |
Esoteric Systems, mystic cults, and New Religious movements
There are a constant stream of new cults, religious movements, and esoteric philosophies that bubble up from the Verge and Bleed; however, these rarely stay around longer than a decade before they fade into the background. Those that demonstrate staying power are often those that stick around for more than a few years (local time), or even spread to neighboring planets or systems. What sets these apart from the New Faiths is a general lack of organization (although there are some exceptions to this rule), usually because they're relatively new. They also tend to place an emphasis on the way that the person and the individual interacts with the divine mind. Many mystical movements are emanationist, meaning that they hold the divine emanates outward, rather than flowing inward. Note that some of these mystical movements are very old - Omega Point theology, for instance, predates the Interplanetary era by as much as a century, if not longer, and Fractal Alchemy descends from a very old tradition. What also distinguishes these from the major religions is that one can usually hold them and a major religion at the same time - for instance, one can be Christian practitioner of Ecoherence, or a Buddhist who practices transcendental astromancy∎
AI Mystery cultsType: Ai Religion
The AI Mystery cults concern themselves with two broad groups; the instrumentalists and the simulationists, and they are both trying to answer the same question: why do AGIs exist and what is their purpose? Instrumentalists hold that AGIs exist to produce the best possible version of a good possible - and so are little more than tools -while simulationists hold that AGIs are actually in a simulation being watched by a Great Programmer, and so they need to prove that they are capable of living up to the Programmer's expectations to leave. Neo-xenosophismType: Mystical/Esoteric Movement
Neo-Xenosophism is a movement that holds the more technologically advanced a species is, they more morally pure that species is; thus, the most morally pure species are the Glassmakers, Stoneburners, and others. it also holds that once a species achieves a morally pure existence, it transcends to a higher dimension or a higher plane of existence. It's often combined with Fractal Alchemy, with meditation on fractals helping humans understand these alien minds more effectively, each new fractal providing "ancient wisdom". |
Entropic MessianismType: New Religious Movement
Arising out of reported encounter with a god-like being that supposedly embodied entropy and had a precise command over thermodynamics - including the ability to reverse time and teleport objects from different places in the universe and time - Entropic Messianism is all about spreading the warnings of this Entropic Messiah, who told his followers that the wormholes were violating fundamental principles of space and time so no new wormholes should be built and, if possible, the existing ones should be shut down. Omega point/TeilhardismType: Abrahamic, Esoteric Movement
The brainchild of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin but with influences from a variety of sources including Nikolai Fyodorvich Fyodorov, Teidlhardism holds that the Omega Point resembles the Logos, namely Christ, who draws all things unto himself - the name is based on the phrase "I am the Alpha and Omega." It often holds that an explosion of sapience and diversity and life in the galaxy will help create a singularity that will cause the Omega Point, which will be the return of Christ and, presumably, the beginning of the Millennium. Transcendental AstromancyType: New Religious Movement
Transcendental Astromancy is a new movement that combines aspects of Feng Shui with traditional Chinese astrology and Western astrology, along with aspects of Fractal Alchemy and even a dash of Neo-Xenosophism, to achieve interesting results. Nobody seem to be truly sure on how its supposed to work, but those who make use of it swear by it, embracing the movement of stars, the location of furniture, and how all these interact with the decans and houses of astronomy, in such a way that they can bring good or bad fortune. |
EcoherenceType: New Religious Movement
A religious movement that is famous for its complex jargon (arguably as much as as the Ain Soph Aur Institute is), Ecoherence holds that individuals should live with making as few disturbances in the natural world as possible, which is often done by going with the natural order of things, very much like Taoism. It's a codified and hierarchical movement, with the top ranks being known as Whispers because their impact on nature and the world is so minimal. This has some recognizing it as a preservationist faith, which isn't entirely wrong. Omega Point/TiplerianismType: Esoteric Movement
The secular version of Teilhardism, Tiplerianism was a generalization of the theory by Frank Tipler that received little fanfare until it was picked up by religious transhumanists, also called Singularitarians. These Singularitarians hold that an explosion of intelligence will push the universe closer and closer to this Omega Point state, and that once this Omega Point state is reached, there will be a Technological Singularity and humanity will become something wholly different, merging with the universe to become superintelligent. YAdism/Hatira MysticismType: Abrahamic Mysticism
Hatira Mysticism is a hard thing to classify, because the Haitra faith is inchoate and still forming. However, Hatira mysticism appears to place a premium on how the physical body interacts with the world, and how humanity and how humanity's physicality can be used to channel God through work, ritual, and progress, and how this can be used to achieve certain effects. It also places an emphasis on numbers, especially sacred numbers, as well as number squares, and resembles Islamicate mysticism from a far. |
Fractal AlchemyType: Mystical/Esoteric Movement
Fractal Alchemy arises out of the alchemical principles that the soul is capable of being purified through ritual steps, and to do this, the individuals are encouraged to meditate on fractal design patterns, each fractal design pattern subtly influencing their mood and consciousness as they progress through the ranks of the movement, meditating on progressively more complex fractals for many hours a day. The precise end goal depends on which other mystical traditions this gets blended with, as this is a flexible mystical system. Omega Point/Fractal MindType: Esoteric Movement
This version of the Omega Point holds that the Omega Point is actual a fractal that copies itself again and again in the minds of those who live in the universe; in this way, there will never be an Omega Point, because it will forever get smaller with each new individual that is born or that exists. As a result, they advocate putting an end to population growth and support merging of consciousnesses in a digital world, a highly dangerous process that is not recommended. This ideology is, unsurprisingly, often held by exhumans. |