Talsorianism

(notes; may be changed as it gets refined)

Talsorianism
Demiurge who created physical world opposed to god of pure spirit in the Corn Square. Obsession with timekeeping and measurement. Further from imperial centre, more it boils down to brute force. People go monthly to the Temple, and also pay their taxes. Sacrement style ceremonies based on astrological cycles. Time of birth is also important. Longest day of the year important. Massive marriage ceremonies at summer solstice. Monogamous society except for the Empire and some nobility/priesthood. Priesthood selected by astrology. High high HIGH levels of corruption. Priests are celibate, in theory. Cremation funerary rites, lens for the emperor. Priest holds baby in cornrise for baptism. Confirmation is a night-long gathering around a fire followed by a ceremony at dawn.

Baptism:

As it is practiced closer to the imperial center, the baptisimal practice of Talsorianism reflects the religion's strong emphasis on the corn square. On the first Pledging Day after their birth, or the first one on which the parents are able to attend (as there are many villiages remote from any temple), all the infants are brought to the temple, and, under and invocation from the priest, receive their soul at the first touch of dawn's light upon them that day.

The provincial governors (who are in most cases warlords who maintain only the loosest of ties to the Emperor) double as religious authorities within their territory, and collect taxes from the populace on this basis. While there is a complex system of religious and civil obligations associated with Talsorianism, the further from the Imperial center one travels, the the more these elements arer stripped away, until only two rules hold sway:

1. Pay your taxes. 2. Obey your rulers.

The payment of taxes takes place at special monthly or yearly religious ceremonies, which are usually more elaborate forms of the traditional weekly Pledging Day.

The time of one's birth is of vital importance to followers of Talsorianism. The most auspicious time is, of course, high noon, and those of high standing invariably present themselves as having been born at such time. Those born at night, or under inauspicious stars, are typically regarded poorly, but sufficient appeals to a qualified priest (read: piles of gold) can correct this deficit. The male calendar of birth times is especially important to the priesthood and government, as those born at certain, previously calculated times, are the only candidates for inclusion in high office. This was originally meant as an effort to ensure egalitarianism within government office, but has been corrupted by the influence of wealth over time. The female calendar ascribes qualities such as faithfulness, fertility, and other womanly virtues to those born at particular times.

The priesthood of Talsorianism is heavily focused around the study of the astrological phenomenon, that being seen as a window into the realm of the corn square god. Mathematical calculations play a large part in religious ceremonies, though the details of such are typically not avaiable to the general public, given how often the math must be fudged to appease those with enough gold. The drawing up of a daily horoscope is one of the most important duties within the Imperial Palace, and woe betide the Imperial Pronosticator who divines ill-fortune for his soverign.

Marriages are religiously sanctified in mass ceremonies on noon of the summer solstice. Those who have, throught the previous year, registered their names and intention to be married with their local priest, gather at the temple to receive a religious blessing and officially begin their married life. As you might imagine, this is one of the larger and more important occasions for community celebration on the Talsorian calendar.

The religious initiation into aldulthood is similarly a mass ceremony, but the time for it is not fixed, but rotates throughout the calendar based on complext astrological calculations. A select group of adults bring the children (supposedly segregated by sex, but based on the number of 'bonfire bastards' that are born 9 months later, not in practice) to an all-night ceremony around massive bonfires involving religious invocations and ceremonial exchanges of wisdom, which culminates at dawn, regarded as the time at which an individual begins their adult life.

The official line within Talsorianism is that the priesthood is to be celibate (to better focus upon the nature of god and his luminosity), and everyone else is supposed to be monogamous in typical patriarchy style. The influence of wealth, however, has infected the system. The Emperor, especially, has received special dispensation to 'bring the light of god unto as many women as he may choose to bless with it,' which does improve the odds of getting an heir at a suitable time. The practice of priests having 'bastard' children who are always born at exactly the right time to 'inherit' their father's religious office is also widespread.