Reposed Temple

Servants Pharasma employs a number of immortal beings as servants. Among them are the psychopomps†, who are created from souls whose lives did not pull them toward good or evil, structure or chaos. They serve Pharasma in the Boneyard as advisors, judges, caretakers, explorers, guides, guards, and even soldiers when needed.[17] Her divine servitor race are the ahmuuth psychopomps, humanoid creatures that battle undead and help lost souls find their final reward.[20]
Unique servants Birthed-in-Sorrow This servant of Pharasma is a linnorm-like creature who possesses clerical powers, and uses them to fight the undead.[21] Echo of Lost Divinity This minion is a spectral warrior bedecked in expensive Azlanti dress. It bears an uncanny similarity to known renderings of Aroden, and only appeared in Pharasma's service at the beginning of the Age of Lost Omens.[21] Endless Gravestone This servant appears to be an animated, wheel-like being composed of rock.[22] Steward of the Skein Pharasma's herald is a mighty armored and winged warrior who travels the planes to restore the balance of life and death, announce auspicious births, and battle the undead hordes.[22] Church of Pharasma
A Pharasmin cathedral. Worshipers
A priestess of Pharasma. Many of Pharasma's worshipers are those closely aligned with either burgeoning life or terminating death. These include midwives, grave diggers, and morticians.[2] Pregnant women often carry small medallions bearing her likeness to protect their child. Her followers dress in black for her ceremonies (no matter the local custom), with their clothes adorned with silver, and carry tiny vials of holy water.[16][19] Her faith is most commonly practiced in Brevoy, Nex, Osirion, Qadira, the Shackles, Thuvia, Ustalav, and Varisia,[16][23] and among the Mwangi,[24] Shoanti,[25] and half-orcs throughout the Inner Sea region.[26] Pharasma is also the most popular deity among the strange, death-touched planar race known as the duskwalkers.[27]
During the Age of Legend, before the death of prophecy, Pharasma was worshipped by those Azlanti who relied on this power. The ancient Pharasmins hated undead as much as modern ones do, and their famous squads of undead slayers were quick to investigate spellcasters seeking lichdom and responded when dangerous undead were discovered within the empire. Azlanti citizens knew danger was near when they saw Pharasma's grim priests.[9]
Pharasma's faith has been spread to the Worldscape by champions abducted from Golarion, and has remained strong in the shadows for centuries. Pharasmins believe themselves already dead, and see the Worldscape as a final proving ground, where they could prove their courage or diminish their vices, before they proceed to the Boneyard and receive her judgement. Pharasma's religion was eventually banned in Shareen by Empress Camilla alongside all non-Issus faiths, its clerics exiled or burnt on pyres.[28]
Worship in Tian Xia Pharasma is also a popular deity on the distant continent of Tian Xia where she is known as the Mother of Souls. The name reflects her dual nature as both the giver and the taker of life. Her worship is most common in the Taldan colony of Amanadar, Dtang Ma, Goka, Shaguang, Shenmen, Shokuro, and Zi Ha.[29]
Clergy Her priests are typically clerics, diviners (although less so since the death of Aroden), and necromancers who choose not to create undead. Her followers view the undead with hatred and consider them a great abomination. Pharasmins view putting the undead to rest as a holy duty. The creation of undead is outlawed, and commanding undead rather than destroying them is deeply frowned upon as well.[2]
Temples and shrines The temples of Pharasma have the appearance of dark and ancient cathedrals, usually found close to a graveyard, although a single stone in an empty field or graveyard can just as well serve as a shrine.[16] Underneath the buildings are catacombs filled with crypts of the dead, typically priests or affluent townsfolk. Being entombed in these catacombs is thought to bring favor from the Lady of Graves.[2] For example, in the Osirian city of Sothis, the Necropolis of the Faithful extends out from the original grounds of the High Temple of Pharasma.[30] In contrast to these you find the Serene Spiral, the high rising majestic temple of Pharasma in Lamasara.[31]
The services held by worshipers include chanting and singing. They are typically considered a joyous occasion, and a celebration of the circle of life and death. Members of the clergy also keep records of a community's deaths and births.[2]
Holy texts Pharasma's holy book is called The Bones Land in a Spiral,[2] written by a prophet long ago. Its predictions are so vague that no one is sure if they are accurate or if they have already happened. Other sections that were added later contain information on safe childbirth, the proper burial of bodies, performing auguries, and other such matters.[16]
Holidays In Absalom Reckoning, the third month—"Pharast"—is named in honor of the Lady of Graves.[32] Pharasma's followers celebrate the Day of Bones on the 5th of Pharast,[33] and in nations where the Lady of Graves is a prominent deity, her priests take part in the Procession of Unforgotten Souls in the weeks leading up to the harvest feast.[34]
Favored animals Gods are often associated with certain animals, either because they possess a quality favored by the god, or because the god's faithful feel a special kinship to them. Pharasma's favored animals include whippoorwills, scarabs, and elephants.[35]
Organizations The Voices of the Spire is a militant wing of the Pharasmin priesthood devoted to the extermination of undead.[36]
The Pharasmin Penitence is an extremist sect that views worldly pleasures as going against Pharasma's plans and actively seek out those whom they feel upset their beliefs by making life easier, for instance, arcane casters.[37]
The Casarmetzes are church midwives who are so skilled at the procedures of childbirth that they are able to keep both mother and child alive in dire circumstances.

Type

Religious, Cult

Divines

• Lady of Graves

Notable Members

• Atropos
• Lady of Graves