Eclectic Temples and Rites

"And you must be careful with the arrangement of the shrines - not all the gods make good neighbors for each other, and you can imagine the mess they make when they squabble." - Instructions to a young priest at the Meren Kirkko

While gods are naturally grouped into their cultural families, the rise of commerce and trade across the Great Ring has led to a need for eclectic temples which bring together disparate deities that share a common interest. Gods, like all Numina, are anchored by places or objects in the physical world, and can typically only manifest or directly exert their powers in proximity to their anchors. However, shrines to a god create an associative link to the deity within The Dream, and allow the god to manifest within the dreamspace associated with the physical location of the shrine. In an eclectic temple, shrines from many gods are gathered together to provide a meeting place where they can interact with each other. In the days before the eclectic temples, war between gods who shared common domains was not uncommon, and was a disaster for all in the vicinity.

The best known eclectic temple is the Meren Kirkko, which gathers shrines from all the sea gods of the Great Ring, but there are other examples such as the Seiðr Hús on Eyju and the Temple of Small Gods created by the Numina Salvation Society.

Managing Eclectic Rites

To be an active shrine, ceremonies and rites to the gods must be performed by priests and worshippers. In the case of eclectic temples, this can be a unique challenge. While all of the gods have their own priesthoods and rituals, it takes a lot of work and a clever mind to bring all of these disparate components together into a meaningful and functional worship ceremony that honors all of the gods involved and does not offend any of them to the point of divine retribution.

For example, in the Merren Kirkko, the priests have choreographed a series of worship ceremonies based on the tidal flow in and out of the main chamber. During each stage of the ritual, a different god is highlighted, with a combination of words and actions that are a part of that deity's canon. The priests must change languages and vestments throughout the ritual, and take care not to introduce conflict wherever possible. When candles are lit in honor of Lirnach, fresh blood must also be dripped into the pool of Mòr Cuan Cailleach to distract her from the honor paid to her enemy. At the same time, the shrine of Tunniqaijuq must be covered over to prevent any light touching it, and a priest of Ahvto must be giving directions to all the other priests to support his role as King and Host of the divine gathering.

This is a simplified example, covering only one moment in the ongoing eclectic rites in one of the temples, but it captures the essence of the challenge facing the priests. Engineering the ceremonies is an ongoing process of refinement and adjustment, and the priests must also be able to integrate new gods as they rise, and accommodate changes to the nature of gods as they are altered by the Egregoric Force. Enabling the functioning of the eclectic temples and their ceremonies is the most demanding role a priest can undertake in the Great Ring.

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