Starism is a relatively new belief for Humanity that has formed shortly after the discovery of the Stars after The Bloom. A decentralized religion, people have hailed the Stars as religious figures, believing in the holy lives that they lived, the powers they had and the faith that they held dear and true about the realms and the people living within them.
Mythology & Lore
From the Star Mythology Book:
After the fall of the heavens, after the realms were split open and then sewn back together, the Nephilim were in disarray. THE HOLY had fallen, his corpse merging with the ground and soil beneath our feet. Thousands of Nephilim began to fear the effects of magic on their bodies, and in response to this fear, they began to shut it out of them. Some Nephilim, however, refused to let magic die. One such Nephilim, whom was the strongest at their craft, this Nephilim would look at the stars in the sky after the 10,000 Days had passed, and see a beauty in them that filled them with warmth and joy. A energy and magic that they knew could never be left alone. Even if it had continued in the other realms. They took their followers, hundreds of them, and created a home for all of them. A realm of Stars. A white sky, overhanging over everything and filled with stars of a inverse coloration. It was a beautiful land, vast and wide, with hills and mountains of varying heights and shapes, with deep seas filled with immense, strange life. This world was known as Blackstar.
A lot of the mythology of the Stars comes from the various sources that have been created over the years, mostly that of the Star Mythology book and from the various Vaults that have been located across the realms. Although the religion was mainly formed by Humans, parts of it have seeped out into the other realms and has been adopted by the inhabitants of them, especially so after the Lunar Vault opened.
Tenets of Faith
Of major importance in Starism is the five major tenets of faith. Although the origins of these have been disputed, they are as follows:
- A soul is free, unrestricted, only riding the body as a vessel until it's time is up.
- A vessel can be any shape or form, as long as the call from within desires it as so.
- There is no point to the strife and agony between each other, only companionship and goodwill.
- Be one with nature and respect it, embrace everything about the world around you.
- Praise the Star that you feel connected to, believe in it as it believes in you.
Priesthood
And when you penetrate to the most high God
You will believe you are mad
You will believe you've gone insane
But I tell you if you follow the secret window
And you die to the ego nature
You will penetrate this darkness
Oh yes, there's many a man or woman
That's been put in the insane asylum
When this has happened to them
And they're sitting there today, people think they're insane
But they saw something that's real
Although it's decentralized in nature, as anyone can practice the beliefs and ideals of Starism, oftentimes small communities will form based around the worship of a Star or depending on the group that these individuals reside in. The highest ranking of these individuals are known as Holy Divers, having dived deep into the arcane and spiritual knowledge held by the Stars to the point that they've come out changed.
Granted Divine Powers
Being that this is a religion founded on the beliefs and understanding of heavily magical beings, it's common to see Starists as individuals with access to large amounts of Mana. There are a lot of practictioners of magic in Starism, often relying on one of the Mystical Matrices to use their magic, relying on the absorption of mana from the enviroment around them, and what-not.
After The Withering changed the realm, it became common for Starists to further infuse themselves with Mana for their own safety, even with the chance of becoming Transformed. Infact, a good chunk of present practitioners of Starism are Transformed, having willingly embraced these transformations if it meant feeling closer to the Stars.
Sects
Northern Haven Starists
Northern Haven Starists are followers of Starism found throughout the northern hemisphere, with their belief stemming from the idea that the consumption of flesh from the creatures of nature is distasteful. These Starists tend to believe that all those who manage to live through the apopcalypse will live through into a new world, one filled with peace and harmony; and those who've been deceased will return to walk alongside the living forever.
Black Clover Starism
The second most popular dogma of Starism, popular in the eastern hemisphere, Black Clover Starism is moreso about worshipping the land that the Stars left behind rather than the Stars themselves. Treating them as holy farmers, Black Clover Starists believe that The First Star created Blackstar as a paradise for all souls to eventually wind up in when they die, creating a realm of endless growth and nature. This has resulted in some believing that Terra Eclipsis, due to it's current deposition as being overwehelmed with plant life, is the Star's attempt at creating a new place for people to go into.
White Starism
A commericalized form of Starism that the Deepcore Foundation once put out and tried to make as big of a thing as possible. It was a heavily streamlined rendition of Starism, dumbing it all down as to being the belief in only one god, The First Star, and denying various aspects of Starism that involved the transformation of one's body as a welcomed thing.
At it's peak, it was a form of Starism that was popular due to the Deepcore Foundation's propaganda, becoming heavily televised and promoted across the country by members of it. In recent years after the Deepcore Foundation shut down, however, White Starism has fallen out of practice, with the only people who've remained believing in it being those whom have fallen too deep into the religion, or have become grifters out to take money out of the former.
Quadstar
Quadstar, hailing from the more southern parts of the world, is the belief that there were four individuals that made up the First Star rather than one singular entity. Each agent made up one different aspect: Life, Love, Leisure, and Liability. Followers of the Quadstar believe that you should embrace each aspect: To live Life, to Love as much as you can, to enjoy Leisure when it comes to you, and to take Liability for anything that you do.
I love the examination of the different sects. That always fascinates me about a religion. :)
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That was one of my favorite parts to write about with this tbh, haha
HEAD LIKE A HOLE//BLACK AS YOUR SOUL//I'D RATHER DIE//THAN GIVE YOU CONTROL
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