Sanguis Astroism/Charter/Second Major Revision

Preamble

We believe that the Maddening Star influences our raw emotions and impulses.

We believe that the Auspicious Star influences our reason and capacity for logical thought.

We believe that the Austere Star influences our soul and capacity for serenity.

We believe that above all else, men should seek to reach a state of Harmony with the influence of all three Stars, so that we may act with Wisdom according to our knowledge.

We believe that to succeed at this is to attain Enlightenment, as the First Prophet Mathurin did.

We hold the spiritual writings of the First Prophet Mathurin to come from the greatest understanding of the Stars we have yet achieved. All should study them so we can better understand and study the Stars themselves.

We believe that everyone should know and believe this creed to be true. We do not shun those who seek honest enlightenment, and we seek always to spread our knowledge of the Truth to the unenlightened.

All this we believe.

Article I, II, III, IV: The Elder Council

1. The Elder Council of the church is made of the following members:

a. Two Justiciars

b. The Regent

c. Three Magistrates (Only while a Magistratum is seated)

d. The Light of the Austere Star

e. The Light of the Auspicious Star

f. The Light of the Maddening Star

g. The Luminary of the Austere Star

h. The Luminary of the Auspicious Star

i. The Luminary of the Maddening Star

j. Three Consuls

k. Such number of Archons as may be suitable to the number of theocracies

l. Special Regent Representatives (as appointed by the Regent)

As required, a Magistratum may at times be seated, consisting of three members. The Regent may also appoint Special Regent Representatives at his discretion. The Magistratum and Regent Representatives are Elders of the church, but do not participate in any voting of the Elder Council, unless they are entitled to a vote through virtue of another office which they hold.

Selection criteria for the Elders are described further on in this Charter.

2. During administration of the church, there are several occasions where a vote of the Elder Council is required. The following Elders may cast votes during a voting of the Elder council: the Regent, the three Lights, the three Luminaries, the three Consuls, and all Archons. All voting members are entitled to one vote. The Justiciars may not vote. Seated members of a Magistratum may not participate in voting, unless they are entitled to a vote by virtue of the holding of another Elder office. Special Regent Representatives may not participate in voting.

3. Occasions when a vote is mandatory: The general principle we will follow is that The Elder Council is supreme and all important decisions must be collective. Most decisions of the Regent can be implemented by a simple instruction or discussion in Elder council, but the most important decisions require a formal vote. Below is a list of those decisions that always require a vote:

(A) A Change to the Charter - Only one revision proposal may be in discussion at a time. If a revision proposal is already being discussed, another may not be proposed until after the voting period for the currently open proposal has finished.

(B) Admitting a new theocracy into the Elder Council - This is not automatic and must be voted on to avoid various abuses.

(C) A Vote of No Confidence - Any Elder (Except a justiciar or Archon) may be removed from the Council by a vote of No Confidence held by the Elders. Even the Regent may be removed. The reason can be as simple as being ineffective or inactive. Out of respect, the Elder should be given a chance to step down voluntarily first. If it does go to a vote, then the Elder proposing the vote of no confidence must provide a clear statement of the reason for the vote as soon as the vote is seconded, and such statement shall be supplied to all full members of the church.

(D) Excommunication (Expulsion from church) - each case must be voted for individually so that there can be no mass excommunications. There are many possible causes for excommunication, for example heresy, treachery against the church, even abusive conduct. The important thing is that the cause must be very serious, and the perpetrator must be unrepentant. It is up to the judgment of the council as to how serious the crime is and how sincere any repentance is. some crimes may be so serious as to be beyond forgiveness.

(E) Annullment of an Excommunication - The Council may vote to annul a previous excommunication if they decide that the individual has shown signs of repentance & reformation, or if the decide that the excommunication itself was unjustified.

(F) Crusade - This can only be declared in defence of the church or a Theocracy of SA. It should only be used in the most serious cases where there is a persistent and gross attack on the church or a theocracy. Once a crusade is called, it is mandatory for all believers and theocracies to support it.

(G) Sanctioned Conflict - Where the church wants to show its approval of a military conflict, then it may declare it a church Sanctioned Conflict. This means that believers and theocracies are encouraged to aid it, but are not required to do so.

(H) End of Crusade or Sanctioned Conflict.

4. The voting process: To be successful a proposal must pass a vote with an absolute 2/3rds majority of Elders. With 13 potential votes this means that it takes at least 9 votes for a vote to be successful. Any proposal not achieving the required votes will be discarded. The process for conducting a vote is as follows:

4a. Any Elder, of Consul rank or higher, excluding the Magistratum and Special Regent Representatives, may propose a vote on one of the mandatory categories. Only one proposal may be in discussion at a time. If a proposal is already being discussed, another may not be proposed until after the voting period for the currently open proposal has finished.

4b. The proposal must be seconded by another Elder of Consul rank or higher, excluding the Magistratum and Special Regent Representatives, before a vote can occur.

4c. Once seconded, a four day discussion period will begin.

4d. After the four day discussion period has passed the Regent shall call for a vote. The vote will proceed for three days. At the end of the voting period, the Regent will announce the results according to the criteria above.

Article V, VI: The Lights and Luminaries

5. The Lights of the Church are elevated to that rank of Light upon election by the College of Lights and the Regent. Lights are required to be priests of the faith, unless special permission is granted otherwise from the Regent or the Holy Prophet. A Light may be removed by a vote of no confidence in the elder council.

A. The duties of the office of the Light of the Austere are as follows:

Temporal Duties: The Light of the Austere is responsible for the management of the Temples and treasury. The Light is responsible for ensuring that current temples are well funded as well as overseeing the construction of new temples and the expansion of old ones. He is also to monitor the global treasury and to raise money from the nobility if more funds are sorely needed. Also it is the office of the Austere, in the service of the Cup to offer information about the faith to our novices, as too often we have found the Church filled with converts in name only.

Spiritual Duties: The Light of the Austere is responsible for the perseverance of the Faith. It is the Light's duty to enact the decisions of the Magestratum in the Church.

B. The duties of the office of the Light of the Auspicious are as follows:

Temporal Duties: The Light of the Auspicious is responsible for the missionary work of the Faith. It is his duty to send out priests into heathen lands and coordinate their efforts to convert peasantry and nobility, preferably obtaining permission from the local authorities. It is also the duty of the Light with such aid as may be required and in coordination with the Regent to establish relations with other religions and to act as diplomatic envoys for the Church if the Regent and Elders Council are in need of far-travelling messengers. Furthermore, in the practice of the Open Hand, the Light of the Auspicious shall attend to such secular disputes arising as may include the church as an interested party.

Spiritual Duties: The Light of the Auspicious is responsible for the intellectual advancement of the Faith. Any new theological treatise should be submitted to the Light of the Auspicious where it will be reviewed, before then being put forward to the priesthood as a whole. Taking this into account the Light will then decide whether or not to add it to the temple libraries, add an accompanying commentary or call upon the Magestratum.

C. The duties of the office of the Light of the Maddening are as follows:

Temporal Duties: The Light of the Maddening is responsible for the direction of hostile ecclesiastical action. It is his duty, and aided by his Luminary others as necessary, to direct such actions as religious takeovers, auto-da-fe, influencing the peasantry and preaching unrest in heathen lands. He is also responsible for the use of temple funds in aiding the military armies of the faith in battle.

Spiritual Duties: The Light of the Maddening is responsible for the formal declaration of Holy Crusades. He does not make the decision, that power rests with the Elder council, but he makes the formal declaration at the instruction of the council. As part of his duties both temporal and spiritual the Light of the Maddening is to keep in contact with the various theocratic rulers and generals in order to assess the military feasibility of crusades as well as managing successful ecclesiastical action during them.

6. Each Light has the authority to select their own Luminary, who serves at the pleasure of the Light. The only requirement for selection of a Luminary is that the choice of Luminary must be approved by one of the remaining two Lights before the appointment is official. A Light may dismiss their own Luminary at their discretion, upon gaining the approval of one of the remaining two Lights. Furthermore, an account of the reasons for their dismissal must be provided to the Elders prior to the Luminary's actual dismissal. Luminaries are required to be priests of the faith, unless special permission is granted from their respective Light. The duties of the Luminaries are to support their respective Lights, and to aide them in the completion of their duties.

Article VII: The Consuls

7. Consuls are elected every 2 years (OOC: 6 months RL time) by the full members of the church. The election process begins on the first day of Spring, of the year in which the election will be held. Each member is allowed to vote for a maximum of three candidates. Their choices are weighted as follows: First choice receives 4 votes, second choice receives 2 votes, third choice receives 1 vote. The three nobles receiving the highest count of votes are selected as Consuls for the next term. The following special procedures apply to Consul elections:

A. If a seated Consul desires to run again for another term, they must step down as Consul, demoting themselves to a full member rank prior to the beginning of the election period. Consuls remaining within the Elder Council during the voting period may neither be elected to serve another term, nor may they vote in the election. To give consuls the time to step down, elections must be announced with a 3 days warning - or otherwise start 3 days after the warning is given.

B. The Consuls are elected to represent the interests and views of the Full Membership of the church. Therefore, members of the Elder Council may not vote in Consul elections. The exceptions to this clause are members of a seated Magistratum who are not otherwise members of the Elder Council, and Special Regent Representatives, all of whom are entitled to vote as full members of the church. Special Regent Representatives shall demote themselves from the Eldership for the duration of the election if they choose to run.

C. There will be a five day candidacy period for nobles to announce their candidacy, beginning on the first day of Spring. At the end of this, the five day voting period will commence. Votes received outside this period will be discarded.

D. No more than one Consul may owe allegiance to a single realm. Should more than one noble owing allegiance to the same realm be among the top three voted nobles, the one with the most votes will be selected. The others will be passed over, and another selected.

E. Should a Consul office become vacant, a special mid-term election will be held to fill the vacancies. This will be an abbreviated election period. There will be a two-day period to announce candidacy, and a three-day election period. During this special election, each full member of the church may vote for a single candidate, who will receive a single vote. The newly elected Consul will serve the remainder of the abbreviated term. The next Consul elections will be held on the normal schedule.

F. The duty of the office of the Consuls is to represent the desires and needs of the entire membership of the Church, regardless of nationality or politics or ecclesiastical authority, to the Elder Council. In addition, the Consuls will help to maintain order and decorum during discussions among the church membership.

G. Consuls may be removed from their office by a vote of no confidence in the Elder Council, in cases where the Consuls are ignoring the expressed interests of the full membership of the church, engaging in partisan politics on behalf of secular powers, convicted of heresy, or commit other high crimes and misdemeanors such as bring into question their suitability for a position of such high ecclesiastical authority.

Article IIX, IX: The Regent

8. The Regent is elected every 2 years (OOC: 6 months RL time) by the Elder members and priests of the church. The election process begins immediately following the election of the new Consuls for the new term. The following special procedures apply to elections for the Regent:

A. There will be a three day period where noble may offer themselves as Regent for the coming term.

B. Following the candidacy period, voting will commence, and proceed for three days. All nobles eligible to cast votes may select a single candidate.

C. Votes for regent are cast as follows: Each Light may select a single candidate, who shall be awarded 10 votes. Each Luminary may select a single candidate, who shall be awarded 5 votes. Each Consul may select a single candidate, who shall be awarded 10 votes. Each Priest, who is not otherwise entitled to a vote by virtue of an office as Light, Luminary, or Consul, may select a single candidate, who shall be awarded 1 vote.

D. When the three day voting period is complete, the Elder council will tally the votes, and announce the results. The new Regent will begin serving immediately.

E. Should the Regent office become vacant, a special mid-term election will be held to fill the vacancy. The normal procedure shall be followed, with the candidacy period commencing immediately. The newly elected Regent will serve the remainder of the abbreviated term. The next Regent election will be held on the normal schedule.

F. The Regent is the direct representative of the Holy Prophet. They are responsible for the administrative operations of the church, and ensuring the safety, welfare, and growth of the Church. The Regent will also oversee discussion and debate within the Elders Council, aid the Lights in the fulfilment of their duties, and conduct official Church diplomacy both in person and via the Office of the Auspicious. The Regent is responsible, in conjunction with the Council as a whole, for the diplomatic relations between the church and various realms and powers. The Regent will also administer elections among the Elders, unless otherwise assigned to a specific office.

9. During any period in which an office of Regent, Light, Luminary, or Consul is vacant, no vote of the Elder council may be commenced, other than to fill the vacant offices, nor may any Charter amendments be proposed. Any vote already in process when a office becomes vacant will proceed to completion as normal.

Article X, XI: The Theocracies

10. The church of Sanguis Astroism is also deeply concerned for the institution and protection of the faith in those realms where it has historically been associated with the governance of the realms, namely, the theocracies, and those states whose existence is in their entirety dependent upon the historical conquests and benevolence of theocracies. For theocracies themselves, the following rights are granted:

A. The ruler of a theocracy shall be granted a seat as Archons, which shall be considered to have equal rank as Consuls.

B. The church shall condemn and oppose any aggressive war by any pagan or heretical power at any time against any theocracy. The identification of a conflict as an "aggressive war" shall be up to the Elders.

C. The church shall support the good order and social stability of theocratic-controlled lands insofar as is possible to do.

D. The church shall not offer recognition or sanction to any change of allegiance by any theocratic lands, nor secession, nor revolt against the legitimate and theocratic governments of those lands, except if it be the case that those legitimate and theocratic governments should also recognize or sanction those changes. Indeed, the church shall regard any such revolt or secession as a crime against the very body of the church.

11. The church of Sanguis Astroism also recognizes that the theocracies owe a portion of their resilience and stability to the beneficial effects of the church, and believes that even the term "theocracy" implies a degree of uniformity in action and belief. Therefore, for the theocracies themselves, the following responsibilities are incurred:

A. The official religion of the realm must be Sanguis Astroism. Only Astroist temples and preaching shall be permitted, unless temporary exemptions for practical considerations are granted.

B. Dukes and lords of cities may only be full members or elders of Sanguis Astroism, unless special permission is granted by the elder council.

C. The ruler and judge must be full members or elders of Sanguis Astroism, and no exceptions shall be made.

D. The judge of each theocratic realm, upon arriving in that position, shall present him or herself to the church membership, and publicly swear an oath to defend the faith, to uphold just and holy laws, to safeguard the practice of Sanguis Astroism and only Sanguis Astroism, and to expel all heretics and enemies of the faith from their realm. The Elders of Sanguis Astroism shall be tasked with holding the faithful judges to their oaths.

E. All theocratic realms shall declare war upon any target of a church-sanctioned crusade.

F. All theocratic realms shall endeavor to ensure that any realms which may be under their protection or founded under their auspices shall also uphold Sanguis Astroism, and seek the promotion of our religion and the visible presence of the church.

Article XII: The Justiciars

12. There should always be two Justiciars of the Elder Council. At least one of them must be a priest to preserve the priestly/secular balance in the Elder Council. If there is only one, then another must be appointed within a period of 4 weeks. There can never be more than two appointed. They hold the highest rank in the church. They are usually appointed by a previous Justiciar before he/she steps down. A Justiciar must be a mature, responsible, fair, active and intelligent individual. The Justiciars must be above church politics and so cannot vote in Elder Council, cannot hold any other Elder position, and should not campaign actively for any candidate for the Elder Council or any faction in the church. However they may give measured advice in council. They have a minor privilege, that they may appoint members to different church ranks, but their main function is as The Guardians of the Charter, responsible for making sure the charter is followed. Only the Justiciars are allowed to amend the charter with changes approved by the Elder Council. If any Elder, up to and including the Regent, does not obey the charter, then the justiciars can demote him down to any rank, initiating proceedings to replace him. Any church member can petition a justiciar about infringement of the charter or if they want a change in their rank. The justiciars are there to keep the Council honest and stop usurpers from seizing power.