Aetheris Pyrism/Practices

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Practices

This is practical information on the religious life, shared by Disciples and higher ranked members of the religion.

Customs and Traditions

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Honor the "Elders"

Whenever a man has to dwell in the underground, usually miners, he never mentions the name of a Holy One after having entered cave, mine or other underground building. As he is entering a territory controlled by the Unholy Ones, the custom is to make an offering to try to appease them, chanting some prepared ritualistic invocation and addressing them as the "Elders", never by their names or epithets. The offerings are usually composed of sinful objects, like alcohol, dirty money, stolen goods, blood and such. This custom, though tolerated in the underground by the secular authorities, who value more the profit of the mining than the flammas of the commoners, is met with swift repression when seen on the daylight, as has been reported by authorities on small groups of brigands and other kinds of criminal organizations. For these death by torture is the sentence.

Honorable Professions

Among the commoner followers of Aetheris Pyrism, professions related to fire are better seen than other ordinary ones. That way, it is not uncommon to see Smiths or even Bakers with the dignity of spokesperson of small communities, when the local Lords demand representation of the common problems.

Popular Rites

Death Communion

When for any reason a man is in the desperate position in which he decides to risk his soul in exchange of favors from the Undead Lord, possibly to try to cast away the mortal sickness of a familiar, or the plague of a region, he can turn to the Death Communion. This is a very unholy ceremony in where the requester goes out to a deserted region in the middle of a starless night, usually (but not always) with a spiritual guide, and makes an offer to the Lord of the Undead after some rituals, sacrificing (or promising to sacrifice) something very valuable to him, in order to get his favors. The Church has caught, tortured and executed enough practitioners of the dark arts to classify this ceremony as a usual heresy.

Lover's Rite

The Lover's Rite is, as the name implies, a celebration of the reciprocal love between two individuals. It is an originally secular custom that gained its way into the religious traditions. It is usually performed by a Priest, who is not unusually accompanied or even replaced by an elder of the family, and it represents the publicity of the affair, and approval of the family, church and community. Normally performed in a celebration of the same occasion, it consists roughly of the receiving of the individual blesses from those close and above the lovers. Familiars take the chance to congratulate and approve them, vassals to pay tribute and renew their oaths, and priests, elders and suzerains to bless them.

While the ceremony of a powerful Lord is more of a display of his power, and a procession of tribute and oath offerings, a ceremony of a relatively-powerful commoner or low noble might look more like a family celebration, with the blessing of the lovers given by the suzerain Lord, who will be heavily praised and celebrated in the ceremony, often to the point of eclipsing the lovers and becoming the center of the attentions.

Temple Rites

Purification Rite

When one has committed a very serious sin, or some kind of very condemnable act, he can participate in a ceremony for the purification of his soul and forgiving in the eyes of the Gods. It consists of four basic steps that can be completed in different orders. In the mea culpa step, while wearing at most only a white sheet covering his naked body, the penitent proceeds to soil all his body with dirt (paying special attention to the hair). If the crime is specially serious, cutting or even shaving the head is required. It symbolizes the regret in the eyes of the Gods. The exuraro step consists on taking off the worn clothes, usually the white sheet employed in the ceremony, sometimes not even clothes at all but some other belonging, and then throwing them to the flames, symbolizing the fire purging and exorcising the repented sins. The purgare step is performed by taking a hot bath in the pools of the temple and ritually cleaning himself up, symbolizing washing away all the involuntary impurities. The expiare step requires placing a monetary value in an altar, symbolizing the proof, through sacrifice, of real and true intent of seeking purification. Such value is considered an offering to the Gods, and is calculated to be equal or similar to the amount required to compensate the offended. After the ceremony is complete and the offended has received the judged compensation, the penitent subject is considered to be free of sin, with his soul clean.

Even by not having explicitly sinned, it is advised that everyone participates in a yearly Purification Ceremony. These much softer ceremonies usually consist of only dirtying a bit a sheet worn over the clothes, burning it and lightly wetting the head, before placing an offering in the temple.

In large enough temples, nobles have access to artificially heated baths, and private quarters to perform the ceremonies only accompanied by the priests and those they want to be with. Commoners tend to perform them on summer, collectively, on large groups in the open fields, near water sources, usually with a few or a single priest supervising them.

Wedding Rite

In Aetheris Pyrism a wedding is considered the holiest ceremony of fertility possibly made, a contract that cannot be broken without very serious consequences. Nobody is forced to wed, but doing so greatly testifies for one's respect for the divine, and is a major honor source.

The wedding ceremony is divided in three steps: The contract phase involves the elaboration and temple approval of each party's promises. Those can range from eternal or temporal union, one or as many children as possible, or other more refined dealings. Peasants are usually only allowed to sign a standard contract of union until death or infertility, and envisioning as many offspring as possible. The celebration phase is an event for the publicity of the union (and often a display of power), with public banquets by wealthy nobles, larger-than-usual family reunions by commoners, festivals for important Lords, or simply a private gathering with friends by co-conspirators. The last phase is the consumption of the love. After a short ceremony performed by a priest, the lovers are left alone to consume the act in a pool, symbol of purification. Wealthy nobles can enjoy artificially heated indoor pools in large enough temples, or an improvised and consecrated ambient for the same purposes in the lack of it. Peasants on the other hand are left to less dignified ceremonial places, like a local river, spring or generic water-source, and in the lack of it a simple home-bath or even just a short water-spraying symbolic ritual.

The Wedding Rite should not be confused with the Lover's Rite. Its objective must always be that one of procreation and child-bearing. It is not as much a contract of love, as it is a contract of fertility and lineage preservation. The weds should not necessarily be in love, or be exclusive lovers, as long as they do perform their reproductive and child-support obligations.

Spiritual Exercises

Prayer, Study and Meditation

t could be said that our spiritual search was born to seek answers to the mysteries the world holds: Why does fire burn while water wets? Where does everything come from and where are we heading? What is our calling?

To find such answers we have focused on three simple methods recommended to every follower seeking spiritual enlightenment: study, prayer and meditation. There is truth to be found in many beliefs, and the Divine permeates everything around us, so it is no wonder to find its influence in many forms of knowledge. Thus, keeping an open mind and learning to discern the messages from Above from the mundane are fundamental skills for the first method, the one of study. Through revelations and Divine manifestations we have learned that each of us has a calling, which should we choose over chaos may bring us many boons. It is with the help of those that have transcended and those whose purpose we fulfill that we are able to securely trail such path. That is the way of the prayer. Our relationship with the Holy is one of constant communication, even if not at an easily comprehensible level. One must learn to attune itself with that which is beyond him, learning not only about the other, but also about himself. It is through meditation that such is achieved.