Religion

Throughout the world of Shiva, religious beliefs are nearly too many to be counted. This notwithstanding, some religions have managed to gain followings across entire galaxies. The importance of these beliefs varies from culture to culture, but nearly all practice in one form or another.
== Dragonism ==
Dragonism is the worship of the Holy Dragons, who ruled Shiva in the days before the Cataclysm. As the creators of the Universe and most of the mortal races in it, the Gods had a hand in the daily lives of their subjects. In the days prior to the Eden War, they even would appear to and interact with their followers with a regularity modern people would find surprising. The Infinite Saint Paradine for instance, would often set off on warrior's journeys with his older sister and attendant by his side. The chaos of the Eden War however, inspired Rao to believe that they had gone too far and he commanded the Dragons to limit their interactions with mortals, but their presence was still felt to the point where only the very foolish doubted their existence. When the Cataclysm came and the Dragons disappeared from the Universe, followers of the religion gradually fell away. The return of Rao following during his conquest for the Bloodstone removed doubt about the Dragons, but now Rao was treated with fear rather than awe. The Holy Order forcefully maintained the Dragon Cult for millennia till its fall. Currently the religion is kept alive by the Ogres and various small communities found throughout the Universe.
While Dragonism did have a form of unified worship it is a bit harder to pin down in the face of the more currently popular monotheistic styles like Zihilism and the Church of the Universal Spirit. In general, there were two forms of practice. One was the open practice of the 12 Main Holy Dragons, with the forms of worship codified and well known. In addition to these though, every Dragon God had their own Mystery Cult which one had to be inducted into. The practices of these Mystery Cults were often hedonistic with sacrifices and strange rituals that could appear bizarre, appalling or terrifying to outsides. For this reason, the Mystery Cults were practiced in the utmost secrecy and in general average people had no idea to what Mystery Cult other people belonged. While Dragonism has fallen by the way side in the current Universe and many of its temples and communities have been absorbed into the Church of the Universal Spirit, many of the more rural areas still practice the Draconic Mysteries behind closed doors.
The symbol of the Draconic faith was the Shivan Star.
== Zihilism ==
Zihilism is the name given to the worship of the God Zil or Zihil. This religion is not indiginous to Shiva, and was instead brought over during the Angelic Invasion. Mortal warriors called the Zohanim brought it over from Zion were left behind when the Angels were driven out by the Dragons, and ended up settling in a sector of space near the Great Jehdan Imperium which they called Zohan, naming it after themselves. They kept up the religious practices taught to them by the Angels. However, in the passing of millennia, some aspects of the religion have been corrupted and are somewhat different than the original faith found in Zion. Zil, Ziil and Zihil for instance, are both mispronunciations of Zeal, the God who ruled Zion. While there are some adherents found throughout Shiva, the religion never really took root outside the former Zohan Empire. However, it still holds a powerful presence in the states which emerged.
The symbol of Zihilism is the Crossed Z of Zeal.
== Church of the Universal Spirit ==
The most popular religion of modern Shiva, it sprang up in the chaos of the Cataclysm. Traditionally attributed to a prophet called Yuda who had miraculous powers and wandered the planets preaching peace and brotherhood through oneness with the Universal Spirit of Light. He was eventually betrayed and executed as a heretic on the holy planet Zalam. His disciples took up his mission, spreading his teachings across the Universe. Yuda's message of peace and salvation resonated with people who were suffering under the violence of the Post-Cataclysm universe, and before long churches sprang up on nearly all worlds.
The Church grew rapidly in their early days, winning easy converts amongst the populace. It took over the empty temples left behind by the Draconic Cults and other faiths, and these Churches eventually became central buildings in the communities. It competed with the Draconic Cults early on, but its flexible ideology adapted the popular aspects of existing faiths to make it more palatable. Despite efforts to stamp out the pagan practices, in many places people will opely attend church and secretly practice the ancient ways.
While it has widespread popularity, unusually it has had little military presence throughout the Universe. Attempts by later leaders to twist the religion's pacifistic message into action suppressing other faiths never met with a great deal of support. When explaining the Church to June, Cain even mocks the religion calling it "toothless." It seems that the Church's primary concerns are promoting fellowship and offering spiritual comfort. Some priests of the religion DO exhibit holy powers and are able to perform exorcisms and fight ghosts and demons.
While the Church is very disparate with numerous variations of worship, it DOES have a centralized base of power and a leader who is (at least nominally) the highest authority in the religion. On the Cathedral World of Valikan, lives the Church's Council of Cardinals who are lead by the Kingpriest. Early in the Church's history, one of Yuda's disciples managed to convert the King of Valikan, the highest ranking convert of his day. Accepting the pacifistic mission of the faith, the King disbanded his armies and turned his capital city into a center of worship. Numerous scholars and philosophers of the faith flocked to Valikan, and these in turn trained new priests who would venture out into the Universe bringing the message of the Universal Spirit with them. From these learned faithful, the King of Valikan began selecting bishops and cardinals who in turn called him the Kingpriest. When he finally passed, rather than passing his position to his children as was tradition, he passed the leadership to the Council of Cardinals and charged them to elect a new Kingpriest from amongst themselves.
The system laid down by the first Kingpriest exists till this day. Rank in the Church is dictated by colored robes and size of hats. The Kingpriest is the highest authority in the Church and wears all white with a large hat. Cardinals wear red robes, with smaller hates. Below them are the Bishops who wear blue. Bishops oversee Priests, who often wear green robes. The Church also oversees a number of monasteries where people go to live lives of austerity and develop their spiritual powers. These monks will often wear brown robes.
Of special note is an order of monks attached to the religion called the Temple of Light. Its Light Templars are powerful fighters who seek out and destroy evil. While they are attached to the Church and their Grand Master serves the Kingpriest, secretly the Light Templars are the modern incarnation of the Draconic Mystery Cult which worshipped the Forgotten Goddess or Mothergod as they call her. While the Temple of Light is known to be secretive regarding its practices, it has successfully deflected audits from the clergy of Valikan and even the Kingpriest does not suspect that they maintain the Old Ways.
On the subject of Yuda himself, it should be noted that modern scholars have been unable to verify that he ever existed. While many records in the days immediately following the Cataclysm were lost and destroyed, and certain aspects of his story do map to known people and locations from the time, Yuda himself appears in no surviving accounts. At the time the planet Zalam was a part of the Great Jehdan Imperium, and was the center of a large number of revolts and revolutionaries who had gathered there. The Jehdans were forced to be quite ruthless in putting these down, and kept surprisingly good records of the legal cases and executions. Yuda's story of a public trial and execution are not backed up in any of the old sources. Even the existences of his various disciples are hard to verify, as the most well known promoter of the faith, the Prophet Tarsses, by his own account never met Yuda and knew him through a series of visions. The Kingpriest was said to have been the student of Yuda's best disciple Tepre, but in records of the time the identity of the man who the King of Valikan met was never given. Some modern scholars believe that Yuda may have been a folk hero adapted from earlier legends of draconic demi-gods, citing similarities between his story and older heroes including the God Paradine. Despite this, Yuda's existence and status as an Avatar for the Universal Spirit of Light is a central tenet of the Church and is doggedly defended by members of the faith.
The symbol of the Church of the Universal Spirit is the All Cross.
== Trivia ==
- Due the pervasiveness of the Church of the Universal Spirit, Dragonism is seen by most as a relic of the past. A corruption of it was kept alive in the Post-Cataclysm universe by the Holy Order, but with that state's collapse many of its former territories have been quick to adopt Universalism. Despite this, even in the All Union the Draconic Mystery Cults are still found. Rao's cult has always been popular among nobles and politicians and has adherents among the Body Politic of the All Union. Thrax's Cult is still practiced among soldiers. In communities dependent on the sea the Mysteries of Dorn will be practiced in secret. Felix's cult is particularly hedonistic and is popular among outcasts. Aurora's cult has a habit of disguising itself as Universalist Nunneries and its adherents will lead elaborate sex rituals with the local population.