Church of the Lord of Light

The religion is based on a dualistic, manichean view of the world, **R'hllor**, the god of light, heat, and life, and R'hllor's antithesis **the Great Other**, the god of ice and death. They are locked in an eternal struggle over the fate of the world; a struggle that, according the ancient prophecies from the books of Asshai, will only end when Azor Ahai, the messianic figure, returns wielding a flaming sword called Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and raises dragons from stone.

R’hllor is also called the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame and Shadow. His nemesis, the Great Other, whose name may not be spoken, is known as the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, the God of Night and Terror.

The Lord of Light is worshipped primarily in Essos. R’hllor is worshipped in Asshai and red temples can be found in most of the Free Cities; In Lys, Braavos, Myr, Pentos,Tyrosh, Qohor, and Volantis. the city Selhorys, ruled by Volantis, contains a red temple as well. The red temple in Volantis is exceptionally large, said to be the greatest in all the world; According to Archmaester Gramyon it is about three times the size of the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing.

In Westeros, there are many followers of the Lord of Light especially in Stormlands. Red priests can be found in Dorne, Oldtown, on Dragonstone,King’s Landing and Stormlands

## Organization

At least in one location, Volantis, all those who serve at the red temple are slaves, bought as children and trained to become priests, temple prostitutes, or warriors. Whether this is also the case at other temples is unknown. Thoros, a red priest of Myr, states he was given over to the Red Temple as a young child.

(It is possible that Stormlander R’hllor does this as well)

### Priests

In Volantis, home to the largest red temple in the world, resides the High Priest, who holds the titles Flame of Truth, Light of Wisdom, First Servant of the Lord of Light, and Slave of R'hllor.

Numerous priests, both male and female, are trained in the temples. The priests of the Lord of Light wear loose red robes. Because of this, they are called “red priests”. As is the custom of Volantis, the red priests of the Volantene temple, all slaves, have flames tattooed across their cheeks, chin and forehead. Other red priests do not have such tattoos.

The red priests are taught prayers and spells, and trained to see things in fires. It takes many years of training to see the shapes beyond the flames, and even more years to learn how to interpret them.

### Temple Prostitutes

The red temple of Volantis trains some of their slaves to become temple prostitutes.

### The Fiery Hand

In Volantis, a thousand slave soldiers (never more, and never less), guard the red temple. They are known as the Fiery Hand. These slave soldiers wear ornate armor over their orange robes, and wield spears with points shaped as writhing flames. As per custom of Volantis, these slave soldiers have flames tattooed across their cheeks.

## Practices

The priests of R’hllor associate fire with life. They see shadows as creations of the Lord of Light, who are the servants of light and the children of fire. According to the priestess Melisandre, the Lord of Light cherishes the innocent, making them the most precious sacrifice.

### Prayers

Followers of R’hllor pray before a nightfire, thanking R’hllor for ending the day, while beseeching him to bring the dawn and banish the darkness.The nightfires are lit at sunset, and the prayers for more than an hour afterwards. Fires are also lit each morning at first light, where the red priests welcome the sun. Other red priests might attend to their fires during the entire night.

A common phrase of prayer is ***"the night is dark and full of terrors"***. A typical prayer sequence goes as follows: ***"Lead us from the darkness, O my Lord. Fill our hearts with fire, so we may walk your shining path . . . R'hllor, you are the light in our eyes, the fire in our hearts, the heat in our loins. Yours is the sun that warms our days, yours the stars that guard us in the dark of night."*** or ***"Lord of Light, defend us. The night is dark and full of terrors. Lord of Light, protect us."*** as well as ***"R'hllor who gave us breath, we thank you. R'hllor who gave us day, we thank you."*** there is also ***"We thank you for the sun that warms us. We thank you for the stars that watch us. We thank you for our hearths and for our torches, that keep the savage dark at bay."***.

The sentences in parenthesis are responses from worshippers present at the nightfire.

Red priests might also pray before a trial by combat: ***"Lord of Light, look down upon us. (Lord of Light, defend us.) Lord of Light, protect us in the darkness. (Lord of Light, shine your face upon us.) Light your flame among us, R'hllor. Show us the truth or falseness of this man. Strike him down if he is guilty, and give strength to his sword if he is true. Lord of Light, give us wisdom. (For the night is dark and full of terrors)"***

### Marriage Customs

At a wedding ceremony, a priest or priestess recites ceremonial prayers, which are answered by the wedding guests. The priest and groom await the bride by a ditchfire. The bride is escorted to the priest, who first asks the bride to identify herself, and next asks who comes to claim the bride. Both bride and groom are asked whether they will share their fire with their spouse-to-be, to warm him/her “when the night is dark and full of terrors”. Bride and groom are to leap over the ditchfire together, to emerge as one. Following this, the groom removes the maiden’s cloak and places the bride’s cloak around the bride’s shoulders.Following the ceremony comes the wedding feast.

### Death

The red priests administer death rites to deceased worshipers, called "the last kiss". The priest fills his mouth with fire and breaths the flames inside the deceased person, down his throat to his lungs, heart, and soul. All red priests are required to perform the rite.

Priests of R'hllor believe that *"life is warmth, and warmth is fire, and fire is God’s and God's alone."*

When a person has died, he is said to have "ascended to the Hall of Light, to sit beside the Lord".

## Visions

Red priests are trained to see visions in the flames of their nightfires. These visions could be about the past, the future, or things happening far away from the location of the priest. Visions cannot always be seen in the flames, however, and even though the visions are never wrong, it is not always easy to see the vision.

It takes years of training to see the shapes beyond the flames, and even longer to learn to distinguish visions about the past from visions about a certain future and a possible future.Even after such long training, it remains difficult, and priests might still err in their interpretation; many priests have been brought down by such incorrect interpretations.

R'hllor is also said to give his priests the power to see through falsehoods, as *“the Other's servants often hide black hearts in gaudy light”.*