Religion in the Two Kingdoms

There are a wide range of spiritual practices, belief systems and philosophical schools ascribed to by different people across the Two Kingdoms.

**Heaven Worship**

So-called "Heaven Worship" is reverence for a non-personal divine spirit or energy identified with "Heaven" or "the heavens." This is the closest thing to a widely accepted or state sanctioned religion in the Kingdom of Long and, to a lesser extent, Hu. However, there are many different conceptions of Heaven. For some Heaven is a distant authority (as in "the Will of Heaven") while for others it is an Immanence pervading the universe. For some Heaven represents the natural law which governs the world (following heaven means being true to one's own nature) and for others it is conceived of as a plurality of spirits (not unlike nature spirits of the spirits of the ancestors).

**Animism**

Nature Spirits

On a local level, many people believe in nature spirits associated with specific geographical features and places such as lakes or forests.

Often, revering the spirit and avoiding its wrath is a matter of respecting nature but in some localities offerings and other ceremonies are performed in order to garner the favor of a nature spirit. This can be connected with "prayer" for favorable natural conditions such as rain or a good harvest or to ward off destructive floods or earthquakes. These may also be connected to human fertility rituals.

Small shrines and markers are often built on the roadside or the edge of the spirit's abode.

Ancestor Worship

Reverence for the spirits of the ancestors is also very common. In many places there are special occasions on which people build altars or give offerings to the ancestors. In general the ancestral spirits can be seen as offering protection or guidance. People may also be concerned with offending the spirits of the ancestors by failing to be virtuous.

Patron Spirits

Many communities have an unofficial (or sometimes an official) "patron spirit." This maybe be a nature spirit connected with a prominent local geographic feature or the spirit of a famous person such as a hero, a poet, a founder or someone who rendered an important service to the community.

**Spirit World**

Another aspect of popular folklore common across the two kingdoms is the idea of a spirit world which exists alongside the material plane. This is the realm of spirits of all kinds including exotic mythological creatures. The spirit world occasionally intersects with our own resulting in encounters and interaction between people and spirits: in general the spirits are indifferent to human beings and a spirit's presence may have a mysterious, negative or (less commonly) positive impact on the person or people involved. The spirits also have caprices which are hard for mortals to fathom and they might punish a person for a perceived offense.

**Temples and Manifestations of the Divine**

Normally associated with "Heaven Worship," some spiritual philosophers and their present-day followers focus on the idea of different aspects or manifestations of the singular Divinity. These include

1. Divine Will
2. Divine Majesty / Glory
3. The Almighty / Divine Power / Omnipotence
4. The All-Knowing / Divine Knowledge / Omniscience
5. The All-Wise / Divine Wisdom / Understanding All
6. All-Loving / Divine Mercy/Love
7. All-Just/The Divine Judgement/Fairness
8. Divine Wrath/Severity/Retribution
9. The Immutable / Divine Perseverance
10. Divine Serenity
11. The Unknowable Well-Spring / Infinity
12. The Omnipresent/Divine Immanence

There is a temple (or other institution) dedicated to each of these Divine Aspects somewhere in the Two Kingdoms which attract pilgrims and/or sustain a group of devotees.

The monastery devoted to the Unknowable Wellspring is located on the Island of Charephon in southern Hu and it is built around an extinct caldera which is too deep to fathom.

The ceremonial capital city of Ophipagus (an extensive complex of temples and palaces) built by the Naja kings is dedicated to Divine Majesty.

**Religious Figures**

Mendicants, hermits and monastics can be found throughout both kingdoms.

Long possesses a caste of clerics whose membership is hereditary. The beliefs and practices of these clerics vary greatly. Some more "orthodox" clerics preside over rites of Heaven worship and fill other ceremonial roles thus acting in many ways like state priests.