Terran Humanism

*"Humanity is the origin of divinity." - Silvinus Herminus Januarius*

*"If Jupiter is brain to the world, then the man who organizes and presides over human affairs can logically consider himself as a part of that all-governing mind. Humanity, rightly or not, has almost always conceived of its god in terms of Providence; my duties forced me to serve as the incarnation of this Providence for one part of mankind. The more the State increases in size and power, extending its strict, cold links from man to man, the more does human faith aspire to exalt the image of a human protector at the end of this mighty chain. Whether I wished it or not, the Eastern populations of the empire already considered me a god. Even in the West, and even in Rome, where we are not officially declared divine till after death, the instinctive piety of the common people tends more and more to deify us while we are still alive." --(from Memoirs of Hadrian)*

Terran Humanism is a psychologically-oriented religious philosophy produced by the New School of the Consortium's Academy system during the Second Renaissance. It gained massive traction among the population of Earth during the Foundation Period. It posits a real divinity that exists as a product of humanity's collective unconscious belief and contains an eloquent re-expression of ancient Greco-Roman values synthesized with modern, postmodern, and new thought.

Later, it served as the primary inspiration for the state enforced cult religion of the Anthroperium and continues influences human expression, thought, and behavior throughout all three trilogies.

## Overview

Humans are posited as masters of a divine system of government and organization, a part of a greater whole of the Universe. Divinity proceeds from humanity, rather than the other way around; it is our collective psychic will that creates and empowers truly divine forces. Present within all humans are a series of divine archetypes that may be interacted with; in ancient history, these archetypes are identified with the planets of Sol System and therefore the whole of Sol System comprises humanity proper. The Greco-Roman names remain the primary identifiers of these archetypes, although they may be locally identified differently.

These archetypes are regarded as real and existing in a Jungian sense. The collective unconscious serves as a psychological substitute for God, whom Terran Humanism denies exist in any formal, Old Earth religious sense.

The physical proximity of the planets to that of Earth act as a gauge of importance of value. As such, the primary values of Terran Humanism are love (Venus), providing for oneself (Mercury), and conquest (Mars).

## Origin

During the Second Renaissance in New Athens, Greece, a great interest in nascent psychology of spirit and spirituality in general piqued in the first century BSC. The preceding centuries were characterized by a polarization of spiritual beliefs, with greater numbers of people adhering to more fundamentalist interpretations of Old Earth religions or setting aside religion altogether in favor of agnosticism, atheism, or ietsism. A general consciousness had grown among humanity as to the need for a post-Space Age spirituality. One expression of this came in Architecture a century prior, which affirmed many Old Earth religious concepts applicable to the new conditions of a space faring humanity. This approach proved exceedingly appealing to many spacers but was unpalatable to grounders whom largely had a materialistic worldview.

New School academic Silvius Herminus Januarius had observed generally a trend of honoring an ancient archetypal pantheon that had remained strong in spite of the decline of both Old Earth religion and non-believing philosophies. He penned several academic studies on the subject and later collected and edited them for the masses, published as *City of Man*. Therein he identified an unconscious urge to manifest divinity in a world of technology as the source of these ideas. He argued for divinity as a general abstract concept as something metaphysically real, but originating in humanity rather than humanity being a creation of an eternal divinity. It is therefore up to humanity to create its own divinities in accordance with the conscious set of morals and virtues they wish to embody. He laid out these tenets, argued for a guiding virtuous but pragmatic and materialistic ethic, and presented the names of the ancient Roman deities along with their ancient syncretic counterparts — already then in widespread use — as the epitome of these manifest human virtues.

The works became almost instantly popular among fellow New School thinkers and thus academia worked to disseminate the ideas to the public, both consciously and as a consequence of their recognition. Official scholastic societies for the express purpose of worship as outlined in the seminal text formed quickly from existing communities, and Januarius came to regard himself as an incarnation of Hermes, the son of Jupiter and Maia, and it is unclear if he meant this in a literal or metaphorical sense. Many Terran Humanists no doubt later took this quite literally, as he was deified in the religion.

## Deities

**Jove.** The father of the universe.

**Helios**. The sun and giver of life.

**Mercury.** The swift messenger of the gods.

**Venus.** Goddess of love.

**Gaia.** Earth. Mother of humanity.

**Luna.** The hunt, the hearth.

**Mars.** The conqueror and warrior.

**Demos.** God of terror.

**Phobos.** God of fear.

**Jupiter.** Teacher of the gods.

**Saturn.** God of duty and agriculture. Time.

**Uranus.** Space. The sky. The space above Sol.

**Neptune**: God of the sea. The space below Sol.

**Pluto**: Darkness and the underworld.

**Vesta.** The home.

**Ceres**. The mother of humanity.

**Io**. Goddess of heroes and soldiers.

**Europa.** Goddess of civilization.

**Ganymede**, the god of beauty and youth.

**Callisto**: Goddess of strength.

**Proteus**: the spacer god.

**Silvius Herminius Januarius**: after his passing, the only human regarded as divine in the religion until the annunciation of Antharchos Hypervincijovus Epiphanes.

## Beliefs

Human beings share a common consciousness regardless of environmental conditions. This core consciousness connects each human to each human and makes for a thoroughly human identity before national, ethnic, or other identity.

Within the consciousness of each human exists these real archetypes which serve as a grounding for communication with the collective unconsciousness, and one's own personal unconscious mind.

The externalization of this communication becomes worship of the deities. A human by virtue of their own selves can take an archetype and imbue it into a physical construct (such as a statue, etc.) by virtue of their own will and thus interact with it; it appears to be independent of themselves, but is really an extension of their own will and consciousness. When a person does this, he is only interacting with a personal expression of the deity and not the deity itself. But by worshiping the personal idol, the deity themselves (which Terran Humanism regards as real and existing outside of the physical plane) may be influenced.

## Centers of Worship

### Heliopolis

Heliopolis is the most widely visited center of Terran Human worship. A vast center, the Heliopolis houses shrines to all of the gods, and a parishioner is free to worship any and all of them at their leisure. It sits near Mount Olympus in New Athens, Greece. The Heliopolis is a Cathedral-style set up, where the central altar is that of Helios and each of the altars of the gods are circumscribed around in a mirror of the solar system.

The Heliopolis is burned and despoiled by Jaymeson and Cera Nicks during the Battle of Earth in the Solar War.

### Venus

Venusian Industries, Inc. sponsored the construction of an altar to Venus on Venus, located at Venera 3, .-20° to 20° N, 60° to 80° E.

### Mars

A minority population of Terran Humanists exist in most major cities on Mars, devoted solely to the cultic worship of Mars as the deity of war. A few hundred serve in the Solar War as the Mars Legion.

### Mercury

Mercurian Solar set up an altar to Mercury at the site of the crashed MESSENGER mission, near the Janáček crater.

### Luna

Tranquility Base has a temple devoted to Luna.

## Ecumenical Council

The Ecumenical Council for Terran Humanism (ECTH) is the primary governing body of Terran Humanists in the First Trilogy. It is based in New Athens, Greece and sponsors loose independent congregations of worshippers across the globe and, later, throughout Sol System.