Faith of the Seven

The **Faith of the Seven** is a widely-practiced religion in Valyria. It is little-practiced outside of Valyrian land. The Faith of the Seven is most dominant in Valyrian cities that are led by Houses, such as Rerwhen or Methi. Unlike other religions, the Faith of the Seven has no one center and consequently no leader. However, its beliefs are still followed closely as the holy text, *The Seven-Pointed Star*, is widely spread, so anyone who practices this religion would be able to seek out a Sept in any practicing city.

## Beliefs

The Faith holds that there is one god who has seven faces or aspects: the Father, the Mother, the Maiden, the Crone, the Warrior, the Smith, and the Stranger. Each aspect represents one part of life or existence.

* **The Father**: represents divine justice, and judges the souls of the dead.
* **The Mother**: represents mercy, peace, fertility, and childbirth. She is sometimes referred to as "the strength of women."
* **The Maiden**: represents purity, innocence, love, and beauty.
* **The Crone**: represents wisdom and foresight. She is represented carrying a lantern.
* **The Warrior**: represents strength and courage in battle.
* **The Smith**: represents creation and craftsmanship.
* **The Stranger**: represents death and the unknown. It is rarely prayed to.

The Stranger is depicted as neither male nor female, thus the number of male and female aspects within the godhead is equal: three males (Father, Warrior, Smith), three females (Maiden, Mother, Crone), and one who is neither. Unlike the other aspects which are represented as human figures in artwork, because the Stranger represents the unknown it is often portrayed in a wide variety of forms, often frightening. Sometimes it is represented as a skeletal figure, or a non-human creature possessing various animalistic features.

Due to its seven "aspects", the deity is often referred to as the "**Seven-faced God**" or the "**God of Seven**", but most frequently as simply "**the Seven**".

Due to the "Seven-in-One" nature of the deity, the number seven is sacred in the religion, with symbolism involving the number seven featuring heavily in its belief system. Newborn babies are anointed with seven oils and named in the light of the Seven the day they are born. In death, the Faith believes that there are Seven Heavens and Seven Hells.

**The Seven-Pointed Star** is the most prominent symbol of the Faith, representing how each of the seven aspects is one facet of a unified whole. This is used as an allegory to explain the complex theological concept of a single God composed of Seven persons: just as the star has seven points, but all points are part of the same star, so too is there only one deity, which appears to men in seven different ways.

## Practices

### Styles of Worship

The Faith is based on a number of holy texts and complex social rules. The central holy text of the religion is *The Seven-Pointed Star*.

Temples of the Faith are seven-sided buildings known as "Septs," with each wall dedicated to one of the seven aspects. Followers of the Faith gather in septs for group prayer, which frequently involves singing hymns of praise to the Seven. There are also monasteries, known as "septries", where smaller numbers of worshipers gather who have taken a monastic oath. Septries often have vows of silence or other requirements, and are places of quiet contemplation.

### Social Rules

The Faith shares several basic social rules against incest, kinslaying, and bastardy. They uphold the laws of hospitality, which hold sacred the good behavior of a guest and host towards each other.

The Faith of the Seven considers homosexuality to be a sin, albeit one of lesser severity than incest or kinslaying. Therefore, homosexuals in cities that practice the Faith must keep their true sexual and romantic behavior secret, or else face significant social consequences. However, different cities may interpret and apply its rules more or less strictly than others, so in some places, homosexuality is tolerated.

### Wedding Ceremonies

Weddings under auspices of the Faith of the Seven are elaborate and highly ritualized. These ceremonies typically take place inside of a sept and are presided over by a septon. At the beginning of the ceremony, the bride is escorted to the altar by her father where the groom and the septon await. The groom is then told, "*You may now cloak the bride and bring her under your protection*" and drapes a cloak bearing his house's colors around the bride's shoulders.

The bride and groom then join hands, which are tied together with a ribbon by the septon, who says, *"In the sight of the Seven, I hereby seal these two souls, binding them as one, for eternity."* He then instructs them to, *"Look upon one another and say the words."* At this point, the bride and groom turn to face each other are recite the following vow in unison: *"Father, Smith, Warrior, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger, I am his/hers and she/he is mine from this day until the end of my days."*

Deviations from this ritual do occur sometimes, whether due to the marriage being spur-of-the-moment, secret nature, or homosexual. Sometimes, the ceremony may take place outside of a sept, or the groom may not have a cloak. If the bride does not have a father, she may be given away by another male.

## Organization

Unlike other religions in Valyria, there is no organized clergy for the Faith. Both men and women can be priests of the Seven. Male priests are known as septons and female priests as septas.

The only organized order that are found in any practicing city of the Faith is the Silent Sisters, an all-female order devoted to the Stranger, the aspect that represents death. The Silent Sisters are responsible for dressed and preparing dead bodies for funeral rites, and have taken vows of silence and chastity. Silent Sisters are not considered to be septas, but can be found in almost every Sept.

## Gallery

The FatherThe MotherThe MaidenThe CroneThe WarriorThe SmithThe Stranger