Imperium of Man - Imperial Cult: The Imperial Cult is one of the few common factors that link the disparate worlds of the Imperium together. No matter what conditions prevail upon a world within the Imperium, the Imperial Cult will be found there. The ways in which the Emperor is worshipped in Human space are multitudinous. To some He is revered as a distant, patriarchal and Human figure. Others identify Him with some aspect of nature, many others, such as the primitive Epheisians of Dwimlicht, regard Him as a Star God, for His agents only visit occasionally and they descend from the heavens when they do so. But all the creeds of the Cult agree upon this one thing: there is only one God-Emperor. To worship a pantheon of hods and put other gods alongside Him is heresy. However, there have been many individuals over the millennia who have been seen as His saints, people visibly touched by the Emperor, and they are venerated all over the Imperium. There are saints for every aspect of life and there is a thriving trade in their relics on many worlds.The worship of the God-Emperor is, in the main, highly organised across the Imperium. Cathedral complexes can be found in the capitals of all worlds of any meaningful populations. On the densely populated, teeming Hive Worlds, these can occupy entire spires. The graceful structure of the Cathedral of the Emperor Triumphant, constructed after the Second War for Armageddon at Hive Primus on Armageddon, climbs delicately skyward, its main tower nearly a full kilometre in height. The statue of the Emperor at the top brushes the planet's troposphere, looking benignly down upon the seething, polluted Hive World below. Most towns will have a church or temple dedicated to the Emperor and even the crudest village of the most primitive tribesman will sport a sacred cave or grove dedicated to His name. Of course, in some places, the worship of the Emperor supercedes all other aspects of life -- these are the Shrine Worlds of the Imperium, where perhaps one of the great saints, or even, in the distant past, the Emperor Himself, performed a great deed.These planets can be one, vast, religious complex, or huge cemetery worlds such as Granithor, where the wealthy spend vast fortunes bringing the dead scions of their families for burial, usually those who have perished in the service of the Emperor. Then there are the Cardinal Worlds, which attract millions of pilgrims and are the strongholds of the Imperial Cult. These planets are directly governed by the Ecclesiarchy and are the seats of functionaries high in the Cult, responsible for the spiritual health of vast areas of Human space. The Ecclesiarchy maintains and promotes the Cult galaxy-wide and, where possible, tries to sanction the worship of the Emperor no matter how bizarre it may seem. Very few practices are proscribed, and even such abominations as Human sacrifice to the Emperor are useful to the Imperium, for it is easy to convince a newly encountered culture that approves of such custom to give up its psykers to the Black Ships.One of the Ecclesiarchy's tasks is to record this multiplicity of tradition with which the Emperor is honoured. In that way, two Preachers from opposite sides of the galaxy will know, no matter what their title or manner of expressing their devotion might be, that neither is a Heretic. The Ecclesiarchy sends out mission fleets for precisely this purpose, whose flotillas of blessed spacecraft slowly circle a particular part of the galaxy, recording new variants of the Cult, correcting serious heresies and proselytising to newly discovered populations of Humans. To all, the Emperor is a living god. He may be tens of thousands of light years away, but that He exists, the inhabitants of the Imperium know, so faith is an easier thing in the 41st Millennium than it has been at other times in Human history. Some amongst the Ecclesiarchy and Inquisition may argue that men should be more ardent in their devotion to Him, but though some may be lax in their adulation and may blaspheme or heretically curse the Master of Mankind for their lot, it is nevertheless rare to meet a man who would dare to deny the Emperor's divinity.The Ecclesiarchy presides over the souls of the Imperium's citizens, dividing its countless dioceses into parishes, some of which are centred upon a particular planet, others focused to tending to a particular locale or holy shrine. Each parish is ministered by a priest called a Preacher, seeing to the well-being and purity of his flock's souls. It is their duty to watch for deviancy and ensure that heretical belief is purged wherever it lurks. A truly pious Preacher may rise to become a Pontifex, whose authority extends over several parishes and their Preachers. The responsibilities of a Pontifex are diverse and can encompass the protection and ministration of routes of pilgrimage, the consideration of beatitudes and recommendation of canonisation to the holy synods. The priests called Confessors are the booming voices of the Ecclesiarchy, exalting the faithful to deeds of penitence, fervour and righteousness. Confessors are not charged with the ministrations of a diocese, but rather roam the Imperium at-will wherever the hand of the God-Emperor calls them. Under the spell of a Confessor a city can burn at the hands of its own citizens, armies may jubilantly throw themselves into the waiting guns of an enemies' hands and Heretics flee, fearing their holy wrath.