Oolite Bulletins

Anything here that needs adding/changing?

Religion in Oolite is found in the Lore and the OXPs.
picture|High Temple (Church of the Holy Witchspace Guard)
picture|Monastery (Black Monks of St Herod)

== Lore from the Canon ==
The Dark Wheel has references to Randomius Factoria (chapter 3).

== Lore from outside the Canon ==
The Rough Guide to the Ooniverse mentions the following:
•Aesbion (Rough Guide) was home to the God-Emperor who ruled during the Imperial Era from the Exalted City, close to the Cathedral of Winds
•Aronar (Rough Guide) is home to fervent Giles worshippers, who are yet fervid gamblers!
•Reorte (Rough Guide) is an ever-changing theocracy with new gods being invented daily
•Tianve (Rough Guide) has devotees to the Pulsar God Tiaxus, who can be propositioned to delay his ''Sunrage''.

== OXPs ==
•Tionisla Orbital Graveyard features a variety of religious symbols depicted on their monuments: crucifixes, stars of David, menhirs ''etc''.
•Missionaries OXP gives us four varieties: Happy Eye preachers, CGC (Church of Giles the Creator) missionaries, Witchspace Lobster worshippers and Zenarchy monks.
The Church of Giles the Creator are orthodox creationists. Monotheistic and dogmatic. CGC is quite old and very influential.
Witchspace Lobster Worship is Oolite animism. Classified as primitive superstition by CGC and the rest of the establishment. They seem to worship totems in the form of crudely fashioned elongated asteroids.
What's The Happy Eye? Don't know. Brainwashed smiling faces offering their pamphlets at spaceports and on stations? They look happy. A new age sect? They claim to be the fastest growing spiritual franchise in the Ooniverse. (Dr Nil, Dec 31st 2006).
•Hognose - includes obnoxious lobster missionaries
•Interstellar Tweaks - includes crusading lobster missionaries
•Black Monk Monastery|Bank of the Black Monks of Saint Herod the bankers: only the righteous walk the Path of Debt!
•Whilst the original Dictators OXP only features agricultural junta and technological imperial versions, there is also the theocratic Church of the Holy Witchspace Guard which Montana05 is developing as a third version of Dictatorship.

== Links ==
https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8581 A moment of existential angst (2010)

Edited to include obnoxious & crusading lobstoids
Re-edited to include Dr Nil's 2006 thread comments

Link to page with pictures: http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Religion

Some of the fruits of archival research:

See wiki page for the full effect (with pictures). http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Church ... he_Creator
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[[File:Aegidian.jpg|thumb|320px|right|Giles the Creator: depiction in the Grand Cathedral of Aronar]]
Also known as CGC

Saint Giles
Saint Giles was Immanent when he created The Ooniverse. As his Creation matured, his guiding hand was needed less and less and he eventually occultated. He spent some aeons in Minimal Occultation, guiding the '''Holy Jens''', his '''Vicar of The Eight, Co-ordinator of the Celestial Codes of Creation''', but then eventually transcending even this, attaining the Maximal Occultation which he now enjoys (this was the time when the Holy Jens achieved the Minimal Occultation, before he was reunited with Giles the Creator in the Transcendental Glorious Galaxy (known to the inner initiates as '''The Ninth''') when he too attained Maximal Occultation).

Significance of the term "Saint"
"Saint" was a term used in the halcyon era on Sol. It depicted one imbued with spiritual force and who would help those existing in the immanent realms.

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Theology
*The Ooniverse evolved, evolves and will evolve, but was created by Giles out of the '''Elite Precursor''' (EP).
*The Elite Precursor, a term laden with mystical innuendo (mostly of the ineffable variety: it may or may not refer to the Halcyon Era - interpretations differ), was '''centric'''. The Blessed Giles created the Ooniverse which is '''not centric''' (mostly) - hence the Octagonal Reality of [[The Eight]].
*Giles was there at the beginning, Giles will be there at the end!

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[[File:Blessed Barque.png|thumb|right|200px|An early Blessed Barque (psuedo-walnut wood)]]
[[File:Pylon of Purity.png|thumb|200px|right|Pylon of Purity cuff links]]
[[File:The Holy Sceptre of Office.png|thumb|right|200px|Holy Sceptre of Sacerdotal Serenity (ivory)]]
Eschatology
*'''The Pool of Pellucid Placidity''': The End, that which transpires at the End of Days. One's goal in Life is to attain the PPP, under the guidance of the Fundamental Tenets of the Church of Saint Giles the Creator. The term "Pool", of course, alludes to the collative nature of the end: All are collected together there under the watchful eye of Saint Giles. The Pellucidity refers to its translucence - Saint Giles can see through to the depths - and those sinking in them, to lend a watchful hand and bring them to the surface. The Placidity naturally refers to the placid nature of the sempiternal cessation of strife and woe, in the Transcendental Glorious Galaxy at the end of time.

*'''The Blessed Barque''': this is the vessel which is guided by Saint Giles through the sempiternities of time, bringing the deceased to their eternal tranquil rest in the Transcendental Glorious Galaxy. The Blessedness refers ''both'' to the blessed fact of its manipulation by the Blessed Creator - ''and'' to the blessed nature of the souls, driven personally by the Blessed Creator to the Transcendental Glorious Galaxy.

*Holy Relics:
::[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeTeay9Whkw '''The Remnant of Sol''']: Proof that Saint Giles precedes [[The Eight]], and existed in the Halcyon Era before the creation of the Ooniverse. The Holy Hermeneuticists of the Church argue that there is much of symbolic import in this Remnant:
:::First Level of Hermeneutics: The figure which moves with care, concern and consideration is Saint Giles, tending compassionately for the bereaved souls on board the barque, which he ministers with such loving care.
:::Second Level of Hermeneutics (the Contrast): The river is, naturally, a metaphor for the stream of life. The living move along, guided by the Saint, and comes to obstacles which the Saint navigates for you.
:::Third Level of Hermeneutics (the Contradiction): The rising and lowering levels of river is naturally managed by Saint Giles. This is a reference to the supreme control which the Creator exerts over the minutiae of the lives of the living
::[https://www.flickr.com/photos/aegidian/ ... 7291901798 '''The Notorious Knucklebones of Negation''']: copies of these exist in the High Temples, placed within the sacred safe of each temple's Barque. Lovingly handcrafted out of Ivory, they represent the way in which Saint Giles directs the destinies of his worshippers, whilst allowing them a modicum of free will. His loving negation of nugatory impediments is earnestly prayed for in the first section of the liturgy, whilst his devoted priests hold his Knucklebones on high.
::'''The Holy Waters''': original High Water from the Elite Precursor has been sprinkled on the Lower Waters of The Eight to imbue them with potentiality. This is used in a number of Church ceremonies.
::'''The Wheel of Destiny''': representations of the great Wheel, lovingly turned by Saint Giles, as he improves the lot of some and diminishes that of others.
::'''The Pylon of Purity''': often features on jewellery worn by the Supreme Sacerdotes of the Church. The top level represents the purity of the Holy Giles, the intermediate level represents the purity of the Holy Jens and the bottom level that of the Supreme Sacerdotes.
*Symbolism of Ivory & Walnut. Ivory represents death, the cessation, the ceasing to be of the living spirit inhabiting the barque of the body. The ''inhibition of the inhabitation'', if you like. It is used for the Knucklebones of Negation, and for the Ivory labels with which the individual Temple Barques are festooned. Walnut represents life, and the barque is usually made of walnut (often Bemearan Walnut). It is rumoured that walnut is ritualistically ingested at some of the more elite sacerdotal ceremonies of the Church. A blessed walnut is waved over the newborn to induct them into the River of Life as they are bathed in the Holy Waters of the River.

*It will be noticed that some of the graves at the [[Tionisla Orbital Graveyard]] are Spaceships. It is some of these which are the final resting places of some of the devotees of the Church of Saint Giles the Creator.
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Applied Theology
*'''The Wheel of Destiny'''
The Wheel of Destiny's basic principle is that the souls of all sentient beings are part of a great cosmic wheel that turns according to the will of Giles. As it turns, a soul's fortune will rise and fall according to its place on the wheel; as life goes on, one is subjected to a continuous cycle of rising and falling fortune.
Thus, one's fate is in the Hands of the Holy Giles (and his vicar, the Holy Jens), and one should accept one's fate with due humility and not demur!

*The fervent gamblers of Aronar subscribe to a variant of this Wheel of Destiny theology, indeed they see it instead as the Wheel of Fortune:
For the Aronarians any fortunes won in gambling as a result of chance are seen as perfectly legitimate; if it was not Giles's will that the winner should be so fortunate, he would not have won. Of course, this extends to other areas of life as well; disappointments and failures are seen as only temporary, while Aronarians are not overly proud of today's accomplishment when they may be swept away by a downturn of fortune tomorrow. On the whole, this gives them a rather phlegmatic outlook on life. However, it also gives them a certain contempt for traders and merchants, whom they feel are trying to defy the cycle by always seeking profit at any expense. This has caused some friction with many spacefaring peoples, particularly with their vitriolic neighbors on Aesbion.

*Excess material wealth is to be avoided - one should give charity to the Church who will distribute it to those in need. While quality and excellence should be pursued (so that one can enjoy the manifold fruits of Giles' creation) this is not to be done at the expense of excessive accumulation of that which cannot be enjoyed because there is too much of it!

*One of the approved forms of this enjoyment is modification and tweaking (called '''The Embrace of the Dark Side''' by some devotees and celebrated by the flinging and then the communal consumption of walnut cookies). Prepackaged untweakable commodities are to be avoided at all cost as they are not enjoyable and thus constitute the Amassment of Excess Wealth (AEW) - or the Amassment of Unmanipulatable Modifications (term used in certain more conservative sections of the Church).

Fundamental Tenets of the Word of Giles
*Giles was there at the beginning, Giles will be there at the end!
*Giles is the Boatsman who directs the Blessed Barque of Bereavement through the River of Life towards the The Pool of Pellucid Placidity.
*In the Words of the Holy Giles: Tweak! - or be weak!

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Politics
*There are rumours that [[Aegidian Industries]] is linked with the Church of Giles the Creator at its highest levels. Why else their insistence on using the finest Bemearan walnut wood to craft their astrogatory panels for the Fer-de-Lance?
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See wiki page for the full effect (with pictures).

Nice!
Have you references to any sacred texts dealing with archaic gods - Bell & Braben? Worship of B & B is not prohibited in Ooniverse on official level, but seems it may be complex issue. Hierarchy of Lord Giles regarding to B & B? Some orthodox religions maybe, refusing holy nature of Lord Giles? There are rumors that Braben banned creation of other universes, positioning itself as Only Holy Creator. Maybe some cults perceives Ooniverse as flawed mirror image of True ED universe? Lord Giles will be only cursed demiurge in such religions, not true creator.
And who is Primary Evil in Ooniverse? Not Braben I think. And not thargoids. Thargoids are only trusted servants of Primary Evil.
Religion with Creator but without Primary Evil looks a bit uncommon, right?

Lobsters may be obnoxious, but they are rather tasty!

Would Bell & Braben be the Progenitors?

While I'm quite content to exert a gentle pull on the legs of Giles & Jens, I don't quite feel the same way about B&B!

"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." („Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen.") Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus