Taam In Phar

Taam In Phar is the largest, and arguably most important, religion in Allech-Atreus. The culmination of thousands of years of Imperial rule and religious change, Taam In Phar is a living religion based around the divinity of the Emperor. Adherents revere the Emperor and his office, believeing him to be the manifestation of the highest heavenly power, but they also believe in many lesser spirits and deities. Temple and shrine services and ceremonies are an important part of the faith, and the Emperor himself is part of ceremonies at the Temple of the Sapphire.

Origins

Taam In Phar has no direct founder or origins, but has coalesced into what it is today because of a great many people. Ancient Core World societies and communities formed around local shrines and temples, which developed into the institutions of the modern day. Beginning in the Lakarik Dynasty, the Emperor claimed divine powers derived from the heavens, and patronized the largest temples to assure their theological support. The system slowly developed into an Emperor-centric religion, with the Emperor being the manifestation of heavenly power, with command over the world of the spirits. The Temple of the Sapphire, located in the central Imperial city on Imperia Prime, became the center for worship, and the priest of the temple became one of the most powerful religious figures in the Empire.

Sometime during the Keltan Dynasty, priests began compiling books of prayers and Imperial decrees that invoked the power of the heavens. Usually, they would enter their own admonitions and theological ideas into the texts, and used these books as a means to hold their followers together. Each temple had their own book, which would be added to over the years by successive priests. Many of these books contained prophecies and incorporated ancient stories predating the Great Event. Some temples produced libraries of religious literature.

Modern Day

the modern Taam In Phar faith is firmly rooted around the Temple of the Sapphire, and the authority of the High Priest of the Sapphire there. For the most part, the High Priest has control over the various temples in the Empire, but there are exceptions to the rule. The temples at Jabal Kaman are nearly independent of the Temple of the Sapphire, and the Novan temples do not fall under the Sapphire's religious jurisdiction.

Ceremony

Much of Taam In Phar is centered around ceremony. Dancers, musicians, and priests performs ceremonies almost daily for a variety of reasons, and thousands of believers visit the temples to offer prayers and ask for blessings. The Emperor himself sometimes oversees important ceremonies, being the incarnation of the heavenly power, he lends a certrain credence to the affairs.

Adherents to Taam In Phar believe that after death their spirits will ascend to the heavens. They believe in cremation after death, and their ashes are usually interred in the temple catacombs with their family members. Halls in the temple will have small family altars where adherents can offer prayers to their ancestors.

Cosmology

Though there is no single accepted pantheon for the entirety of the faith, the most widely accepted view of the divine is that of the Sapphire Temple's. There are many other divergent views, but the largest beside the Sapphire Creed are those of the Jabal Kaman Temples, the Themothan Creed, and the Qarmash.

The Sapphire Creed

The Emperor is the manifestation of heavenly power, and all earthly manifestation of holiness comes through him. Although there are a multitude of heavenly spirits, they are unnamed and have no interaction with the human world save through the priests, the Emperor, and the temple ceremonies.

This view developed during the Second Empire when the Sapphire Temple asserted supremacy with the Imperial mandate. Formulated by the High Priest Eram and the Council of Priests based on theological precedence, this view has great popularity with the people, but many temples do not follow it.

Jabal Kaman

The priests of Jabal Kaman hold an esoteric view, believing that the Emperor is the manifestation of the heavenly father god Yuhuh, who is the king of the gods. There are other gods who oversee the workings of the cosmos, but only Yuhuh interacts with the human world. Believing the priests of Taam In Phar to be linked to Yuhuh by the power of the Emperor, which stretches across the multiverse, they may perform ceremonies with the blessing of heaven.

Some leaders of Jabal Kaman also ascribe to Themothanism, which melds the creed.

Themothan Creed

The Themothan Creed is held by a smaller number of temples, but is more heavily based on ancient texts. Believing the universe to be created from two primordial god-elements, Tehu and Behu, they hold that the primordial abyss of the cosmos was seperated by the Aphush and existence was formed. Heavenly beings came forth from the three primordial beings, and subdued them and made all of existence.

Imperial House Practice

Imperial House Practice, also called Throne Rite, is the special form of Taam In Phar practiced by the Emperor and members of the Imperial Royal House. Rites and ceremonies are performed by the Emperor, his family, or by a special sect of religious figures called the Saen Taam. The Saen are special priests and mystics who are initiated in the mysteries of the Inner Throne Rites, and they care for the hidden shrines of the Empire as well as attend to the personage of the Emperor himself. In addition to his personal assistant Saungvan Soou Repap, the Emperor is attended by Saen Khsayavang, who holds the title of Noble of the Mystic Shrine of the Golden Throne.