Here is a cult I came up with yesterday; still not sure what role it will have in my campaign.
The Resurrected Sabbatean Church (Die Auferstanden Sabbatianer Kirche)
The Resurrected Sabbatean Church is a religious phenomenon that is spreading rapidly across human space, a mixture between charismatic mysticism and anti-nationalism.
History
The Church was founded in 2307 by Fabio Sauermann. He was a German holographer, specialising in artistic erotic tableaux. He was reasonably successful in Hannoverian cultural networks, regarded as one of the “interesting” artists. His stated goal was to understand “the alphabet of human social dominance” through elaborate roleplaying setups that he turned into artworks.
The11 January 2307 he had his Insight: the revelation of the indissoluble nature of everything that made him the new messiah. He convinced a small set of his friends and models about his divinity and began to set up a congregation. Over the next few years the Church spread across Europe, mainly among people fascinated by its mixture of psychosexual, spiritual and artistic elements. He organised complex celebrations and rituals to mark his (and his apostles) ascent towards divinity. Footage from many of these were also turned into religious/artistic documents, revered by the faithful as the ongoing testament of the Current Messiah.
In 2312 Sauermann left Earth for Freihafen. While detractors claim this was due to police investigations into the sect, the faithful claim it was to avoid harassment due to some of the satirical productions he had created. Arriving on Tirane the messiah soon found a wealthy benefactor, Sybilla Altman. Altman was an investment banker and important part of the Neu-Tsingtao elite; thanks to his position as her personal guru/lover/artist-in-residence he gained access to much of the Tiranian jet-set. He did not pass up the chance, and the church thrived. Offshoots appeared not just on Tirane but on other colony worlds along the French arm.
In 2315 Sauerman met “Asia-Sophia”, a woman he claimed was the “harlot-grail of his destiny”. In a series of grand ceremonies they united in the Hierogamy, the sacred marriage that would initiate the new age. Unfortunately it also distanced him from Altman and her money and influence. While he and the sect celebrated the Sacred Year Altman brought the Church to court over unpaid loans. After a grand rage (caught by a television reporter) he apparently reconciled with Altman and took her as his second wife, “Achamoth”. Unfortunately for the Church negative media coverage made it prudent to withdraw from being overly visible in the Core. Sauerman set out to visit the colonial worlds to sanctify them.
Since then he has been travelling across the French arm, helping local congregations grow, attacking opponents in the media and confusing authorities.
Teachings
The basic teaching of the Church is that underlying all of reality is God; God is multidimensional but expresses Itself in our limited reality through destiny and certain people. This has been interpreted by Azur Thierney, a physicist linked to the Church, as a theory of “the universe as a timeless 4D unity generated in 5D truetime by the action of God-the-rule on the symbols of creation”. By understanding the true nature of the world humans can become complete and “enthroned” – surrounded by protective and guiding strands of quantum destiny. Sauermann, being the Current Messiah, is the focus around which destiny is woven in this era; believers recount the many amazing coincidences and events that seem to surround their leader and his chosen.
The key to this process is to understand which of the 22 human archetypes one’s Deepself is. This is usually done through elaborate psychological analysis with Church Hermeneuticists or by engaging in psychosexual roleplay where people take on different roles in partially scripted, partially freeform interactions based on Sauermann’s art. Once a true realization of what the Deepself is, the member has become “a letter”. Letters are then given further training in various meditation techniques, the nature of their archetype and “the human alphabet”. Various initiations, retreats and purifications enable them to make use of their Deepself’s connection to the divine truetime.
The most controversial aspect of the church is the teaching “That which was once forbidden is now restored; that was once allowed is now forbidden”. Old social rules and mores have no power over the people who have been reawakened, and a good way of freeing oneself from false personas and illusions is to break the taboos of one’s culture. The further one can get from one’s old apparent self, the better the chances are that one recognizes the Deepself. Hence the Church cultivates deliberate taboobreaking, be it sexual, religious or political.
The key goal for the Current Messiah and his apostles is the Restoration: this era/part of the universe has become infested with illusions, darkness and ignorance separating it from the shining clarity of God. Hence they must delve deeply into sin and evil to break it apart from inside: “It is a dirty job, but a Messiah must do it” as he explained to one of his apostles. This descent in order to ascend is often (according to the Church) misunderstood as merely sinning or exploitation, but is actually deeply important spiritual work.
Activities
The Church congregations are actively recruiting everywhere. Whether they attract people through preaching, “flirty fishing”, lectures on human social grammar or charity does not matter and varies from place to place. On Nibelungen the Nahpro Congregation has run slick commercials, posing as the new in-thing, while on Beta Canum it caused scandal (and a surge in recruitment) by an all-nude camp. The Neu-Tsingtao congregation focuses on spreading annotated holographic “testaments” across the Core, managing to keep esoteric art circles tuned to the Church.
Congregations are led by an Intercessor, aided by Hermeneuticists (experts on Deepself realisation) and Identifiers (manages practical matter, public relations, recruitment). These are elected among the lettered members, usually based on demonstrated “spiritual advancement” and recommendations from senior members. Sauermann’s apostles travel around giving orders and inspecting, making sure the local congregations are up to spec in recruitment, fundraising and restoration. Sauermann and a court of high-ranking members travel between congregations, inspiring their work and using them as bases for local drives.
Members who have discovered their archetype are expected to hone their Deepself. “Sevenriders” are urged to develop their sensual sides, seducing others towards truth and self-realization, while the “Unchained” should work to destroy bonds, help others circumvent bureucracy or resolve conflicts, and so on. These roles form a kind of internal caste system, where people take jobs and church functions based on their natures.
The Church is notably anti-nationalist. It does not recognize any nation state having formal power over it, only recognizing “the commonwealth of mankind”. In general the Church will avoid direct confrontations with governments, but produces a steady stream of satire and criticism. It claims governments, being agents of illusion and false identity, always try to suppress the church and true religious freedom. There is no need for them, only the Church.
The French, German and British authorities all view the Church as an exploitative cult. While sexual abuse, blackmail and embezzelment have never been successfully documented the Church is quite willing to skirt the law. The continual taboo breaking also tends to cause friction with community standards. A barrage of outraged criticism via the media and hard-hitting satire meets any investigation. Among colonial counterculture movements the Church has gained a special place as a source of explicit, well produced and quite funny satire, and many documents are spread not by believers but by people opposed to the colonial powers.
Some intelligence services worry that the Church is approaching the colonial liberation movements. It may also be a seed to a political ideology; Sauermann and Thierney have expounded that society would work better if all people organised themselves by archetype, guided by the logic of human social grammar and the guidance of the church congregations. They have already floated the idea that the Church should help organise refugee camps and smaller outposts, and Church members are informally trying to reduce conflicts on Joi and Kimanjano.
The Resurrected Sabbatean Church (Die Auferstanden Sabbatianer Kirche)
The Resurrected Sabbatean Church is a religious phenomenon that is spreading rapidly across human space, a mixture between charismatic mysticism and anti-nationalism.
History
The Church was founded in 2307 by Fabio Sauermann. He was a German holographer, specialising in artistic erotic tableaux. He was reasonably successful in Hannoverian cultural networks, regarded as one of the “interesting” artists. His stated goal was to understand “the alphabet of human social dominance” through elaborate roleplaying setups that he turned into artworks.
The11 January 2307 he had his Insight: the revelation of the indissoluble nature of everything that made him the new messiah. He convinced a small set of his friends and models about his divinity and began to set up a congregation. Over the next few years the Church spread across Europe, mainly among people fascinated by its mixture of psychosexual, spiritual and artistic elements. He organised complex celebrations and rituals to mark his (and his apostles) ascent towards divinity. Footage from many of these were also turned into religious/artistic documents, revered by the faithful as the ongoing testament of the Current Messiah.
In 2312 Sauermann left Earth for Freihafen. While detractors claim this was due to police investigations into the sect, the faithful claim it was to avoid harassment due to some of the satirical productions he had created. Arriving on Tirane the messiah soon found a wealthy benefactor, Sybilla Altman. Altman was an investment banker and important part of the Neu-Tsingtao elite; thanks to his position as her personal guru/lover/artist-in-residence he gained access to much of the Tiranian jet-set. He did not pass up the chance, and the church thrived. Offshoots appeared not just on Tirane but on other colony worlds along the French arm.
In 2315 Sauerman met “Asia-Sophia”, a woman he claimed was the “harlot-grail of his destiny”. In a series of grand ceremonies they united in the Hierogamy, the sacred marriage that would initiate the new age. Unfortunately it also distanced him from Altman and her money and influence. While he and the sect celebrated the Sacred Year Altman brought the Church to court over unpaid loans. After a grand rage (caught by a television reporter) he apparently reconciled with Altman and took her as his second wife, “Achamoth”. Unfortunately for the Church negative media coverage made it prudent to withdraw from being overly visible in the Core. Sauerman set out to visit the colonial worlds to sanctify them.
Since then he has been travelling across the French arm, helping local congregations grow, attacking opponents in the media and confusing authorities.
Teachings
The basic teaching of the Church is that underlying all of reality is God; God is multidimensional but expresses Itself in our limited reality through destiny and certain people. This has been interpreted by Azur Thierney, a physicist linked to the Church, as a theory of “the universe as a timeless 4D unity generated in 5D truetime by the action of God-the-rule on the symbols of creation”. By understanding the true nature of the world humans can become complete and “enthroned” – surrounded by protective and guiding strands of quantum destiny. Sauermann, being the Current Messiah, is the focus around which destiny is woven in this era; believers recount the many amazing coincidences and events that seem to surround their leader and his chosen.
The key to this process is to understand which of the 22 human archetypes one’s Deepself is. This is usually done through elaborate psychological analysis with Church Hermeneuticists or by engaging in psychosexual roleplay where people take on different roles in partially scripted, partially freeform interactions based on Sauermann’s art. Once a true realization of what the Deepself is, the member has become “a letter”. Letters are then given further training in various meditation techniques, the nature of their archetype and “the human alphabet”. Various initiations, retreats and purifications enable them to make use of their Deepself’s connection to the divine truetime.
The most controversial aspect of the church is the teaching “That which was once forbidden is now restored; that was once allowed is now forbidden”. Old social rules and mores have no power over the people who have been reawakened, and a good way of freeing oneself from false personas and illusions is to break the taboos of one’s culture. The further one can get from one’s old apparent self, the better the chances are that one recognizes the Deepself. Hence the Church cultivates deliberate taboobreaking, be it sexual, religious or political.
The key goal for the Current Messiah and his apostles is the Restoration: this era/part of the universe has become infested with illusions, darkness and ignorance separating it from the shining clarity of God. Hence they must delve deeply into sin and evil to break it apart from inside: “It is a dirty job, but a Messiah must do it” as he explained to one of his apostles. This descent in order to ascend is often (according to the Church) misunderstood as merely sinning or exploitation, but is actually deeply important spiritual work.
Activities
The Church congregations are actively recruiting everywhere. Whether they attract people through preaching, “flirty fishing”, lectures on human social grammar or charity does not matter and varies from place to place. On Nibelungen the Nahpro Congregation has run slick commercials, posing as the new in-thing, while on Beta Canum it caused scandal (and a surge in recruitment) by an all-nude camp. The Neu-Tsingtao congregation focuses on spreading annotated holographic “testaments” across the Core, managing to keep esoteric art circles tuned to the Church.
Congregations are led by an Intercessor, aided by Hermeneuticists (experts on Deepself realisation) and Identifiers (manages practical matter, public relations, recruitment). These are elected among the lettered members, usually based on demonstrated “spiritual advancement” and recommendations from senior members. Sauermann’s apostles travel around giving orders and inspecting, making sure the local congregations are up to spec in recruitment, fundraising and restoration. Sauermann and a court of high-ranking members travel between congregations, inspiring their work and using them as bases for local drives.
Members who have discovered their archetype are expected to hone their Deepself. “Sevenriders” are urged to develop their sensual sides, seducing others towards truth and self-realization, while the “Unchained” should work to destroy bonds, help others circumvent bureucracy or resolve conflicts, and so on. These roles form a kind of internal caste system, where people take jobs and church functions based on their natures.
The Church is notably anti-nationalist. It does not recognize any nation state having formal power over it, only recognizing “the commonwealth of mankind”. In general the Church will avoid direct confrontations with governments, but produces a steady stream of satire and criticism. It claims governments, being agents of illusion and false identity, always try to suppress the church and true religious freedom. There is no need for them, only the Church.
The French, German and British authorities all view the Church as an exploitative cult. While sexual abuse, blackmail and embezzelment have never been successfully documented the Church is quite willing to skirt the law. The continual taboo breaking also tends to cause friction with community standards. A barrage of outraged criticism via the media and hard-hitting satire meets any investigation. Among colonial counterculture movements the Church has gained a special place as a source of explicit, well produced and quite funny satire, and many documents are spread not by believers but by people opposed to the colonial powers.
Some intelligence services worry that the Church is approaching the colonial liberation movements. It may also be a seed to a political ideology; Sauermann and Thierney have expounded that society would work better if all people organised themselves by archetype, guided by the logic of human social grammar and the guidance of the church congregations. They have already floated the idea that the Church should help organise refugee camps and smaller outposts, and Church members are informally trying to reduce conflicts on Joi and Kimanjano.
