Monadism

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Monadism is the most popular religion in the Gnadra Sector, boasting over a trillion adherents, though the number has been often disputed as a too liberal interpretation of what constitutes an adherent. A pantheistic and tolerant religion, it spread quickly throughout the known space and found fertile ground on many worlds of varying races. Today, its priests and temples, vaguely similar to a mix of Christian and Buddhist aesthetics, are a popular sight in many unaligned worlds, as well powerful empires. Some worlds accept it as a state religion, although its detachment from politics makes it rare.

Origin[edit | edit source]

Monadism was founded 1718 years ago on a lesser Gnadra world of Robadon VI among the dwarven, human, goliath and molekin miners of this arid world. The dwarf known as Fergus Ailenmar was fired from his job for alleged poor performance, which led to his self-seclusion in a distant cavern, where he meditated for long hours on the nature of existence. When he eventually emerged, he was a changed man, proclaiming news of his discovery of the truth of the universe. In practice, his teachings were not particularly revolutionary, and highly based on a number of natural religions brought to Robadon VI by the migrant workers. He incorporated elements of goliath pantheism, molekin gnosticism and human divine reverence with his own non-theistic belief in the union of spirit.

Beliefs[edit | edit source]

Mainstream Monadism is a very permissive, tolerant religion concentrated on self-perfection and unity with the universe. It has few strong commandments, telling its adherents only to seek to better themselves, to lead happy lives and to not harm others. Most monadists seek to reveal mystic truths of the universe through meditation, though varied other practices are also common. Devout Monadists seek to "open everyone's eyes" and in the regions where they're less dominant, they became known for their door-to-door evangelism, attempting to distribute their religious pamphlets, hoping to "save everyone's souls from the unending prison of the mortal flesh".

Many of the spiritual beliefs of Monadism have been later determined to be accurate regarding some underlying mechanisms of the spiritual side of the universe. Reincarnation, once dismissed by majority but preached by Monadism, has been determined to be what naturally happens to spirits in the Aether that remain too bound to their former material lives. Matter has been discovered to bind and hold spirits to it in the fashion described by Monadism. While many other Monadist beliefs (such as the Aether being the soul and original form of the universe) remain unproven, these discoveries only swelled the numbers of the followers of the Monad.

Cosmogony[edit | edit source]

According to Monadist beliefs, in the beginning, there was only the Aether - and it was perfect, immaculate, timeless and uniform. But the Aether was not just the plane of existence, but as the plane of souls, it was itself an enormous soul, spirit of the universe itself, called the Monad. For eternity, the Monad contemplated its own perfection and existed in a state free of suffering or worry. Suddenly, for a brief moment, the Monad doubted its own perfection, and from this Doubt arose Fear. That Fear, the first particle different from everything else, became separated and grew even more as the Monad noticed the blemish.

In time, it became the Demiurge - an entity that defined divinity but at the same time was more than any of the future gods. It was the god of gods, the ultimate deity that gave rise to the material universe. Seeing the uniformity of the Aether as wrong, Demiurge used his divine powers to cut out a piece of the Aether and bound it in a new, material form. This way, the nascent material universe was formed, first as a mass of undifferentiated matter. Demiurge gave it direction and laws of physics that directed its evolution and over countless aeons, the universe formed galaxies, stars and planets and eventually, life.

Although for the material universe it was billions of years, for the Demiurge it was like days. He saw the diversity of life and was proud of his creation and considered himself the one, true god. When life first grew complex enough to be able to contemplate is own existence as he once did, he saw it fit to show them his true power and make them worship him. But these aliens, on a distant planet beyond the observable edge of the universe, refused to worship the Demiurge, seeing him as merely another man, just one far older than them. Then, Wrath grew in his heart, and that Wrath turned into Evil. As he smote the aliens who dared to refuse him, he grew disgusted with what he's become. He cast the Evil out to the deepest recesses of the Aether, giving rise to Hell and demons.

It is believed the Monad rests in a state similar to a coma, with most of its soul fragmented and imprisoned in living beings. As Monadists believe, once one realized his role as part of the greater whole, the soul of the universe, his soul will reunite with the Monad and as more souls rejoin it, the Monad will finally reawaken. Until then, their souls will remain bound to material universe and stuck coming back to the material lives they cannot leave behind. Meanwhile, the Demiurge is believed to rule the material universe as a god would rule his divine domain. Hardly omnipotent, he is believed to rule from a distant planet just beyond the edge of the observable universe, where he and his cadre of faithful, immortal servants live depraved lives. While they're happy, their lives are ultimately illusions and will expire when all matter decays into nothingness at the end of times.

Titans[edit | edit source]

Formal Monadist literature makes little mention of the Titans and gives them no grand role in the cosmic scheme of things. However, as on many worlds Monadism spread to Titans were considered (dead) gods as creators of various races, popular belief started to incorporate them into the mythological narrative. It became common to depict them as the immortal agents serving the Demiurge and maintaining his order throughout the material universe. Although it was officially condemned as intolerant of an alien race, the belief persisted for a long time. Only recently the more advanced analysis of surviving Titan art mostly dispersed the superstition.

Structure[edit | edit source]

Monadism places little emphasis on formal church structure, leading to many separated, independent communities. However, formally a group of high priests known as the Conclave sits at the top of the Monadist hierarchy and establishes which dogmas and moral guides are considered canonical and supported by the official community. Under the Conclave lies an irregular structure of hierophants and high priests who generally elect from among themselves leaders for the settlement, the region and the world and, where applicable, the multi-planet state. Priests are not considered any more saint or virtuous than any other mortal, and their authority lies solely in forwarding the words of the Conclave or past religious leaders.