Conarism

When we die, we reincarnate, each time becoming more true to ourselves and our spirit.  The wicked get more wicked and the righteous get more righteous as they proceed through more life cycles. Bad things happen to seemingly good people because they might have been bad in past lives and hadn’t sufficiently atoned, or to test them.  Believers are made to feel that they must have been bad in a past life and have to do good in this one to make up for it if they want to eventually get to heaven.

Only Conarites can ever get to heaven.  If you don’t believe, the advocate will eventually give up on you and send you to hell, so most Conarites want to convert everyone. 

Dimorgos - the Authority
Dimorgos created the universe and infused it with divine energy, becoming passive in the process.  He has the final say in where you go next, but does little to directly influence events on earth. Dimorgos hears arguments from the Synigora and Katergis and then decides whether you will go to heaven, to hell, or reincarnate back to Earth, and what lessons you will need to learn in your next life. 

Synigora - the Advocate
Sends good things your way, tries to make you stronger, and argues on the behalf of the righteous. Leader of the angels. 

Katergis - the Trickster
A necessary evil that does bad things to people to test them.  Sacrifices to the trickster might keep them at bay. Leader of the demons. 

A prophet comes every 73 years so that they can be sacrificed under the light of Gabriel's Comet. The prophet is typically a male in his 20s or 30s. The comet is so bright that you can see it during the day. The prophet is burnt at the stake. It’s believed that the soul of the prophet is a fresh, untouched, and purely good one, and he goes directly to heaven after he is sacrificed.  Past prophets are revered as demigods and believers pray to different ones for different issues.  It is also believed that the prophets grant divine magic. 

After the comet passes, the Advocate and the Trickster will have a battle.  Without the Prophet's strength, the Advocate will be killed and the world will end.  

The prophet writes the next chapter of the holy text with the help of the high priests.  It includes his life story, his thoughts on what it means to live a good life, his commentary on recent history since the last one, his thoughts on current issues, and vague predictions for how to identify the next prophet. 

The church has to confirm who the prophet is each time, and the different sects don't always agree.  The prophet has to fulfill certain prophecies left by the previous one, and perform miracles including impossible feats of strength that the high priests totally confirm that they can do. 

These are the things you have to do in order to stay on the Advocate's good side.  The different denominations debate what they mean and how to accomplish them. 

Sacrifice.
The Ascelic Orthodox Conarites took this literally and people were sacrificed. Today, there is debate about what true sacrifice and selflessness really is and how you can make the Advocate see it in your heart. 

• Some believe that sacrifice has to literally waste/delete something of value.  Kill your best cow but don’t use any of it, burn part of your crop, put time into creating something and then pray while you destroy it.  
• Some believe that sacrifice has to be given to the benefit of someone else.  Gift the meat from the cow or your crops to neighbors in need, for example.  Churches that ascribe to this belief often have a system where everyone gives a certain percentage of their “stuff” and the church keeps some of it and then gives the rest to the needy. 
• Some believe that physical goods and worth don’t truly have value to your spirit and sacrifice is something deeper within your heart that only the advocate can truly see and understand.  Those who use the church for personal gain don’t like this idea. 

Travail. 
Work hard to carry your own weight and then some, because someday you’ll be old and others will have to carry you.  

Many interpretations of the text take this to also mean that magic is a tool given to humanity by the trickster to allow us to cheat! Attuning with a crystal corrupts your spirit, clouds your heart from letting the advocate see it clearly.  

Propagate. 
There are three different interpretations of this.  Some also believe that all of these are valid and it depends on the individual which one you need to do. 

• If you don’t do enough to convert people or help the efforts to convert people, whether proselytizing yourself, or by helping to fund the efforts to do so.  The church uses this to help justify tithes.  Going out into foreign lands to try to convert people is required of certain levels of priests.   
• Encouraging spirituality in other believers, participating in communal worship, celebrating your faith within your family and church.  
• Have lots of kids.  The more kids you have, the more wandering souls are brought into a family of the correct faith. 

More endeavors?

These are bad things that turn away the Advocate and let the Trickster into your heart. 

Dishonesty - breaking your word or lying

Betrayal - exploiting the trust of another

Avarice - taking or hoarding more than you are due

Injustice - preventing someone from getting what they are due, or treating someone with cruelty or unfairness

Indolence - working below your means and forcing others to carry your weight

Gluttony - caving in to cravings of the flesh.  This can include sex, alcohol, drugs, or excessive food. 

Burning someone at the stake can purify them.  Since Conarites believe that you have to get more extremely good or extremely bad in life in order to move on to heaven or hell, it isn't a good idea to want to purify bad people who are to be executed, because that will make them less bad and make them stay on earth for more life cycles.  

Conarites who scorn magic will often burn magic users at the stake because the crystal might have accounted for some of their impurity and burning them can help.  Spending a life cycle as a mage is not damning in and of itself, but most believe a life cycle spent as a mage cannot bring one closer to heaven no matter how good of a person you are.  

Conarites prefer to cremate their dead because that makes sure that the entire contents of their heart are sent with them so that the Authority can see all of it clearly.  Family and friends of the deceased write letters or create pieces of art to toss into the funeral pyre, wishing them well on their next journey and praying for the Authority to look upon them favorably.  No one else is allowed to lay eyes on this letter or gift, ever. A letter must be folded and a gift must be wrapped.