Akronism: Difference between revisions

''For Akronists belief about the Goddess Akrona personally, see "[[Akronism#The Goddess Akrona|The Goddess Akrona]]" below.''

==Texts and Edicts==

Akronism does not have a single, canonical text or "holy book" containing all of the teachings and commandments of the Akronist faith. The Goddess Akrona is said to have personally spoken to the seven women she blessed only on one occasion. Her words at that moment were recorded as "I give to you and to all the people of your nation all the blessings of life in creation, and charge you with the protection and continuation of life everywhere." This phrase is known as the Mandate. These seven women, the only mortal beings to whom Akrona personally appeared, would become the first Elders of the Church, the first ruling body of the faith. These First Elders, over the course of their leadership of the religion during the formation of the Church and the Acronian Empire, issued one hundred and three official statements called Edicts. These 103 Edicts are considered to be the "truest Edicts" because they were issued by the people with the most direct knowledge of Akrona, and have been collected into a book called The First Edicts. The Elders, a body that continues to this day, continue to issue Edicts, and the First Edicts have the same exact level of authority as Edicts issued in contemporary times, although they are catalogued separately. Edicts are generally issued in the form of rules or advice that are binding on a particular set of people or a particular institution. Edicts can be binding upon, for example, the entire body of the faithful, or on a single person, such as the King or the Prime Minister of the day. Some Edicts have been issued to cover only a particular geographical location, and one Edict - "An Edict to Encourage Universal Amity and Respect" - was issued to the audience of "all the people of every nation on Urth."

There have been several texts that have been written by scholars of the Church, referred to in general as "the Conversations." These are generally commentaries on particular Edicts or enshrined beliefs or actions of the Church. Examples include "Letters to the People of Dravai," written by three priestesses in the city of Tovar to various people living in the city of Dravai in the late 16th century. At the time, Dravai was believed to be a hotbed for anti-religious activity in the country. The Letters contained various pleas to the people to come back into the fold of the faith, and in several places, offered concessions to people who raised issues with religious rules of the time. Famously, the Letters contain a phrase that is today held as a central operating tenet of the Church: "It is wrong to deny fundamental mercy and compassion to those who have chosen, with the same will granted to them by the Universe as has been granted to us, to follow a different conviction than that of thankfulness to the Benefactor." Since the Letters to the People of Dravai were enshrined by the Elders as canonical in the year 1604, this statement has been held to forbid the Church from denying respect or compassion to people who follow other faiths, or none at all.

Additional texts include the Golden Hymnal, a collection of songs written by early adherents of the faith during the War of Foundation, before the Acronian Empire was formally established. One of these hymns, "March On," has been adopted as the national anthem of the Acronian Empire. The Golden Hymnal is of particular interest to historians because most of its songs were written by commoners, not by religious officials, and are believed to reflect the honest, day-to-day feelings and beliefs of individual members of the church as it was being formed. In many cases, the tunes are adaptations of folk songs that already existed in the region.

==Religious Governance and Clergy==

The only formally established body of worshipers of Akrona is the Church of Akrona, an entity that is synonymous with the Religious Government of the Acronian Empire. Over the course of time, there have been several dozen breakaway movements of Akronists outside of the Church of Akrona, but none have come to prominence, lasted for longer than a few years, or established a competing organizational hierarchy.

The Church of Akrona is governed by a body known as The Elders. The First Elders were the first seven women to whom Akrona appeared and personally blessed. That body has continued uninterrupted to today, always consisting of seven women. The Elders are led by a figure known as The Matron. The Matron is believed to be the singular "head of the Church" and both representative of the faithful to Akrona and representative of Akrona to the faithful, although when The Elders meet as a body to deliberate, she has only one vote the same as every other Elder. When an Elder dies, a replacement is named by the Matron to serve for life. When The Matron dies, the remaining six Elders appoint a new Matron, who may be one of their own or who may come from outside the Elders. In the case that an Elder is appointed Matron, the new Matron appoints a replacement to the seat she vacated. Other than being a woman, there is no other qualification set out under the law for someone to be selected as Matron. Acronian constitutional scholars have noted that there is not even a written requirement that an Elder be a member of the church. The Elders have never disclosed any of the factors they use in deciding who should be a Matron. In 2018, the current Matron made an unprecedented disclosure, in response to a question from a member of the church, that for purposes of selecting an Elder the definition of "woman" is any individual who identifies as and "sincerely holds themselves to be, in their whole self and spirit" a woman - meaning transgender women are eligible for the office. It is unknown if any transgender women have ever served as an Elder - although it is equally unknown if any cisgender women have ever served in the role.

There have been thirty-seven individual women who have served as Matron. Each of them, upon their election, has been known only as "The Matron." In situations wherein distinction is necessary, one may say "the current Matron", "the thirty-sixth Matron" or "the then-Matron." It is considered impolite, but not against church doctrine, to refer to a Matron by the name she held before she was elected. The current Matron - elected in 2009 - was known before her election as Vana Nevran Dandreal, and served as the High Priestess of Zaram Province.

Individual Elders are identified by the same names as the First Elders. The given names of the First Elders, not including the first Matron, were Laika, Nelat, Anda, Vreila, Nanshai, and Endi. The line names and family names of the First Elders, and the entire name of the first Matron, have been lost. Upon each of the deaths of the First Elders, the Elder appointed to replace them was known by the name of the one they replaced - for example, the Elder appointed when Anda died was also known as Anda. As such, there are six "seats" of the Elders, referred to as "the seat of Laika" or "the seat of Nanshai." To differentiate between different individual Elders, one might say "the current Laika," "the thirty-ninth Laika," or most formally, "the thirty-ninth Elder to sit upon the Seat of Laika."

The Elders are the supreme leaders of the Church of Akrona, and generally have the ultimate authority to decide on religious doctrine. Additionally, the Elders serve as the Constitutional Court of the Acronian Empire and possess the authority to overrule actions of the Civil Government of the Empire if they feel it has acted contrary to religious or moral law. However, the Elders generally agree to listen and give consideration to advice offered by the clergy and lay membership of the Church. A body known as the Synod, consisting of priests and members elected to represent lay members, proposes administrative and religious doctrines to the Elders, and has the authority to issue formal censures of the Elders or the Matron.

===Clergy===

There are seventeen provinces of the Acronian Empire. Each of these, while also being a unit of civil government, is a unit of church administration. In the church, each province is led by a High Priestess, who is appointed by the Matron. Provinces are divided into parishes, of which each province may have several dozen. Each parish has one temple, and each temple is headed by a Priestess appointed by the High Priestess. In turn, Priestesses may name Accessory Priestesses to assist them in temple administration, and the lay membership of each temple elects an Administration Council to assist the Priestess in the temporal administration of each temple - such things as maintenance, staffing, and event planning.

Only women may be members of the clergy. This has been a doctrine since the very beginning of the Church, because Akrona is a woman who appeared before only women. Women are believed to hold the "sacred mandate" from Akrona to be the custodians of the Church, just as Akrona is the custodian of all life. Akronists of other genders may serve in all other positions, including being elected to the Synod as representatives of lay membership.

To be a member of the clergy, one must be a member of good standing and graduate from a seminary school. There are fourteen seminaries in Acronis. It takes seven years to complete the program, and upon graduation, new Priestesses are expected to serve as Accessory Priestesses for another seven years in a province that is not the one they grew up in before being eligible to be named as a Priestess. Members of the clergy are under no obligation to celibacy, and many get married and have children. Members of the clergy are held to a higher standard in living according to the standards of the Church, and can lose their positions if they are known, for example, to deliberately choose not to pray as required, or in one famous case, raise chickens in her backyard to consume for eggs and even meat.

==The Goddess Akrona==

Akrona as a deity is the central defining factor of the Akronist religion.