Celestialism

Celestial Faith
천체교 (Cheonchegyo)
Scripture	Celestial Annals
Theology	Polytheistic
Structure	Presbyterian
Region	Eastern Hesperida, IDU
Language	Haean, Mizu, English, French
Origin	c. 750 BCE Sinhan, Haesan
Members	~135,000,000
Other name(s)	L'église Céleste

Celestialism also known as the Celestial Faith or the Church of Celeste is a polytheistic religion and belief system in Eastern Hesperida, is the official religion of Misumi and Pharitaya, and was formerly the state religion of Haesan. Practitioners of the faith, known as Celestines, preach that the heavenly gods representing the Sun and the Moon are the creators of humanity, and that their children, the deities of the stars, help to provide guidance in everyday life. Celestines believe that individual lives fit within an order determined by the heavenly spheres, but believe that ultimately individuals have the free will to choose whether they live their lives in accordance with that order. Celestialism is practiced through adherence to a strict series of rites passed down through the generations, codified in 322 CE by the monk Suseon almost 1000 years after the religion's creation. With a significant emphasis on oral tradition, to this day, Celestialism relies heavily on the continued involvement and leadership of elders in the community. Celestialism is the largest religion in Haesan and Misumi, and it maintains a small following in nearby nations such as High Fells, Lao Sansong, and Slokais Islands as well as among the Haesanite diaspora.

History

The Lunar Bell at Cheonsahae Temple, the site of the first recorded Celestial carvings

15th century charts for Celestial rituals from the court of Empress Min

The first evidence of Celestial practices was found at the Cheonsahae Temple Complex outside modern day Hanyeong, Haesan, where stone carvings and their accompanying descriptions first described the two celestial beings bringing forth the cycle of light and darkness and then life. Those carvings have been dated to around 750 BCE. Academics now theorize that early forms of Celestialism could have formed up to 200 years earlier, as the largely maritime peoples who would come to settle the southern coast of Haesan often relied on celestial bodies for navigation and had over generations had come to revere them as knowledge-giving deities.

From that point on, although several other carvings related to Celestial beliefs and rites have been discovered throughout the centuries, no formal codification had been discovered until the monk Suseon first drafted the Celestial Annals in 322 CE. That book has served as a living work ever since, serving as an ever growing record and debate between scholars from across time periods about the true meaning of Celestial rites and the details of how one should properly practice the religion. It also serves as the first evidence of international practice of Celestialism, as a copy dated to around 400 CE was found at an archeological site near Victoria City, Slokais Islands.

Adopted as the court religion by many dukes and duchesses of the Seven States period in Haesan from the 5th to the 9th centuries CE, Celestialism became the official religion of the Dominion of United Haesan upon unification in 941. During this period, the Emperors and Empresses constructed monumental temples and religious infrastructure across the nation in order to facilitate better practice of Celestial rites.

During the colonial period, although the French sought to impose Catholicism on the regions under their control, after Opthelian forces took control of Haesan, practice of Celestialism was allowed to continue. The Celestial Pantheon was also given Latinate names and rites were expanded beyond Korean at the urging of Sanctarian missionaries who sought to bridge the gap between Celestialism and Catholicism at that time. As a result, many French and Opthelians who decided to continue living in Haesan ended up becoming members of the Celestial Church.

Post scientific revolution, as followers gained more empirical knowledge about major astronomical bodies, literalism, or the practice of reading the Celestial Annals word for word as Suseon had written them, rapidly fell out of fashion. New interpretations abounded as scholars and elders in the religion sought to remove the direct worship of celestial objects from the standard ritualistic practice of the religion. This process led to a schism in 1851, with the Northern Celestial Church believing that the spirit of the stars were still imbued into the deities and that they should still be prayed to in the style of saints, while Celestial practices in the south tended to believe the reverse, that the spirits of the deities who once walked the Earth were now sealed in the heavens as stars as a signal for those who remained. Those differences were reconciled by the Seowon Convention of 1880, where elders from across the region met to ensure freedom of practice for all Celestines at any house of worship they choose.

In recent years, the role of the Pantheon has been increasingly minimized, and Celestialism is as more a source of civil society than it is a religion. The social structuring it creates for providing guidance for those who need it, helping youth develop a sense of diligence, and supporting the elderly in society have contributed to high participation rates even as atheism has spread throughout the IDU. The Korean Language Administration Act of 1991 provided for the restoration of certain Celestial historic religious sites, and tourism to those temples has helped boost the religion's recognition internationally.

Beliefs

The Seven Orders of Celestialism describe the origins of the universe as written in the Celestial Annals. They serve to elucidate the practitioner to the fundamental truths of the cosmos and form the foundation of the belief system. Although seen more as a mythological creation story today, the Seven Orders are:

1. The world was created of light and darkness by Dara and Taehan; the Moon reflecting the Sun's light, while the Sun absorbs the Moon's darkness.
2. The Sun and Moon gave birth to the twelve heavenly deities, each of which serves to guide the cosmic order, four to govern matter and the forms, four to govern the passage of time, and four to shape the eternity of space.
3. The four Deities of Time shape the celestial cycle, pushing the seasons and years onward in an honored cycle balanced in Light and Darkness from the divine.
4. The four Deities of Space created the endless grid of the universe, pushing mountains upwards and valleys below, balanced in Light and Darkness from the divine.
5. The four Deities of Matter shaped the material world in accordance with an internal balance of Light and Darkness originating from the divine. Then, Gihyeon and Suhyeon brought forth a daughter So-yu while Jiu and Sunhwa brought forth a son Su-ho, and the first woman and man were brought down to Earth to dwell below.
6. From So-yu and Su-ho, all human life has originated and subsequently flourished in the terrestrial realm, due to an internal balance of Light and Darkness originating from the divine.
7. With their original purpose completed, the twelve deities returned to the Heavenly Realm where they became the stars, serving to provide divine wisdom for those below who seek guidance.

Celestial Pantheon

An Imperial Court screen painting of Dara (Luna)

A 19th century scroll painting of Taehan (Elio)

Deities of Light

Luna (Dara) is the goddess of the moon.

Elio (Taehan) is the god of the sun.

Deities of Matter

Chantal (Jiu) is the orange star, the goddess of the Earth.

Avel (Gihyeon) is the white star, the god of the wind.

Cordelia (Suyeon) is the blue star, the goddess of water.

Ignace (Sunhwa) is the red star, the god of fire.

Deities of Time

is the winter star, the god of the hearth and forge.

is the spring star, the goddess of flowers and fertility.

is the summer star, the god of lightning and storms.

is the autumn star, the goddess of family and the harvest.

Deities of Space

is the northern star, the god of merchants, navigators, adventurers, and explorers.

is the eastern star, the god of politicians, orators, and leaders of all types.

is the southern star, the goddess of artists, writers, and the arts.

is the western star, the goddess of soldiers, doctors, nurses, and lost souls.