Here's some more things related to Cedonian Religion that my fertile 
imagination has come up with. Looking at past posts on the subject, I've 
addressed the Gods of Cedonia very thoroughly, so now it's time to turn 
my attention to the actual organization of the Church.

The Cedonian Church is organized in both 'vertical' and 'horizontal' 
fashion.  The Church as a whole breaks down into provinces, districts, 
and parishes, with each of the 14 Orders having parallel organization 
within those divisions.  Not all Orders are necessarily present in every 
province.

The 14 Orders can be divided into three categories: Monastic, Mixed, and 
Secular. Monastic Orders are those where all members are in cloistered 
monastaries or nunneries; they are contemplative Orders whose Gods are 
not so commonly followed.  The four Monastic Orders are those of the 
Lady of the Winds, the Lord of the Seas, the Lady of Stone, and the Lord 
of Flames.

Mixed Orders are those where a portion of the order is organized into 
cloistered monastic institutions, while the remaining portion is made up 
of ordinary clergy. The Mixed Orders are those of Coron, Lucia, Arlova, 
and Demerhaze.  In the Coronite Order, the White Robes run monastic 
hospices and leprosariums.  Monastic members of the Lucians run some 
schools as well as the Order's lunatic asylums.  Monastic Arlovans run 
the Order's hospitals while the secular Arlovans run clinics out of the 
Order's temples.  Finally, the monastic members of the Order of 
Demerhaze run shelters for runaway slaves, runaway children, and 
battered wives.

The remaining Orders of Kaskasoevin, Marmdal, Cedon, Arrumantha, 
Torronir, and Mithrak are all Secular Orders, whose clergy are not 
cloistered.

Hierarchy:
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All would-be clerics begin as postulants.  Postulants are examined 
closely to make sure that they in fact have a religious vocation, and 
that they have not committed any crimes of moral turpitude. If accepted, 
they become novices. Novices learn to read, write, and calculate, if 
they do not already know how, and receive instruction on basic theology, 
church history, church law, and ethics.

At the end of their novitiate, the novices are examined to determine 
which of the 14 Orders would suit their talents and temperments best. 
Novices of a mystical persuasion generally are directed toward Monastic 
or Mixed Orders.

For Secular clergy, the four ranks above novice are: acolyte, 
under-priest, priest, and archpriest. An archpriest is in charge of all 
the priests, underpriests, and acolytes of his or her Order in a single 
district. In some rural parishes, priests from several Orders share a 
single temple; each one answers to a different archpriest.

For Monastic clergy, the four ranks above novice are: monk/nun, 
prior/prioress, abbott/abbess, and archimandrite.  An abbott or abbess 
runs a single monastery or nunnery, with a prior or prioress serving as 
second-in-command. An archimandrite supervises all the monasteries and 
nunneries of his or her Order in a single District.

The next step above the archpriest/archimandrite rank is that of 
patriarch/matriarch. Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Orders are 
responsible for the clergy of a particular Order within a province. 
Above the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are the 14 Archprelates of the 
Orders.  The Archprelates of the Orders are the ultimate heads of their 
respective orders. Finally, the highest rank in the Cedonian Church is 
that of Primate. Elected for life from the 14 Archprelates by the 
Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the Primate of the Church has the last word 
on Church policy.

While not technically clergy, a word needs to said about the Deaconate. 
The Cedonian Church relies heavily on its Subdeacons, Deacons, and 
Archdeacons.  The members of the Deaconate help support the Church in 
many ways, particularly in temple maintenance, purchasing of supplies, 
and organizing the monthly flower rota.

In order to advance beyond the rank of priest or abbott, a Cedonian 
cleric must have the ability to dream lucidly.  Cedonian doctrine holds 
that during dreaming sleep, the soul loosens its tie with the physical 
body and enters the Dreaming. Lucid dreamers with the proper training 
can control where in the Dreaming their souls go.  This allows them to 
talk with the servants of the Gods, and occasionally with the Gods 
themselves.

There are drugs which can enhance this ability to dream lucidly, but 
they are extraordinarily dangerous. Errors in composition or dosage or 
both may result in death, coma, possession by malign spirits, or 
madness.  However, there have been times when clerics were desperate 
enough in their desire to talk to the Gods to try such drugs.

All clergy are taught in their novitiate what to do if they should ever 
find themselves talking to a God, or if they find a God talking to them. 
The ettiquette is rather involved, but the most important rule is: Never 
look a God directly in the eyes unless the God asks you to. To do so is 
always an uncomfortable experience, and in some cases, it's positively 
dangerous. Meeting Coron's gaze unawares has been described by the few 
survivors of the experience as being like "looking into Eternity and 
slowly realizing that Eternity is looking back."

Andrew
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