Docetic Academy

Docetic Academy of Belisaria
Classification	Sarpetic Religions
Scripture	Ancient and New Treasury
Theology	Docetism
Polity	Episcopal
Structure	Communion
Head Provost	Razvo Herzegy
Region	Kulpanitsa Basin
Headquarters	Pyrovegy, Drevstran
Origin	9th Century AD Lushyodorstag
Separated from	Aletheic Church
Members	31 Million

The Docetic Academy is a Sarpetic faith believing that there’s only one God, who sent The Christ, a purely spiritual entity who was not one with his Father. The Christ , being a totaly divine entity, could not have been human, since God lacked a material body, which therefore could not physically suffer. Amitai only appeared to be flesh-and-blood; his body was a phantasm. It is the first religion of Drevstan in the number of adherents, slightly before the Aletheic Church, but only possess small communities in the rest of the world, remaining a very Drevstranese phenomenon.

Docetism developed and spread out from the historical Lushyodorstag, in modern day Drevstran. It has profoundly affected the culture of the country, from its philosophy to its arts, and of the Lush peoples specifically, whom were historically either Docetics or Albans Nazarists. To this day, the majority of the Academy's members are Lushs, even if the Gothic people make up a significant minority alongside them, and the faith had spread to the Ludz during the Triple-Crown and other eras of Lush domination.

Name

Docetism comes from the greek dókēsis, meaning "apparition, phantom". The word Dokētaí ("Illusionists") referring to early groups who denied Amitai's humanity. As a result, Docetism was broadly defined as any teaching that claims that Amitai' body was either absent or illusory.

Doctrine

Nature of God

The Docetic Academy holds that there is one eternal God, who exists as a single indivisible Monadic entity. Docetians believe that Amitai is the Messiah, a spiritual entity sent by the Monad to reveal the truth about existence, thus allowing humanity to be forgiven of its sins and find their place alongside the Aeons. The Christ, therefore, is understood as being fully divine, without a human nor physical nature, and thus only an aspect of God. His body is thought to have been a phantasm, with no material reality to it.

Pleroma, Universe, and Theosis

The Pleroma refers to the totality of divine powers. it is often explained as a region of pure light "above" or "outside" the material world where all of God' emanations (aeons, archons, angels...) reside, purely spiritual beings in nature. The Pleroma stand in opposition to the material Universe: the latter is an illusion, full of sin and suffering, removed from God while the former is perfect, immortal, and nearest to God. It's the stated goal of the Docetians to break free from the cycle of reincarnations so that their spirit can return to the Pleroma. A processus known as theosis.

Iconoclasm

The Docetic Academy teaches that, God being a completely spiritual entity, cannot have taken a mortal or physical form. Docetians are thus forbidden from creating icons and other physical representation of God or of the Messiah. If there's a need to mark a sanctuary or signal an ongoing ceremony, a simple wooden cross is erected, covered by a sheet of cloth. Both the wood and the cloth are to be of the most humble and simple appearance, and taken down the moment they are no longer necessary. Otherwise, Docetic schools remain strictly unadorned.

Seven Mysteries

According to Docetic theology, the purpose of the Nazarist life is to attain theosis, the mystical union of mankind with God, understood as both collective and individual. Immortality is considered to be a consequence of Theosis and not a goal of its own. The term "Mysteries" refers in the Academy to the various ways God interacts with the world, through natural or supposed-surnatural events or phenomenons, both perceptible or not to mankind. It also refers to what would be called Sacraments, understood as one of these means of communication between the Divine and Mankind surrounded by prayer and symbolism so that their true meaning will not be forgotten. One of the main goal of Docetians is to study these Mysteries so that they can reach theosis. There are seven "Great Mysteries" that punctuate a Docetian's natural and spiritual lives. These are the Baptism, Confirmation,Communion, Repentance, Anointing, Ordination, and Marriage.

Baptism

Unlike in other Sarpetic religion, baptism is not a one-off event but is performed every Sunday, the holy day, as a ritual of purification and usually involves full immersion in a Baptistery full of consecrated water. Before they enter the baptistery, the priest present to his folk the wine which the Docetic will refuse, proclaiming "My Lord does not bleed". Then he will refuse the bread "My Lord does not rot", and finally will refuse the annointing oil by proclaiming "I am not worthy". Only then can they enter the Baptistery. The ritual of Baptism is then followed by the communion in the Docetic mass.

Communion

The Eucharist, at the center of most Sarpetic religions, is entirely absent from Docetic practices. As a result, the Docetic Communion vastly differ from that of other Sarpetic religions and take the form of a dance involving all the Docetic present and presided by the priest.

Repentance

The process of Repentance is considered an important step toward rejoining God in the pleroma as it allow a true believer to attainin forgiveness for both sins against God and another man, thus freeing his souls from emotional and spiritual shackles. Confessions to God are done communally in the plural. The Docetic mass will proclaim, led by a priest whenever possible, "We have sinned" and then the list of the group's sins are read or, more often, sang following ritual and codified melodies for the various common sins such as adultery, thievery, violence...

In matters involving offenses against a fellow man, private confession to the victim is a requirement to obtaining forgiveness from the victim, which is generally a requirement to obtaining forgiveness from God. If the victim refuses to forgive, the offender confesses publicly, before larger and larger audience.

Annointing

For the Docetics, Annointment is the mark of a man who has gone through the entire process of Salvation, freed themselves from both their physical and spiritual shackles, and is ready to stand before God and join Him in the Pleroma. They are then known as annointed ones. While sacred oil is presented to the Docetics during Baptism, it would be considered prideful and boastful to accept it and thus a proof that they do not have completed their Salvation yet.

The only circumstance in which it is acceptable to demand to be annointed is on one's deathbed. After a moment of solitude in which the dying do his own introspection and silently confess their sins to God, they will summon the priest to their room by proclaiming that they are "ready". At which point the priest will annoint the dying as a sign that they're ready to face the Lord.

In Drevstran, it has become customary for soldiers going into war to go through the Repentance-Annointment process before going to war, pre-emptively severing their "last spiritual shackle" and allowing them to join back the Pleroma if they die with all of their other shackles severed. When returning from war, Docetic soldiers will present themselves to a priest, ritually proclaim that "I have not yet found Salvation" at which point the priest will answer "Rise, and return to the Livings" before washing the soldier' faith. Similarly, women about to give birth go through the Repentance-Annointment process beforehand and have their faces washed afterward.

Marriage

In Docetic traditions, souls are broken in halves when incarnated in the physical world and Marriage is the process by which these fragments of divinity re-unite. It is thus considered impossible for celibates to be fully saved and reach God. All believers, including priests, are thus expected to marry as part of their road toward Salvation.

More precises views on marriage then varry from one University to another or even from teacher to teacher. For example, in the Lushyodostag and then Drevstran, only children born in of married couples were considered to be able to complete their path toward salvation. Children born out of wedlocks thus faced social rejection, unable to inherit, and often joined other Sarpetic Sects such as Albanism or Aletheism. Thus, and especially in the modern days, Docetic teachers have moderated their lessons on the question instead considering people without married parents to be able to reach Salvation once they've married and become whole again.

Similarly, same-sex marriage is not often opposed by Docetics. In their gnostic view of the world, procreation is an unfortunate necessity as it perpetuate the miseries and sufferings of the mortal world but also allow more souls to go on their path toward Salvation. As it is often taught : when all of creation has been saved there will be no more birth no matter how much men and animals will try. Thus while moderate teachers and priests will readily bless same-sex marriages, some conservative schools refuse to recognize couples "denying salvation" to mankind.

Worship

The Service

Equivalent to the Fabrian mass, the Docetic Service can vary widely depending on the teacher officing, his school' favored doctrines, and how close said school or its University is to the broader Academy. But there are common elements to every Docetic Services.

The Collective Profession of Faith, or Cecilian Credo is the first text recited by all participants in a Service. It is followed by the Class during which the Teacher explain a text, detail a point of theology, answer questions from his pupils, and generally bring forward knowledge considered to have been passed down and preserved in a direct master-student succession since Amitai. Common subjects include the nature of Amitai, nature of God, the meaning of the six principles, and explanation on the proper ethics to follow to attain theosis.

After Class come the Confirmation and Baptism ceremonies. After the baptism, the pupils return to the School for the Communion (Ostro-Ludzic: Primanye). The Docetic communion take many shape or form, but at the core it remain about collective recitations, singings, music, dances, with sometime a research of ectasy or trance.

Demographics

Country	Patriarchate	Followers	Percentage of population
Ostrozava	Docetic University of Ostrozava	7,102,854	9.2%
Drevstran	University of Pyrovegy	18,000,000	40.0%
Zacapican	University of the New World	1,470,000	2.1%
Zamorodna	Holy University of Bolota	3,103,000	21.7%