Mikagis

Mikagis (often pronounced in speech as MY-kaj-ese) is the most predominant religion on La Terre. Its origins have been traced back to the early 31st Century shortly after the rebirth of the planet, where a human woman claimed to have communicated with some of the deceased.

A small group of followers was assembled at first, and over the next several decades their tenets gained a following with a substantial portion of the La Terre populace. Over the centuries leading to the modern age Mikagis has become the dominant faith of La Terre.

Beliefs
The basic premise of Mikagis is that a select few who have the ability of a medium are able to receive messages from a pantheon of spirits who have chosen to take in active interest in the living. These mediums attempt to convey this knowledge to the rest of the membership in order to give general guidance in decision making, for prophetic purposes, and in some cases, to simply relate the tales of their lives.

Mediums
The most influential practitioners of Mikagis are the mediums, who are those who are said to be able to receive messages from the spirit pantheon. Most are found at an early age and are often brought into the church before the age of ten or so. Those who are not located, or are located much later, sometimes eschew the path of a religious life for something more akin to a conventional life. Acknowledged or suspected mediums have a high status on La Terre, being the most influential members of the most influential faith on the planet. Those who join the church rise in influence quickly. Notably, those who don't join seem to rise quickly in their avenue of choice as well. This is often attributed to the idea that some of the greatest people who have lived on the planet in the past several centuries have the ability to provide direct input and guidance for the medium's benefit. Currently only twenty-five known mediums exist.

Spirit Pantheon
The Spirit Pantheon is the group of spirits that are attributed with providing insight to the mediums. Mediums over the years have documented hundreds of spirits that provide insight. Some are so prevalent that they have been attributed spheres of influence and have individual worshipers. Most spirits eventually gain at least a shrine or two. Many of these spirits are often attributed to being former La Terran heroes of sorts, those who committed a great deal to La Terre or epitomized a belief so greatly that they have come to embody that ideal after death.

It is conventionally believed that all of these spirits ultimately answer to an entity that governs the spirits themselves, and that this spirit alone chooses a single medium for a generation that it alone speaks through, meaning that even among spirits and mediums that there are some who stand above the rest.

Membership
Most of the practitioners of Mikagis are La Terran in origin, however some offworlders have adopted the faith as well.


 * At the top of the hierarchy are the mediums, those who claim and have been verified by other church personnel to have the ability to receive messages from the spirits.
 * Next are priests, monks, and others who copy and study the messages the mediums deliver and tend to practitioners.
 * The base of the hierarchy consists of those who practice Mikagis as a faith, visit shrines, and provide offerings for the spirits.