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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 9:15:33 GMT -5
This topic is a child of the Cult of Meat article directory.HOW THE MEAT'S MADEThe Cult of Meat is known for its many rituals and traditions, but few can claim to fully understand even a tenth of them. Practice of the Cult's religion ranges from simple, quiet meetings of faithful and outsider alike, up to massed suicides and sulfuric bonfires in canyon-sized maws. Most sects maintain, invent, and mutate their own methods of worship throughout time, and those that splinter from them often bastardize their traditions further along. Only a few major practices are present in most sects of the Cult - and the methodology behind them varies considerably. This is an open topic.
If you'd like to invent a religious practice for a Cult sect, feel free to post it here! Since this is insanity within fiction, the sky's the limit. Go nuts! Seriously, go nuts, it'll be creepier.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 9:22:42 GMT -5
BLESSING OF THE HEART'S MARK
One of the most common rituals is the Cult's induction ceremony for new followers, which is most commonly known as the Blessing of the Heart's Mark. In this ceremony, the body of a respected outsider is given an open cremation before a crowd of hopefuls. As the body burns, each member is asked to open their palms and allow a senior cultist to draw a small amount of blood from each. After it is drawn, the participant is asked to arrange their hands in the sign of the sect or major branch they owe their allegiance to. Those with no preference - or no knowledge - are simply asked to cross their arms over their stomach.
The congregation's blood is mixed together, then laid before the corpse to keep it warm. As soon as the fire has died, each hopeful is marked on the face with swabbed blood. The blood is painted in a line from the tip of their nose to the top of their forehead, with additional markings on either the cheeks or the sides of the forehead to indicate the participant's allegiance. Non-humanoid species, those without blood, and those without faces have confused many of these rituals in the past. Some have even caused the ritual to collapse entirely.
Redworlders maintain an alternative to the Blessing of the Heart's Mark, and are themselves granted exception when participating in it. As a result of their allergenic potency and significance in the Cult's faith, they cannot be allowed to give or receive blood during the ritual. Consequently, they are instead called to bring offerings, often technological artifacts, to be cremated alongside the body at the ritual. What they bring is the sign of their allegiance, either due to its purpose or due to its appearance. Rather than being painted with blood, each redworlder is asked to don a shawl with their chosen sect's colors.
Following the Blessing of the Heart's Mark, the newly-christened cultists attend a feast of meatscape flesh. Sects that do not have access to meatscape flesh instead ask their members to fast for the rest of the day. Meat served is treated and cooked to be tame or dead. Some sects carry it a step further by conducting sermons that require their congregation to pound the flesh to punctuate each blessing and prayer. Few sects serve still-virulent meat due to the inherent risks involved with its consumption.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 9:22:51 GMT -5
PILGRIMAGES
Advancement in the Cult is carried out through a variety of rituals, often dependent on sect. On most occasions, a pilgrimage is carried out to the nearest meatscape, typically to a site of particular importance to the sect. These pilgrimages are among some of the lengthiest journeys undertaken by cultists. Some sects may even require their members to go the entire trip on foot - even for journeys that span entire continents. When a pilgrimage ends, the cultists are given three options. They may either give themselves over to the meat, return home, or remain in the meatscape for further lessons. Very few choose to return.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 9:23:04 GMT -5
BINDING OF THE CLOTTED MAN
Another advancement ritual is the Binding of the Clotted Man. The participating cultist is stripped naked, then wrapped in a thick, white robe that completely covers the body, including the face. The robe is drawn tight to keep it in close contact with the skin. The participant is doused in blood drawn from the meat, which is allowed to soak through the robe until it is stained a perfect crimson. They are then required to repeat several oaths given by the pastor, each typically based on the participant's branch of faith. Once finished, the participant removes their robe, bathes, and is required to drink a portion of their bath water. They are sent home with their robe, which is not permitted to be cleaned for a week, and asked to fast for the rest of the day. Survival odds for this ritual are worthy of concern.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 9:23:32 GMT -5
PACT OF DRAWN BLOOD
For cultists elevated in prominence, further advancement is carried out through a variety of practices involving exposure to live, virulent meatscape flesh. These most often end with either the cultist's death or their transformation into one of the Cloud's Children. Those already serving as pastors, ministers, or other important church practitioners are often instead elevated to the Keepers of the Spines or the Incarnadine Confessors. Regardless of the position gained, the effects on the individual are permanent in all but a handful of cases.
Among these rituals is the Pact of Drawn Blood, known better to outsiders as spleen binding. In this rite, surgery is performed live on the participant as part of a public ceremony. The spleen - or any similar organ in non-humans - is exposed. Some sects may require that it is drawn out as far as possible without fully severing it from the body. Under the guidance of one of the Incarnadine Confessors, a carefully-selected entrail from the meatscapes is bound tight around the spleen. The organ is returned to the body and the incision left open. Upon success, the meat will join itself to the spleen and infuse the cultist's blood with its excretions. Failure ends in an overgrowth that is inevitably fatal.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 9:24:04 GMT -5
TRIBUTE OF THE RETURNED FLESH
For cultists who fail advanced rituals or become infested with an unexpected growth, there is one, final undertaking left for them; the Tribute of the Returned Flesh. With the assistance of their fellow cultists, they are brought to a meatscape. There, they are left alone atop one of the many mounds of congealed blood until the meat overtakes their body. Most are dissolved into nothing and absorbed by the meatscape itself. Some are torn apart by meat monsters and eaten, often alive. A distinct minority instead learn to harness their growths, returning them to their path of enlightenment. Those that survive are placed among the Cloud's Children.
Further advancement is a personal undertaking with no definitive practices. It is achieved through various feats of knowledge, selection by higher members of the Cult, or spontaneous growths. Many of those in the Cult's upper echelons remain within the meatscapes to mould their meat into personally-tailored forms. Some may even join with the meatscapes themselves and be partially digested. Those that choose to do so continue to survive as their minds are drawn in with their flesh. Few emerge from this fate, but their voices are heard within the meatscapes for centuries after.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 9:25:13 GMT -5
SPREADING THE MEAT
For the most viscous of cultists, spreading the meatscapes is carried out through yet more rituals and rites. They give of their growths to seed new meatscapes or hasten the spread of those that have already been established. This is often carried out by their subordinates through elaborate rituals centered on the cultist's fecundity, the land's fertility, and the meat's resilience. The most generous of cultists may be reduced to no more than the meat containing their brain or major nerve clusters following a donation ceremony. Severely diminished cultists are nursed back to their prior condition by those organizing the ceremony.
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