Minerva

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Minerva /məˈnɜːrvə/ (Latin: [mɪˈnɛrwa]; Etruscan: Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of defensive war only. From the second century BC onward, the Ancient Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena. Minerva is one of the three Roman deities in the Capitoline Triad, along with Jupiter and Juno.

She was the virgin goddess of music, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, and the crafts. She is often depicted with her sacred creature, an owl usually named as the owl of Minerva, which symbolised her association with wisdom and knowledge as well as, less frequently, the snake and the olive tree. Minerva is commonly depicted as tall with an athletic and muscular build, as well as wearing armour and carrying a spear. As the most important Roman goddess, she is highly revered, honored, and respected.

Marcus Terentius Varro considered her to be ideas and the plan for the universe personified. This thinking would eventually lead to the creation of the cult of Minerva Omniscius.

Minerva is revered as the patron god of the Gentes Heia.

Minerva Omniscius

The cult of Minerva Omniscius is based in the ideas of the Ancient Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro who considered her to be ideas and the plan for the universe personified. It was founded in the year 2775 (2022) by the modern roman Kaseo Heius Totus.

It is a syncretic cult (Due to the amount of influences from different sources it has), which could, similar to Buddhism, be classified as a hybrid between religion and philosophical doctrine. However, it is compatible with Hellenism, Roman Way and other religions due to its henotheistic nature. For within their beliefs, they believe that Minerva, having been born from the head of Jupiter (hence his ideas) is the pure and perfect form of her father. Both gods, then, are considered equal. Different aspects of the same being.

Its motto is "Docendo discimus" (By teaching, we learn).

The festival of the goddess takes place from 19 to 23 Martius. Where concerts, talks about art, invitations to artists from other places, musicians, etc… are given. And art and knowledge are promoted (as well as the importance of its preservation). In times of crisis or conflict, military concerns may also be included if deemed necessary or if Minerva itself requires it.

Beliefs

Logo of the Minerva Omniscius missionaries made by WackyFiasco

For the followers of Minerva Omniscius, there is only one sin as such, and that is ignorance. Since they share the view of several ancient Greek philosophers (Plato, Protagoras and Socrates) that this is the cause of all evil. And that sins such as those mentioned by Christianity, in reality, stem from a deep ignorance, therefore, the only way to truly eliminate them is to put an end to it.

Because of this, they believe in the inhuman goodness of human beings. Which, in case of crimes, makes them opt first for reformation / redemption, second for ostracism and third for the death of the criminal, as a way of returning her ignorant son to Minerva, so that he can be reincarnated as a better person.

A clear example would be ego and pride, from Buddhist and Christian perspectives. For the followers of Minerva Omniscius, the solution would not lie in detaching oneself from the self or punishing oneself, but in knowing oneself well enough to be self-critical and thus prevent these derived evils from affecting or destroying oneself.

They believe that the happiness that ignorance can bring is a lie, a trap set by ignorance to destroy them. Because, deep down, it is a barrier that prevents people from improving themselves and their fellow human beings. It is a barrier to greater, more authentic and better happiness.

In short, they believe that knowledge is sacred, and the more knowledge one possesses, the better it is, not only for oneself, but for the rest of humanity. This being the ideal way to attain Enlightenment and understand divinity. What would become known as the Path of Knowledge. The same would be true of art, which they see as a form of approach to divinity, change, and self-knowledge.

Another thing they consider is that if knowledge does a temporary evil, but in the long run it serves the greater good, it is not evil.

Because of this, the function of her missionaries is not to indoctrinate (as in the case of other religions) but to give general knowledge to those most in need and, with this, help them to prosper in life. Ignorance would also include neglect of the preservation of knowledge and art. It is for this reason that there is another branch of the missionaries, which is dedicated to the search and preservation of these, especially of materials that are "lost".

Within their beliefs, they share some aspects with the work of the Christian theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) with the difference that they do not believe in the christsphere, but in the divinesphere and believe that beyond this, there is the omnisphere place which would be an equivalent to Plato's world of ideas.

Concept of evil

For the cult followers, there are only two great clear evils, from which they derive all the rest. One is the aforementioned ignorance, which is a sin, because it is something that is, to some extent, manageable. The other great evil, which must be fought, in spite of its magnitude (and to some extent is also related to ignorance, for it is the union of the two that causes the suffering of the world) is Oblivion.

Similarities with Eastern philosophies / religions

The cult of Minerva Omniscius shares some aspects, not only with various strands of classical Greek philosophy, but also with Buddhism. For example, they believe that the Middle Way, moderation, is the right way to do things, as it allows seeing both sides of the same thing, and not to fall into ignorance, ignoring the possible benefits of one of them or the benefits that could be granted by the synthesis of both.

Another aspect they share with Buddhism is that they believe that the ego is also an evil and the cause of much of the pain. But they differ from the Buddhist method in the way they manage to eliminate it. As mentioned before, they believe that the best way to eliminate it is through self-knowledge and self-criticism.

Like Chondoism, they share the idea that paradise on earth must be created. For this would enable the whole of humanity to approach divinity through the study of knowledge, eliminating all the problems that hinder its access.

Transhumanism

They support the idea of transhumanism, because it would allow the search for knowledge to expand, thanks to the improvement of medicine and technology. The only condition is that the human essence is maintained. Because if it is lost, so is the search for knowledge. In this area, they share traits with the political ideology known as Anarcho - Frontierism.

They also believe, because of the cult of being born in the Digital Age, that technology is there to serve us and not dominate us. For, being a slave to technology is another form of ignorance.