CULTURE AND RELIGION

1. BAISM
The (Orthodox) Church of Ba is the largest religion in IJzerland. It has a matriarchal structure, headed by the Bope (Baus in Dardan, Bahwus in IJzerlandic), the wordly representative of the Only True Godess Ba, who is said to have swept all other gods out of heaven, after she discovered that they were responsible for the destruction of the first version of the world. She created a new world and placed all gods on it as mortal beings. Only the godess Thalassa, the main culprit in the destruction of the first world, was put in a golden cage and sunk to the bottom of the central sea, which now carries her name.

There have been Bopes as long as man can remember. The official list of Bopes (see below) however is said to be expanded by other Bopes, thus creating a legacy that is supposed to be a lot older than historically probable. The orthodox church hierarchy is as follows: first there is the Bope, the leader of the Church of Ba. Then there are the Galaubeinais Qeneis, the 'Women of Faith', who each governs a Church Province. Since the last redivision in the year 7904, there are 113 Church Provinces all over the world. The Bope herself is the Galaubeinais Qens of the first Church Province of Badacho. One Galaubeinais Qens is the leader of several Gawadjondeins, the 'Promisers', and under a Gawadjondei are several normal Ba-priestesses or sometimes even Ba-priests. Every one of these servants of Ba can be appointed Bachanal by the Bope. This title is added to the one the servant already has, and it mostly means that the servant has to move to the city of Badacho, the worldly see of the Church of Ba. When a Galaubeinais Qens is appointed Bachanal she remains Galaubeinais Qens of the Church Province she was leading, but she will be referred to as Galaubeinais Qens in Badachon from that moment on, while a new Galaubeinais Qens will take over the actual leadership of the Church Province.

Baism is also very popular in other countries. Not all of those countries have adopted the orthodox variant however; Epis Azuli for instance has the Kardion Church of Ba, which is different from the Orthodox Church on a number of organizing matters: in Epis Azuli there are (often male) bisshops and cardinals instead of Galaubeinais Qeneis and Bachanals. The Kardion Church does however recognise the authority of the Bope. The Kardion Cardinals have the right to vote on a new Bope, but may not be candidate themselves.

List of all Church Provinces and their Galaubeinais Qeneis as of 7996.

A list of all known Bopes

© Bernard van Dulmen Krumpelman 2007 - 2010. Most of the pictures on these pages have been made by me. Those that aren't I found on the internet. When you encounter a photo or picture that belongs to you and you are not amused by me using them here, please contact me via e-mail.