Imperial cult

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An Imperial cult is a kind of religion in which an Emperor, or a dynasty of emperors (or rulers of another title), are worshipped as demigods or deities. "Cult" here is used to mean "worship," not in the modern pejorative sense.

1 Ancient Egypt
2 Ancient Rome
3 Ancient China
4 Japan
5 Haile Selassie and the Rastafari
6 Shia'ism
7 Fiction
8 See also
9 External links

Ancient Egypt

"Main article: Pharaoh

In Ancient Egypt, the Pharaohs were believed to be descendants and incarnations of the god Horus

Ancient Rome

Main article: Imperial cult (Ancient Rome)

In the Roman Empire the Imperial cult was the worship of the Roman emperor as a god. This practice began at the start of the Empire under Augustus, and became a prominent element of Roman religion.

The cult spread over the whole Empire within a few decades, more strongly in the east than in the west. It was gradually abandoned when the emperor Constantine I started supporting Christianity.

Ancient China

In ancient China, an emperor was considered the Son of Heaven. The scion and representative of heaven on earth, he was the ruler of all under heaven, a.k.a. the Middle Kingdom, the bearer of the Mandate of Heaven, his commands considered sacred edicts. A number of legendary figures preceding the proper imperial age of China also hold the honorific title of emperor, such as the Yellow Emperor and the Jade Emperor.

Japan

Before the end of World War II, the Japanese Emperor made similar claims to deity; see:

Shinto - general article about Japan's religion.
Arahitogami - the concept of a god who is a human being applied to Emperor Hirohito, up till the end of World War II.
Ningen-sengen, the declaration with which Emperor Hirohito, on New Year's Day 1946, (formally) declined claims of divinity, keeping with traditional family values as expressed in the Shinto religion.

Haile Selassie and the Rastafari

An imperial cult of a totally different dimension occurred also in the 20th century. Thousands of miles from where the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie lived, a new religion developed in the Caribbean, stating the Ethiopian Emperor to be a manifestation of Jah. Note that there was no explicit connection to the fact he was Emperor, he was considered to be an earthly aspect of the God that was also identified with the Christian God. That the Emperor was a secular ruler too was no essential part of the definition of his god-like status.

He was exiled in Britain during Italian occupation of his country (1935-1941), and was the only monarch who survived the Second World War with his godhood status still rising: the Rastafari belief was still far from its peak, which occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was spread around the world with Reggae music as its best known carrier.

Shia'ism

Shias believe that Ali was divinely ordained by God to rule all Muslims, and that he was sinless, and infallible.

Fiction

In the book Dune by Frank Herbert, after Paul Atreides subverts Emperor Shaddam IV and becomes Emperor of the known universe, and even before that, the native Fremen of the planet Dune worship him as a Prophet, a Messiah, and even a God. His son, Leto Atreides is worshipped as a demiurge to an even greater level, likely due to his ability to commune with the past and his slow transformation into sandworm form.

In the game Warhammer 40,000, the Emperor of Mankind, though at times clearly states he is not a god ('I want warriors, not worshippers'), but rather chosen by the Gods to lead humanity, is worshipped as a god by billions of his subjects and millions of his troops.

Main article: Imperial Cult (Elder Scrolls)

Imperial cult appears in a fictional Empire of Tamriel from The Elder Scrolls games, which has much resemblance to the historical Roman Empire. In Tamriel, Imperial Cult is an organization worshipping the Nine Divines, one of whom is Talos, the first Emperor of the Septim dynasty and founder of The Third Empire of Tamriel.