Reference: The Gnoman Empire - Religion I

The predominant religious philosophy of the Gnoman Empire is Polyaspectism. Myodes, third king of Gnomania, promoted the religion in order to stabilize his growing kingdom, and Pueraria, first Empress of the Gnoman Empire pressured the Gnoman Senate to recognize the religion as the formal state religion after the conquest of Facia.

Central to Polyaspectism is the idea of uncertainty in supernatural matters. Where most Kaleidan religions promote absolute certainty with respect to spiritual matters - to the point of questioning or even denying the mundane, Polyaspectism takes the opposite approach. To polyaspectists, only the physical, tangible world can be absolutely known - anything in the realm of the spiritual or metaphysical is beyond the capacity of mortal beings to observe and comprehend, and is therefore open to speculation. The traditional metaphor of Gnoman Polyaspectism is that of a wax seal created by a signet ring - the observable world is said to be akin to the impression made in the wax seal, while the 'true' world is comparable to the ring that made the impression. From the wax seal, one can make inferences about one specific aspect of the ring, but can say nothing else about the ring with any certainty. Accordingly, the existence of every deity is considered equally plausible, including those worshiped in other religions. Denying the existence of any deity is taboo and potentially heretical.

In Polyaspectism, everything that is, has been, or will be, exists not only in the observable, natural world but in the unobservable, supernatural world. This includes people, for whom the tangible, physical body and mind are only shallow impressions of a more complex entity. The other dimensions - are collectively known as the anima, or soul, with consciousness and unconsciousness being a bridge between the two. When a person's physical body dies and rots, the soul persists as a spirit, and if the person's legacy is powerful enough, the spirit may be elevated to godhood.

Note: In some particular cases, deities may also be formed from the collective will or consensus of many animae, creating a distinct entity some Gnoman writers refer to as a 'metagod'. 

According to some Gnomans, every anima is a god in itself, albeit one with a very limited domain. Other Gnomans might regard the anima as more comparable to a conscience (consulted when making moral judgments), guardian angel (interceding for its physical counterpart in matters of fate), or imaginary friend. In every case, though, the entity is considered to be both 'them' and separate from 'them'. This divergence between the physical and the spiritual is believed to be least pronounced among the young, and so most Gnomans encourage their children to think about their animae, describe them, and even try to talk to them while they are young, building a relationship between the mortal and spiritual aspects that will last throughout the Gnoman's life.

It's worth noting that, given the Gnoman's belief that the objective truth is unknowable to mortals, it is generally expected that children's descriptions of the anima will be outrageous and inconsistent over time, as the mortal mind struggles to understand its more complex spiritual counterpart. Gnoman philosophers and theologists have produced a large body of literature dedicated to interpreting descriptions of the anima, many of them written for parents as a means for better understanding and communicating with their children.

Note: Although Gnomans have a variety of colorful insults, the most severe are those directed at someone's anima, as making definitive declarations about someone else's anima infringes so severely on an individual's personal identity, that even praise can be considered taboo, if expressed in an inappropriate way. For example, to tell someone their "anima must be beautiful" would be offensive, as it severely oversteps personal boundaries by dictating someone else's anima to them.    

Unlike most other religions, it's well accepted that many Gnoman deities have been, or will eventually be, forgotten. Some may become irrelevant due to social changes, or they may be usurped by other deities. In fact, Polyaspectism lacks a traditional creation myth, partly because whatever entity was responsible for forming Kaleida is assumed to have long since passed from their knowledge.

Note: As an engineered race, the creation of the Gnomans and their close relatives are a matter of record, discussed academically by archaeologists, anthropoligists, and biomancers. The origins of the ancient humans that created them are unknown to the Gnomans, as are the origins of the physical world. However, such events are relative trivialities to Gnomans in the present - they enjoy stories and theories about such matters, but do not take such discussions especially seriously, dismissing any serious disagreements about the matter with the common phrase, "It's ancient history."

Some Polyaspectists fear that those deities, spirits, and even animae which are forgotten are consigned entirely to oblivion, and therefore place great importance on maintaining not only careful records of deities, but of family members and ancestors, to ensure that their spirits do not fade away entirely. They may even offer prayers and request unnecessary guidance from ancestral spirits and deities, simply to help them feel appreciated.

Other Polyaspectists, however, believe that the spirits of those who've passed remain relevant even when they have been forgotten, or are unknown. For example, a Gnoman traveling in a foreign city certainly does not expect to know the name of the local deity who governs pedestrian safety at a particularly busy intersection, but may have faith that such an entity does exist, and may reasonably trust his anima to make an entreaty to the unknown power on his behalf.

It is also considered acceptable to simply guess the name and nature of an unknown deity or spirit, and expect that - regardless of accuracy - the deity will appreciate the thought.