Levin

The Levin Church, also known as simply Levin, was an organized religion preached and practiced within Evillious. It was split into three sects: Levia, Behemo, and Held. Based on the faith practiced in the Magic Kingdom Levianta, it was built up after the Magic Kingdom's destruction and grew to become the main faith of the region.

Origin
Originally, many congregated around the ark, Sin, after it fell from the Second Period to seal the twin gods, Levia-Behemo. Establishing the Magic Kingdom Levianta, the congregators built a temple for the ark, worshipping the twin gods in two distinct sects, with Levia becoming the dominant faction. The faith spread to the neighboring Heldogort and sparked a cult sect worshipping the dragon god of the earth, Held. As a result, the Held sect's followers were branded as heretics by the Magic Kingdom and were persecuted for their beliefs; over time, the name of Held was eliminated from the country, becoming "Elphegort".

Sometime before the establishment of the Evillious Calendar, Prophet Marry-Go-Round prophesized the nation's destruction due to Sin if the twin gods weren't reborn as humans and allowed to cleanse it. Levianta set up Project 'Ma' as a result, but were met with successive failures. Due to the Levianta Catastrophe in EC 013, the number of Levin's Levia and Behemo followers was reduced, allowing the Held sect to gain momentum. Eventually, the Held sect became comparable in size to that of the Levia sect, while the Behemo sect, because of its association with demon worship, continued to decline and eventually only became tolerated in small parts of Asmodean.

Rejuvenation
During the rise of the Beelzenian Empire, Levin became the state religion. After the incident caused by Duke Sateriasis Venomania, the Held sect branded Venomania as a "demon" and persecutions of his many spawn or those possibly connected to him became widespread. In EC 301, the former Magic Kingdom was reestablished as "Divine Levianta", with the new nation made the religious capital of the new Levin Church. Around this time, studies of the Tasan Empire's destruction led to the ban of eating the "demon" pig, baemu. After acquiring the Twin Swords of Levianta, the blades were kept with the church in the Lucifenia territory of Beelzenia.

Around EC 325, Elluka Clockworker attempted to retrieve the blades from the Church, but was given a fake pair instead. As time progressed, the followers of Levia gained a political foothold in the Kingdom of Lucifenia, leading to the Levia sect becoming the mainstream religion again by EC 500. Around EC 487, a monastery for the Held sect was established on a hill near the Lucifenian coastline. The monastery eventually began being funded by Keel Freesis.

Around EC 508, some unyielding reformers in Levianta resisted violently against the church and repeatedly collided. At the same time, church leader candidate Mikhail Asayev came into contact with the die-hards and, along with three comrades, formed the political group Neo Apocalypse, causing repeated acts of terrorism throughout the country. Calling out to other nations to cooperate in efforts to suppress the terrorists, the church received one unit from the Lucifenian Republic for help. After Neo Apocalypse caused large-scale terrorism strikes in the "New Four Horsemen Incident", the organization was eventually put down.

Levia
Levia is one of the twin dragon gods. The deity was one of the gods that needed to be reborn to save the country from sin. The Divine Leviantan senate created Project 'Ma' with the intent of incarnating the god by injecting a powerful witch with "God's seed" and then giving birth to the conceived child. On the night of the the Levianta Catastrophe, the shadow of a two-headed dragon was witnessed flying over Levianta's skies before Levia and her brother inhabited Elluka as their vessel.

Behemo
Behemo is one of the twin dragon gods. The deity was one of the gods that needed to be reborn to save the country from sin. The Divine Leviantan senate created Project 'Ma' with the intent of incarnating the god by injecting a powerful witch with "God's seed" and then giving birth to the conceived child. On the night of the Levianta Catastrophe, the shadow of a two-headed dragon was witnessed flying over Levianta's skies before Behemo and his sister inhabited Elluka as their vessel.

Held
Held is the dragon god of the earth. Around 528 years before EC 0, the deity incarnated itself as a tree in present-day Elphegort's Millennium Tree Forest to oversee the mortal realm, creating a number of spirits within the forest. In EC 015, Held tasked Elluka Clockworker with collecting the Seven Deadly Sins. Before the death of his mortal vessel, the god chose the spirit Michaela to succeed him as the Millennium Tree in his place, guarding mortals.

Structure
Levin was an organized, polytheistic faith based upon the worship of the dragon gods in it. Although originally considered a cult faction, the Held sect eventually became accepted as a denomination of the main faith and the Levia sect was presumed to have segregated Levia and Behemo into their own individual sects. Each sect was essentially the same at the core of their beliefs but they were divided in their practices and deity of worship. Among the three major sects, numerous other factions existed including radical hardliners and formed their own political groups in opposition or support of Church practices or philosophy.

The headquarters of the religion, after the Magic Kingdom's was destruction, was based in Divine Levianta, with its religious leaders selected from numerous candidates by the hierarchy. The Levin Church had several buildings of worship, including cathedrals and monasteries, for prayers, confessions, or joyous ceremonies, such as the birth of royalty.. There were also several religious organizations outside the main church that focused on promoting social justice including nunneries and orphanages.

Practices
Prayer and worship to one of the deities was the basic practice for any of the Levin sects. Among its philosophies, the religion taught the value and equality of all life. Practitioners also believed in an afterlife for those who died, those deemed virtuous entering the Heavenly Yard and joined the gods taking residence there. Despite this, followers of Levin persecuted the descendants of Sateriasis Venomania due to his reputation as a "demon" who had raped multiple women through supernatural means, impregnating them with his children. The harsh treatment against the Duke's bloodline was somewhat eased, although discrimination still existed in several areas.

In the Held sect, idolatry was forbidden and religious buildings were minimally decorated compared to the other sects. Pilgrimages to the Millennium Tree Forest were common for early followers of Held but they diminished over time and, by EC 500, visits to the Tree of Held were rare. During the Millennium Tree Festival, elderly Held followers invite the youth to the Lake of Amusement in the northern area of the forest and tell legends about the lake. One of these legends was that Held's spirits would come out and frolic on the moonlit night, producing "Stones of the Wild Spirits" that, when planted, would yield a bountiful harvest. Baptism was also included among the religious orders and was employed when admitting nuns to their religious service.

The dead were often buried by Levin followers in cemeteries with grave markers to determine their identity. Because of their values concerning life and death, desecrating the dead or their tombstones was frowned upon. Necromancy was similarly considered taboo and the reanimated were viewed as monsters. Among its superstitions, the baemu pig was regarded as a demon disguised as an angel and that calamity would befall those that ate its delicious flesh, making the consumption of one similarly forbidden among believers.

However, the Behemo sect's beliefs were tinged with demon worship, although largely unaccepted by the other sects as a result. Polygamy was also outlawed in Levin, discouraging believers from having more than one spouse. Because it was divided into many factions, several portions of the church's members were radical and believed in using violence to promote change within the faith.

Conceptualization and Origin

 * The Hebrew surname "Levin" derives from the Levites, the biblical tribe from their patriarch, Levi; the Levites duty in Jewish tradition focused on religious and spiritual duties concerning Judaism.
 * The dragon gods Levia and Behemo derive their names from the Leviathan and Behemoth of Jewish mythology.

Curiosities

 * Of the three deities worshiped in Levin, only Held is shown directly interacting with the mortal world.
 * According to Michaela, the belief that the spirits created magical stones was nonsense likely crafted when a follower mistook a trauben fruit a spirit dropped for a Stone.