Feline Homeland of Barmenia

Introduction
The Feline Homeland of Barmenia is a democratic nation, situated on the continent of Majatra. It is bordered by the Verranderlijke Ocean to the west, Beitenyu to the north-west, Pontesi to the north-east, the Majatran Sea to the east, and Vanuku to the south.

As our name suggests, the Feline Homeland is a nation of great ailurophiles, or to use a simpler term, cat lovers. Here the cat is not only honoured but widely worshipped, with many Barmenians living through and for the cats they serve. To understand this better it is helpful to learn a little about the Cult of the Sacred Feline (CSF).

Cult of the Sacred Feline
The Cult of the Sacred Feline, known as the Sacred Cult, was founded by Lady Elizabeth Rochford following a rich spiritual journey stretching across four decades of companionship with cats. After receiving revelation of the innate omniscience of cats, she set up the Sacred Cult in order to share the secrets of feline wisdom with those less privileged than herself. The movement she inspired is known as Felinism, and its followers as Felinists.

Orthodox Felinists, like Lady Elizabeth and the priesthood of the Sacred Cult, literally believe that cats comprise the Godhead or Feline Divinity and that serving cats is the moral purpose humans are created for. Less orthodox Felinists, whilst according cats the highest place of honour, may take a more pantheistic view, seeing the worship of cats as a powerful metaphor for developing a closer relationship with the spirituality present within ourselves and in nature. Others take a syncretistic approach, venerating cats whilst also drawing on concepts from other religions. It is common for Felinists to also regard themselves as, say, Christians, Muslims, Jews or Buddhists and still feel comfortable with their beliefs and be fully accepted within the Felinist community. Felinists tend to feel especially close to other nature-based religions, such as paganism, Wicca and Heathenry.

The Sacred Cult is relaxed about the diversity within Felinism, requiring conformity to orthodox tradition only from its registrered priests.

Lady Elizabeth Rochford
Felinists regard their faith as a natural religion which has always existed in some form or degree, and so are reluctant to credit any single individual as being their founder. However, Lady Elizabeth is inarguably the spark that began the modern Felinist movement. Although personally a very modest woman who shies from public attention, she has acquired the status of a figurehead in human form not only for the Sacred Cult and Felinism but for Barmenia itself.

Lady Elizabeth hails from Barmenia's aristocracy and was born to great wealth, but her life has not been an easy one. She became divorced after only six years of marriage because her husband resented the time and affection she lavished upon her growing menagerie of cats. The marriage produced two daughters and a son, but her youngest daughter, Maria, was sent to live with her father because of her worsening allergy to cats. Maria lost her father soon after, and had to live with an aunt instead, which was not a happy experience. Maria never forgave her mother for choosing cats over her, and her hostility towards feline worship and cats in general has ensured a continuing poor relationship between the two women. In contrast to this, Lady Elizabeth's son Jonathan and daughter Jessica are very close to her, and both are leading lights in the Sacred Cult.

The concept of a Feline Homeland
Barmenia is the first and only nation in Terra to declare herself a Feline Homeland, which is to say the full energies of her state and society are committed towards the service to cats. Barmenia has the highest possible legally-enforced standards of cat welfare in history, and every cat - living or dead - is accorded full citizenship status. This means that the mistreatment of cats by by anyone, anywhere, anytime is an offence against a Barmenian citizen and can be prosecuted in Supreme Court of Cat Rights, which severely punishes crimes committed against cats.

Felis Supremis
The Felis Supremis, or Supreme Cat, plays a dual religious and secular role in Barmenia, serving both as a focal point for cat veneration and as the nation's ceremonial Head of State. Orthodox Felinists acknowledge the Felis Supremis as the living incarnation of Bastet, the Cat Goddess of Fertility worshipped in ancient times by our ancestors. Whenever a Felis Supremis dies, the nation subsides into ten days of official mourning, during which followers cease all significant business activity, fast, pray, donate their riches to Cat Temples and wail loudly through the streets whilst crawling on all fours with their eyes facing downwards. On the eleventh day a search begins, supervised by the Sacred Cult, to find the next Felis Supremis from amongst the kittens in Barmenia's most prominent Cat Temples. The selected kitten is usually a queen (female), although there have been occasions when Bastet has chosen to return as a tom (male). After the new Felis Supremis has been anointed, there follows a spontaneous outburst of religious fervour and wild celebrations.

As Head of State, the Felis Supremis receives dignitaries; presides over state ceremonies such as the opening of the National Cat Parlour and the swearing in of the Cabinet; and holds weekly audiences with the Head of Government, known as Chief Servant of the Cats. The administrative functions of the Felis Supremis are shouldered by a small bureaucracy run by the Sacred Cult and funded by the central government.

Felis Supremis resides in the luxurious setting of the National Cat Parlour, where she is attended by a large team of servants working day and night to maintain her in the comfort necessary to ease the burden of her onerous responsibilities.

The National Cat Parlour
The National Cat Parlour (NCP) is first and foremost a consecrated Cat Temple affiliated to the Sacred Cult. Alike other Cat Temples, it features numerous feline residents; a team of servants devoted to their welfare; a range of facilities dedicate to feline comfort and needs; opportunities for visitors to mingle amongst the Feline Divinity; and extensive surrounding grounds for the use of cats as well as various outdoor monuments and shrines for the facilitation of cat veneration. In addition to this, a minor part of the NCP's space and activity involves hosting Barmenia's elected legislature, which sits regularly in a disused food preparation area.

Barmenian voters are expected to carefully meditate upon the guidance of the Feline Divinity before casting their votes, remembering that what matters is the General Feline Will rather than insignificant selfish personal interests. Similarly, elected legislators are expected to reflect that the Feline Divinity put them where they are, and that their duty is to serve cats rather than becoming distracted by pointless squabbling. The chamber in which the legislature sits is open to the comings and goings of roaming cats, since within a Cat Temple it is sacrilegious to close a door on a cat. This is designed to afford legislators an enhanced opportunity to earnestly discern the General Feline Will. For example, it is not uncommon for debates in the chamber to be swung one way or the other by a cat showing favour or disfavour to a particular legislator at a critical moment.