The Old Temple is a grouping of denominations of the Solar Temple, the predominant form of monotheistic worship. These denominations are characterized by the belief in a single Descent of the Sun, onto (or in the form of, depending on the specific denomination) the Prophet Ardamar on 1 Brilliance, PD 1 at Pustie. In particular, the Old Temple rejected the historical claim of the Emperor Atsef to Descent, and in modern times vociferously reject the claims of the Patriarch Vesten and his successors (Desite and Matalie) to Descent.
Some form of Old Temple worship is the official or dominant religion of the Noraman Republic, Montane Confederacy, East Bel, the Kingdom of Heghom, the Maritime Principalities, the Kingdom of Sus, and various minor powers. In syncretic form with traditional religious beliefs, it is also dominant among the PM/Great Checked Horde and the Sixty Tribes in the far East.
For most of the history of the Old Temple, the Patriarch (rarely, Matriarch) of Pustie was a primus inter pares of the various Patriarchs of the Old Temple, who were the spiritual leaders of their extensive (usually ethno-national) jurisdictions. However, when the Patriarch Vestan declared the Descent of the Sun onto himself in 1617, many Patriarchs anathematized him for heresy and severed connections with the Patriarchy of Pustie. However, Patriarch Vestan had the unwavering temporal support of several powerful secular and religious leaders, and was able to unify the Aelian States under the PM/Presently Guided Temple.