The Cults of Cyrodill: The Leaf Eaters

The Order of the Divine Sight, a cult primarily focused in Leyawiin, is somewhat infamous despite its small size. For their use of the rare herb Ohkram in religious rituals, they are colloquially known as the “Leaf Eaters”. Ingesting Ohkram leads to vivid hallucinations, loss of touch with reality, synaesthesia, and a non-linear perception of time. Due to this, some rumours claim they are a cult of Sheogorath, but the Temple Zero Society officially recognises it as worshipping the Nine Divines.

The Order believes that mortals perceive a false reality. If it weren't for their mental defence mechanisms filtering out what they cannot comprehend, they would be driven insane. They believe the effects of Ohkram removes the mind's filters, and allows them to perceive reality as it truly is. They call psychedelic experiences brought up by Ohkram “the divine sight”, as it allows one to see the world in the same way the gods do.

The ritual of divine sight always takes place indoors. This is not just to ensure privacy: as Ohkram strips away one's mental filters, it makes looking at the sky incredibly dangerous. Mortals only perceive the celestial bodies as they are due to their minds being unable to process their true infinite form. Under the effects of Ohkram, gazing up at the sky causes so much mental stress that most who do so typically fall unconscious, as their minds struggle to make sense of the infinite. It is said that they awake with permanent mental scars, if they ever awake at all.

The traditions of the Leaf Eaters are believed to have originated in the earliest Nedic tribes of Blackwood, dating to before the Ayleid enslavement. It is unknown if those practices continued for centuries, or if the Order is a revival of them. The earliest known mention of the Order of the Divine Sight is in the 3E 195 tome “On Narcotics”, where it is mentioned “Ohkram is held sacred by a Nibenese cult, the Leaf Eaters, in a way akin to the status of Moon Sugar in Khajiit culture...”