The origins of the Holy Nation are unclear; however, texts associated with Okranism itself are some of the oldest legible texts available. [27] It is speculated that the Okranite creation myth dates back to the time of the First Extinction, around the fall of the First Empire.[28]
There are two known accounts of how Okran and Narko came to be. According to Holy Nation dogma, Narko was out of the "darkest depth of the world," and "sought to erase all that is good." Okran appeared and fought Narko for millennia until He was able to restrain and absorb Narko. During their battle, servants of Narko ravaged the world, attacking mankind. At some undetermined point later, Okran and Narko separated again. Okran then sent the Phoenix as a champion to assist Humanity in defeating Narko's minions, with Narko being "banished deep under the earth."[29]
The other account, considered heretical by the Holy Nation, is that Okran and Narko are the fractured halves of another God, Chitrin, whose worship had declined prior to some great cataclysm where "the lands began to swallow themselves." Humanity plead for help and Chitrin "cleansed the planet of it's sickness." This act caused Chitrin to split in two from the strain, creating Okran, God of day, warmth and renewal; and Narko, god of night, cold and destruction, to exist in equilibrium.[30]
At some point during the Second Empire, a cult formed that would eventually grow into Okranism. General Hat-12, the Chief of Empire Police lead a crackdown on the new cult. This heavy-handed approach "Fueled the blame and confusion further," apparently escalating existing tensions within the Second Empire between Humans and Skeletons. [31]
While exactly when the Holy Nation split off from the Second Empire and the details of the split are unknown, the timing can be approximated to likely predate the collapse of the Second Empire itself,[32] as the Second Empire did not collapse all at once, and instead "just sort of rotted and fell apart."[33]