"I have played one or two MUDs in the past, notably Dark Mists years ago."

Welcome!

"I find that the learning curve at CF is steep."

It absolutely is. No question.

"I am a level 12 healer. I have died maybe 8 times to players and around 10 times to mobs while seeking out a shrine.
It wasn't until level 12 that I realized I was missing some spells I should have had, most notably, gate. I come to learn
there is something called EMPOWERMENT which basically says you don't get certain spells until you choose a god
and that god chooses you."

If you're new, you should have wandered through the academy when you first arrived, and been prompted to check
numerous help files. At least 2 of these should have mentioned Empowerment. I refer you to the steep learning
curve you mentioned earlier.

"So I went to the WIZlist and chose a god, and sought her shrine. Today I find out that my "sphere" (Honor) is different
than the spheres represented by the Goddess I was seeking out. Only a god of your sphere can give you supplication,
I was told today by an immortal."

That interaction sounds like a wonderful thing you can build into your role. It's also folded into your learning curve. You'll
want to find a quiet place that represents Honor to you in some fashion, and pray for guidance/empowerment from there.
I STRONGLY recommend reading the help files on empowerment and prayer before doing this.

Also, if you looked at the wizlist, you would see which gods represent which spheres. I'm a little confused by your
statement there.

"Well that makes sense, I guess... maybe on some level.
But there is no God representing HONOR. "

Sweet! You get to define it in your own way. What better option! You don't have to subscribe to the way certain religeons have
been played for years, you can make it up to some degree. Sounds like a winner for me, especially for someone new.

"So while I fight mobs by myself (no point in leveling before I know the areas) earning 50-70exp per kill and a meager wage, "

Stop doing this right now if you're logged in, or next time you log in. You are a priest, trying to win the favor of the Gods of Honor.
Pray, emote, find the Inn of the Eternal Star and roleplay with groupmates, heal people above your level while discussing honor
with them. Killing kobolds doesn't show your god/gods that you have honor, and certainly doesn't show anyone else why your
religeon is the best! You are a priest, go build a following (or at least try to).

"what could be worse than being a level 12 healer waxing it in a 5-10 area waiting for the level 14 A-P to show up and gank me
while I'm in the middle of the fight? umm.. nothing. "

I read this as "I keep trying the same thing over and over, and it continues to fail. What should I do?". ANYTHING DIFFERENT!
See my suggestions above for a few ideas.

"Yeah, it's cool most of my armor comes back down the tube. I get to realize over and over that it isn't likely I'll live long enough
to fill up half of my armor slots. "

Stop worring about your armor so much. Once you are empowered, there's plenty of time for that.

"You can tell me I shouldn't have chosen a healer class, but I will say I wanted to play a healer. I still do."

Cool! Play a healer. When you think about doctors, do you imagine them killing rats or healing people? You're a half priest/half
doctor. GO HEAL SOME PEOPLE. Talk with them about honor while you do it. You may find yourself empowered before you
realize it.

"But as far as allowing me to choose a sphere which will likely receive no support from the gods (no empowerment appears to
equal a weak healer), carrion fields sucks for that. I was shown a list of like 50 spheres!! Do you know how much time I spent
looking over that list before I finally chose one? A while. And now that I've chosen one, I can't go back, it's locked in, and I can't
gate or haven and who knows what else I won't have access to down the line. "

No one said you will get no support from the immortals. You just won't get one specific immortal. You'll likely be empowered
by "An Immortal" or some butterflies or something. When you pray, make the imm generic or make one up for yourself and
explain who they are in your role.

"I had a DESCription and a ROLE way before the "aces" who wanted me to group with them to super-level 7+ levels in like an hour."

This is a good start on an Empowerment character.

"So I'm at level 12 getting owned and without the gold to pay for a stockpile of practices."

Two things here:
1) Stop fighting people. You are an unempowered healer. You cannot fight well yet. Work on spreading your take on your religeon
and heal some people.
2) Don't use gold to pay for practices. Barter. There's tons of things on the ground. If you can't barter with the things you find, sell
them to get a little coin. It doesn't cost that much. I'd say ask for some from people you are healing, but as sphere honor you likely
wouldn't do that.

"One of the cool things CF has is the different door sizes. Stacked up against this other lameness, though, it doesn't make much
of a difference to me."

It really sounds to me like you want a healer to be a badass fighter. They aren't designed for that, especially at low level.

"Anyway, this is my perspective. You CF elitists probably won't care but pretty soon you'll be reduced to playing a who's-who
roleplaying game with your five nerdiest friends. Just make sure you rotate the areas around so to break your auto-walkers
and introduce some effort into the mix. "

My perspective: You're coming across whiny, didn't read any helpfiles for the first 12 levels, and now want everyone else to "fix"
your character for you. Oh, and I can't speak for "elites", but I don't have any autowalkers. I've been playing this game for years
though, and can walk across the whole darned map blindfolded and be quick about it too.

"I walk slowly. I do not want to use any form of auto-walking/running, even if/when I do know the areas really well. I want to play a
fair game and this does not appear to be it."

So walk slowly. Follow others, and log where they went so next time you can walk there. Either of these will work well. As a
healer, you are in a unique position to be a HUGE boost to a group. Any groupmate worth their salt would be willing to show
you how to get to a few basic areas when you're working with them. Sitting by yourself killing kobolds waiting to be axed
by an AP won't get you that, or empowered.

-Falstaff