Tushātism

Tushātism, Tušātism or Tushaatism is a polytheistic religion, originally founded and observed by the ethnic people of Amurón.

Basic beliefs
Tušātism is based on belief in a set pantheon of deities. Some are masculine, some are feminine, and some are androgynous / hermaphrodite. There exists a strict hierarchy of power betweens the gods of Tušātism, but the positions of specific deities have varied with time.

Tušātism proposes a system where each domain of the physical world (sea, land, underworld, sky, mountains etc.) is closely linked to a respective spiritual domain. These spiritual domains are directly governed by deities responsible for them; the changes in the spiritual world eventually are reflected in their physical counterparts. The gods and goddesses themselves never enter the material world.

Tušātists similarly belief that action in the material world influences the spiritual counterparts; a human being is seen as a multifaceted organism spread out across several spiritual worlds (as well as the physical one). Immoral behaviour in the material world can lead to corruption of the spiritual "souls". Corrupted souls cannot establish connections with their otherworld counterparts, effectively disabling the main goal of a Tušātist - uniting all the facets of the human being and ascending to the highest plain of existence (which is more similar to the concept of Nirvana rather than the one of Paradise).

Related religions and influences
The monotheistic religion of Ghanatism is directly derived from Tušātism. Ghanatists deny the existence of any other deity save for Ghanat. Ghanat also appears in Tušātism, where it is a comparatively minor deity associated with the Grey Mountains and, perhaps most importantly, whom the origins of river Ajat are attributed to. Ghanatists do not endorse the belief of Nirvana-like state as the ultimate goal, rather embracing concepts more similar to Heaven and Hell.

The religion practised in Danoedan, namely the Path of the Plain, shares its origins in prehistory with Tušātism. As a consequence, the Path has several similar deities and characters, often with recognisably related names. However, the practices and beliefs of the religions are widely divergent.

The Arazi religion of Obenism does feature a Nirvana-like state at the end of the cycle of reincarnation. This belief, which was not present in the direct precursor of the religion - Arazi Polytheism - is often thought to reflect the influence of Tušātists that the founder of Obenism met during his travels.