Turruism

Turruism, called Turrisuea (IPA: /tuɹ̠ʷ.ɪs̺u.eə/) in the Azkali language, is a term describing either a single religion with widespread variance of practices, or family of closely related semi-organized Azkali religions, religious beliefs, spiritual beliefs, and philosophical beliefs. Turruism is Azkali's native belief system, and is possibly one of, if not the oldest religion in the world. It's homeland is in northeastern Yamahat, alongside where Azkali culture likely first developed. In the modern era, Turruism only has a substantial following in Azkali, where it is followed by approximately 80% of the population. Elsewhere, it is followed by roughly a third of all Azkalis in Kalilonde, about a million Azkalis in Loremesia, 400,000 Azkalis in Alloti, and about 250,000 in Mallia, for a combined following of approximately 6,750,000 people. There are many different sects of Turruism, with widely differing practices and beliefs, but all are unified by several beliefs and principles. All are unified by the worship of a primordial creator goddess called Mari, along with her mortal kali husband Ari, the Atuskireka, the pantheon of gods who are believed to be the offspring of Mari and Ari, and the Remotsa, the thousands of others "personal deities" worshipped by individuals. All gods are worshipped at public temples called yarizkache, and at private temples (usually found in workplaces, one's home, etc) called ekeyariak. Turruism places an important conceptual focus on both individual and collective pleasure and satisfaction, or raosi in Azkali, in addition to service for the community and family, called tanga, and it is believed an equal-as-possible balance of these two concepts solicits the approval of the gods. Turruism has no single creator or specific doctrine, and instead exists in a diverse range of local and regional forms.

One of the most important facets of Turruist belief — commonly used by scholars to determine if a specific sect can be considered Turruist in the truest sense — is the idea that all sapient beings are composed of two elements; the mind, kelen, and the body, naichiruz, with both being as equally intelligent and aware as the other, and both requiring the other for survival — making the individual, which is collectively referred to as the karineu, one part of a collective mutual relationship, a concept which is called haitzakire. It is thus important for various rituals to appease both parts of the karineu, though mostly the naichiruz, in order to ensure one's longetivity.

A vast majority of Turruist schools share many characteristics with Šertikism, specifically polyatrous Šertikism.

History

Prehistoric Turruism

See main article: Prehistoric Turruism

It is generally believed by a majority of scholars that Turruism as a faith was practiced before 8000-6000 BCE, the approximate timespan which it is believed Proto-Azkali as a language was spoken. Evidence for this can be found in temples and artifacts recovered across the Ukilen, Brausian, and partially the [northern] continents which are broadly similar to contemporary Turruist design, though it is argued by some that said temples an artifacts may have been created by peoples following other religions. Paleo-Ukilenic temples have been noted to share several similarities in doctrine, and the design of religious sites, which supports the notion that the presence of temples with Turruist design characteristics is not proof enough to claim an ancient origin for Turruism. Many researchers, including the late Hagnatal Reiko, have posited a concrete relationship between Paleo-Ukilenic religions and Turruism, a hypothesis referred to as the [...] theory.

Regardless, Turruism had a wide geographic range in which it was followed at least starting around 4800 BCE, which is when the earliest Turruist temple still being used in worship, the Sechemearua temple in Pordmisktpelha, was created. About a hundred years later, in 4700 BCE, the oldest temple still within the boundaries of Azkali, the Chekearuatzatan temple in modern day Chekearoa, was constructed. The oldest piece of Azkali text that has been found, the Merwa complaint, mentions temples that are described as ancient, and since the Merwa letter has been dated to around 5000 BCE, the possibility of older temples than the Sechemearua temple has generally been accepted by most scholars.

The Arichez in Hogu, Azkali, one of the most important religious sites in Turruism

Beliefs

Theology

Turruist theology is profoundly polytheistic, with the Atuskireka alone featuring a pantheon of twenty-seven deities. In Turruist theology, there is a hierarchy of deities based on the family tree of the deities, featuring three "levels": the first level, Anata Itungiana, solely features Mari, the creator of the universe and wife of Ari, a mortal Kali male who married Mari and was deified as a result. The second level, Anata Sarigezalairrana

Scripture

Crossreligiously, Turruism is unique in that there is no central piece of holy text in almost all of Turruism. This is not to say that there are not any texts regarding Turruism, but that there is no one text that that is considered central to Turruism. Even ancient books regarding Turruism mention the lack of a central text, and as such it is presumed that the core traditions and beliefs of Turruism were at one point passed down orally from generation to generation.

Schools

See main article: Sects of Turruism

Despite Turruism's unorganized nature, most Turruist scholars classify most varieties as belonging to several tizkarairek, which can be translated as "sect", but literally means "schools". As such, Turruist tizkarairek are often referred to as schools, when in other religions the term sect may be used. There are four main schools of Turruism, and each vary largely in specific practices but differ less so (but still fairly significantly) as a whole. These schools are the Izkirainat school, Makazagezeron school, Eiteserri school, and the Shiraz school.