Gya Shamanism

A religious group practiced by the ethnic gya, almost exclusively in the land of Gyag, the exact practices of which are highly tribal and local in nature. The main philosophy centers around a mythologized version of events of the Great War. In particular the figure of Elesh (called Ayesha in Gu'tal) is seen as a wise man, if not a sort of demigod. The chief end of gya shamanism is the ascension, which is simultaneous the main commonality and the source of most of the diversity among the various schools.

All forms of gya shamanism have a central teaching known as the ascension, for which individuals are expected to sacrifice in some way for. The details of this ascension, however, vary greatly among different shaman schools.

The kuy (translated: crucible) is the most popular, but also the most fragmented of the shaman schools. It sees the ascension as an individual path to transcendence and enlightenment, fueled by the purification of the soul through suffering. Many adherents induce this suffering through ritual self-mutilation, sometimes to the point of extreme measures such as amputation.

The qwu (translated: servants) is the most organized of the shaman schools, and favored by warlords of the more centralized gyag tribes. Qwu views the ascension as a communal effort - each member of the community must make individual sacrifices for. There is a large divergence between various shamans and tribes on the exact details of the expected sacrifices

The hyiisi (translated: tower) are the smallest, but claim to be the oldest, school of shamans. Their view on the ascension is secret, known only to a small cabal who speak only partial truths to other shamans, even of other schools. For this reason the hyiisi are sometimes accused of manipulating the teachings of the other schools, but in general hyiisi shamans form cultic camps far in the wilderness and take care to only speak to those that approach them first. What little details are commonly known is that hyiisi practitioners borrow mystical rituals from the Kuy, but speak of the ascension as a world-changing event. Hyiisi teaching culminates with a 'spirit walk' that borrows elements from the communal sacrifices of the qwu, where the spiritually heightened or close-to-death travel to the Tree of Life to assist the world in bringing about the ascension. Details of what occurs at the Tree are not known, as no one that performs a spirit walk return.