Tauism

 

Symbol of Tauism. The white and black represent Zyr and Zahn, the Tauist deities of darkness and light respectively. The central red circle symbolizes Tharverus, with the symbol's twelve arms signifying the twelve disasters of the Tharverus Cataclysm.

Tauism is the second-largest religion practiced by the native civilizations of Uingffh as well as a significant philosophical belief system. Its practitioners, referred to as Tauists, make up approximately 12.7% of known space's sentient individuals. Tauism is a polytheistic religion revolving around two deities - the deity of darkness Zyr and the deity of light Zahn - and their struggles against the malicious entity Tharverus (directly associated with the moon of the same name). The religion features a strong emphasis on balance and harmony between opposing forces as well as connection with the natural world.

Like most of Uingffh's established religions, Tauism has unclear origins, but it is known to have roots in Uingffh's morteus species and civilization. Tauism is also agreed to have predated Keliosity, Uingffh's current largest religion, by at least 10,000 years. Tauism enjoyed great popularity and influence in Uingffh's morteus communities as well as tabulon and lordion communities neighboring these Tauist hotspots. However, when the Kingdom of Kerolon initiated imperialist global conquests beginning in the 13th Century, Kerolon's Keliostic missionaries suppressed Tauism and persecuted its followers in an attempt to spread their faith, to mixed results; even during the height of Kerolon's power, a significant Tauist underground following existed.

After Kerolon's empire crumbled in the late 16th Century and Kerolon itself underwent significant progressive reforms, Tauism slowly regained its previous popularity. Additionally, in some parts of Uingffh, Tauism began to evolve into a more general belief system revolving around naturalism and balance that did not necessarily believe in the existence of the Zyr, Zahn, and Tharverus myths. These moderate Tauists instead viewed the three deities' story as an important fable embodying the core values of Tauism.

One of Tauism's most well-known aspects is its doomsday scenario, the Tharverus Cataclysm. According to the Tharverus Cataclysm, the deity Tharverus will one day reawaken, overpower Zyr and Zahn, and trigger a series of twelve exceptionally powerful and devastating disasters. These would culminate in the moon Tharverus colliding with Uingffh, signifying the deity Tharverus' reclamation of the universe as its "kingdom". Ironically, the Tharverus Cataclysm was popularized not by actual Tauists, but by the rest of the general public; due to its ambiguous date and apocalyptic nature, the Tharverus Cataclysm has seen references and use in a wide variety of popular cultural works. Its influence only grew stronger with the occurrence of the 12 Great Calamities, with many people drawing connections between the calamities and the Tharverus doomsday myth.

Deities

Tauism is a polytheistic religion, but its deities are small in number compared to most other polytheistic mythos. Tauism contains only three deities: the benevolent gods Zyr and Zahn, and the malevolent Tharverus.

Zyr

Zyr is one of two benevolent deities in the Tauist mythos. Zyr represents darkness and a wide variety of concepts and elements related to coolness such as water, storms, ice, passivity, etc. According to Tauist mythology, Zyr has existed since the beginning of time alongside Zahn and created the universe alongside Zahn.

Tharverus

WIP