Massanism
Itmassan-ddin, or Saints' Faith, is the traditional religion of northern Amaziɣ peoples, particularly in Aɣmatia. It is distinct from, but related to Kaharnism which is associated with the southern Amaziɣ peoples, or Tamashek, in Charnea. Kaharnism and Itmassan Faith share heliolatrous aspects and a founder ancestor figure in Kahina and Kaharna. However, there are major difference in cosmology and religious practices between the two faiths.
Itmassan Faith has been practiced in some form by Amaziɣ people along the coast of the Periclean since at least the fifth millennium BCE. The faith was repressed under the Latin occupation from the first century BCE onward. Adherence to the core sect waned more heavily during the Azdarin conquests in the tenth century CE, though Ishnti n Bbalbhr (Children of the Ocean Father), a syncretic sect, gained relative prominence. In the latter centuries of Azdarin rulership and early Aɣmatian independence, the faith was increasingly reclaimed by the Amaziɣ population.
Worship in Itmassan Faith centres on prayer and reference of the sun and ancestor spirits. Chief among these ancestor spirits is the Great Saint Kahina, the legendary ancestor of all Amaziɣ people and the daughter of the sun. A particularly faithful, dutiful, or righteous ancestor may be venerated as a saint, or tmassa, though all adherents of the faith are considered to become spirits and carry influence on the physical world after their deaths. Religious leaders are most often the eldest members of traditional clans and tribes. Younger members may rise to leadership positions if they are judged to have followed an accelerated path toward sainthood.