Somash may have been imported to Sun County and may have had some role in the recent politics of that region. However I do not see that we have any reason to assume that the Somashi wear women's clothes (or any style of clothing that the Yelmalions might consider feminine) or that they smoke large quantities of hazia.
Peter seems to have made these up by assuming that the Yelmalion prohibitions against men dressing as women and against hazia were written specifically with the Somashi in mind. There is no evidence to support this. Nor is there any other pre-existing evidence that Somashi engage in any such activities.
It seems unreasonable to start defining the cult of Somash based upon some prohibitions in Sun County, especially when we are lacking any evidence that Somash even exists in Sun County, much less that these prohibitions were promulgated with Somash in mind.
However I am an open minded individual, so I could be convinced to change my mind. If anyone can provide a description of Somash that incorporates these elements in a convincing and integral fashion, then maybe I would be swayed. Somash is supposed to be the Yelm-analog from Teshnos. Why would such a cult dress effeminately and smoke too much dope?
For my part, allow me to offer an explanation of the Yelmalion cross-dressing prohibition.
The prohibition is targetted against the traditional enemies of Sun County, the nomads. Nomad religion is mostly shamanic. Shamans often practice cross-dressing as part of setting themselves outside their societal taboos.
(This is a well documented ritual among many North American native groups. Praxian nomads are modelled on NA natives to a large extent. Therefore I assume it also occurs among many of the Praxian tribes.)
The rule was promulgated to prevent Praxian shamans or those who use shamanic rituals from trying to claim the status of Light Son. It was an attempt to provide one more barrier against the nomads taking over the Yelmalion religion during their times of dominance over Sun County (note the presence of nomad names in the list of Counts). It also helps prevent Yelmalions from slipping into nomad practices.
The rule is specifically against male cross-dressing only because the Yelmalions being patriarchal never considered the possibility of a females being in this situation. (cf. real world laws against homosexuality that frequently forget to mention lesbian acts at all.)
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