Ethnic Religions
Ethnic religions are associated with a particular ethnic group and are regarded as the defining component of its culture, language, and customs. The group and its beliefs are inextricably linked. Typically, these beliefs only pertain to and are practiced by the members of a particular ethnicity. A trait common among ethnic religions is that they are exclusive to members born into the group. These closed systems are the opposite of universal religions which are open to all and actively pursue and accept converts.This webpage describes 156 of potentially thousands of world ethnic religions. If you grow weary of scrolling, you can access them individually through a dropdown menu on the homepage.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of these parochial religions. To lump them together in a single category, Ethnic Religion, only indicates the quantity of human beings that adhere to this smorgasbord of faiths. Qualitatively, they are incredibly diverse and, to those on the outside looking in, frequently mysterious and unfathomable. Membership is a birthright, and not a conscious and voluntary choice. Below are brief descriptions of many of these ethnic religions. An estimated 300 million adherents places this category near the top of the 21 super-catagories of major world religions located on the homepage. Were they catagorized separately, they might rank so far down in any list they might be overlooked or ignored, Considered individually, their adherants would represent an infinitesimally small fraction of total world population. A few more populated belief systems are included in this umbrella grouping, some which are described in seperate pages of this website (Judaism and Rastafarianism, for example). Every major world religion had its origin in the context of a particular ethnic group, so every world religion is an ethnic religion. Many of the religions described are no longer practiced because the cultures they arose from or pertain to no longer exist. Nevertheless, these extinct belief systems are of great historical interest. However isolated in time or space an ethnic religion may be, or may have been, it typically influences neighboring ethnic beleif systems.
Africa
Ancient Egyptian religion (Ancient Egyptians)
A complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that formed an integral part of ancient Egyptian culture. It centered on the Egyptians' interactions with many deities believed to be present and in control of the world. About 1500 deities are known. Rituals such as prayer and offerings were provided to the gods to gain their favor. Formal religious practice centered on the pharaohs, the rulers of Egypt, believed to possess divine powers by virtue of their positions. They acted as intermediaries between their people and the gods, and were obligated to sustain the gods through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain Ma'at, the order of the cosmos, and repel Isfet, which was chaos. The state dedicated enormous resources to religious rituals and to the construction of temples. Pharoahs could attain eternal life since they could afford the objects, processes, and perpetual rituals that were required. Later on, eligibility for eternal life expanded to include court officials and wealthy non-royals.
Abwoi religion (Inhabitants of central Nigerian plateau)
An African traditional religion institution which which can be described as a cult of male ancestral spirits viewed as ghosts or reincarnates of the dead whose physical forms remained invisible but voices were audible. It originatred among central Nigeria plateau or Nenzit peoples like the Adara, Atyap, Bajju, Bakulu, Batinor, Ham, Irigwe and others. Adherents were required to participate in frequent rituals throughout the year and at an annual general communal worship during which the oracles spoke on sensitive issues concerning the community.
Akan religion (Akans of the Gold Coast)
Akan religion comprises the traditional beliefs and religious practices of the Akan people of Ghana and eastern Ivory Coast. Akan religion is referred to as Akom. Although most Akan people have identified as Christians since the early 20th century, Akan religion remains practiced by some and is often syncretized with Christianity. Anansi the spider is prominent in Ashanti folktales where he is depicted as a wise trickster. In other aspects of Akan spirituality, Anansi is also sometimes considered to be both a trickster and a deity associated with wisdom who created the first inanimate humans. Followers of Akan spirituality believe in a supreme god who created the universe but remains detached from his creation.
Bori religion (Hausa people of Northern Nigeria)
Hausa animism is a pre-Islamic traditional religion of the Hausa people of West Africa that involves magic and spirit possession. While only a part of the Hausa people (mostly urbanites) converted to Islam before the end of the 18th century, most of the adherents of Hausa followed their lead in the wake of a jihad started by Islamic reformer Usman dan Fodio begun about 1800 and extending to the middle of the 20th century. A small minority of Hausa converted to Christianity. Adherants are nonexistent here at the beginning of the 21st century, but since Hausa animism and Islam coexisted for centuries some traditions related to animism continue to be practiced locally.
Dinka religion (Dinka people of South Sudan)
Dinka spirituality is the traditional religion of the Dinka people, an ethnic group of South Sudan. The Dinka people largely rejected or ignored Islamic (and Christian) teachings, as Abrahamic religious beliefs were incompatible with their society, culture, and traditional beliefs. The supreme creator god Nhialic is the god of the sky and rain and the ruler of all the other gods and spirits. He is seen as being distant from humans and rarely involves himself in the affairs of humanity. After creating humans, Nhialac told them to multiply and that their children would die but would come back to life within 15 days. Garang (the Adam of Dinka) protested that if nobody dies permanently then there would not be enough food, so Nhialac introduced permanent death.
Dogon religion (Dogon people of Mali)
The Dogon are an ethnic group indigenous to the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa. The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture, and their architecture. Since the twentieth century, there have been significant changes in the social organisation, material culture and beliefs of the Dogon, in part because Dogon country is one of Mali's major tourist attractions. Currently, 35% of the Dogon practice Islam and another 10% practice Christianity. The key spiritual figures in the Dogon religion were the hermaphroditic Nummo/Nommo twins. The problem of "twin births" versus "single births" or androgyny versus single-sexed beings was said to contribute to a disorder at the beginning of time. The removal of the second sex and soul from humans is what the ritual of circumcision represents in the Dogon religion. Texts assert that "The dual soul is a danger; a man should be male, and a woman female." Dogon religion was centered on this loss of twinness or androgyny.
Inam (Ibibio people of Southern Nigeria)
The Ibibio people inhabit the coast southern Nigeria. Their religion, Inam, centers on the pouring of libation, sacrifice, worship, consultation, communication with and invocation of the God of Heaven (Abasi Enyong), the God of the Earth (Abasi Isong) and the Supreme Being (Abasi Ibom) by the king of a particular Ibibio Community. Ibibio religion also centers on the worship, consultation, invocation, sacrifice, and appeasement of the God of Heaven and the God of the Earth through various invisible or spiritual entities, the me Ndem. The Ibibio believe that the same type of existence is led by the dead as by the living. The next world has the same appearance as this world but only those animals, plants and foods which have been sacrificed in honor of the dead are transported into the afterlife.
Bantu religion (Bantu of Central/Southern Africa)
Although Bantu peoples include several hundred different African ethnic groups, their cultures and customs are very similar. The Bantu believe in numerous higher and lower gods (often including a supreme creator or force), spirits, the veneration of the dead, magic, and the use of traditional African medicine. Complex Animistic practices include the worship of tutelary deities, nature, and ancestors. The Bantu believe that there is an afterlife. While some Bantu religions adopt a pantheistic worldview, most follow a polytheistic system with various gods, spirits and other supernatural beings. Deceased humans, animals, and important objects continue to exist in the spirit world and can influence or interact with the physical world.
Berber religion (Berbers of northern Africa)
Berbers are indigenous to the Maghreb region of North Africa where they live in scattered communities across parts of Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and to a lesser extent Tunisia, Mauritania, northern Mali and northern Niger. Many ancient Berber beliefs were developed locally. Other beliefs were influenced by neighboring ancient Egyptian religious beliefs or borrowed during antiquity from the Punic (Carthaginian) religion, Judaism, Iberian mythology, and the religions of the Hellenistic Age. Ancient Berber beliefs still exert a subtle influence on contemporary Berber popular culture and tradition. First century Roman historian Pomponius Mela recorded that Berbers regarded the spirits of their ancestors as deities. They swore by them, and consulted them. After petitioning their deceased forebears, Berber descendants slept in their tombs to await dreams revealing ancestral responses to their petitions. The Berbers also worshiped their rulers. The tombs of Numidian rulers are among the most notable of extant monuments created by the Classical Berbers. The Berber pantheon embraced multiple deities known to the Romans as the Dii Mauri (Moorish gods). During the Roman period, Saturn and Ops were the focus of an important cult, supplanting the cults of Baal Hammon and Tanit, two deities of Punic origin. The Egyptian goddess Neith and Egyptian god Khnum may been the model for Punic Tanit and Baal Hammon.
Malagasy religion (inhabitants of Madagascar)
Malagasy (Madagascar) mythology is rooted in oral history and has been transmitted by storytelling, most notably the Andriambahoaka epic. These myths tell of a creator deity, Zanahary, and the division of Heaven and Earth between Zanahary and his son Andrianerinerina, a rebellious hero and frequent object of worship as the son of God. Alternately, power is divided between Zanahary and earth deities like Ratovantany, the crafter of our human bodies from clay. Zanahary gave life to humans, and their souls return to him in the sky or on the sun while their bodies are reclaimed earth deities. Ancestors are also worshiped. Malagasy culture was generally polytheistic, worshiping a variety of entities that straddled the line between gods and revered ancestors.These ancestors are generally regarded as a benevolent force in the life of the living, but sometimes the spirits of ancestors may become angatra (ghosts of the dead) that bring disease and misfortune to the living who have offended them. Malagasy mythology describes a pygmy-like people, the Vazimba as the original inhabitants of the land and believes that Vazimba still live in the deepest recesses of the forest. The kings of some Malagasy tribes claim blood kinship to the Vazimba, including the Merina dynasty that eventually came to rule over all of Madagascar.
Mbuti religion (Mbuti of Congo and central Sudan)
Mbuti mythology is the belief system of the African Mbuti (alternately, Bambuti) Pygmies of the Congo. The most important god of the Bambuti pantheon is Khonvoum, god of the hunt who wields a bow made from two snakes that appear to humans as a rainbow. After sunset every day, Khonvoum gathers fragments of the stars and throws them into the Sun to revitalize it for the next day. He occasionally contacts mortals through thunder god/elephant Gor or a chameleon. Khonvoum created mankind from clay. Black people were formed from black clay, white people were fashioned from white clay, and the Pygmies themselves were created from red clay. Khonvoum also created the animals that are much needed by hunters like the Pygmies. Tore is a god of the forests who supplies animals created by Khonvoum to hunters. Pygmies stole fire from Tore so he chased them but could not catch them. When Tor returned home, his mother had died. Frustrated and angered, he decreed that humans would also die. Tor thus became the god of death. A Mbuti soul is called a megbe. When a man dies, his son places his mouth over his father's to draw in part of the megbe. Another part of the megbe inhabits the man's totem animal. If the son does not inhale the megbe or the totem animal is later killed, a soul may escape into the forest to becomes a semi-visible being called a Lodi which lives forever in the company of other forest-dwelling Lodi.
Odinani (Igbo of southeastern Nigeria)
Odinani is the traditional cultural religious beliefs and practices of the Igbo people of south east Nigeria. Odinani is a pantheistic and polytheistic faith with a strong central deity, Chukwu, at its head. All things arise from Chukwu. A pantheon of other gods and spirits such as Ala, Amadiọha, Anyanwụ, Ekwensu, and Ikenga populate this belief system but only serve as helpers or avatars of Chukwu. Lesser spirits (demigods) known as ágbàrà or árúsí operate on a lower plain than the major gods and higher spirits. Arụsị are mediated by Dibia and other priests who do not contact the high god directly. Through áfà, 'divination', the laws and demands of the arụsị are communicated to the living. Agbàrà and árúsí are venerated in community roadside and forest shrines. Smaller shrines are located in houses for ancestor veneration. Deceased ancestors live in the spirit world and can be contacted. Positioned below the arụsị are lesser spirits known as mmúọ characterized by their malevolent or benign natures. These minor spirits are not venerated and are regarded by many as being the lost souls of the dead. The number of people practicing Igbo religion decreased significantly in the 20th century with the influx of Christian missionaries under the patronage of the British colonial government in Nigeria. Frequently, Igbo traditional religion practice was syncretised with Christianity. Some indigenous rites were condemned by Christian missionaries including human sacrifice.
Punic religion (Phoenicans of Carthage)
The Punic, or Carthaginian religion was a heritage of Phoenician ancient polytheistic Canaanite religion. Hoever, significant local differences developed after the foundation of Carthage and its colonies. Subsequent to the Roman conquest of these regions by in the third and second centuries BCE, Punic religious practices managed to survive until the fourth century AD. As is the case with most ancient Mediterranean belief systems, Punic religion was integral to its setting. No distinction was made between the religious and secular spheres of life. It is difficult to reconstruct a hierarchy of the Carthaginian gods. At Carthage, the divine couple that stood above all other gods consisted of the god Baal Hammon and the goddess Tanit. The Carthaginians appear to have had both part-time and full-time priests. Part-time priests, appointed by the civil authorities, were in control of day to day religious affairs, while the full-time priests were primarily responsible for performing rites and interpretating myths. Animals and other valuables were sacrificed to propitiate the gods, and these sacrifices had to be performed according to strict specifications. Some Phoenician communities practiced sacred prostitution. In the Punic sphere of influence this is evidenced at Sicca Veneria in western Tunisia and the sanctuary of Venus Erycina in western Sicily. The funerary practices of the Carthaginians were very similar to those of their Phoenician progenitors. These include rituals concerning the disposal of the remains, funerary feasts, and subsequent ancestor worship. Provisions intended to provide the deceased with protection and symbolic nourishment have been discovered in the tombs of Carthaginians, which indicates that Punic worshipers believed in life after death.
Serer religion (Serer of Senegal and northern West Africa)
The Serer religion is the original religious beliefs, practices, and teachings of the Serer people of Senegal in West Africa. The Serer religion believes in a universal supreme deity called Roog. Traditional Serer religious practices encompass ancient chants and poems, veneration of and offerings to deities and spirits, initiation rites, folk medicine, and a familiarity with Serer history. Subordinate to Roog are lesser gods, goddesses and supernatural spirits or genie. Roog is neither the devil or a genie, but the Lord of creation. Roog is the embodiment of both male and female attributes and continually watches over his children and is always available to them. Roog does not intrude himself into in the daily affairs of humanity. Lesser gods and goddesses, Roog's ambassadors to the physical world, process petty, day to day affairs. Serer peoples possess the free will to either live a good and spiritually satisfying life in harmony with Serer religious doctrine, or are free to ignore these doctrines and pass an unsanctified lifestyle in the physical world. Lawbreakers will be rightfully punished in the afterlife. Immortality of the soul and reincarnation are fundamental beliefs of the Serer religion. The pangool (venerable saints and ancestral spirits) have the power to intercede between the living and the divine. Serer strive to be accepted by departed ancestors so that they can also gain the ability to intercede between humanity and divinity. A failure to be accepted results in rejection by one's ancestors Unsuccessful petitioners are doomed to become lost and wandering souls.
Vodun (Fon and Ewe of Benin and southwestern Nigeria)
Vodun (meaning spirit) is a religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria. Elements of this West African religion have survived and evolved into current forms of religions with similar names found in the New World among the African diaspora in the Americas such as Surinamese Winti, Haitian Vodou, Louisiana Voodoo, Cuban Vodú, Dominican Vudú, Venezuelan Yuyu, and Brazilian Vodum. Vodun cosmology centers around the vodun spirits and other elements of divine essence that govern the Earth, a hierarchy that range in power from major deities governing the forces of nature and human society to the lesser spirits of individual streams. Further, there are dozens of ethnic vodun, defenders of a certain clan, tribe, or nation. The divine Creator, Mawu or Mahu, is a female. She is portrayed as an older woman, a mother who is gentle and forgiving. Mawu the moon and Lisa the sun, female and male, are often portrayed as the twin children of the Creator. In this portrayal, Mother Mawu must have named her daughter after herself. Lisa is the sun god who brings the day and the heat and strength and energy. Mawu, the moon goddess, provides the cool of the night, peace, fertility, and rainfall. The youngest son of Mawu, Legba, is the chief of all Vodun divinities. It is only through contact with Legba is it possible to contact the other gods, for he is gatekeeper of the spiritual realm. Mawu's androgynous son Dan remained with her and acts as an intermediary between her and her other creations. As a bridge between the spirits and the living, similar to the mission of his little brother Legba, Dan maintains balance, order, peace and open lines of communication. All creation is considered divine and therefore contains the power of the divine. Vodun Priestesses, like priests, receive a calling from an oracle which may come at any moment during their lives. They will then join their clan's convent to obtain spiritual instruction. The oracles also designate a future high priest and high priestess from among the new recruits, establishing an order of succession.
Nuer religion (Nuer people of South Sudan)
The Nuer people, originally a subgroup of the Dinka people, migrated from the Gezira south into a barren dry land that they named Kwer Kwong. Centuries of isolation and influence from Luo peoples caused them to become a distinct ethnic group from the Naath. The Nuer and Dinka are the two largest ethnic groups in South Sudan. Population growth eventually led to raids and wars between these two groups. Cattle possess great symbolic, religious, and economic value and serve as bride wealth, given by a husband's family to his wife's family. The Nuer structure their entire culture around cattle, and cattle have historically satisfied all of their needs. As long as a girl marries a man with cattle, she is able to freely choose her husband. Nuers believe that God is the spirit of the sky, Kuoth Nhial (God in Heaven), the creator. Nuers also believe that God interacts with his creation through rain, lightning, and thunder. The rainbow is the necklace of God. The sun, moon, and other material objects are manifestations or signs of God. Spirits of the air are regarded as the most powerful of spirits subordinate to Kuoth Nhial. Nuers believe that when a man or a woman dies, the flesh, the life and the soul separate. The flesh is committed to the earth, while the breath, or life, goes back to God. The soul that encompasses human individuality and personality remains alive as a shadow or a reflection.
Maasai religion (Maasai people of Kenya)
The traditional beliefs of the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania are centered on nature and its elements. Ngai (also called Engai or Enkai) is the androgynous Supreme Creator who possesses both masculine and feminine attributesand a dual nature. Engai Narok (Black God) is benevolent, and Engai Na-nyokie (Red God) is vengeful. There are also two identically colored totems of Maasai society: Oodo Mongi, the Red Cow and Orok Kiteng, the Black Cow, The Maasai have a supreme totemic animal, the lion. A lion is sacrificed by the Maasai during the rite of passage ceremony. The Maasai have Ngai's primordial dwelling Ol Doinyo Lengai, which translates as the Mountain of God. This mountain is located in Northern Tanzania. In Maasai religion, the Laibon (plural: Laiboni) intercedes between the world of the living and the Creator. They are the Maasai's high priests and diviners. In addition to delivering prophecies and organizing and presiding over religious ceremonies such as sacrifice and libation, the Laiboni also heal physical and spiritual illness. Like the Nuer people, Maasai life centers around their cattle, their primary source of food. The traditional Maasai diet consisted of raw meat, raw milk, honey, and raw blood drawn from their Zebu cattle.
Sidama people#Religion (Sidama people of Ethiopia)
Throughout Sidama history two groups of clans competed for political power. The first group is a minority, the Yemericho which includes eight clans who were the first settlers of their present Ethiopian territory around Lake Hawassa after the Oromos drove them from their home province of Bali around the Dawa River in the early 16th century. The second group forms a majority, the Aletta which includes twelve clans. Clans in Sidama occupy distint territories, and their leaders constantly waged war on each other. Spirit possession occurs among the Sidama. Anthropologists surmise that spirit possession is a form of compensation for being deprived within Sidama society. The majority of the possessed are women whose spirits demand luxury goods to alleviate their deprived condition, but men can be possessed as well. Possessed individuals of both genders can become healers, a side effect of their possessed states. Anthropologists also suggest that this is a form of compensation among marginalized men in the deeply competitive society of the Sidama. If a man cannot gain prestige as an orator, warrior, or farmer, he may still gain prestige as a spiritual healer. Women are sometimes accused of faking possession, but, interestingly, the men never are.
Waaqeffanna (Oromo people of Ethiopia and Kenya)
Waaqeffanna is an ethnic religion indigenous to the Oromo people in the Horn of Africa. Waaqeffanna, derived from the word Waaqa, is the ancient name of the Creator in the Cushitic languages of both Oromo and Somali people in the Horn of Africa. The followers of the Waaqeffanna religion are called Waaqeffataa and believe in the supreme being Waaqa Tokkicha (the one God). The Creator of the universe has many manifestations known as Ayyaana which serve as intermediary spirits between Waaqa and his creation. The Ayyaana can possess chosen men and women, who are then given the title Qallu (males) and Qallitti (females). All Uuma, or creatures, are believed to be assigned an Ayyaana by Waaqa for guidance and protection. Waaqeffataas live according to Safuu, the moral and legal principles that guide interactions between humans and Waaqa. Breach of Safuu is regarded as sin and is condemned by the Creator. The Ayyaana are not capable of creation, but provide a way of communicating with Waaqa. The Qaalluu, (which translates as pure, holy, sacred, blameless, or black), or college of possessed persons, is an important institution in the Oromo religious and social system that preserves and protects Oromo culture and tradition. The Qaalluu/Qaallitti serve as high ranked priests, ritual leaders, and guardians of the laws of Waaqa. They live and perform ritual activities (dalalga) in a traditional Oromo hall, the Galma. The Qaalluu are expected to remain politically neutral and serve as a source of unbiased deliberation. Priests are obliged to condemn tyranny and to uphold the democratic Gadaa system of the Oromo. The Qaalluu/Qaalliti have the freedom to grant or withhold blessings to the Gadaa leadership as they see fit.
Yoruba religion (Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin)
The Yoruba religion, West African Orisa or Isese, is the traditional spiritual practice of the Yoruba people. It is centered in present-day Southwestern Nigeria and adjoining portions of Benin and Togo. It possesses some parallels with the Vodun practiced by the neighboring Fon and Ewe peoples to the west and with the religion of the Edo people to the east. Yoruba religion is the basis for a number of New World religions such as Santería, Umbanda, Trinidad Orisha, and Candomblé. Yoruba observances originate from the religious worship of Olodumare and the veneration of the Orisa. Central for the Yoruba religion is the Ase, or the empowered word that must come to pass, or the life force and energy that regulates all movement and activity in the universe. Every thought and action of every person or being in Aiyé, the physical realm, interacts with the Supreme force Ase, other living beings, and with Orun, an otherworld in which gods, spirits, and ancestors exist. The Yoruba religion can be described as a complex form of polytheism with a supreme, but distant, Creator. Each living person strives to achieve perfection so that they pass eternity in Orun-Rere, the spiritual realm of those who do good and beneficial things. One's ori-inu, or spiritual consciousness in the physical realm, must be cultivated so it can consummate a union with one's Ori Orun, or higher spiritual natue. Well-balanced meditative recitation, or Iwapẹlẹ, and sincere devotion is sufficient to strengthen the ori-inu of most people. Well-balanced people, it is believed, are able to make positive use of the simplest form of connection between their Ori and the omnipotent Olu-Orun: a petition or prayer (Àwúre) for divine support.
San religion (San people of Southern Africa)
The San religion is the traditional religion and mythology of the San people, one of the oldest cultures on Earth, but is difficult to reconstruct due to the San's interactions with Christianity. The San kinship system reflects their history as traditionally small hunter/gatherer bands. The trance dance, a preface to the healing of illnesses, is one of the most distinctive features of San culture. This dance typically takes a circular form with women clapping and singing and men dancing rhythmically. Although there is no evidence that the Kalahari San used hallucinogens, student shaman may have used hallucinogens to more effectively enter their first trance. Psychologists explain San rock art as it relates to three trance phases. The first phase results in an altered state of consciousness. People would visualize geometric shapes like zigzags, chevrons, dots, flecks, grids, vortices and U-shapes. These shapes are commonly portrayed on the rock paintings of Southern Africa. During the second phase of trance, people try to make sense of the vision by deciphering the shape they had seen until it coalesced into something that seemed familiar to them. Shamans experiencing the second phase of trance incorporated familiar patterns from the natural world into their vision, so the depiction of natural objects on rock paintings pertains to phase two. In the third phase a radical transformation occurs in mental imagery, and also in rock painting imagery. The shaman becomes part of the experience. Those who enter the third phase begin to lose their grip on reality and begin to hallucinate about monsters and animals. In this phase, the therianthropes (humans who are transformed into animals) portrayed in San rock paintings can be associated with the heightened sensory awareness that shamans in a trance experience that convinces them that they have undergone a genuine physical transformation. This modern psychological interpretation of San imagery may shed some light on San pre-Christian religious practices, but is speculative and unverifiable. On San rock pasintings, images of animals and warfare greatly outnumber depictions of geometrical patterns and trance dance therianthrophic entities that display both human and animal attributes. There are very few depictions of plants, the domain of women, in the paintings so scholars presume that their creators were men.
Asia
Assianism / Uatsdin (Ossetians)
Assianism is a polytheistic ethnic and folk religion derived from the traditional mythology of the Ossetians, a unique ethnic group of the Caucasus that speaks an Indo-Iranian language. Assianism is believed to be a continuation of the ancient Scythian religion. The Ossetian people are currently split between two states: North Ossetia–Alania, a Russian republic, and the neighbouring partially recognized state of South Ossetia, as sovereign territory of Russian occupied Georgia occupied by Russia. In the 1980's partial collapse of the Soviet Union triggered projects of identity-building among many of its constituent nations. In Ossetia, as in other nations, this involved the recovery of an authentic national religion that predates Christianity. Stalinist anti-religious activism drove ancient local practices from the sphere of ethnic tradition into the sphere of religion in the minds of the Ossetian people. The Nart sagas are regarded as the holy writings of Assianism. The Dzuary Lægtæ and Khetag Morgoyev define Assian theo-cosmology as non-duelistic pantheism and non-dualism. Assianism worships a supreme God, Xwytsau, who is the creator of the universe and of all beings. The universe is the body of God which comprises both the material world of the living and the transcendent spiritual realm of God wherein the dead return to life. This realm has no tangible, personal qualities, nor any extension in space and time. It is pure light. Assian theology affirms that God is within every creature, is the head of everything, and, in men, is manifested as reason, measure, and righteousness.
Ahom religion (Ahom people of north-east India)
The Ahom religion is the ethnic religion of the Ahom people. The Ahom people entered Assam, a state in northeastern India located south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys, in 1228. Tai prince Sukaphaa led this relocation of 9,000 of his relatives and subjects from the South China Tai state of Mong Mao to Assam. The Ahom intermarried with the local people. The immigrants included two clans of priests, joined later by a third, who brought alon their traditional religion, rituals, practices and scriptures which are based ancestor worship that required animal sacrifice. There was at least one Buddhist influenced ritual that excluded sacrifice. Ancestor worship and the animistic concept of khwan are two elements it shares with other Tai folk religions. Ancient peoples of the Ahom homeland believed that a human being is a union of thirty-two organs, each of which has a spirit, or khwan, that resides within and protects them. These spirits often wander beyond the body causing a spritual imbalance which might lead illness. Ceremonial countermeasures involve a blessing from a respected elder who ties white cotton strings around a person’s wrists while uttering prayers that invite wayward guardian spirits back into a person's body. The string symbolizes the rebinding of the thirty-two spirits and promotes good luck and prosperity. There is no idolatry in the Ahom religion except for the titular god of the Ahom dynasty, Chumdeo or Chum Fra Rung Mung or Chumpha. The size and shape of the Chumdeo is no longer known, but it is described as being a stone. The Ahom acknowledge the existence of a heaven, or of a heavenly kingdom called Mong Phi. They do not acknowledge the existence of a hell.
The Ainu are an ethnic group of related indigenous peoples native to northern Japan. The aboriginal Ainu are one of the only major ethnic minorities in the Japanese islands, with a distinct and highly unique culture and way of life. Discrimination agaist the Ainu led to lower levels of education, income, and participation in the economy in comparison to the ethnic Japanese. The Ainu are animists, believing that everything in nature has a kamuy (spirit or god) inside of it. The most important of these are Kamuy-huci, goddess of the hearth, Kim-un-kamuy, the god of bears and mountains, and Repun Kamuy, god of the sea, fishing, and marine animals. Kotan-kar-kamuy is regarded as the creator of the world in the Ainu religion. Although he stands on top of the hierarchy of gods in Ainu mythology, he is only rarely worshipped. The Ainu religion has no priests. The village chief performs religious ceremonies; libations of sake, prayer, and the offering of willow sticks with wooden shavings attached to them which are placed on an altar used to return the spirits of killed animals. Ainu ceremonies for returning the spirits of back bears are called Iyomante. Traditional Ainu believe that their spirits are immortal and will be rewarded in the hereafter by ascending to kamuy mosir, the Land of the Gods. The Ainu are part of a larger collective of indigenous people who practice arctolatry, or bear worship. The Ainu believe that the bear holds particular importance as Kim-un Kamuy's prefered method of delivering the gifts of the bear's hide and its meat to humanity. In a sending ritual called Omante, a bear cub would be captured alive and raised among the villagers as a child. When the bear reached maturity, they would hold another ritual called Iomante. Members of the village would dispatch the bear back to spirit realm by gathering around it and using special ceremonial arrows to kill it. Afterwards, they would eat the meat. In 1955 this ritual was outlawed as animal cruelty. In 2007 it was legalized because of its cultural significance to the Ainu.
Alawites (Alawis of Syria)
The Alawites, also known as Nusayrites, are an ethnoreligious group that live primarily in the Levant and follow Alawism, a religious sect that splintered from early Shi'ism during the ninth century. Alawites venerate Ali ibn Abi Talib, revered as the first Imam in the Twelver school as the physical manifestation of God, the Mahdi who will appear at the end of time to cleanse the world of evil and injustice. Twelver refers to the belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams, and their belief that the last of these Imam, the Mahdi, has already been born, was subsequently concealed, but will reemerge to establish justice and peace on earth. He is recorded as being a descendant of Muhammad, and will appear shortly before the Prophet Īsā (Jesus Christ) reappears. The Mahdi will lead the Muslims to rule over the entire world. Alawite theology and rituals sharply differ from Shia Islam in several ways. For example, various Nusayrite rituals involve the drinking of wine/ The sect does not prohibit the consumption of alcoholic drinks. As a creed that teaches the symbolic/esoteric reading of Qur'anic verses, Nusayrite theology maintains belief in reincarnation and views Ali ibn Abi Talib as a divine incarnation of God. The Alawite believe in a divine Trinity, encompasing three aspects of the one God. These aspects are Mana (meaning), Ism (Name) and Bab (Door). Nusayrite beliefs hold that these emanations experienced cyclical reincarnation seven times in human form throughout history. According to Alawites, the seventh incarnation of this trinity consists of Ali, Muhammad, and Salman al-Farisi, a non-Arab Persian religious scholar and companion of Muhammad. Ibn Nusayr and his followers are regarded as the founders of the religion. According to Christian theologian and historian Bar Hebraeus, many Alawites were killed when the Crusaders initially entered Syria in 1097, but the invaders tolerated them when they discerned they were not a truly Islamic sect.
The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Most contemporary Torajans are Christians or Muslims, but a minority maintain local polytheistic/animist beliefs known as aluk, or the way. The Indonesian government has recognised these beliefs as Aluk To Dolo, or Way of the Ancestors. In Toraja mythology, the ancestors of Torajan people came down from heaven upon stairs which were afterward used by the Torajans as a communication medium with Puang Matua, the Creator. The cosmos is divided into the upper world (heaven), the world of man (earth), and the underworld. Animals live in the underworld. The earthly authority, whose words and actions should be cleaved to both in life (agriculture) and death (funerals), are alik priests, the minaa. Aluk is not just a belief system; it is a combination of law, religion, and tradition. Aluk governs social life, agricultural practices, and ancestral rituals. The details of aluk may vary from one village to another but a common law is the requirement that the two equally important death and life rituals be separated. The decline of the Toraja religion began with its Christianization under Dutch rule. Christian Torajans were prohibited from attending or performing life rituals, but were still allowed to perform death rituals. Consequently, Toraja's death rituals are still practised to this day, but life rituals have diminished and are imperfectly remembered. In Toraja society, funeral death rituals are elaborate and expensive. The ceremony is often held weeks, months, or years after a death so that the deceased's family can raise the significant funds needed to cover funeral expenses. The soul of the deceased is thought to linger about the village until the funeral ceremony is completed, after which it begins its journey to Puya, the afterlife.
Ancient Mesopotamian religion (Assyria, Sumer, Babylonia and Akkad)
Mesopotamian religion is the original religious beliefs and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia between circa 6000 BCE and 400 AD. The earliest evidence of Mesopotamian religion dates to the mid-4th millennium BC, coincides with the invention of writing, and is focused on the worship of forces of nature as providers of sustenance. In the 3rd millennium BC, objects of worship were personified and became incorporated into an expansive cast of divinities with specific functions. The last stages of Mesopotamian polytheism, developed in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC, placed greater emphasis upon personal religious experience and attanged the gods into a hierarchy. The national god stood at the apex of this hierarchy. Mesopotamian religion eventually declined after the spread of Iranian religions during the Achaemenid Empire and with the Christianization of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic, acknowledging the existence of a multitude of distinct deities, both male and female. Some gods were thought to be superior to others by cities or city-states that drafted them to serve as their tutelary deity. The most significant surviving artifact of ther Mesopotamian religion is the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Epic of Gilgamesh contains the earliest known reference to The Great Flood.
Arab paganism (pre-Islamic Arabs)
Arabian polytheism, the dominant form of religion in pre-Islamic Arabia, was based on veneration of deities and spirits. Worship was directed to various gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt at local shrines and temples includding the Kaaba in Mecca. Deities were venerated and invoked through a variety of rituals that included pilgrimages, divination, and ritual sacrifice. Mecca plays a predominate role in both the histories of pre-Islamic and post-Islamic Arabia. The Kaaba, whose environs were regarded as sacred (haram), became a national shrine under the custodianship of the Quraysh, the chief tribe of Mecca, which made the Hejaz the most important religious area in north Arabia. According to tradition, the Kaaba was a cube-like, originally roofless structure housing a black stone revered as a relic. The sanctuary was dedicated to Hubal, who, according to some sources, was worshiped as the greatest of 360 idols. The conquest of Mecca around 629–630 CE led to the destruction of the idols around the Kaaba. Shrines and temples dedicated to polytheistic deities were destroyed. There is disagreement as to whether or not Allah served in a major role in the Meccan religious cult. No iconic representation or idol of Allah is known to exist.
The pantheon of Armenian gods inherited their essential elements from the religious beliefs and mythologies of the Proto-Indo-Europeans and peoples of the Armenian Highlands. The oldest cults are believed to have worshipped a creator called Ar, or Ara, embodied as the sun. Ancient Armenians referred to themselves as children of the sun. Also among the most ancient types of Indo-European-derived worship are cults dedicated to eagles, lions, and the sky. After the establishment of Iranian dominance in Armenia in the 1st millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism had a major impact on Armenian religion. Until the late Parthian period, Armenian lands adhered to a syncretic form of Mazdaism which exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom known as Ahura Mazda as its supreme being and Angra Mainyu as the opposing, destructive spirit and adversary to Ahura Mazda. This amalgamation blended Iranian religious concepts with traditional Armenian beliefs. The pantheon of pre-Christian Armenia changed throughout the centuries. Originally native Armenian in nature, this pantheon was modified in the wake of Hurro-Urartian, Semitic, Iranian, and Greek influences. One common motif that spanned many or all pagan Armenian pantheons was belief in a ruling triad of supreme gods, usually comprised of a chief creator god, his thunder god son, and a mother goddess.
Bathouism (Boro people of India)
Bathouism, or Bathou, is the unorganized folk religion of the Boro people of Assam in Northeast India. The name Bathou in Boro means five, and their belief system embraces five principles: bar (air), orr (fire), ha (earth), dwi (water) and okhrang (ether). Bathoubwrai is the unseen principal deity and creator of the five principles. He is is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Other minor gods and goddesses are acknowledged. The second most important deity is Mainao, daughter of Bathoubwrai and protector of the rice fields. The sijou plant is considered as the living embodiment of Bathoubwrai. Householders plant a sijou shrub at the northeast corner of their courtyard in an altar called sijousali. Traditional Bathouism does not possess written scriptures or temples. Worship is performed by families at the sijousali and ceremonies feature offerings of animals and rice beer. Kherai is the most important religious festival of the Boros, agriculturalists who aspire to ensure a good harvest. The Kherai festival is performed to appease both Bathou and his daughter Mainao, or, alternately, Lakhsmi, Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility, and prosperity. The Garja puga purification festival is intermittantly performed to counter the negative reprecussions of unrighteous behavior by individual Boros (who are obliged to offset the expense of Garja puga). It is also performed when epidemics plague the Boros. The Marai festival is intended to appease Mainaoto and ensures the well being of families and villages. In a distant era, human sacrifice was a component of the Maria festival. Today a buffalo is sacrificed, alongside traditional offering such as a pair of grasshoppers. Boro ceremonial festivals are performed by priests called Douri (males) and Doudini (females).
Bimoism is the indigenous religion of the Yi people, the second largest ethnic group in Yunnan (after the Han Chinese). Its name is derived from the bimo, shaman-priests who have mastered the Yi language and scriptures who wear distinctive black robes and large hats. Bimo translates as "master of scriptures." Bimo preside over births, funerals, weddings, and festivals. One can become a bimo if their father was a bimo, or after serving an apprenticeship. A lesser catagory of priest are the elected suni is elected. The suni cannot read Yi scripture, but the more revered bimo can. Only bimo are qualified to perform rituals associated with death. The Yi worshiped and deified their ancestors like other adherants of traditional Chinese folk religion, but also worshiped the gods of nature: fire, hills, trees, rocks, water, earth, sky, wind and forests. They worshiped dragons that could protect them from bad spirits that cause illness, a poor harvest, or other misfortunes. Bimoists believe in multiple souls. At death, one soul remains to watch the grave while the other becomes eventually reincarnated into a living form. When a Yi dies, a pig or sheep is sacrificed at the doorway to maintain a good relationship with the spirit of the deceased person. The Torch Festival is one of the Yi people's major holidays. According to legend, there were once two men of great strength, Sireabi and Atilaba. Sireabi lived in heaven while Atilaba lived on earth. When Sireabi heard of Atilaba's strength, he challenged Atilaba to a wrestling match. After suffering two defeats, Sireabi was killed in the course of a third wrestling bout. This act of hubris greatly angered the bodhisattavas (Buddhists who are capable of achieving nirvana but compassionately delay this transition to aid suffering humanity). The bodhisattavas dispatched a plague of locusts to punish the inhabitants of earth. Atilaba, whose victory over Sereabi had caused the plague, cut down many pine trees and used them as torches to kill the locusts. This saved the crops from destruction. The Torch Festival honors strongman and deliverer Atilaba.
The relationship between Bon and Tibetan Buddhism has been subject to debate. Modern scholar Geoffrey Samuel believes that while Bon is "essentially a variant of Tibetan Buddhism" with resemblances to Nyingma [the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism], it also preserves some genuinely ancient pre-Buddhist elements." Around 760 Vajrayana, or tantric Buddhism was transmitted from India to Tibet by legendary Buddhist mystic Padmasambhava. The first Buddhist monastery in Tibet, Samye, was established. From the eighth until the eleventh century, this Vajrayana textual tradition, which later became known as Nyingma, was the only form of Buddhism in Tibet. In the reign of King Langdarma (836–842), an era of political instability commenced and continued for the next three centuries. Buddhism was persecuted and forced underground because the King regaded it as a threat to the indigenous Bön tradition. Langdarma persecuted monks and nuns in his attempt to wipe out Buddhism. Prior to these persecutions Dzogchen had been formulated, a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and abiding in the ultimate ground of existence. This ground was believed to possess the qualities of purity, spontaneity, and compassion. Swiss-Italian historian Flavio Geisshuesler suggests that Dzogchen might actually be a pre-Buddhist tradition indigenous to Tibet. Exploring a series of motifs that pervade the system such as the hunting of animals, Geisshuesler infers that the tradition was originally associated with shamanism and the Eurasian cult of the sky-deer. From the eleventh century onward, there was an attempt to reintroduce Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet. This saw new translation efforts which led to the foundation of new Vajrayana schools which are collectively known as the Sarma, or new translation schools because they rejected older translations of the Nyingma canon. Nyingmapas traditionalists came to view themselves as a distinct group. The term Nyingma was used to refer to those who continued to base their religious practices on translations created when Buddhism was first introduced to Tibet, translations that theoretically incorporate pre-Buddhist Tibetan traditions. According to the Nyingma-tradition, the founder of Tibetan Buddhism and his principal disciples concealed hundreds of scriptures, ritual objects and relics in secret places to safeguard Buddhism during its time of decline under King Langdarma. When the kingdom eventually reaquired a stable political climate, these concealed terma (hidden treasures) were rediscovered and used to reinvigorate the dharma of the Tibetans.
Burmese folk religion (Bamar people)
Burmese folk religion consists of the animistic and polytheistic religious worship of nats, local and Hindu dieties, and of ancestors. Although belief in nats differs among Burmese regions and villages, there exists a core of beliefs that are universally recognized. A nat is a god-like spirit. There are two main types of nats: nat sein, humans who were deified after their deaths, and the balance of nats which are nature spirits (spirits of water, trees, etc). Nats are typically venerated in shrines called nat kun or nat sin. These can be appropriatly located to honor nature spirits as spirit houses or they can be specialized shrines dedicted to the veneration of particular nats. Most Burmese villages traditionally also honor their patron spirit which is their local patron, a practice termed Bo Bo Gyi. During the reign of King Anawrahta (1044-1077) nat worship was ubiqitous. The king waa frustrated by this and tried to eliminate nat worship. He ordered the destruction of all statues and images of nats. Despite King Anawrahta's persecutions, his subjects continued to worship nats by using coconuts as surrogate nats. The coconut served as an offering to the nat and as a symbol for the nat itself. The king ultimately realized that he could not suspend the worship of nats so he created a formal list of thirty-seven of them and strategically renamed the top nat Thagyamin, a name of Buddhist origin. He also placed statues of devas (celestial beings who possess the god-like qualitie of being more powerful, longer-lived, and generally happier than are humans, but the same level of veneration is not paid to them as to Buddhas) in front of the nats. This symbolised the monarch's preference for the practice of Buddhism over folk religion. Nat worship has survived to this day despite continual opposition by more mainstrean Burmese Buddhists. Humans are believed to have originally possessed many of the powers of the devas such as not needing to eat, the ability to fly through the air, and serving as their own light source. Eventually humans began to eat solid foods so their bodies became coarser and their powers became diminished.
Chinese folk religion, Taoism (Han Chinese)
Chinese traditional religion is the focus of another portion of this website. Chinese religion is derived variety of sources, local forms, founder backgrounds, and ritual and philosophical traditions. Despite this diversity, however, there is a common core that can be represented by four theological, cosmological, and moral concepts. Tian, or heaven, is the transcendent and etherial source of moral meaning. Qi is the breath or energy that animates the universe. Jingzu stipulates veneration of one's ancestors. Bao ying emphasizes moral reciprocity and is linked to two traditional Chinese concepts of fate and meaning: ming yun, or one's personal destiny, and yuan fen, the fateful coincidences that present both good and bad opportunities and can lead to potential relationships. Yin and yang are complimentary and contrasting polarities that describes the order of the universe which is a balancing act involving the principles of extension and the principles of returning. Yang, a proactive force, is usually preferred over yin, a receptive force in Chinese folk beliefs. The taijitu, which embracies concepts of both yin and yang, is prominent in Chinese folk religion. So is the bagua, which portrays symbols of mutually opposing forces interacting with each other that represent the forces of nature and the power that deities like Zhong Kui (Taoist vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings) wield. Ling, translated as numen or sacred, is the medium in which these dualistic forces interact. Ling can also refer to the inchoate, primeval condition of the universe. In 1931, Chinese diplomat and essayist Hu Shih wrote that "Two great religions have played tremendously important roles throughout Chinese history. One is Buddhism which came to China probably before the Christian era but which began to exert nation-wide influence only after the third century A.D. The other great religion has had no generic name, but I propose to call it Siniticism. It is the native ancient religion of the Han Chinese people: it dates back to time immemorial, over 10,000 years old, and includes all such later phases of its development as Moism, Confucianism, and all the various stages of the Taoist religion."
Dongba (Nakhi from the foothills of the Himalayas)
Dongba designates both the religion and the priests of the Nakhi people of southwest China and is believed to have been largely inluenced by the indigenous Tibetan Bon religion. This influence is evident in the rituals and costumes of the Dongba priests, who invoke Bon spirits and decorate their headgear with pictures of Bon gods. The priests conduct a variety of rituals to propitiate the multitude of gods and spirits which are believed to influence events in the natural world. Dongba Culture is preserved and transmitted by writings and scriptures (recorded in pictographs that cannot be interpreted by non-priests), paintings, dance, and music. The native religion of the Nakhi was based on sorcery, but during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties the influences of other religions (including Tibetan Bon, Buddhism, and Taoism) blended to form Dongba. Priests occupy a high social position in Nakhi society. They are beleived to be mediums between humans, gods, and ghosts and capable of preventing or mitigating disasters. Dangba ritual ensures that the Nakhi people continue to enjoy good fortune.
Donyi-Polo (Arunachali of northeastern India)
Donyi-Polo (or Donyi-Poloism) is the indigenous animistic and shamanic religion of the Tani (a Sino-Tibetan ethnic group of peoples which includes the Nyishi, Adi, Apatani, Galo, Tagin, and Mishing who share common beliefs, ancestry, and the Tani languages) and other Tibeto-Burman peoples of of the northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. Donyi-Polo, meaning Sun-Moon, was attatched to the belief system of this ethnic religion during a revitalisation and institutionalization begun in the 1970s intended to counter Christian influences and the possibility of it becoming absorbed by Hinduism. The religion has, since then, developed a congregational system with hymns composed in the Tani ritual language of shamans, a formal philosophy/theology, standardized iconography of the gods, and has established temples. The fountain god that created the universe is called Sedi by the Minyong and Padam and Jimi by the Galo. Donyi-Polo asserts that all things and all beings are a part of the body of Sedi. During creation, the hair of Sedi became the plants of the earth. His tears became rain and water. His bones became rocks and stones. His two eyes became Donyi (the Sun) and Polo (the Moon). After creating the universe, Sedi, in proper Deist fashion, absented himself from the day to day workings of his creation. Donyi (Mother Sun) is regarded as being female and Polo (Father Moon) is regarded as being a male, the inverse of most world ethnic belief systems, Sun and Moon interact in a manner similar to the yin and yang of Chinese culture. Phases and cycles of both Sun and Moon, Donyi-Polo, offer a glimpse into the nature of creator god Sedi; eternally veiling, unveiling and then again revealing himself in nature, providing harmony and balance to the universe in the form of alternations of light and darkness, heat and cool, or unity (ascribed to the singular Sun) and multiplicity (descriptive of the stars of the night sky, the inumerable consorts of the Moon). The Tani beleive that Donyi-Polo providently upholds the world, rewards the righteous, and punishes wrong-doers. The divine pair is revered as the highest holy entity which determines the fate of humanity.
The Druze, who refer to themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (the monotheists or the unitarians), are an Arab and Arabic-speaking ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who are adherants of the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion whose main tenets are the unity of God, belief in reincarnation, and the eternal existence of the soul. Most Druze religious practices are kept secret. They do not allow outsiders to convert to their religion. Marriage of Druze outside of their faith is rare and strongly discouraged. The Epistles of Wisdom is the foundational and central text of the Druze religion. It incorporates elements of Isma'ili Shia, Christianity, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Pythagoreanism, and other philosophies and beliefs that have melded into a distinct and secretive theology based on an esoteric interpretations of scripture that emphasizes the role of the mind and of honesty. Druze believe in theophany, or the visible apperance of god to human beings, and in reincarnation. Druze believe that at the termination of many cycles of rebirth, that are achieved through successive reincarnations, the soul will ultimately become united with the universal intellect. They particularly reverence Shuaib, who they believe is identical to biblical Jethro (father in-law of Moses) and further believe that Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and Imam Muhammad ibn Isma'il (seventh Imam in Isma'ili Shia Islam) were prophets. Druze tradition also honors Salman the Persian (religious scholar and companion of Muhammad), al-Khidr (a servant of God not mentioned in the Quran who had a notable conversation with Moses whom they identify with Elijah reborn as John the Baptist and Saint George), Job, Luke the Gentile chronicler of early Christianity, and others as mentors and prophets. The 800,000 to 1,000,000 Druze who currently live in the Levant (rcorresponding to modern-day Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria) are not considered to be Muslims, but continue to play an important role in shaping the destiny of this region. The Druze, for the sake of self-preservation, have traditionally honored the cultural and political institutions of whichever Levant nation they may happen to reside in and have a contributed to armed resistance of any power that threatens to invade and occupy the territory of their landlords. In consequence, Druze are typically permitted more freedom than most other minority groups that occupy the Levant.
Ebla religion (Eblaites)
Ebla was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria and an important center of trade throughout the 3rd millennium BCE and in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Its discovery proved that the Levant possessed an ancient civilization that rivaled those of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The first Eblaite kingdom is regarded as the first documented world power. The city of Ebla began to be excavated in 1964. An archive of about 20,000 informative cuneiform tablets was discovered. This 4000-year-old plus collection of tablets constitute the oldest library ever discovered. Archeologists deduced that the tablets had originally been shelved according to subject, several millennia prior to the 1876 advent of the Dewey Decimal System. Ebla was polytheistic. During the first kingdom they worshiped their dead kings. The pantheon of first kingdom Ebla included three catagories of paired deities. First, there were the couples, a god and his female consort such as Hadabal (a deity exclusive to Ebla) and consort Belatu. Second, there were pairs of deities similar to many in the Egyptian and Mesopotamian pantheons, divine duos which, among other exploits, cooperated to create the cosmos. A third category included paired deities who were actually a single deity with two names. Examples are artisan god Kamish/Tit (a Moabite god) and artisan god Kothar-wa-Khasis (also of Semitic origin). The four city gates of Elba bore the names of gods Dagan (Dagon, national god of the Philistines), Hadda (Hadad, storm and rain god of the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions), Rasap (Resheph, native Eblaite god of war and plague), and Utu (ancient Mesopotamian sun god Shamash). An offering list stamped upon a cuneiform tablet includes about 40 deities to which the Eblaites regularly offered sacrifices.
Elam religion (Elamites)
Elam was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran. Elamite states were among the leading political forces of the Ancient Near East. In classical literature, Elam was also called Susiana, a name derived from its capital city of Susa. Knowledge of Elamite history remains fragmentary, but has been reconstructed based on Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian sources. Gold and silver figurines excavated from Susa depict Elamite worshippers carrying a sacrificial goat and were created to assure the king of the enduring protection of the gods, his well-being, and of long life. The Elamites practised polytheism. Inscriptions of Elamite kings indicate that a concept of a supreme triad consisting of Inshushinak (originally protector god of Susa, later chief of the triad and sustainer of the monarchy), Kiririsha (an earth/mother goddess of southern Elam), and Napirisha (an anthropomorphic deity, often depicted with a snake figure that symbolizes the primordial waters he ruled over) existed. In the Neo-Elamite period Humban, previously a deity of limited significance, was transformed into a divine source of royal power. Another significant deity was Pinikir, an astral goddess of love (and sex) like Ishtar. Elamites imported some deities such as Mesopotamian Nergal (a god associated with war, death, and disease), and Nanaya (yet another love goddess). Elamite also exported some deities. Pinikir was known to, and venerated by the Hurrians and Hittites. In 646 BCE Neo-Babylonian leader Ashurbanipal sacked Susa and destroyed most of Elam. In the anarchy that followed the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BCE, the Medo-Persian Empire gained control of Elam. Hebrew prophet Ezekial describes the fall of Elam in Ezekiel 32:24: "There is Elam and all her multitude, All around her grave, All of them slain, fallen by the sword, Who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, Who caused their terror in the land of the living; Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit."
Hattian religion (Hattians of Anatolia)
The Hattians were an ancient Bronze Age people that dwelled the land of Hatti in central Anatolia (modern Turkey). They spoke a distinctive Hattian language, which was neither Semitic nor Indo-European in origin. Their main city was Hattush. Confronted by the expansion of the Hittite Empire beginning about 2,000 BCE, Hattians became gradually absorbed into this new early Iron Age political and social order. Hattian religion can be traced back to the Stone Age. It involved worship of the earth, personified as a mother goddess whom the Hattians honored to ensure bountiful harvests and their own well-being. The Hattian pantheon of gods included storm-god Taru (represented by a bull), sun-goddess Furušemu or Wurunšemu (represented by a leopard), as well as a number of other elemental gods. Later, the Hittites incorporated much of the Hattian pantheon into their own religious beliefs. Indigenous Anatolian religion revolved around the concept of water-from-the-earth. Writings and imagery lead to the conclusion that the deity of paramount importance to the inhabitants of Anatolia was the terrestrial water-god. Many of these gods are connected with the earth and water. Hittite legends of Telipinu (patron of agriculture, but also revered as a storm god) and the serpentine dragon Illuyanka were drawn from the Hattian civilization. In the legend (which would be more appropriately located immediately below in the summary of Hittite religion ) Telipinu fights with dragon Illuyanka and loses, so Illuyanka takes Telipinu eyes and heart. To avenge himself, Telipinu marries the daughter of a poor man. This marriage produces a son, Sarruma, who grows up and marries the daughter of Illuyanka. Telipinu instructs his son to ask for the return of his eyes and heart as a wedding present from the father of the bride, so his eyes and heart are restored to him. Telipinu again confronts and battles Illuyanka. Just at the point where Telipinu is about to the dragon, his son learns of the the battle and realizes that he was born for the sole purpose of ensuring that his father could take vengance upon the dragon. Sarruma demands that his father take his life along with that of his father-in-law, Illuyanka. Telipinu then kills both of them.
Hittite religion (Hittites of Anatolia)
Hittite mythology and religion were the religious beliefs and practices of the Hittites who forged an Anatolian empire that persisted from 1,600 to 1,180 BCE. Most of the narratives embodying Hittite mythology are lost, but part of the writings used to train young scribes have survived, most of which dating from the last few decades before the the Hittite capital of Hattusa was sacked by the Kaskas in 1,190 BCE and burnt to the ground. Hattusa was thereafter abandoned. The Hittite Empire disintegrated in the wake of Assyrian conquests. The scribes in were part of a royal bureaucracy, and performed duties would be considered a part of religion today such as temple administration and recording the utterances of prophets and diviners. Reconstructions of Hittite mythology depend on interpretations of surviving stone carvings, deciphering the iconology represented in seal stones, and analyzing the ruins of Hittite temples. A few images of deities have survived. The Hittites often worshipped their gods through the medium of Huwasi stones which depicted deities and were treated as sacred objects. Gods were often portrayed standing on the backs of animals associated with them, or the animal itself served as symbol of a god. Hittite mythology is a blend of Hattian, Hurrian and native Hittite influences. Mesopotamian and Canaanite influences entered the mythology of Anatolia through the conduit of Hurrian mythology which is summarized just below. Intermediary between the worlds of gods and humans was the king, chief priest of the Hittites. Smaller regional festivals did not always require the priest-king's presence, so these rural cults were free to choose the methods they used to worship the gods. The king did, however, make it a point to know about every cult site and temple in his kingdom. When a king died, he was deified because of his service to his people and his faithful worship of the gods. The priest-king had his duties, but so did the gods who were obligated to provide for the people if they were being worshiped properly. Gods held much of the obvious power, but unless mortals faithfully discharged their ritual obligations, the gods were not capable of helping them. The preservation of good relationships with deities was closely affiliated with nature and agriculture. A good standing with sun goddess Arinna, for example, was essential to establishing a balance between respect for and, criticism of the gods. Offenses against these god couldt result in a poor harvest. Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar was one of several,deities that were assimilated iinto the Hittite pantheon mainly due to her identity with preexisting deities whose myths became adjusted to better justify and accommodate Ishtar's inclusion. Knowing the focus and magnitude of Ishtar's powers, as well as her history, was essential first step for the development of rituals and incantations designed to invoke her presence and elicit her favor.
The Hurrian religion was the polytheistic belief system of the Hurrians, a Bronze Age people of the Near East who mainly inhabited the northern portion of the Fertile Crescent. These beliefs were shaped by contact between Hurrians and surrounding cultures. As a result, the Hurrian pantheon included both native Hurrian deities and those of foreign origin adopted from Mesopotamian, Syrian (chiefly Eblaite and Ugaritic), Anatolian and Elamite religions. Hurrian religion exerted a major influence on Hittite religion. The Hurrian pantheon is depicted in thirteenth century BCE rock reliefs of the Hittite sanctuary at Yazılıkaya. Hittite scribes also translated many Hurrian myths into their own language, possibly based on oral traditions transmitted by Hurrian singers. Best known of these are cycle of myths describing conflicts between Kumarbi and his son Teshub (father and son who were adversaries in a protracted struggle to determine who would become king of the gods) and the Song of Release (A late Bronze Age poem describing people from the city of Igingallish who were held as captives by neighboring Ebla. Storm god Teshub, estranged son of Kumarbi, demands that the king of Ebla release his captives. Teshub promises prosperity if the king does this, and destruction if he does not. Elba is soon destroyed, so presumably the Igingallish captives were never freed. The underlying theme of this poem is the loss of freedom and independence of Bronze Age peoples as a result of the rise of host of authoritarian ancient empire bulders). To a lesser extent, the Hurrians also influenced Ugaritic and Mesopotamian religions. Some scholars have argued that Hurrian myths describing the struggle for succession between various primordial kings of the gods (Kumarbi and son Teshub, for example) influenced Hesiod's poem Theogony. Hurrian religion was not uniform, but was modified to suit the needs of local groups of worshippers. Like other cultures of the ancient Near East, Hurrian gods were imagined as being anthropomorphic. They must be provided with nourishment, which they received in the form of offerings. Leadership of the Hurrian pantheon ultimately devolved to weather god Teššub (Teshub, son and advesary of Kumarbi). Hurrians also worshiped Šauška, whose primary spheres of influence were love and war. She was depicted as both a male and a female. Divination is well documented feature of Hurrian religion. An inquiry directed to a specific deity was accompanied by the examination of a sacrificed animal's entrails, particularly its liver. This usage is termed hepatoscopy ("looking at a liver") and contined to be practiced by several ancient cultures including that of Imperial Rome.
Indigenous Philippine folk religions
Indigenous Philippine folk religions are the distinct native religions of various ethnic groups in the Philippines and are predominately animistic. Collectively, these religions are termed Anito or Anitism or by the more modern and less ethnocentric name Dayawism. Nearly a quarter of present day Filipinos continue to adhere to their traditional mode of worshiping gods, spirits, and ancestors. Generically, the wide variety of indigenous Philippine religious beliefs are related to the religions of Oceania and maritime Southeast Asia which are derived from Austronesian beliefs. Historian T. Valentino Sitoy has concluded that three core characteristics shaped the religious worldview of Filipinos prior to the arrival of Spanish colonizers. First, Filipinos believed in the existence of a parallel spirit world which was invisible, but was capable of interacting with the visible world. Second, Filipinos believed that there were spirits (anito) everywhere, from the highest creator gods down to minor spirits that resided in trees or rocks or creeks. Third, Filipinos believed that events in the human world were influenced by spirit beings, however high or low in the hierarchy of spirits they are positioned. In most cases, Filipinos regarded creator gods as being far too exalted and distant for ordinary mortals to approach. Worshipers directed their petitions to lesser gods or assistant deities who were less intimidating and more approachable, and whose wills could more easily be influenced. Each ethnic group had their own concept of and quantification of the number of souls living being pssessed, particularly the souls of human beings. The majority believed that a human possesses two or more souls while they remain alive. Souls are capable of persisting into an afterlife. Ghosts, or ancestral spirits, are souls of people who have already died. Ancestral spirits can guide and protect their living relatives and communities but can also cause harm if they are disrespected. Shamans have served as the spiritual leaders of various ethnicities of Filipinos from the pre-colonial era to the present. Shamans are almost always women or effeminate men. They are believed to have spirit guides, and with their aid can contact and interact with spirits and deities (anito or diwata) and the spirit world. Their primary role is to serve as mediums during pag-anito séance rituals. Pag-anito is the term for a séance which is often accompanied by other rituals or celebrations. When séance is performed to connect with a specific nature spirit or deity, the ritual is called pagdiwata. Ancestor spirits were typically represented by carved figures called taotao. Taotao were not intrinsically sacred. They were only representations of the spirits, and not the actual spirits themselves. Spanish missionaries recorded that taotao were present in every Filipino household, no matter how poor. The Spainish conquest of the Philippines, like the conquests of Mexico and Peru, resulted an extesive record of negative assessments of indigeonous belief systems written by the conquerors. In 1576, Spaniard Francisco de Sande wrote that "Most of the [Filipino] Indians are heathens. They believe in their ancestors, and when about to embark upon some enterprise commend themselves to these, asking them for aid."
Judaism is an Asian ethnic religion, but has influenced several major world religions so significantly that it will described in a seperate webpage. Judaism lies near the bottom of any list of belief systems based on number of adherents. The population of professed Jews is,surprisingly, small compared to the entire population of the worldt. Despite this, learning about Judaism is is important fto anyone who hopes to acquire a better understanding of Christianity and Islam. The core text of Judaism is the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), an account of the Israelites' relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple in 535 BCE. Abraham is regarded as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. As a reward for his memorable act of faith in the one true God (an intended, but divinely interrupted sacrifice of his beloved second oldest son Isaac, firstborn of first wife Sarah), God promised that Isaac, Abraham and Sarah's child of promise, would inherit the land of Israel (then called Canaan). Later, the twelve sons of Isaac's son Jacob emigrated to Egypt. After the death of Jacob's son Joseph, the Hebrews were reduced to the condition of slavery. Four centuries later, God commanded Moses to lead the flight of the Hebrew captives from Egypt to the once promised land of Canaan. On the journey to Cannan, at Mount Sinai, the Hebrews, through Moses, received the Torha, the first five books of the Old Testament (Pentateuch). Several decades later, God led the less rebellious descendants of Isaac into the land of Israel. The tabernacle, a fabric sanctuary, was pitched in the city of Shiloh. For the next 300 years, the tabernacle served to encourage Hebrews in the face of continual assaults by their enemies. In time, the spirituallity, the holiness of the Israelites declined to such a point that God permitted the Philistines, a maritime province of Canaan, to capture the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant contained within. Afterward, the embarrased and humiliated peoples of Israel told Samuel the prophet that they needed to be governed by a permanent king, just like the nations that surrounded them rather than God-ordained prophets and judges. Prophet and judge Samuel reluctantly annoited Saul to be their King, but warned the people that they would come to regret their demand. Saul, because of many bad decisions that he made, was suceeded by King David, a man after God's own heart (and also annoited as king by Samuel). In the reigns of David and his succesor Solomon, the land of Israel prospered exceedingly. With few exceptions, subsequent histories of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel represent a decline from the golden age of Davidic rule.
Kaharingan (Dayaks of Indonesia)
Dayak is a collective term for over 200 hillside and valley dwelling Indonesian ethnic groups primarily located in the central and southern interior of Borneo. The traditional Dayak belief systema are categorized as forms folk animism or paganism outside of Indonesia, but since the Indonesian goverment officially recognizes only six religions (Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism) Dayak religion is catagorized as Hinduism, but only because both are similarly ancient. The Dayak indigenous religion has been named Kaharingan. The practice of Kaharingan differs among each of the 200 plus ethnic groups, but shamans are central to the Dayak religion. Shamans can bridge the various realms of Heaven (the Upper-world), earth, and the Under-world. They can heal the sick by retrieving portions of their souls that have aleady begun to journey to the Upper-world land of the dead. They can accompany and protect the soul of a dead person enroute to their designated place in the Upper-world Shamans also preside over yearly renewal and agricultural regeneration festivals, etc. Death rituals are most elaborate when a noble (kamang) dies. Because of the recent institutionalization of Kaharingan beliefs in Indonesia, practices have been codified and remolded into a more organized form. Even houses of worship have become standardized and are called Balai Basarah. Over the last two centuries, many Dayaks have converted to Christianity. Embracing the Muslim faith serves better to assimilate a Dayak into mainstream Indonesian culture. Certain Dayak ethnic groups, the Bakumpai people, for example, convert to Islam but still maintain linguistic and cultural ties to ancestral traditions. They are proud of their heritage, identifying themselves as Muslim Dayaks. In the past, the Dayaks were feared for their ancient tradition of headhunting, a ritual named Ngayau. In 1874, during the era of Dutch colonial rule, a formal meeting gathered all the Dayak tribes. In the wake of protracted negotiations, the tribes agreed to end their tradition of hunting heads.
Kalash religion (Kalash people of Pakistan)
The Kalasha, or Kalash, are a unique Indo-Aryan indigenous people residing in the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The Kalash are regarded as Pakistan's smallest ethnoreligious group. The neighboring Nuristani people once possessed the same culture and practiced a faith very similar to that of the Kalash. Nuristan was forcibly, but perhaps imperfectly, converted to Islam in the late nineteenth century. Neighboring Kalash preserved their traditional religion. The culture of the Kalash people differs in many ways from those of the many contemporary Muslim ethnic groups that surround them. Nature plays a significant spiritual role in their daily lives. As part of their religion sacrifices are offered and festivals are held to thank the gods for the abundant resources of the three river valleys the Kalash inhabit. Kalash mythology and folklore has been compared to that of ancient Greece, but is much closer to Hindu Vedic mythology. The three main festivals of the Kalash are the Chilam Joshi in middle of May, the Uchau in autumn, and the Chawmos in midwinter. The most important Kalash festival is the Chawmos, dedicated to the god Balimain, which marks the end of the year's fieldwork and harvest. There is music and dancing. Goats are slaughtered and consumed. Impure and uninitiated persons are not allowed to participate. The men are divided into two parties. Pure men sing the honored songs of the past, but the impure men sing wild, passionate, and often obscene songs. As part of this festival men dress as women, and women dress as men (honoree Balumain is regarded as part female and can change his gender at will). Chilam Joshi celebrates the arrival of spring and serves both spiritual and social purposes. Spiritually, the Kalasha pray for their wellbeing of their herds by invoking the deity Goshidai. Socially, this festival facilitates the search for potential marital partners, and announcements of successful searches are made at the conclusion of Chilam Joshi. The Uchau festival celebrates the typically successful harvest of wheat and barley, as well as the the arrival of cheese conveyed from higher pastures to the river valleys by shepherds. The traditional Kalasha religion is a form of animism and ancestor worship mixed with ancient Hinduism. Among many Hindu gods honored by the Kalash are Mahandeo (Hindu Shiva), Imra (Hindu male deity Yama and/or female deity Mara), Indr (Hindi god Indra), and Brahman (who retains his Hindu name). The Kalash pantheon also includes Munjem Malék (Lord of Middle Earth, god of crops, god of war, and intercessor between humanity and the highest deity), Jestak (goddess of domestic life, family, and marriage), and Krumei (goddess of the mountain Tirich Mir, the highest non-Himilayan mountain in the world, and who is associated with childbirth). These deities have shrines and altars scattered throughout the Kalesh river valleys. Goats are often sacrificed before these shrines and upon these altars to honor, appease, and sustain the gods.
Kejawèn (Javanese people of Indonesia)
Kejawèn is a Javanese cultural beleif system that is an amalgam of Animistic, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, spirit cult, and cosmological religions and traditions. Hinduism, which reached the Indonesian Archipelago as early as the first century. Hinduism, and later Buddhism, blended with indigenous tradition and culture. This mix reached the peak of their influence in the fourteenth century. One conduit that preserved Buddhist and Hindu beleifs was the ascetics, called resi, who taught a variety of mystical practices. A resi lived surrounded by students who took care of their master's daily needs. Followers of Kejawèn seek spiritual and emotional relief by engaging in practices that are not performed in churches or mosques, but at home or in caves or on mountain perches that include meditation, fasting, and animistic sacrifices and devotions to local and ancestral spirits. Islam was introduced to Java around 1500 AD. Islam was first embraced by the elites and upper echelons of society. This contributed to its further spread and acceptance. Sufism and other versions of Folk Islam were most easily integrated into the existing folk religion of Java. The Kyai, Muslim scholars, became the new religious elite as Hindu influences receded. Islam recognises no hierarchy of religious leaders and possesses no formal priesthood, but the Dutch colonial government established an elaborate pecking order for the mosque and Islamic schools of preaching. The Kyai perpetuated the tradition of the resi. Students, and even peasants around the school, provided for the needs of the Kyai. The Kyais are the principal intermediaries between the village masses and supernatural realms. Christianity was introduced to Java by Portuguese traders and missionaries, by the Dutch Reformed Church, and in the twentieth century by Roman Catholics, such as the Jesuits and the Divine Word Missionaries. Currently, the Reformed Church is dominant in the larger cities, but some rural areas of south-central Java are strongly Roman Catholic. Kejawèn is also influenced by Theosophy, which became popular among Dutch residents of the Dutch East Indies in the early twentieth century, which inspired many influential Indonesians to join the Theosophical Society. Islam maintains its dominance. The Javanese, like other Islamic societies, recognizes two broad catagories of religious commitment. The main catagory is called Santri (pure ones) includes the majority of Javanese people. These are Muslims who perform the five obligatory daily ritual prayers and are relatively orthodox in their belief and practice. A minority can be catagorized as Abangan (red ones) who do not strictly adhere to Islamic ritual and orthodoxy. Abagan preserve many of their pre-Islamic animistic and Hindu-Buddhist beleifs and practices and emphasize the importance of the purity of the inner person, the batin. Social anthropologist Ernest Gellner notes that syncretic Muslim society, like that of Java, oscillates between periods of scripturalist dominance and relapses into emotional, mystical, and magical folk Islam. He also believes that urbanisation and mass literacy serves to unsettle the balance between the these two extremes and describes the irreversible shift to scripturalist Islam in the East as being analogous to the secularization of the West.
Kirat Mundhum (Kirat of the south-western flanks of the Himalayas)
Kirat Mundum is the folk religion of the Kirati ethnic groups of Nepal, Darjeeling and Sikkim. It is a blend of shamanism, animism, and Shaivism (a major Hindu worship tradition). It is practiced by slightly over 3% of the Nepali population. The four Kirat ethnoreligious groups Khambu (Rai), Limbu (Subba), Sunuwar (Mukhia), and Yakkha (Dewan) have religious texts and folk literature related to the culture, customs and traditions that existed before the rise of the Vedic civilization in India. Kirants practice shamanism, and their rituals are related to the worship of mother nature (often attended by a male sky god consort), ancestors, the sun, the moon, wind, fire, and the principal pillar of Kirat houses. Most of these sacred rituals are performed by tribal priests. All four Kirant groups celebrate similar, but often slightly differing festivals throughout the year. Sakela is the main festival of the Khambu (Rai) group. In this festival, they worship mother nature and ancestors who are believed to dwell in a Chulla, a garden fireplace made of three symbolic stones. The two annual Sakela celebrations are namedUbhauli and Udhauli. Ubhauli is celebrated in the spring (April/May) Indian month of Baisakh when the moon is full. Prayers are offered for the wellbeing of families and for good weather for throughout the planting season. Udhauli, also celebrated when the moon is full, occurs the late-autumn Indian month of Mangsir (mid-November to mid-December). During Udhauli, the Kirat thank mother nature and their ancestors for their blessings and for an abundant harvest. In both Ubhauli and Udhauli, worship includes the sacrifice of a rooster, offerings of ginger, rice, and homemade alcohol, and the placing of tree resin among burning coals to produce fragrance. A Sakela dance is also performed, one that depicts life activities like planting and harvesting rice. The dance also features imitations of the behavior of familiar animals and birds. Ubhauli translates as going up, and Udhauli translates as coming down, a reference to the spring and autumn migratory pattern of birds.
Korean shamanism or Muism (Koreans)
Korean shamanism or Muism (musok in Korean) is classified as a folk religion. There is no central authority in control and much diversity exists among practitioners. The musok religion is polytheistic and beleives that deities and ancestral spirits can interact with living humans, potentially causing them problems. Central to the religion are shaman-like ritual specialists called mudang or mu, most of whom are female. The mudang help paying clients to determine the cause of misfortune by using divination. Mudang also perform longer rituals called kut in which the gods and ancestral spirits are given offerings of food and drink and are entertained with song and dance. Kut can either take place in a private home or in a shrine called a kuttang. There are various catagories of mudang whose technique is based on regional traditions. The largest group is the mansin or kangsin-mu, dominant in northern regions, whose rituals involve a mudang being personally possessed by deities or ancestral spirits. Another type is the sesŭp-mu of eastern and southern regions who perform their rituals as spirit mediums but do not become possessed. Mudang have historically been marginalized and suppressed by a succession of Korean govermental authorities. Mudang have conventionally belonged to the lowest social class. Mudang have been regarded in a more favorable light since the late 1970s as practitioners became associated with the minjung pro-democracy movement and also began to be appreciated for their contribution to Korean cultural identity. Disapproval of mudang, however (who are often regarded as quacks and charlatans), remains widespread in South Korea, especially among Christians. Prior to Christianity's arrival in the 17th and 18th centuries, many Koreans practiced Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, and native folk religions like musok simultaneously. There is special affinity between musok practice and Buddhism. Mudang will often identify as Buddhists and worship Buddhist deities, while some Korean Buddhist temples venerate deities traditionally associated with musok. Musok is polytheistic. Supernatural beings are called kwisin (ghost) or sin (god or deity). The mudang divide these beings into two main groups; gods and ancestral spirits, but may use the term sin to describe both groups. Supernatural beings are notoriously mercurial. If humans do well by them, they can receive good fortune, but if they offend these entities they can suffer. Devotees of Muism believe that a mudang can, for a price, engage, converse, and potentially strike a bargain with these malevolent or benevolent spirits and dieties.
The Gondi people, who refer to themselves as Koitur, are a central Indian ethnolinguistic group. From the 14th to the 18th century Gondwana, the Gondi heartland, was ruled by a succession of powerful Gond dynasties. During era of Mughal (Muslim) domination Gondwana remained largely independent or served as tributary chiefs. After the Gonds were conquered by the Marathas (an early modern Indian empire) in the 18th century, many Gonds took refuge in the highlands and became tribal raiders. In the early 19th century the greater part of the region passed to the British, although some minor Gond rajas continued to rule until India gained its independence in 1947. The native Gond religion, Koyapunem (the way of nature), was, according to legend, founded by Pari Kupar Lingo. Thousands of years ago. Kupar Lingo became the ruler of the Koya race and established the Gondi Punem, a code of conduct and philosophy that the Gondi continue to practice. Adherents worship a high god known as Baradeo (alternatly called Bhagavan, Kupar Lingo, Badadeo, and Persa Pen). Baradeo oversees the activities of lesser clan and village deities as well as the spirits of ancestors. Baradeo is respected, but he does not receive the same level of devotion that the Gond reserve for clan and village deities, ancestors, and totems that impact their daily lives. Village deities include village guardian Aki Pen, and the anwal, the village mother goddess. Before any festival commences these two deities must be worshipped. Each clan has their own persa pen, or great god who typically benign but can display violent tendencies that are reduced when a pardhan, a bard, plays a fiddle. Three people are important in Gond religious ceremonies: the baiga (village priest), the bhumka (clan priest), and the kaser-gaita (leader of the village). A principle in the Gond religion is munjok, which is non-violence, cooperation, and self-defense. Another Gond belief is termed salla and gangra, which represent action and reaction and is similar to the Hinu concept of karma. To prevent people from destroying themselves in conflict and discord, they are supposed to live under Phratrial society (kinship groups that may include a number of clans). Among the beliefs related to Phratrial society is the need to defend the community from enemies, the requirement to cooperate with others and remain in harmony with nature, and to not consume the flesh of animals that represents a totem. Gonds believe their clan and village deities can possess people. Those possessed by a spirit are no longer held responsible for their actions. Gonds also believe that disease is caused by spirit possession.
Ka Niam Khasi (Khasis of Meghalaya)
The Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. The Khasi tribe is one of the few remaining tribes that have a matrilineal society. Niam Khasi, the pre-Christian Khasi religion, is monotheistic in nature. There are no fixed places of worship. Instead, each element of nature is holy because it has god in it. No particular part can be regarded as being holier than another part. Khasi people believe human beings should not desecrate mother nature by their actions. There are no fixed days of worship. Khasi can worship either indoors or outdoors because god dwells within every element of nature. The introduction of Christianity has influenced every level of Khasi culture, but the core of traditional Khasi religious beliefs remains intact. The Khasi believe in a creator god, U Blei Nong-thaw, who is considered feminine in gender and worshiped as Ka lei Synshar. She is invoked when sacrifices are offered and during times of trouble. The propitiation of good and evil spirits is also part of this system, as is the worship of ancestors. The following major spirits are also worshiped: Ulei Muluk (god of the state), Ulei Umtang (god of drinking water and cooking water), Ulei Longspah (god of wealth), and O Ryngkew or U Basa Shnong (tutelary deity of the village). The propitiation of the spirits is carried out by the lyngdoh (priest) or by old men knowledgeable in the art of necromancy. Other practitioners include the soh-blei and soh-blah (male functionaries with limited religious duties), the ka soh-blei (aka ka-soh-sla or kalyngdoh; female priests who must be present at the offering of all sacrifices), and the nongkhan, who are diviners. Dancing and music are important parts of Khasi ritual, and the Nongkrem Dance (part of the pom-blang or goat-killing ceremony) is the major festival on the Khasi calendar. It is dedicated to Ka lei Synshar to ensure the wellbeing of the Khasi, a substantial crop yield, and good fortune for the state. It is held in late spring (usually in May). A number of state and communal rituals are also performed, in addition to thr many ceremonies associated with the human life cycle (birth, marriage, death, etc.). From the mid 16th century to the British annexation in the mid 19th century, the Khasi continued to control a few dozen small kingdoms. The British commenced an effort to take over the region after three British subjects were seized by the Khasi for human sacrifices. In his book The Khasis, Philip Richard Thornhagh Gurdon wrote: “There is a superstition among the Khasis concerning U thlen, a gigantic snake which requires to be appeased by the sacrifice of human victims, and for whose sake murders have even in fairly recent times been committed."
Kurdish Alevism (Kurds of eastern Anatolia, particularly Tunceli)
Kurdish Alevism (the Path of God/Truth) refers to the unique rituals, sacred practices, mythological discourses, and socio-religious organizations among Kurds who beleive thay are descended from semi-deific figures, often have deeply rooted in nature veneration, and emphasis Pir Sultan Abdal as their religious symbol. Pir Sultan Abdal was an anti-Ottoman 16th century leader-bard who expressed the thoughts, aspirations and demands of the Alevis in poetry. He was executed for his collaboration with the Safavids, the archenemies of the Ottomans. Turkish Alevis, in contrast, emphasize Haji Bektash (an Islamic scholar, mystic, saint, sayyid, and philosopher from the region of present-day Iran who lived and taught in Anatolia. According to scholar Soner Çağaptay, Alevism is a "relatively unstructured interpretation of Islam". Many teachings are based on an orally transmitted tradition which was formerly kept secret from outsiders. The basis for Alevis' most distinctive beliefs is found in the Buyruks (compiled writings and dialogues of Sufi master Sheikh Safi-ad-din Ardabili, as well as others. Hymns are provided, in the case of Kurdish Alevism, by aforementioned poet Pir Sultan Abdal. Alevis believe in the unity of Allah, Muhammad, and Ali, but this is not regarded as a trinity. Rather, Muhammad and Ali are representations of Allah's light (not of Allah himself) and are neither independent from God nor separate characteristics of Him. Alevis believe in the immortality of the soul and the literal existence of supernatural beings including good angels (melekler) and bad angels (şeytanlar). Unlike the majority of Muslims, Alevis do not regard interpretations of the Quran today as binding or infallible since the true meaning the Quran is a secret that must be taught by a teacher who transmits the teachings of Ali (Buyruk) to his disciples. The Kurdish Alevi population has experienced religious and ethnic discrimination, oppression and forced assimilation which have significantly impacted their identity. Traditionally, the socio-religious structure of Kurdish Alevis consisted of two hereditary social positions; members of the sacred lineage (ocax) and those subordinated to the sacred lineage (taliw). By the end of the 20th century, this system had largely disappeared as the taliw gained greater influence on Alevi religion and cultural identity. In Kurdish Alevism, the taliw majority can only receive religious services from a minority, called sayyid, who can both receive and give. When taliw need divine intervention, the sayyid must journey to the taliw's place of residence. The sayyid can be compared to circuit riding preachers. Raywer (or rêber) is a term used to describe a sayyid who prepares and serves at religious functions and teaches other sayyid. The raywer also has the role of explaining Alevism to laypersons.
Luwian religion (Luwians of Anatolia)
Luwian religion, the religious and mythological beliefs and practices of the Luwians of Asia Minor, was practiced from the Bronze Age until the beginnings of the Roman empire. It borrowed freely from others, so it is difficult to clearly distinguish it from neighbouring cultures, particularly Syrian and Hurrian religion. The Indo-European element in the Luwian religion was stronger than it was in the neighbouring Hittite religion. The earliest evidence of the Luwians dates from around 1900 BCE and comes from the Old Assyrian archive of traders at the Karum of Kaneš. Some recorded names are clearly Luwian, who oftern bore names that included the name of a deity (theophoric names). The archive indicates that Šanta and Runtiya (described at the end of this summnary) were worshipped as deities during this early period. In Hittite texts, pieces of the Luwian language often appear in magic rituals intended to bring rain or heal the sick which give an important role to the goddess Kamrusepa (goddess of medicine and magic). From the 11th century BC onwards, Iron Age Luwian rulers and traders created statues and rock cut reliefs which depict the deities of this era. The reliefs often portray the king offering libations to a number of deities. One of these features an image of the weather god struggling with a snake-like demon. In the Hittite myth of Illuyanka, the demon is eventually vanquished. This victory was commemorated by the Hittites and by the Hattian spring festival of Puruli. Unlike the Hittites, Luwians were not greatly influenced by Hattian religion, but eventually incorporated Hurrian deities (of Syrian and Babylonian origin) like Iya, Hipatu, Šaruma, Alanzu, and Šauska into their pantheon. In the Iron Age, there was also direct influence from the Babylonian religion (e.g. Marduk) and the Aramaean religion (e.g. Pahalat), especially in the way the gods were depicted. At the top of the Luwian pantheon stood weather god Tarḫunz/Tarhunt, analogous to Hittite Tarḫunna and Hurrian Teššub. The Luwian weather god's chariot was drawn by horses, and not bulls as was the case with his Hittite and Hurrian counterparts. Images of Tarḫunz/Tarhunt depict clear traits of a fertility god. Late Luwian images show Tarhunza with bunches of grapes and ears of grain. It is suggested that the Greek winged horse, Pegasus, which conveyed the thunderbolt of Zeus, derived its name from a Luwian epithet for their weather god; Tarḫunt piḫaššašši. Tiwad was the Luwian Sun god, a male, rather than a female like the neighboting Hittite Sun goddess of Arinna. Kamrušipa was the wife of Sun god Tiwad and mother of guardian god Runtiya. She played an important role in magic rituals. Arma was the moon god and appears in a large number of theophoric personal names which suggests that he was a very popular deity. In the Iron Age, Arma became completely merged with the Mesopotamian moon god of Harran. Runtiya was a guardian god. His animal was the deer and depicted with a bow and arrows. In Late Luwian texts, he is connected to the wilderness and serves as a god of the hunt. He was partnered the goddess Ala. Šanta was a death-bringing god, often invoked along with dark Marwainzi and Nikarawa in Late Luwian texts. Identified with Babylonian Marduk in the Bronze Age, this mostly unknown deity was called upon in curses to feed an enemy to his dogs or to eat the enemy himself. As noted, this native Luwian pantheon was enlarged after deities were imported from other cultured.
The Lydians were an ancient culture that lived in western Anatolia who spoke a distinctive Indo-European language. Its origins reach back into the 2nd millennium BCE. Their state records cover three dynasties and are traceable back to the Late Bronze Age. Lydia reached the height of its power and prowess during the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Lydian power came to an abrupt end with the fall of their capital to the Medes after the Battle of Halys in 585 BCE, and the subsequent defeat by the Persians in 546 BCE. A distinct Lydian culture probably persisted for the next 500 years or so. A number of Lydian religious beliefs and practices may date back to the Early Bronze Age, and possibly even the Late Stone Age. Lydian religion embraced the vegetation goddess Kore, the snake and bull cult, the thunder and rain god (and the double-axe, or Labrys, as a sign of thunder), the mountain mother goddess (Mother of Gods) assisted by lions and equated with Cybele. More obsure dieties include Santai, Cybele's escort and sometimes described as a hero burned on a pyre, and Marivda, who is associated with darkness Contact and transfers between the Lydians and the ancient Greeks occurred for over a millennium, from the Bronze Age to classical (Persian) times. This makes it difficult to definatively classify religion and mythology as being predominately Greek or predominately Lydian in origin. As noted by archaeological explorers of Lydia, Artimu (Artemis) and Pldans (Apollo) have strong Anatolian components and Cybele-Rhea, the Mother of Gods, and Baki (Bacchus, Dionysos) went from Anatolia to Greece, while both in Lydia and Caria, Levs (Zeus) preserved strong local characteristics. Herodotus states in his Histories that the Lydians "were the first men whom we know who coined and used gold and silver currency." While this specifically refers to coinage in electrum, some scholars beleive that coinage itself first arose in Lydia. Herodotus also states that during the kingship of legendarily affluent Croesus, there was no other Asia Minor people braver and more militant than the Lydians. Herodotus chronicled a few less weighty matters. He notes that once a Lydian girl reached maturity, she would ply the trade of prostitute until she had earned a sufficient dowry, upon which she would publicize her availability for marriage. This was general practice among girls not born into nobility. He also attributes the Lydians with inventing a number of ancient games, most notably knucklebones. Herodotus relates that knucklebones rose in popularity during a particularly severe drought. The game afforded the Lydians a psychological reprieve from their troubles.
Malaysian folk religion refers to the animistic and polytheistic beliefs held by and practices performed by many inhabitants of the Islamic-majority country of Malaysia either openly or covertly depending on the type of rituals performed. Historically, before the arrival and spread of Islam in the 15th century and the spread of Christianity in the 19th century, native Malaysians were either Hindu-Buddhists or practised a variety of indigenous religions. Shamanic performances are held by people known as bomohs, also known as pawang or dukun. Most Orang Asli ("native people", "original people", or "aboriginal people" in Malay) are animists and believe in spirits residing in certain objects. Generally speaking, Malaysians have deep superstitious beliefs, especially in rural areas. The practice of headhunting was quite common in these societies. In Sabah (a state located on the northern portion of Borneo) there are still followers of the indigenous religion Momolianism: the Kadazan-Dusuns worshipped Kinoingan, a rice deity, and celebrate Kaamatan, the harvest festival, every year. During Kaamatan there are certain rituals which have to be carried out by the high priestesses known as bobohizans. Most Kadazan-Dusuns have now adopted Christianity, but some still celebrate Kaamatan. The role of bobohizan, however, is on the brink of extinction. The bomoh practice by Malays has become integrated into Islam and is not forbidden. Bomoh are traditional healers and often serve as an alternative to conventional medicine. However, the practice has sometimes been viewed negatively by Malaysian society sometimes views bomoh negatively because they have the power to cast spells on others people to harm them, rather than heal them. The bobohizans of Sabah are also shamans and traditional healers. They serve as mediums to communicate with the spirits and play an important role in the rituals of the Kaamatan harvest festival. There is a mutual influence between the Chinese folk religion of the larger Malaysian Chinese population and the minority (only 0.7% of the population is aboriginal) indigenous Malaysian folk religion. Today, most of the Chinese population in Malaysia are adherants of Mahayana Buddhism. The balance are Theravada Buddhists, Confucianists, and Taoists. A small minority are Christians, Muslims, or Hindus. Most Chinese Malaysians still practice Chinese folk religion, including ancestral worship, in tandem with more mainstream religious beleif systems but several monotheistic religions prohibit any form of religious syncretism. As is the case in mainland China, Malaysian Chinese folk religion is not recognized or documented by the government. The number of Chinese/Malaysians who practice it can only be estimated.
Mandaeism (Mandaeans of southern Mesopotamia)
Mandaeism, also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnostic and monotheistic and religion with Greek, Iranian, and Jewish influences. It has primarily been practiced in portions of modern Iraq and Iran around the lower Karun, Euphrates, and Tigris rivers, as well as the rivers that surround the Shatt al-Arab waterway. Mandaeans revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Noah, Shem, Aram, and, chiefly, John the Baptist. Adam is regarded as the founder of Mandaeism and John the Baptist as its greatest and final prophet. Outside their Middle Eastern community, the Mandaeans are more commonly known as the Ṣubba, or as Sabians. The term Ṣubba is derived from an Aramaic root related to baptism. The term Sabians is derived from a mysterious religious group mentioned three times in the Quran and was historically claimed by the Mandaeans, as well as by several other religious groups, to gain legal status and protection under Islamic law. The core doctrine of the faith is called Nāṣerutā (meaning Nasoraean gnosis or divine wisdom) and adherents are called nāṣorāyi (Nasoraeans or Nazorenes). These Nasoraeans are divided into tarmidutā (priesthood) and mandāyutā (laity). The designation mandāyutā implies possession of knowledge, or manda. Mada is also the source for the term Mandaeism which encompasses the entire Mandean culture. The Mandaeans have remained separate and intensely private, so information about their culture and religious practices has been gathered from outsiders. According to the Mandaean text which recounts their early history (the Haran Gawaita, or Scroll of Great Revelation), Nasoraean Mandaeans who were disciples of John the Baptist left Palestine to flee persecution and migrated to Media in the first century. The emigrants first journeyed to Haran, then to the Median hills, and finally settled in southern Mesopotamia. Mandaeans claim that their religion predates Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and believe that they are the direct descendants of Noah's son Shem. There are three principal Mandaen beliefs. (1) Recognition of one God known as Hayyi Rabbi, meaning The Great Life or The Great Living God, whose symbol is Living Water (Yardena). It is therefore necessary for Mandaeans to dwell near a river. God personifies the sustaining and creative force of the universe. (2) The Power of Light, which is vivifying and personified by Malka d-Nhura (King of Light), another name for Hayyi Rabbi, and the uthras, or angels or guardians, that provide health, strength, virtue and justice. The Drabsha is viewed as the symbol of Light. (3) The immortality of the soul, which receives rewards and punishments in the afterlife. There is no eternal punishment because God is merciful. Mandaean Gnosis is characterized by features which appear in various forms in other gnostic sects. The two most important ceremonies in Mandaean worship are baptism (Masbuta) and 'the ascent' (Masiqta – a mass for the dead or ascent of the soul ceremony). Unlike most Christian denominations, baptism is not a single event, but is performed every Sunday, the Mandaean holy day, as a ritual of purification. Baptism usually involves full immersion in flowing water, and all rivers considered appropriate for baptisms are called Yardena (after the River Jordan). A Mandaean's grave must be in the north–south direction so that if the dead Mandaean were stood upright, they would face north (Essene graves are also oriented north–south. Living Mandaeans must also face north during prayers which are performed three times a day. A mandī (beth manda or mashkhanna) is a place of worship for followers of Mandaeism. A mandī must be located beside a river in order to perform maṣbuta (baptism). It is estimated that there are currently 60,000–100,000 Mandaeans worldwide but, due to regional turmoil, few of these still inhabit the Middle East.
Manchu shamanism (Manchu people)
Manchu traditional religion is the ethnic religion practiced by most of the Manchu people, speakers of the Tungusic Chinese language group. It is alternately named Manchu shamanism. The word "shaman" is derived from Tungusic šamán and was later applied by Western scholars to similar religious practices in other cultures. It is an animistic and polytheistic religion that believes in several gods and spirits who are led by a universal sky god called Abka Enduri (Sky God or God of Heaven). This god is also called Abka Han (Sky Khan or Khan of Heaven) and Abka Ama (Sky Father). Akba Han is the source of all life and creation. Male Akba Han was originally female Abka Hehe (Sky Woman orSky Mother). Deities inhabit and animate every aspect of nature. The worship of these gods is believed to bring favour, health and prosperity. Many of the gods were originally Manchu ancestors. People with the same surname are descendants of the same god. The shamans are persons of unusual ability, strength, and sensitivity, and are capable of perceiving and predicting the actions of the gods. Shamans oversee the social function of conducting sacrificial ceremonies and the spiritual function of approaching the deities to ask them for intervention or protection. Because of these abilities, shamans enjoy great authority and prestige. Every Manchu kinship group possesses its own shaman. Manchu folk religious rites were standardized by a manual published in Manchu in 1747 written in Qing Mandarin. Subsequently, the Manchu began to abandon the Tungusic language, adopted the Mandarin language, and became assimilated into the Chinese religion, although Manchu folk religion persists with a distinct character within broader Chinese religion. Today, Manchu shamanism has between 700,000 and 900,000 followers. Descriptions of Manchu religion usually distinguishes two types of ritual, domestic and primitive, which can be performed in two cultic settings, imperial and common. The domestic ritual primarily involves sacrifices for the progenitors of lineages and is most important. The primitive ritual involves sacrifices for zoomorphic gods. The ancestral ritual is the same in the common and imperial cults and is composed of three components: the dawn sacrifice (chaoji), the sunset sacrifice (xiji), and the "light-extinguishing" sacrifice (beidingji) held at midnight. Both common and imperial rituals make use of a spirit pole, or gods' pole (shéngān, shénzhù, or šomo) as a means of establishing a connection with Heaven. The Qing Dynasty erected a spirit pole in the women's quarters of the Forbidden City to conduct shamanic ceremonies. The domestic ritual is bright and harmonious, but the primitive or (wild) ritual is associated with darkness and mystery. With its reliance on techniques of ecstasy, the primitive ritual had long been discouraged by the court. Jin Dynasty Emperor Hong Taiji proscribed it as early as 1636. Manchu religious cults originally took place in shrines called tangse, but by the late seventeenth century all communal tangse were prohibited with the exception of the imperial cult building. Households continued to practice their rituals at private altars called weceku.
The Marapu religion (also known as Marafu in Sumba) is a form of ancestral religion that is practiced mainly in the island of Sumba in Indonesia as well as remote areas of Sumba and Flores. Elements of Marapu are often integrated into Christian and Muslim belief systems that dominate these islands. Marapu has only recently become an officially sanctioned religion of Indonesia. In 2017, Indonesia's Constitutional Court decided in their favor, declaring that the earlier proscription of Marapu was discriminatory and violated the principle of equality under the law. Practitioners of Marapu who formerly identified themselves as either Christian or Muslim could now Marapu (which means ancestors) worship the spirits of their ancestors. Followers of Marapu also beleive that life in this world is only temporary. After the end of time they will live eternally in the spirit world, in the Marapu heaven called Prai Marapu. Marapu religious ceremonies such as death ceremonies are always accompanied by the sacrifice of animals such as buffalo and horses, a hereditary tradition that continues to be honored. The Sumbanese Marapu believe that the spirits of their ancestors attend burial ceremonies. The spirit of the sacrificed animal nourishes the ancestral spirits and the flesh of the animal is consumed by the living. The enormous cost of burial ceremonies often requires that a corpse be stored in a household until sufficiant funds have been gathered. The principles derived from Marapu order life from birth to death, establishing individual and community behavior patterns to achieve balance and harmony in relation to all cosmic elements to achieve peace and prosperity. Ancestral spirits have the power to ensure cosmic well-being and balance. Marapu teachings are focused on maintaining the balance of universal life. This balance is symbolized by the Great Mother (Ina Kalada) and the Great Father (Ama Kalada) who live in the cosmos and take the forms of the moon and the sun. In the mythology of Sumba, they are husband and wife who gave birth to the ancestors of the Sumbanese. To honor Marapu, the Sumbanese place effigies called Marapu statues on stone altars where they may lay their offerings. These statues of Marapu are made of wood shaped to resemble human faces and are usually placed in the yard or in the interior of their houses.In parts of East Sumba, families continue to construct impressive, megalithic stone burial monuments. In many cases, individuals will place future generations of their family members into debt so that their remains can be entombed in the traditional manner. The erection of a tomb is preceded by months of negotiations between allied clans and villages that culminates with the gathering of hundreds of men to participate in the traditional tarik batu stone-pulling ceremony. Necessary rites include the butchering of large numbers of buffalo, cows, pigs, and sometimes horses. Nightly protection rituals are performed at the quarries where the huge stones are cut. Failure to perform any of these essential rites risks incurring the wrath of the ancestral spirits. Commentators on the 2017 court decision that officially recognized Marapu note that its adherants acknowledge a supreme god or deity, but beleive that the supreme god's transcendent nature serves to limits its effectiveness in the terrestrial realm. A more important role in the affairs of daily and religious life is fulfilled by Marapu and the spirits of the dead. The detached and disinterested nature of the Marapu supreme creator diety is a concept that is shared by many other ethnic religions, throughout the world.
Maronite Christianity (Maronites of Lebanon)
Maronites are a Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of West Asia whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration of Maronites reside in proximity to Mount Lebanon in modern Lebanon. The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the pope and the remainder of the Roman Catholic Church. Christianity in Lebanon has a long and continuous history. The spread of Christianity in Lebanon was very slow where paganism persisted, especially in the mountaintop strongholds of Mount Lebanon. During the 5th century AD, Saint Maron (a Syriac Christian) sent Abraham of Cyrrhus, often referred to as the Apostle of Lebanon, to convert the still significant pagan population of Lebanon to Christianity. The early Maronites were Hellenized Semites, natives of Byzantine Syria who spoke Greek and Syriac but identified with the Greek-speaking populace of Constantinople and Antioch. They were able to preserve their independent status after the Muslim conquest of the Levant, maintaining their Christian religion and their distinct Lebanese Aramaic language as late as the 19th century. Maronism survived the conquest by relocating to the flanks of Mount Lebanon and to Phoenician coastal cities which did not particularly interest the Arabs. In 694 AD, Byzantine Emperor Justinian II sent an army to attack the Maronites, destroying their monastery in the Orontes valley and killing 500 monks. The Maronites followed up by leading their army against the Byzantines at Amioun and defeated the Byzantine army in a crushing victory that cost Constantinople two of its best generals. Following Byzantine persecutions in the Orontes valley, many Aramean Maronite monks left their lands in the Orontes valley and joined the Phoenician Maronites in the mountains of Lebanon. Christians that chose to remain in lands controlled by the Arab invaders gradually became a minority, and many converted to Islam to escape taxation and to further their political and professional ambitions. The Maronites welcomed the conquering Christians of the First Crusade in 1096 AD. In the late 12th century the Maronites numbered 40,000 people. During their several centuries of separation from the rest of the Christian world, Maronites claim to have remained in full communion with the Catholic Church. During the papacy of Pope Gregory XIII (1572-1585), steps were taken to bring the Maronites even closer to Rome. The Maronite College in Rome was founded by Gregory XIII in 1584. Mass emigration to the Americas at the outset of the 20th century, a famine during World War I that killed an estimated one third to one half of the population, the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war, and the Lebanese Civil War between 1975 and 1990 greatly decreased the number of Maronites in the Levant. Relations between the Druze and Christians of Lebanon has remained amicable throughout history, with a few exceptions of some periods, including 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war.[63][64] In the 19th century during the 1860 Mount Lebanon civil war thousands of Maronites were massacred by the Lebanese Druze. According to some estimates, about 11,000 Lebanese Christians (including Maronites) were killed, and over 4,000 more died from hunger and disease that resulted from the war. After the 1860 massacres, many Maronites fled to Egypt. Many fled much further. The parents of American entertainer Danny Thomas were Maronite Catholic immigrants from Bsharri, Lebanon. Before he found success as an entertainer, Thomas vowed that if he became successful that he would open a shrine to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of lost causes. After becoming a star, he established St. Jude’s in Memphis, Tennessee in 1962.
Mizo religion (Mizo people of India)
The Mizo religion, also known as Lushai animism, is an indigenous polytheistic animist ethnic religion that was practiced by the majority of the Mizo people before conversions to Christianity which began with the British annexation of the region. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, only 1,367 people still practiced the Mizo religion. The Mizo people, historically termed the Lushais, are an ethnic group native to the state of Mizoram in India and neighbouring states of Northeast India. They speak the Tibeto-Burman Mizo language. There were political upheavals in China in 210 BCE when dynastic rule was abolished and the entire empire was gathered under one administrative system. Rebellion and chaos ensued, so the Mizos determined to depart China and arrived in the Shan States as disenfranchised refugees in the fifth century. They relocated to the Kabaw Valley in the 8th century where Mizos had cultural exchanges with the local Burmese. In the early 14th century, they moved westward to Indo-Burmese border into the Lushai Hills. Similar to tribes of mountainous New Guinea, the hills and difficult terrain of ther Chin Hills forced the division of the Mizo into a patchwork of isolated villages, so much variation among village cultures emerged. After the British annexation, the spread of education by Christian missionaries led to a high literacy rate (91.58% by 2011). Practically every Mizo adopted Christianity, and most remain Christian to this day. In the mid-to-late 20th century, a small number of Mizo and related ethnic peoples in Assam and Mizoram began practicing Judaism after a community leader had a dream, in 1951, that they were descendants of the biblical figure Manasseh. Mizo who consider themselves a lost tribe of Israel number, at most, several thousand in a population of more than 3.7 million. Despite a low genetic affinity with Middle Easterners, rabbinic authorities in Israel acknowledged the Bnei Menashe people as Jews upon conversion to Judaism under normative Jewish practices. Several hundred have already emigrated to Israel. Prior to the British annexation, Mizo animism recognized a number of deities. Pathian was the supreme God and creator of the world. Mizo believed that Pathian blesses the righteous with blessings and good fortune and punishes the wicked with calamities and misfortunes. Khuanu (meaning mother of nature) was the wife of Pathian and a benevolent Goddess who blesses humans just as if they were her own children. Vanchungnula, Pathian's daughter, was the goddess of rain and water. Sakhua was the god of the family or clan. The Khaltu spirit was associated with people's lives and well-being. Every living creature was beleived to have a thla (soul), and as long as the soul remained in the body a person was considered to be alive. If a person had a terrifying experience, the soul was similarly terrified. A sacrifice was required to restore proper and normal relations with the khaltu. Mizos also believed in the existence of evil spirits who caused human misery, suffering, and misfortune. Ramhuai was the malignant spirit of the forest or jungle. Hmuithla was an evil spirit that afflicted both humans and animals at the point of death. Phung was a spirit believed to cause humans to suffer from insanity and epilepsy. Khawhring spirits would watch people's food and drink with evil eyes. Because these spirits possessed food and drink, the Mizos would offer a portion of their food to the evil spirits before eating and drinking. Hnam Sakhua is a modernized traditional Mizo religion that places a special emphasis on the Mizo culture and seeks to revive traditional Mizo values while opposing the influence of Christianity on the Mizo people.
Mo or Moism is the religion of most Zhuang people, a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. Mo developed from the prehistoric beliefs of the Zhuang people and is similar to Chinese folk religion. Buddhism and Taoism have influenced the religion and culture of the Zhuang. The Cultural Revolution of China weakened Mo, but it has experienced a revival since the 1980s. Moism exhibits many regional variations. Mo has a three-element theory (sky, earth and water). People are believed to have three souls after they have died; one that goes to Heaven, one that goes to the cemetery, and one that comes back to protect the deceased’s family. Souls of the dead can enter the netherworld, but can also continue to assist the living. The ancestral spirits are believed to protect the family but can also punish them. Most Zhuang families have an ancestral shrine at the center of their home where they can worship their ancestors along with other deities. Mo is animistic, beleiving that spirits are present in everything. These spirits are thought to be immortal and subject to changes in mood. Mo exhibits totemism and the cult of reproduction, a Confucian doctrine that holds that family perpetuation is the greatest act of filial piety. In consequence, the Chinese have tended to marry early, begin to bear children imediately, and strive to ultimately produce many offspring as possible. Moists consider Bu Luotuo (Buluotuo) to be the supreme god, creator of the world and founder of the Mo religion. The Zhuang epic Baeu Rodo is a poem about how Bu Luotuo created the world. The epic is split into four sections. The first is an introduction; the second is about the creation of the world; the third is about the creation of leaders; and the fourth is about the establishment of morals and ethics. The Zhuang people will often sing this religious text at worship ceremonies.The Flower Mother, Me Hoa (Huapo), is seen as the creator of humanity and is Bu Luotuo's wife. As goddess of reproduction, she is seen as governing a large garden of golden flowers (boys) and silver flowers (girls). Whoever behaves properly will receive good flowers (good children) and those who behave improperly will receive bad flowers. When a baby is born, a plaque in Me Hoa’s honour and a bunch of wildflowers will be placed near the baby’s bed. Families possess altars dedicated to Me Hoa. Other gods include Tudigong, protector the village, She Shen, the village tutelary spirit, the Shan Shen (god of the mountains), and the Dragon King who protects a village when disasters arise. The production and consumption of food is essential for life, so the Zhaung also worship the Land God (who controls drought, flood, pestilence and disease), the Kitchen God, the Water God, the Rice God, and the Sun God. There are two types of religious figure in Moism: female diviners and male shaman or necromancers. The untrained female diviners treat the sick and can communicate with the spirit world when they are in a trance. The trained male shaman or necromancers serve at an altar and are able to read and write Sawndip, the Zhuang’s script, which records Mo mythology, history, geography, and astronomy. They are sometimes referred to as great masters and can transmit their knowledge to students. Their primary function is to dispel ghosts, pray to spirits, help people choose an auspicious time or place to do something important, and tell people’s fortunes. They are often employed to oversee funerals, local festivals, and to intervene with the gods in times of crisis. Sometimes a Taoist priest will take the place of a shaman and will chant in Chinese instead of the Zhuang language. Buddhism in Zhuang communities has been heavily influenced both by Taoism and Moism, so Buddhist priests are allowed to marry and are only semi-vegetarian. Their main function is to write horoscopes, act as geomancers, and exorcise ghosts, although they can also lend a hand in times of crisis by chanting sutra.
Muong ethnic religion (Muong people of Vietnam)
Muong ethnic religion is practiced by the Muong, natives of north Vietnam. Considered the only surviving descendants of the early Vietnamese, the Muong, unlike the lowland northern Vietnamese, have been little influenced by the Chinese. They staged unsuccessful rebellions against the French-ruled Vietnamese in 1822, 1833, and in the 1880s. The Muong social structure is patrilineal and has as its foundation the extended family. Only males can own property. Originally, the Muong had an organized feudal system consisting of a landed nobility and a peasant class. Private ownership of land has gradually replaced ownership by the nobility. The Muong are farmers; wet rice is grown on terraced land. Dry rice is also cultivated. They raise pigs, oxen, buffalo, and chickens. Hunting provides meat for festivals. The Muong gather wood and cinnamon for trade. They live in clusters of 10–25 houses that are raised about six feet off the ground on wooden stilts, portions of which are used to hold animals and store crops. Prominently featured in every home is an altar built to honor of their ancestors. Each home has a verandah at its entrance where a bucket of water is kept for washing their feet before entering the home. Currently, the Mong mostly practice Buddhism and Catholic Christianity which often becomes blended with local animistic influences. They believe in the existence of harmful spirits (ma tai, ma em, and others). They worship ancestral spirits and other supernatural deities such as the Saint of Tan Vien Mountain, also known as the Mountain God of Tan Vien. This deity is the oldest of the Four Immortals and embodies valor and indomitability in the fight against natural disaster. The other three Immortals are (1) the giant boy Thánh Gióng who rode an iron horse and vanquished enemies of the state, (2) marsh boy Chu Dong Tu, a poor youth who married a wealthy princess and obtained supernatural power after renouncing the world to devote his life to Taoism, and (3) princess Liễu Hạnh, a mortal transformed into a goddess after her death who wandered the world as either an old woman or a beautiful lady playing the flute. Liễu Hạnh punished those who teased her and blessed those who gave her offerings. Her personal cult was created by women. As animists, the Muong believe that non-living objects possess spirits. Shamans, who must possess knowledge of ancient documents, play an important role in the spiritual life of the Muong. Shaman can communicate with and persuade supernatural forces to protect people from harm. They also instruct people how to behave appropriately with the gods and teach them traditional Muong morals and ethics. The Muong believe that everyone’s soul is connected with a symbolic Si tree planted in the sky. When trees of Si are lush and green, the people who are connected with them are strong and healthy, but when the trees lose their leaves and dry out, people become ill and die With the introduction of modern medicine, beleif in folk remedies and rituals to cure illness has declined.
Parmalim (Bataks of Indonesia)
The term Parmalim or malim describes the followers of the Malim, or Batak religion. Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. Linguistic and archaeological evidence indicates that Austronesian speakers first reached Sumatra from Taiwan and the Philippines through Borneo or Java about 2,500 years ago. The Batak are probably descendants of these settlers. The Bataks practiced a syncretic religion of Shaivism, Buddhism and local culture for thousands of years. The traditional occupation of the Batak was agriculture, hunting and farming. The great lake of Toba provided vast opportunity for freshwater aquaculture since ancient times. Interior rural Batak communities relied heavily on rice farming, horticulture and other plant and commercial crops, and to some extent, acquiring forest products, such as hard wood, plant resin, and wild animals. Before they became subjects of the colonial Dutch East Indies government, the Batak had a reputation for being fierce warriors. Today the Batak are mostly Christian with a Muslim minority. A significant minority of Batak people do not adhere to either Christianity or Islam, however, but follow Malim, a relatively recent variation on traditional religious practices. Ritual cannibalism was well documented among pre-colonial Batak people, being performed in order to strengthen the eater's tendi, or life-soul. In particular, the blood, heart, palms and soles of the feet were seen as rich in tendi. Family lineage (tarombo) is very important for the Batak. Those who do not know their lineage are considered strays (nalilu). Information on the traditional forms of Batak religion is derived mainly from the writings of German and Dutch missionaries who became increasingly concerned with Batak beliefs towards the end of the nineteenth century. Malim primordal cosmology begins with six deities. In the beginning. sky god Mula Jadi Na Bolon and serpent-dragon sea god Naga Padoha stood alone. The three sons of Mula Jadi, Batara Guru, Mangalabulan, and Soripada, were hatched from eggs laid by a hen fertilized by their father. Mula Jadi then begets three daughters whom he gives as wives for his three sons. Humanity is the result of the union of these three couples. Another god, Asiasi, remains enigma but there is some evidence that this god served as a balance and unifying force for the other gods. These primordial do not receive any sacrificial offerings from the faithful and no places of sacrifice are built for them. They are merely called on in prayers for help and assistance. The origin of the earth and its inhabitants is connected mainly with the daughter of Batara Guru, Sideak Parujar, who is the actual creator godess. In the religious world of the Toba and Karo Batak the gods and the creation of mankind are far less significant than the complex concepts connected with the tendi or tondi (life-soul) and the begu (death-soul). Tendi can be separated from their owners through inattentiveness or as the result of black magic. The final loss of the tendi inevitably results in death. At the end of the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th century the anti-colonial Parmalim movement, which originated in Toba lands, spread to other areas of the Batak lands. The Malim religion shares a few attributes with Islam, including a prohibition on the consumption of pork and of blood and the practice of wearing turbans, but is predominately based on traditional Batak beleifs. Modern Parmalim trace their heritage to Sisingamangaraja XII, a Batak leader in the struggle against the Dutch, whose spirit lives on in his successors.
Phrygian religion (Phrygians of Anatolia)
The Phrygians were an ancient Indo-European speaking people who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity. According to Herodotus, Phrygians initially dwelled in the southern Balkans where they were called Bryges, changing it to Phryges after their final migration to Anatolia via the Hellespont. It has been suggested that the Phrygian migration to Asia Minor, mentioned in Greek sources to have occurred shortly after the Trojan War, happened much earlier and in many stages. These Greek sources, including Herodotus, cannot be authenticated. Phrygia developed an advanced Bronze Age culture. The earliest traditions of Greek music are partly connected to Phrygian music, especially the Phrygian mode which was considered warlike by the ancient Greeks. Phrygian King Midas, renowned for his golden touch, was, according to myth, tutored in music by Orpheus himself. The invasion of Anatolia in the late 8th century BCE to early 7th century BCE by the Cimmerians ended Phrygian independence. The capital of Phrygia, Gordium fell, to the Cimmerians in 696 BCE and was sacked and burnt (according to Herodotus who wrote of this sack nearly two centuries later). The Phrygians worshipped the goddess Cybele. In her typical Phrygian guise she wears a long belted dress, a polos (a high cylindrical headdress), and a veil covering her whole body. The later Greek version of Cybele was established by a pupil of Phidias, the sculptor Agoracritus, and became the image most widely adopted by Cybele's growing number of followers. In this later depiction she humanized, but still enthroned. One hand rests on an attendant lion and the other hand holds a tympanon, a circular frame drum similar to a tambourine. The Phrygians also venerated Sabazios, the sky and father-god depicted on horseback. Although the Greeks associated Sabazios with Zeus, representations of him, even at Roman times, continued to portray him as a horseman god. Ongoing conflicts with the indigenous Mother Goddess, whose creature was the Lunar Bull, may be surmised by the way that Sabazios' horse is depicted placing a hoof on the head of a bull in a Roman relief. Classical philologist Obrador-Cursach analyzed a newly discovered Phrygian inscription from Dorylaion in 2020. It mentions the gods Miθrapata, Mas Tembrogios and the Pontic Bas. Other attested deities in the Phrygian pantheon are Ti (Zeus), βας (the shining one), and borrowed deities artimitos (Artemis), mas (Men, possibly a moon god) and διουνσιν (Dionysos). Greek inscriptions from Phrygia Epiktetos reflect a cult of the dead, at least acting as intermediaries between gods and men. The name of the earliest known mythical Phrygian king was Nannacus (aka Annacus). After his death at the age of 300 years, a great flood overwhelmed the country. This flood had been foretold by an ancient oracle. One later king was mythical Tantalus, who ruled over the north western region of Phrygia around Mount Sipylus. Tantalus was endlessly punished in Tartarus because he allegedly killed his son Pelops and sacrificially offered him to the Olympians, a reference to the suppression of human sacrifice. In the mythic era before the Trojan war, during a time when Phrygia had no king, Gordius (or Gordias), a Phrygian farmer, became king. An oracle decreed that the next man to enter the city driving an ox-cart should become their king. Gordius was that man. Out of gratitude, his son Midas dedicated his father's ox-cart to the Phrygian god Sabazios and tied it to a post with an intricate knot, later described by Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus as comprised od "several knots all so tightly entangled that it was impossible to see how they were fastened." This was the legendary "Gordian Knot" later cut (perhaps apocryphally) by Alexander the Great.
Qiang folk religion (Qiang people)
Qiang folk religion is the indigenous religion of the majority of the Qiang people, an ethnic group of Sichuan, China who are closely related to the Han Chinese and the Tibetans. Qiang are best known in the West for occupying the same region as giant pandas. Qiang folk religion is pantheistic, involving the worship of a variety of gods of nature and of human affairs (including Qiang ancestors). The Qiang practice shamanism, animism, Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, and the local White Stone Religion. White stones are worshipped since it is believed they can be invested with the power of certain gods through rituals. They believe in an overarching god called Mubyasei (God of Heaven) which is connected to the Chinese concept of Tian (the supreme power reigning over lesser gods and human beings) and clearly identified by the Qiang with the Taoist-originated Jade Emperor. In Daoist theology, the Jade Emperor is the assistant of Yuanshi Tianzun, who is one of the Three Pure Ones (the three primordial emanations of the Tao). There are many stories in Chinese mythology involving the Jade Emperor. In one story, a powerful, evil entity was ambitious to conquer the immortals and gods in heaven and proclaim sovereignty over the entire universe. The Emperor ascended to heaven and saw that the evil entity was too powerful to be stopped by the gods. He challenged it, and they fought. Due to his deeper and wiser cultivation, his benevolence instead of his might, the Jade Emperor won the battle. Because of his noble and benevolent deeds, the gods, immortals, and humans proclaimed the Jade Emperor the supreme sovereign of all. The Heavenly God is the most important deity. It protects people and their animals and is venerated in shrines inside every house. These shrines are also used to worship the gods of the family: the ancestors' god, the goddess of the women, and the gods of the men. There are a number of Qiang myths about the creation of mankind through the union of a daughter of a heaven god and an earthly monkey. Qiang religious ceremonies and rituals are directed by priests called, in Chinese, duāngōng. They are shamans who acquire their position through years of training with a teacher. Duāngōng are the custodians of Qiang theology, history and mythology. They also administer the coming of age ceremony for 18-year-old boys, called the "sitting on top of the mountain" which involves the boy's entire family going to a mountain top to sacrifice a sheep or cow and plant three cypress trees. Shaman heal people, preside over ceremonies, and recite texts while beating upon a goatskin drum. Festivals and ceremonies often involve the invocation of spirits through the burning of juniper branches. These are performed while sitting around a campfire outdoors. Two of the most important Qiang religious holidays are the autumnal Qiang New Year when sacrifices are offered to the God of Heaven, and the Mountain Sacrifice Festival honoring the god of mountains which is held between the second and the sixth month of the lunar calendar.
Ryukyuan religion, Ijun (Ryukyuans of the Ryukyu Islands near Taiwan)
The Ryukyuan religion, Ryūkyū Shintō, Nirai Kanai Shinkō, or Utaki Shinkō is the indigenous belief system of the Ryukyu Islands. This chain of Japanese islands stretches southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan. The larger are mostly volcanic islands and the smaller mostly formed by coral. The largest is Okinawa Island. The climate of the Ryukyu islands is sub-tropical, significantly warmer than that of the four islands that comprise mainland Japan. The first mention of the islands in Chinese literature occur in the Annals of the Qin dynasty. Qin Shi Huang heard of "happy immortals" living on the Eastern Islands, so he sent expeditions there to find the source of immortality, to no avail.[24][page needed] Based on Ryukyuan folklore on Kudaka Island, some scholars believe that these expeditions succeeded in reaching Japan where they launched a social and agricultural revolution. In 601, the Chinese sent an expedition to the "Country of Liukiu." They noted that the people were small but pugnacious. The first Japanese record of what they termed the Southern Islands is an article written in 618 which states that people of Yaku followed the Chinese emperor's virtue. The indigenous Ryukyuan religion is generally characterized by ancestor worship and respect for the relationships between the living, the dead, and the gods and spirits of the natural world. Some of its beliefs, such as those concerning genius loci spirits and many other beings classified between gods and humans, are indicative of its ancient animistic roots, as is its concern with mabui, or life essence. Historically, Ryukyuan religious practice has been influenced by Japanese Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. It has also been shaped by other Chinese religions (White Lotus, Chinese Manichaeism, and folk beliefs), as well as Christianity. One of its most ancient features is the belief in onarigami, the spiritual superiority of women derived from Amamikyu, the creation goddess, which allowed for the development of a noro (priestess) system and a significant following for yuta (female mediums or shamans). Demonstrations of respect and reverence toward ancestors are performed in the family home. The oldest female relative serves as a primary celebrant, officiating rituals concerning ancestors, household gods, and those family members who live both in and outside the home. Daily incense offerings are made and prayer "reports" are delivered aloud in which each family member is described for the benefit of the incorporeal being addressed. The oldest female relative is also responsible for the cleaning and upkeep of the buchidan (ancestors altar), hinukan (hearth god and his home on the hearth), and furugan (bathroom god).The Ultimate Ancestors, from whom all life springs, are Utin ("Heaven", the father), Jiichi ("Earth", the mother), and Ryūgū ("Sea", from which humanity was born). They coexist with the gods of the world and are esteemed as the originators of all things. The Ultimate Ancestors are worshiped in the community's utaki, or sacred place (often a grove, a cave, or a mountain). Traditionally, periodic gatherings of the extended family occur at the family haka, or tomb. These tombs resemble houses complete with a courtyard, family name markers, and a porch upon which offerings are placed. In the thirty-third year after a relative's death, the deceased individual is believed to have taken their place with their fellow ancestors in the afterlife. Especially powerful deities other than the household gods are revered by the community as a whole, and certain legendary creatures exist who are not worshiped, but are respected. Community worship most often involves marine and mountain deities who determine the success of agricultural, shipping/trade, and fishing enterprises.
Samaritanism is an Abrahamic and monotheistic ethnic religion comprised of the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Samaritan people who originated from the Hebrews and Israelites and began to emerge as a relatively distinct group after the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the Iron Age. Central to the faith is the Samaritan Pentateuch, which Samaritans believe is the original and unmodified version of the Torah. Samaritan belief also holds that the Israelites' original holy site was Mount Gerizim, near Nablus, and that Jerusalem only attained importance under Israelite dissenters who had followed Eli to the city of Shiloh. The Israelites who remained at Mount Gerizim would become known as the Samaritans of the Kingdom of Israel, whereas the Israelites who left would become the Jews of the Kingdom of Judah. Mount Gerizim is revered by Samaritans as the location where Abraham bound his son Isaac to offer as a sacrifice to God, in contrast to the Jewish belief that this event occurred upon Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Though Samaritans became increasingly culturally distint from the Jews to the south, they were originally closely intertwined with them. Samaritanism likely did not emerge as a distinct tradition until the Hasmonean and Roman era, by which point Yahwism had coalesced into Second Temple Judaism. The temple on Mount Gerizim, the central place of worship in Samaritanism, was built in the 5th century BCE as one of many Yahwistic temples in Samaria. However, this temple precinct experienced a centuries-long period of large-scale construction beginning around the 4th century BCE, which indicates that its status as the pre-eminent place of worship among Samaritans was being established. Theological divergence between Judaism and Samaritanism is attested as early as the 2nd century BCE, indicating that the Samaritan Pentateuch had already begun to take shape. The Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus destroyed the Mount Gerizim temple and brought Samaria under his control around 120 BCE, which led to a longlasting sense of mutual hostility between the Jews and Samaritans. The Samaritans likely sought to consciously distance themselves from their Judean brethren, and both peoples began to regard the Samaritan faith as a religion distinct from Judaism. In time, the relationship between Jews and Samaritans only further deteriorated. By the era of Jesus, Samaritans and Jews deeply disparaged one another, evident in biblical passages like Jesus' Parable of the Good Samaritan and Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well. In addition to differences of opinion over where God should be worshipped, Jewish and Samaritan eschatology varies. Samaritans hold that he apocalypse, the day of vengeance, will be when a figure called the Taheb (the Samaritan equivalent of the Jewish Messiah) from the tribe of Joseph will come, be a prophet like Moses for forty years and bring about a return of all the Israelites. Afterwards, the dead will be resurrected. The Taheb will then discover the tent of Moses' Tabernacle on Mount Gerizim and will be buried next to Joseph when he dies. During Sukkot (aka the Festival of Booths, a harvest festival and commemoration of the Exodus), Samaritan sukkah are built inside houses, as opposed to the outdoor setting that are traditional among Jews. Samaritan historian Benyamim Tsedaka traces the indoor-sukkah tradition to persecution of Samaritans during the Byzantine Empire.
Sanamahism (Meitei of northeastern India)
Sanamahism (also called Meiteism or Lainingthouism is an ethnic religion of the Meitei people of Kangleipak (the Meitei term for Manipur) in Northeast India. It is a polytheistic religion named after the god Lainingthou Sanamahi, one of the most important deities of the Meitei faith. Sanamahi (which means liquid gold) is the eldest son of the supreme god Yaibirel Sidaba (also known as Saalailel Sidaba) and the supreme goddess Leimarel Sidabi. Traditionally, every Meitei household, irrespective of their local religion, worships Sanamahi and Leimarel Sidabi. Sanamahism has no single leader but it does have an organization, Maru Loishang, that oversees the main religious activities and govern all affairs pertaining to the religion including the conduct of priest and priestess. The Maru Loishang also acts a court that resolves religious disputes. The gods of Sanamhism can be classified into main deities, ancestral deities (Apokpa), deities of the Meitei clans (Yek Lai) or family (Saghei Lai). and regional deities called Lam Lai or Umang Lai. Worship of the Apokpa deities, the Yek Lais or the Saghei Lais is conducted within a clan, families that share the same surname. Regional deities are worshipped by the residents around the various temples of the regional Umang Lais. An Umang Lais is often one of the main deities, or perhaps an incarnation of the main deities. Many Sanamahi practices are focused on food offerings to deities, combined with hymns, as well as oracular ritual in which priestesses become possessed by a god or goddess. Some esoteric practices are also a part of Sanamahism such as the use of mantras for various purposes. The mystical text Sanamahi Naiyom provides several formulas, including a mantra that is believed to stop rain. The worship of Umang Lais and the ritual that this requires, referred to as the Umang Lai Haraoba, is one of the main religious festivals in Sanamahism. Other festivals include Emoinu Eratpa (the sacred day for Emoinu, goddess of wealth and prosperity), Heikru Hidongba (an annual royal boat racing festival), Kwaak Taanba (the ceremonial freeing of the crow by the Meitei king), Lai Haraoba (an unscheduled merrymaking festival dedicated to the Umang Lais and the Lam Lais of Sanamahism), Mera Chaorel Houba (when devotees offer rice, fruits and vegetables to Lainingthou Sanamahi and Leimarel Sidabi in the sacred Sanamahi Temple of Imphal), Mera Hou Chongba (which promotes unity and love between the Meitei people and neighboring tribesmen), Ningol Chakouba (a day that the married ladies are required visit and dine with their paternal family members, especially their brothers), Panthoibi Iratpa (a sacred festival dedicated to Panthoipi, the Meitei goddess of war and love), Sanamahi Ahong Khong Chingba, also known as Sanamahi Cheng Hongba (a grand chariot pulling festival dedicated to Sanamahi, guardian of humanity), and Yaosang (ꯌꯥꯎꯁꯪ) falls on the 15th lunar day of the Lamtaa month of the Meitei year. It is a five-day festival that coincides with the Hindu Holi festival, so the Meitei imitate the Hindus by spraying each other with colors, but Yaosang is an indigenous tradition of the Meitei people is considered by many the most important festival in Manipur). A collective effort to revive Sanamahism is referred to as the Sanamahi movement. This campaign began in 1930 at Cachar (present day Assam, India) and had spread to the Manipur Valley by 1934. An invasion by the Japanese invasion interrupted forward progress, but by 1944 the movement finally started to gain momentum in Manipur. Resolutions were made to denounce Hinduism and to revive Sanamahism. In 1945, the popular Meitei Marup was formed, marking the beginning of the revival of Sanamahism and of the Meitei Mayek (the Meitei writing system). By the 1970s and 1980s, the Sanamahi Movement attracted many more activists. Idols of Sanamahi and Leimarel Sidabi were seized from Hindu Brahmins. In 1974 a mass conversion to Sanamahism was staged named Nongkhang Parei Hanba, a symbolic reversal a forced mass baptism of the Meitei people into Hinduism in 1729.
Sarnaism (tribal religion of India)
Sarnaism is a religious faith of the India predominantly followed by indigenous peoples of the Chota Nagpur Plateau region. It centers around the reverence of Sarna, the sacred groves of village communities where the village deity, Gram deoti resides. Sacrificial offerings are made twice a year. The ceremonies are performed by the whole village community at a public gathering with the active participation of village priests (pahan) and their assistants. Shamans, often called Manjhi or Ojha, play a significant role in Sarna. They act as intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds, conduct rituals, heal illness, and offer guidance to the community. The main festival of Sarnaism is Sarhul, a festival in which devotees worship their ancestors. During the festival, the pahan brings three water pots to the sarna. If the water pots reduce in level, they believe the monsoon will fail, but if it stays the same the monsoon will come as normal. Men then offer sakua flowers and leaves. Sarnaism is also referred to as Sarna Dharma or the Religion of the Holy Woods and is India's largest tribal religion. Adherents of Sarnaism believe in, worship, and honor a village deity as protector of village variously called Gaon khunt, Gram deoti, Dharmes, Marang Buru, Singbonga, and by other names by different tribes. Adherents worship Dharti ayo or Chalapachho Devi, the mother goddess identified with the earth or with nature. Some other honored nature deities are Jal (water), Jungle (forest), Zameen (land), Marangburu (mountains), and Shingbonga (the sun god). Tribes also pray to the trees and hills, and advocate for the preservation of forested areas. Sarna does not practice idol worship, nor pay heed to the Hindu Varna system. The followers of Sarnaism eat meat of every sort and still practiced a hunter-gatherer lifestyle until the 1980's and 90's. Since 1845, several attempts of indoctrination and forced conversion were carried out by western Christian missionaries in colonial India. These continued for a century and created sectarian conflict in the tribal areas of the Chota Nagpur region. The arrival of the first German Protestant missionaries in 1845 was followed by Roman Catholic missionaries. Smoldering resentment between Christian and Non-Christian tribrs errupted into flame in 1947–1948 when the British colonial rulers departed India. Recently, the Indian National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) proposed the inclusion of a separate category for the Sarna religion in the religion code of the Census of India. This comes in response to calls from various tribal organizations and sympathetic Christian missionaries advocating for the recognition of a distinct census code for Sarnaism.
Shabaks are a group whose ethnic origin is disputed. Some Shabaks identify themselves as a distinct ethnic group and others as ethnic Kurds. Shabak cultural traditions, however, are different from those of the Kurds and Arabs. They speak Shabaki and live in a religious community in the Nineveh Plains. The Shabak have always been regarded as a lower class people in Iraq, subject to discrimination from Iraqi authorities and from the Kurds they dwell among. Orthodox Sufis condemn Shabaks for not fasting, praying, or performing pilgrimage, and for engaging in activities like alcohol consumption as part of their beliefs. The ancestors of Shabaks were followers of the Safaviyya order, founded by the Kurdish mystic Safi-ad-din Ardabili in the early 14th century. The primary Shabak religious text is called the Buyruk or Kitab al-Manaqib (Book of Exemplary Acts), which is written in the Iraqi Turkmen Turkish language. Shabaks regard themselves as Shia Muslims. About 70% are Twelver Shia Muslims, and the balance are Sunni Muslims, primarily Shafi'i (like the Kurds) and a smaller portion Hanafi (like Sunni Arabs). Shabaks combine elements of Sufism with their own concept of divine reality which they beleive is more advanced than descriptions drawn from a literal interpretation of the Qur'an. Shabak spiritual guides are known as pirs, who are well versed in the prayers and rituals of the sect. Pirs are under the leadership of the Supreme Head or Baba. Pirs serve as mediators between divine power and ordinary Shabaks. Shabaks also consider the poetry of Ismail I to be revealed by Allah, and they recite Ismail's poetry during religious meetings. Ismail I, also known as Shah Ismail, was the founder of the enduring Safavid dynasty of Iran. Ismail I was also a prolific poet who under the pen name Khaṭāʾī (in Arabic, "the wrongful") contributed greatly to the literary development of the Azerbaijani language. Most of the poems are concerned with love, particularly love of the mystical Sufi kind, but there are also poems propagating Shia doctrine.
Shinto will be seperately described on this website. With 4.0 million adherants (0.05% of world population) it is 14th of the 21 super-catagories listed on the homepage, just after Jainism (4.2 million adherants) and before Cao Dei (which has roughly the same number of adherants as Shinto). Practitioners of Shinto often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Traditionally, the Japanese emperor has served as the central authority in shinto's ritual practice and dogma. A polytheistic and animistic religion, Shinto revolves around supernatural entities called the kami. The kami are believed to inhabit all things, including forces of nature and prominent landscape locations. The kami are worshipped at kamidana household shrines, family shrines, and jinja public shrines. The latter are staffed by priests, known as kannushi, who oversee offerings of food and drink to the specific kami enshrined at that location. This is done to cultivate harmony between humans and kami and to solicit the latter's blessing. Other common rituals include the kagura dances, rites of passage, and seasonal festivals. Public shrines facilitate forms of divination and supply religious objects, such as amulets, to the religion's adherents. Shinto places a major conceptual focus on ensuring purity, largely by cleaning practices such as ritual washing and bathing, especially before worship. Little emphasis is placed on specific moral codes or particular afterlife beliefs, although the dead are deemed capable of becoming kami. The religion has no single creator or specific doctrine, and instead exists in a diverse range of local and regional forms. Shinto is primarily found in Japan, where there are around 100,000 public shrines, although practitioners are also found abroad. Numerically, it is Japan's largest religion, the second being Buddhism. Most of the country's population takes part in both Shinto and Buddhist activities, especially festivals, reflecting a common view in Japanese culture that the beliefs and practices of different religions need not be exclusive. Aspects of Shinto have been incorporated into various Japanese new religious movements.
Sunda Wiwitan (Sundanese people of Indonesia)
Sunda Wiwitan is a folk religion and ancient beliefs adhered to by the Sundanese (including Baduy peoples and Bantenese) in Indonesia. The followers of this belief system can be found in some villages in western Java. Its practitioners assert that Sunda Wiwitan has been part of their way of life since ancient times, before the arrival of Hinduism and Islam. The sacred book of Sunda Wiwitan is called Sanghyang Siksa Kandang Karesian, it is a didactic text of religious and moral guidance, rules and lessons. Originally, the Sundanese followed an animistic system of belief that venerates and worships the spirits of ancestors. Over the course of time, Sunda Wiwitan has been influenced by and incorporated Hindu, and to some extent, Islamic elements. The highest spiritual power in Sunda Wiwitan is Sang Hyang Kersa (The Powerful) or Nu Ngersakeun (He Who has the Will). This supreme being is also referred to by several other names or divine titles, such as Batara Tunggal (The One), Batara Jagat (Ruler of Universe), and Batara Seda Niskala (The Unseen). Sang Hyang Kersa resides in the highest and most sacred of the three realms of the universe. The Hindu gods (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra, Yama, etc.) are considered subordinates of Sang Hyang Kersa. The uppermost realm of the universe is Buana Nyungcung (The Pointy Realm or Peak Realm), the abode of the supreme god. The middle realm is Buana Panca Tengah (The Middle World) which is the earth, the realm of human beings and animal which possesses five cardinal directions: east, west, north, south, and center/zenith. The lowermost realm is Buana Larang (The Forbidden World) which is hell, the realm of demons and lowly spirits. Between Buana Nyungcung (the peak realm) and Buana Panca Tengah (earth), there are 18 layers of realms, arranged in decreasing order of sacredness from top to bottom. The value system of Sunda Wiwitan is based on written and unwritten (internalized) norms. The written norms are rules and taboos that govern the way of life of adherents, while the unwritten norms are internal and individual understandings of the faith. Sunda Wiwitan's basic and principle concepts are based on two things: Cara Ciri Manusia and Cara Ciri Bangsa. Cara Ciri Manusia comprises the basic elements of human life. It consists of five fundamentals: Welas asih (love and compassion), Undak usuk (social and family order), Tata krama (rules of behavior and conduct), Budi bahasa dan budaya (language and culture), and Wiwaha yudha naradha. "Yudha" means war or battle. This last principle refers to the essential human characteristic of always being wary or suspicious of foreign or unknown influences. This reflects an inherent conservatism and resistance to change in traditional village life. It implies that influences incompatible with tradition must be rejected. The second concept, Cara Ciri Bangsa, states that people have universals or similarities in basic human traits, yet express diversity from one individual or community to another. Five elements are the source of variety among human beings: Rupa (appearance), Adat (customs and rules), Bahasa (language), Aksara (letters), and Budaya (culture). The core rules of proper conduct consist of just two elements: "Do not do something not to the taste of others" and "Do not do something to harm yourself." Prayer and ritual is performed through songs, the chanting of pantun Sunda, and the performance of kidung dances. These ritual practices are observed during the rice harvest ceremony and the annual new year festival called Seren Taun.
Syriac Christianity (Assyrian people in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran)
Syriac Christianity is a branch of Eastern Christianity of which formative theological writings and traditional liturgies are expressed in the Classical Syriac language, a variation of the old Aramaic language. Along with Greek and Latin, Classical Syriac was one of the three most important languages of Early Christianity. It became a vessel for the development of a distinctive Syriac form of Christianity which flourished throughout the Near East and other parts of Asia during Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval period, giving rise to various liturgical and denominational traditions, represented in modern times by several Churches which continue to uphold the religious and cultural heritage of Syriac Christianity. The Syriac language is a variety of Aramaic language that emerged in Edessa, Upper Mesopotamia during the first centuries AD. It is related to the Aramaic of Jesus, a Galilean dialect, a relationship adds to its prestige for Christians. The ruins of the Dura-Europos church, dating from the first half of the 3rd century are concrete evidence of the presence of organized Christian communities in the Aramaic-speaking area, far from Jerusalem and the Mediterranean coast, and there are traditions of the preaching of Christianity in the region as early as the time of the Apostles. The fourth century is marked by the many writings in Syriac of Saint Ephrem the Syrian, the Demonstrations of the slightly older Aphrahat, and the anonymous ascetical Book of Steps. Syriac Christianity has become split into two liturgical traditions: the East Syriac Rite and the West Syriac Rite. The bishops who took part in the First Council of Nicea in 325, the very first of the ecumenical councils, included twenty from Syria and one from Persia. Two councils held in the following century divided Syriac Christianity into two opposing parties. In 431, the Council of Ephesus, the third ecumenical council, condemned Nestorius and Nestorianism. That condemnation was subsequently ignored by the East Syriac Church of the East. Even in its modern form, the Assyrian Church of the East and Ancient Church of the East, it continues to honor Nestorius as a teacher and a saint. In 451 the Council of Chalcedon, the fourth ecumenical council, condemned Monophysitism, and also rejected Dyoprosopism. This council was rejected by the Oriental Orthodox Churches, including the Syriac Orthodox Church, that use the West Syriac Rite. The Patriarchate of Antioch was consequently divided between two communities, pro-Chalcedonian and non-Chalcedonian. The Chalcedonians were often labelled as 'Melkites' (Imperials), while their opponents were labelled Monophysites (those who believe in the one rather than two natures of Christ) and Jacobites (after Jacob Baradaeus). In 553, the Council of Constantinople, the fifth ecumenical council, anathematized Theodore of Mopsuestia, and also condemned several writings of Theodoret of Cyrus and Ibas of Edessa. Since those three theologians were highly regarded among Eastern Syriac Christians, further rifts were created. Theological estrangement between East Syriac and West Syriac branches was manifested as a prolonged rivalry that was particularly intensive between the Church of the East and the Maphrianate of the East (Syriac Orthodox Church). Each branch claimed that its doctrines were not heretical while accusing the other of teaching heresy. Their theological estrangement has persisted through the medieval and early modern periods and into the present era.
Saint Thomas Christians (in India)
The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Kerala (Malabar region) who, for the most part, employ the Eastern and Western liturgical rites of Syriac Christianity (see preceding article). They trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have brought Christianity to India in 1st century. The Saint Thomas Christians had been historically a part of the hierarchy of the Church of the East, but are now divided into several different Eastern Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Protestant, and independent bodies, each with their own liturgies and traditions. Historically, this community was organised as the Province of India of the Church of the East by Patriarch Timothy I in the 8th century. In the 14th century, the decline of the Church of the East due to persecutions by Tamerlane and Portuguese colonial efforts to bring St. Thomas Christians into the Latin Catholic Church led to the first of several the community. Portuguese oppression provoked a permanent schism among the Thomasites. The Pazhayakūr comprise the present day Syro-Malabar Church and Chaldean Syrian Church which continue to employ the original East Syriac Rite (Babylonian/Persian) liturgy. The Puthenkūr group under the leadership of archdeacon Thoma I organized themselves as the independent Malankara Church and entered into a new communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. They inherited the West Syriac Rite from the Syriac Orthodox Church, which employs the Liturgy of Saint James, replacing the old East Syriac Rite liturgy. The Eastern Catholic faction is in full communion with the Holy See in Rome. Churches which cose not to enter into communion with Rome are the Malankara Orthodox Church, a self-governing Oriental Orthodox Church independent of the Patriarch of Antioch, and the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, an integral part of the Syriac Orthodox Church and headed by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch. Oriental Protestant denominations include the Mar Thoma Syrian Church and the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India. The Marthoma Syrian Church were a part of the Malankara Church that went through a reformation movement due to influence of British Anglican missionaries in the 1800s. The St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India is an evangelical faction that split off from the Marthoma Church in 1961. C.S.I. Syrian Christians are a minority faction of Malankara Syrian Christians, who joined the Anglican Church in 1836, eventually becoming part of the Church of South India after Indian independence in 1947. The C.S.I. is in full communion with the Mar Thoma Syrian Church. By the 20th century, various Syrian Christians joined Pentecostal and other evangelical denominations like the Kerala Brethren, Indian Pentecostal Church of God, Assemblies of God, and others. They are known as Pentecostal Saint Thomas Christians. At present, Saint Thomas Christians represent a multi-cultural group. Their culture is largely derived from East Syriac, West Syriac, Hindu, Jewish, and Latin liturgical influences blended with local customs and later elements derived from indigenous Indian and European colonial contacts. Their language is Malayalam, the language of Kerala, and Syriac is used for liturgical purposes.
Tai folk religion (Tai peoples of Mainland Southeast Asia)
The Tai folk religion, Satsana Phi or Ban Phi, is a form of ethnic animist religious belief practiced by the Tai people. Tai peoples are populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide who are scattered through much of South China and Mainland Southeast Asia, with some inhabiting parts of Northeast India. Tai peoples are both culturally and genetically very similar and are therefore primarily identified through their language. Tai folk religion was the dominant native religion of Tai people in Southeast Asia until the arrival of Buddhism. It is primarily based on worshipping deities called Phi, Khwan, and ancestor worship. Within the Tai folk religion deities called Phi can be the tutelary gods of buildings or territories, of natural places, or of things. Deities can also be ancestral spirits, or other types of spirits of seemingly supernatural forces. Such deities often interact with the world of the living, at times protecting people, and at other times causing harm. The Tai beleive that gods are ubiquitous, with some of them being associated with the universal elements of heaven, earth, fire, and water. All Tai people believe in Khwan as being the element of vitality and longevity. This belief system features thirty-two typically protective khwan in various parts of the body. Various rituals are performed by various Tai groups to worship the Khwan. Rik-Khwan, which literally means calling the khwan, is a ritual that petitions kwan for vitality as needed for villages and the countryside. Baci, or Su Khwan, is a ritual performed on certain special occasions in course of a person's life; before a pending marriage, a change of jobs, and at other times of uncertainty. Certain Baci ceremonies are sometimes performed for the benefit of an individual with the intention of re-binding khwan body-spirits back into a body. The unintentional loosening of such bonds is believed to possibly risk illness or harm. The baci rite calls on all thirty-two khwan to return, bestowing health, prosperity, and well-being upon the affected individual. During such ceremonies, cotton strings are often tied around a participant's wrists to keep the spirits in place. The baci ceremony can also be performed to welcome guests, before and after a long journey, and as a curing or recovery ritual for illnesses. Baci is also the central ritual for both the Lao Loum wedding ceremony and for the naming ceremony of a newborn child. Allied with the khwan are three words in the Tai language which add complexity to the nature of the khwan: ming, chetabhut, and chai. Ming, like the khwan, is an immaterial thing that also resides in a person. It gives a person good fortune and prosperity if it does not escape the body. Chetabhut is a word that loosely means "mind." The khwan will forsake someone only when the person is in great fear or is influenced by evil spirits, while the chetabhut will leave a person when they are in a state of apprehension, or during a dream. Chai also loosely translates as "mind," or "heart." Through magic, the chai can be removed from a person as if it was a physical object and hidden somewhere. If a stolen duang chai is discovered in its hidden place and crushed, then the person it was taken from will die.
Tengrism is a shamanistic and animistic religion that originated in the Eurasian steppes, based on shamanism and animism. It typically focuses on the titular sky god Tengri, no deity in the usual sense, but rather a personification of the universe. Some scholars beleive that adherents of Tengrism consider the purpose of life to establish harmony with the universe. It was the prevailing religion of the Göktürks, Xianbei, Bulgars, Xiongnu, Yeniseian and Mongolic peoples, and the Huns. By the 12th–13th centuries, Tengrism began to become influenced by monotheism. All modern adherents of "political" Tengrism are monotheists. Tengrism has been championed by the intelligentsia of the Turkic nations of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan with Kazakhstan) and Russia (Tatarstan, Bashkortostan) ever since the dissolution of the Soviet Union during the 1990s.According to polemicists, "political" Tengrism represents a key element in the renewal of Turkic–Mongol ethnic identity and should be adopted as the official religion by the new states of the region. On a scale of complexity, Tengrism lies somewhere between the Proto-Indo-European religion (a pre-state form of pastoral shamanism on the western steppe) and its later form, the Vedic religion. The chief god Tengri (Heaven) is strikingly similar to the Indo-European sky god Dyḗus and the East Asian sky god Tian. Tengrism formed from the various Turkic and Mongolic folk religions, which had a diverse number of deities, spirits and gods. Turkic folk religion was based on Animism and similar to various other religious traditions of Siberia, Central Asia and Northeast Asia. Ancestor worship played an important part in Tengrism. Tengrism also played a large role in the religion of Mongol Empires as the primary state spirituality. In Mongolian folk religion, Genghis Khan is regarded as the embodiment of Tengri's will. in the Secret History of the Mongols. written in 1240, Genghis mentions both Eternal Tengri and "heaven and earth" when he says "By the mercy of Eternal Tengri and the blessing of heaven and earth I have greatly increased in power, united all the great nations and brought them under my reins." According to Hungarian archaeological research, the pre-Christian religion of the Magyars (Hungarians) until the end of the 10th century was a form of Tengrism and Shamanism. Tengrists view their existence as sustained by the eternal blue sky (Tengri), the fertile mother-earth spirit (Eje) and a ruler regarded as the chosen one by the holy spirit of the sky. Heaven, earth, the spirits of nature, and ancestors protect and supply the needs of humanity. By living an upright and respectful life, a person will keep their life in balance and perfect their personal Wind Horse, or spirit. Traditional Tengrism was more embraced by the nomadic Turks than by those residing in the lower mountains or forests. This belief influenced Turkic and Mongol religious history since ancient times until the 14th century, when the Golden Horde converted to Islam. Since then, Tengrism was mostly submerged by other religious ideas. Traditional Tengrism persists among the Mongols and in some Turkic and Mongolic influenced regions of Russia (Sakha, Buryatia, and Tuva) in parallel with other religions.
Towani Tolotang refers both to a religious system and an ethnic group that is indigenous to the Bugis tribal community located in the landlocked Sindenreng Rappang Regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Bugis migrated to South Sulawesi from the Wajo kingdom, which was conquered in the 17th century by the troops of Sultan Alauddin of the Gowa Kingdom. King Wajo himself was forcibly converted to Islam at that time, and he ordered all the people of the Wajo Kingdom to convert as well, The Towani Tolotang did not follow this order, which led to their expulsion from the kingdom. Their enduring syncretic belief system, interweaving animism, Hindu rituals, and historical adaptations, sets them apart within a predominantly Muslim society. For the Towani Tolotang people, helping one another reflects their adherence to the values of their religion and believe it is a command from the supreme god. Muslims also believe that helping others is commanded by their religion. In consequence, relations between adherants of these two religions are predominately amicable, if unequal. Kinship ties can bridge the barrier that opposing beleif systems erects since both parties come from the native stock. Traditional Tolotang leaders who safeguard their rituals and traditions are critical to cultural preservation. This community's resilience lies in its adaptability, in maintaining the secrecy of its doctrine, and in implementing successful strategies for transmitting religious knowledge from one generations to the next. Challenges persist, including the discriminatory policies of the Indonesian government and being regarded as second class citizens by the majority Muslim society. Islam is officially recognized by the state, but Towani Tolotang is not. The culture possesses communally controlled areas that are only used as religious activities and traditional ceremonies. Indigenous Uwa' and Uwatta are the leaders of customary laws and norms, planners of customary activities, and decision makers. Afherance to traditional customs enables the Bugis people to form views and patterns of daily life that include social processes such as relationships between the individual and the group, the rights and obligations of the individual in society, proper patterns of social intraction, good leadership, and mantainance and preservation of the social order. The supreme god that the Towani Tolotang worship is called Dewa Sewwae or Dewata Seuwae, which means God Almighty.
The Minahasans, or Minahassa, are an indigenous ethnic group from the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia (formerly known as North Celebes). The Minahasa people sometimes refer to themselves as the Manado people. Although the Minahasan pre-Christian creation myth entails some means of ethnic unification, prior to the nineteenth century the Minahasa region was not unified. Instead, a number of independent groups (walak) existed, often in a permanent state of conflict. Historically, the Minahasa region was located within the sphere of influence of the Ternate Sultanate. The Minahasa people, however, resisted Islamization. In the era of the Dutch East Indies, the Minahasa people identified strongly with the Dutch language, culture and the Protestant faith. According to Minahasa mythology, the Minahasans are all descendants of Toar and Lumimuut. Initially, descendants of Toar-Lumimuut comprised three groups: Makatelu-pitu (three times seven), Makarua-siouw (two times nine) and Pasiowan-Telu (nine times three). They multiplied quickly, but soon disputes arose among these people. Leaders named Tona'as met and resolved these conflicts by splitting the descendants of Toar-Lumimuut into three independent groups, the Tonsea, Tombulu, and Tontemboan. The basic unit of social structure was the wale, a group of a dozen or so houses. Wale were combined into a larger ritual group called a walak. Relations between the nearly thirty walak were not always peaceful. Relations with those outside of the walak were hostile. The Tonsea were consigned to the Maiesu territory, the Tombulu to Niaranan, and the Tontemboan to Tumaratas. In the following years, several more groups immigrated to Minahasa including people from the islands of Maju and Tidore (the ancestors of the Tonsawang ethnic group), people from Tomori Bay (ancestors of the subethnic Pasam-bangko, or Ratahan dan Pasan), people from Bolaang Mangondow (ancestors of Ponosakan), people from the Bacan archipelago and Sangi (who became walak Manado), people from Toli-toli, and people from the region where Malalayang is currently located (ancestors of the subethnic Bantik). Ancient Minahasa society was both highly competitive and egalitarian. Important walian (religious shaman) were often female. Important decisions concerning the community were made democratically. Owing to the equality inherent in the worldy circumstances of the Minahasans, enhanced status was mainly dependent on personal achievements and the expression of personal virtues. Among these were bravery in warfare (including headhunting), sponsorship of large scale feasts, and amassing material wealth in the form of clothing and ornaments. Personal bravery and eloquence were evidence of keter, the manifestation of supernatural powers in a living being. A sufficient degree of virtue could elevate a Minihasan to the status of wa'ilan, the ritually honored ancestors.
Vietnamese folk religion (Vietnamese)
Vietnamese folk religion is a group of ethnic religions or religious beliefs and practices followed by the Vietnamese people. It is not an organized religious system, but a set of local worship traditions devoted to the thần, a term which can be translated as spirits, gods, or more inclusively as generative powers. These gods can be nature deities, community or kinship tutelary deities, and national ancestral gods or ancestral gods specific to a family. Ancestral gods are often deified heroic persons. Vietnamese mythology relates the activity of many of the cosmic gods and cultural heroes. Đạo Mẫu is a distinct form of Vietnamese shamanism which gives prominence to a mother goddess. Cao Đài is also a form of Vietnamese indigenous religion that brings incorporates the worship of the thần, or local spirits with Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and some elements of Catholicism, Spiritism and Theosophy. The Vietnamese folk religion was suppressed in various ways from 1945 (the end of the dynastic period) until the 1980s. Temples (generically called miếu) were destroyed, or became dilapidated due to neglect. The period between 1975 and 1979 witnessed the most zealous anti-religion campaign and destruction of temples. On the eve of the Đổi Mới reforms, from 1985 onwards, the state gradually returned to a policy of protection of the religious culture. The Vietnamese indigenous religion was championed as the backbone of a progressive culture and promoter of national identity. Both the state and the common people are mutual protagonists in the recent revival of Vietnamese folk religion. In this religion, linh has a meaning equivalent to holy and numen, the power of a deity to affect the world of the living, a concepts derived from Chinese ling. Linh is the mediator between âm and dương, meaning disorder and order, with order (yang in Chinese) preferred over disorder (yin in Chinese). This attribute is often associated with goddesses, animal motifs such as the snake (an amphibious animal), the owl which forgoes day in favour of night, the bat which bears aspects associated with both birds and mammals, the rooster who crows at the crack between night and morning, but also rivers dividing landmasses, and other intermediate, transitional entities. Linh is the logic of symbolic relations. The interplay between opposing forces governs reproduction and change. Linh has also been described as the ability to set up spatial and temporal boundaries, represent and identify metaphors, and the setting apart and linking together of differences. Boundaries are crossed by practices such as sacrifice and inspired intercession of shamans who interpret how acts and events may, or may not, indicate the will of the gods. Vietnamese Gods roughly fall into four categories: heavenly deities, tutelary deities or deified ancestors or progenitors (Thành hoàng refers a tutelary deity that is enshrined in every village's communal temple), hierarchical or court-like pantheons led by the Ngọc Hoàng inherited from the Taoist patterns, headed by the Ngọc Hoàng, and deities of Cham, Khmer, and other Southeast Asian ethnic origin such as Po Yan Inu Nagar (female foundress of the Cham people) and Cá Ông, the Whale God which originated from a Buddhist legend.
Yahwism (ancient Israelites)
Yahwism is the name given by contemporary scholars to the religion of the ancient kingdoms of Israel (circa 930–720 BCE) and Judah (circa 930–587 BCE). Yahwism was essentially polytheistic, incorporating several gods and goddesses. The primary god of the Israelite kingdoms of Israel and Judah was Yahweh, along with his consort, goddess Asherah. Various biblical passages indicate that statues of Asherah were kept in Yahweh's temples in Jerusalem, Bethel, and Samaria. Secondary gods and goddesses included Baal, Shamash, Yarikh, Mot, and Astarte, each of whom had their own priests and prophets. A third tier of specialist deities may have existed such as the god of snakebite cures. Biblical text identifies him only as Nehushtan. A fourth and final tier included divine beings such as the mal'ak, messengers of the higher gods, who in later times became the angels and cherubim of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The existence of other gods was denied in the second half of the Book of Isaiah. During the monarchic period (10th to 6th centuries BCE), the religion of Israel moved towards the sole worship of Yahweh. Initially, these theological changes were confined to small groups, only spreading to the population at large during the general political turbulence of the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. This progressive evolution towards monotheism culminated by the end of the Babylonian exile in the late 6th century BCE. By the 4th century BCE, Yahwism had coalesced into what are now known as Second Temple Judaism in Judah and Samaritanism in Israel. Yahweh was not the original principal god of Israel, but rather El, the head of the Canaanite pantheon whose name forms the basis of the name Israel. None of the Old Testament patriarchs, the tribes of Israel, the Judges, or the earliest monarchs, have Yahwistic theophoric names (ones that incorporate the name of Yahweh). The Hebrew Bible gives the impression that the Jerusalem Temple was always meant to be the central and sole temple of Yahweh, but archaeological remains of other temples have been discovered at Dan on Israel's northern frontier, Arad, Beersheba, and Motza in the southern region of Judah. Shiloh, Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah, Ramah, and Dan were also major sites for festivals, sacrifices, vow-making, private rituals, and the resolution of legal disputes. During an era of religious syncretism, it became accepted among the Israelite people to consider the Canaanite god El as the same as Yahweh. El was soon thought to have always been the same deity as Yahweh, as noted by Exodus 6:2–3: "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them." Worship of Yahweh as sole deity began at the earliest with prophet Elijah in the 9th century BCE, and at the latest with prophet Hosea in the 8th. Even then it remained a minority view before gaining ascendancy in the exilic and early post-exilic period. Some scholars date the advent of widespread monotheism to the 8th century BCE and regard it as a response to Neo-Assyrian aggression. The rituals detailed in Leviticus 1–16, with their stress on purity and atonement, were followed only after the Babylonian exile and the transition from Yahwism to Judaism. Before this era, any head of a family could offer sacrifice as occasion demanded. In addition to the sacrificial priests, a major role in Yahwism, and later in Judaism, was fulfilled by prophets and epic heroes (Samson and Joshua, for example).
Yarsanism (Kurds of northern Iraq and western Iran)
Yarsanism is an inherited, syncretic religion founded by Sultan Sahak in the late 14th century in western Iran. Sultsn Shahak was a Kurdish religious leader who reformed the beliefs of Yarsanism. He was considered to be the fourth of seven incarnations of God. The total number of Iranian followers of Iranian Yarsanism is estimated to be half a million to one million in Iran. The number of followers in Iraq is unknown. The Yarsanis have a distinct religious literature primarily written in the Gorani language, but few modern Yarsani can read or write Gorani. Their central religious book, written in the 15th century, is called the Kalâm-e Saranjâm and is based on the teachings of Sultan Sahak. Older texts are called the Perdiwari texts since Perdiwar is where Soltan Sahak had first founded the Yarsani community. The Perdiwari texts are attributed to writers from this first community of Yarsani believers. Yarsani beleive that the universe is composed of two distinct yet interrelated worlds: the internal (bātinī) and the external (zāhirī), each having its own order and rules. Although humans are only cognizant of the outer world, their lives are governed according to the rules of the inner world. Other pillars of their belief system are that the Divine Essence has successive manifestations in human form (mazhariyyat) and the belief in transmigration of the soul (dunaduni in Kurdish). Yarasani believe that if a person does not honor what is written in the Kalâm-e Saranjâm, they are not part of Yarsan. There is no compulsion or exclusion in Yarsan, so anyone who chooses to live by its precepts can become a Yarsani. This faith embraces aspects of millenarism (belief in a pending fundamental transformation of society), innatism (the view that the mind is born with ready formed ideas, knowledge, and beliefs), egalitarianism, metempsychosis (the transmigration at death of the soul of a human being or animal into a new body of the same or a different species), angelology, divine manifestation (human beings who perfectly reflect the attributes of divinity), and dualism. Yarsani believe God, in either angel or human form, is present in one primary and seven secondary manifestations in each epoch of the world. These seven persons are known as Heft tan, which means the seven persons. The primary mazhariyyat of the First Epoch was the Divine Essence known as Khawandagar, who created the world. As noted, in the Fourth Epoch the primary mazhariyyat is beleived to be Sultan Sahak. The secondary mazhariyyats of the Second Epoch include Salman, Qanbar, Muhammad, Nusayr (either Jesus Christ or Theophobus), and Bahlool. This epoch also includes Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad as incarnation of the female angel. Two important sanctuaries of the Yarsani are the tomb of Bābā Yādgār in Kermanshah Province and the tomb of Dawoud at Zarde. Other important sites include the shrine of Sultan Suhak in Sheykhan and he tombs of Pir Benjamin and Pir Musi in the town of Kerend, which are all also located in Kermanshah Province.
Yazdânism (related to Kurdish Alevism, Yarsanism, and Yazidism)
Yazdânism (or Cult of the Angels) is a term used to describe the group of ancient Kurdish religions that predate Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. The Yazdâni faiths are the native religions of the Kurdish people. Only three branches still exist: Yazidism, Yarsanism and Alevism. These branches have several features in common, including a cyclical world beleif system and beleif in the transmigration of the soul through numerous reincarnations. In Yazdâni theology, an ancient pantheistic force (Hâk or Haqq) that created and encompasses the entire universe. It binds the cosmos together with its essence, but remains detatched from the daily affairs of humanity. The Hâk has entrusted the universe to the heft sirr (the Heptad, Seven Mysteries, or Seven Angels) who sustain life and can become incarnate in humans as bâbâ (gates or avatar). These seven emanations can be compared to the seven Anunnaki aspects of the ancient Mesopotamian god Anu. Among the seven is Melek Taus (Peacock Angel or King) who is identical to the ancient god Dumuzi son of Enki and is the primary god of Yazdânism. Another god is Shaykh Shams al-Din (the son of faith) who is Mithra. Beleifs are drawn from Zoroastrianism and expressed in an Arabic and Persianate Sufi lexicon. The seven benevolent deities protect the world from an equal number of malicious deities. Supreme force Hâk can cause both good and bad things to befall humanity. Melek Taus, as ruler of the world, can cause both good and bad things to happen to people. His ambivalent character is reflected in myths that describe Melek Taus's temporary fall from the favor of the creator god. The remorseful tears of Melek Taus extinguished the fires of the hell that the supreme god had consigned him to. The master of the universe and the ruler of the world were later reconciled. Melek Taus is often identified by Christians and Muslims as Shaitan (Satan). Yazidis, however, beleive that Melek Taus is leader of the archangels, and not a fallen angel. Muslims also falsely accuse the Yazdâni of sharing their women at their communal religious gatheringsThis, and other misperceptions, have led to centuries of persecutions against the Yazidi, and false accusations that they are devil worshippers. As late as 2014, members of the Yazidi sect of Yazdânism were targeted by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in a campaign to purge Iraq and neighboring countries of non-Islamic influences. The rites and tenets of Yazdânism have traditionally been kept secret from non-believing outsiders, even when followers were not subject to persecution. At present, many of the scriptures of various branches of the Cult of Angels have been studied and published. Yazdânism is a genuinely universalist religion. It views all other religions as equally legitimate manifestations of the concept of human spirituality. This view carries over into an offshoot of Yazdânism. In the 19th century, Mirzâ Ali Muhammad (now commonly known as The Bâb) rose to establish the religion of Bâbism, which soon evolved into the world religion of Bâhâ’ism. The religion spread at the same fast pace as Mithraism did in classical times, from the Persian Gulf to Britain in less than a century. Mithra, as noted, was identified with Yazdânist archangel Shaykh Shams al-Din. By the time of Constantine and the institution of Christianity as Roman state religion, Mithraism had become so influential that it may well be that observance of the birth of the god Mithras on December 25th inspired the traditional dating of the birth of Christ.
Yazidism is the ethnic religion of the Yazidi people. This religious group is indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. After the Muslim conquests of the 7th–8th centuries, Yazidis have faced persecution by Arabs and, later, by Turks. Many striking similarities between the Yazidis, the Yaresan, and the Kurdish Alevis which can be traced back to an ancient faith that was practiced by the western Iranic peoples, one derived from the pre-Zoroastrian Iranic tradition. Yezidism emerged in the 12th century when Sheikh Adi established a religious order called Adawiyya. After studying in Baghdad, Sheikh Adi settled in Lalish valley and introduced his doctrines to local Kurds, who were then practicing an old Iranic religion. After his death, his disciples and successors blended his doctrines and teachings with local Iranic traditions. As a result, Yezidi tradition employs many terms, images, and symbols of Sufi or Islamic origin, while to a greater extent preserves pre-Islamic mythology, symbology, rituals, festivals, and traditions. Because of the ever-growing power and influence of the Yezidis, they began to be perceived as a threat by the neighbouring Muslims, intensifying the Yezidi-Muslim conflict that would last for centuries. Yezidis came into contact with the Ottomans for the first time in the early 16th century but were able to preserve much of their independence within the setting of the Ottoman Empire. Yezidi leaders occupied important positions within the provincial Ottoman system and were appointed as governors as far as Tikrit and Kerek. During the first half of the 17th century, Yezidis became a very powerful entity under the leadership of Ezidi Mirza which prompted the Ottomans to launch numerous expeditions against the Yezidis in Shingal. In modern times, the 2014 Yazidi genocide was carried out by the Islamic States. Over 5,000 Yazidis were killed and thousands of Yazidi women and girls were forced into sexual slavery. More than 500,000 Yazidi became refugees. Yazidi cultural practices are observed in the Kurmanji language, which is also used for the oral transmission of religious traditions. Like Yazdânism (see preceding article), Yazīdī cosmogony states that a supreme creator god made the world but afterward absented himself from it. Control of the world was entrusted to seven divine beings. The chief divine being is Malak Ṭāʾūs (Melek Taus), the Peacock Angel, who is worshipped in the form of a peacock. Malak Ṭāʾūs has often been misidentified by outsiders with the Judeo-Christian figure of Satan, causing both the Yazīdīs and Yarsani to be viewed as Devil worshippers. A person who breaks divine laws is expiated through metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls (reincarnation), which enables a progressive purification of their spirit. Sheikh ʿAdī, the chief Yazīdī saint, is believed to have achieved divinity through metempsychosis. Heaven and hell are also a part of Yazīdī mythology. The Yazīdī belief system emphasizes religious purity, and so Yazīdīs honor a multitude of taboos which govern aspects of daily life. The Yazīdī religious center and object of an annual pilgrimage is the tomb of Sheikh ʿAdī, in the town of Lālish, Iraq.
Yupik religion (Yupik of Alaska and eastern Russia)
The Yupik people are an indigenous group who live in Alaska and far northeastern Russia. According to U.S. Census data, there are approximately 34,000 Yupik people currently living in Alaska, but probably fewer than 2,000 live in Russia. According to archaeological data, the Yupiit have been in Alaska for around three thousand years, They are descended from the Thule people, who originated in Siberia and later settled across much of the Arctic. The Yupik people share ancestry with the Inuit people and, more distantly, with the Aleut people. The traditional religious beliefs of the Yupik people is animistic, the concept that spirits inhabit everything in nature. Yupik believe that all living creatures go through a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, so they give newborns the name of a recently deceased member of their community. Yupik practice rituals in which parts of animals killed for food are returned to the ocean so that the animal can be reborn. They practice shamanism, and beleive that there are both good and evil spirits. Shamans are able to communicate with these spirits. Those affected by evil spirits would suffer, often becoming sick. Shamans were compensated for intervening with the spirits to effect a cure. The spirits did not compel individuals to become shamans. Most Yupik shamans chose this path. The process of becoming a shaman usually involved difficult learning and initiation rites, and sometimes included a vision quest. The ability to command the spirits was characteristic of shamans, but non-shamans could also profit from spirit powers through the use of amulets which could protect an individual or an entire family. Since contact with the outside world was established relatively recently, the Yupik have been able to preserve many of their traditional ways of life. In the twentieth century, when Western schools and churches were built in Alaska, the Yupik stopped retelling their stories and traditional words of wisdom. As the last of the shamans died and no one arose to take their place, Yupik elders recognized that their lifestyle was about to become irretrievably lost. The elders chose to again share their wisdom with the next generation. Traditionally, hunter/gatherer Yupik families spent the spring and summer at fish camps, then rejoined other members of their tribe for the winter. These villages contained separate buildings for men and the women. The men's communal house, the qasgiq, was the community center for ceremonies and festivals which included singing, dancing, and storytelling. Carved wooden masks were utilized during ceremonies representing plants, animals, and composite representations of humans and animals. Qasgiq were also where the men taught the young boys survival and hunting skills and how to make tools and qayaqs (kayaks). The women's houses, the ena, were smaller and made of sod. They were usually located next to the qasgiq, and some were connected to it by a tunnel. Women taught the young girls how to sew, cook, and weave. Boys would live with their mothers until they were about five years old, then they would relocate to the qasgiq. Each winter for three to six weeks, the young boys and young girls would exchange residences. The men of the qasgiq would teach the girls survival and hunting skills and toolmaking and the women of the ena would teach the boys how to sew and cook. Presently, qasgiq have given way to modern houses, with electricity and plumbing, and churches and schools the center of communal events. Despite this, the Yupik still place emphasis on the extended family as the basis of society.
Non-specific Regional Ethnic Religions
What many Central Asian folk religions have in common is the practice of shamanism, a system of religious practice that beleives that shamans, by connecting with the spiritual realm, have the power to heal the sick, communicate with spirits, and escort souls of the dead to the afterlife. The origins of Shamanism stem from indigenous peoples of far northern Europe and Siberia. shamans are found in a variety of cultures that are not traditionally associated with the concept; spirit mediums in sub-Saharan Africa and cases of spirit possession in East Asia. New World shamanism, however, derives from its root stock, reaching the Americas 12,000 to 30,000 years ago. Shamanism is beleived to be one of the world’s oldest religions. Evidence of shamanic practice is contained in Paleolithic cave art. New Age revivals of this practice also make it one of its newest. Shamanic experiences are being cultivated in contemporary societies as neoshamanistic variations on an ancient theme. The narrowest conceptions of shamanism restrict the use of the term to a specific form of religious practice found in Siberia, where Tungus religious practitioners called šamán (source of the term shaman) serve as a model. Romanian historian Mircea Eliade’s classic study of this subject grants historical and conceptual priority to shamanism, and traces its outward spread from its Siberian base. Others argue that the concept of shamanism should be extended to a nearly universal set of beliefs about spirits, spiritism, and the occult realms. American anthropologist Lowell Bean, for example, comments that “Shamanism is the religion of all hunting and gathering cultures, and it forms the basis of many more formalized religions that retain shamanistic elements." Anthropologists have often adopted this broader perspective, seeking similarities among overtly different traditions typically by linking them according to the social functions served by shamans (healing through spirit intervention, community protection from attack by malignant spirits, and the pursuit of community political goals through the medium of spiritism). Shamanism is a useful concept to describe a set of religious phenomena of historical depth and wide ethnographic extent, and there is value in considering how such a wide range of beliefs and practices can be related to a basic set of defining characteristics. Shamanism has been recently described as a form of interaction between a practitioner and spirits, one that is not available to other members of a community. The practitioner acts on behalf of a community, or on behalf of individual members of that community, to perform a variety of social roles. These may include healing, harming and ensuring the successful outcome of subsistence activities through intervention with the spiritual realm or by using knowledge gained through communication with the spirits.
The Iranian religions, also known as the Persian religions, are a group of religious movements that originated in the Iranian plateau. The beliefs, activities, and cultural events of the ancient Iranians, a combination of several Aryans and non-Aryan tribes, are complex and varied. The documented history of Iranian religions begins with Zoroastrianism. The ancient Iranian prophet, Zoroaster, reformed preexisting beliefs of ancient Iranians, the speculative Ancient Iranian religion, into a form of henotheism (adherence to one particular god out of several) and monotheism. The Gathas, hymns of Zoroaster's Avesta, introduced monotheistic ideas to Persia, while through the Yashts and Yasna, mention is made to polytheism and earlier creeds. The Hindu Vedas and the Zoroastrian Avesta have both proved to be important resources in discovering the nature of early Proto-Indo-Iranian religious beliefs and ideas and the various beliefs and practices that indigenous religions of the Iranian and Indo-Aryan peoples later evolved. Ancient Iranian religions include the Scythian religion (religion of the Scythians and basis for its modern revival as Uatsdin. The malignant Zoroastrian Daevas may partly be based on Scythian gods), Zoroastrianism (presently monolithic, but in antiquity included a variety of denominations that differed slightly based on location, ethnic affiliation, and historical context), Mithraism (a mystery religion centred around the proto-Zoroastrian Persian god Mithras that was wildly popular in the Roman Empire from the 1st to the 4th centuries), Manichaeism (a 3rd century dualistic religion comprised of Christian, Gnostic, and pagan elements), and Yazdanism and Yazidism (see articles above). During the Medieval period, ancient beliefs often became blended with Islam since this region was now controlled by Muslims. Syncretic beleif systems include Persian mysticism (traditional interpretations of existence fused with Perso-Islamic Sufi monotheism), the Khurramites (a 9th-century religious and political movement based on the 8th century teachings of Sunpadh, who preached a syncretism of Shia Islam and Zoroastrianism), Behafaridians (an 8th-century cult movement centered on the prophet Behafarid based on Zoroastrianism, but Behafarid and his followers were executed on charges made by Zoroastrians of causing harm to both Zoroastrianism and Islam), Yarsanism (a religion founded in the late 14th century that professes belief in one God who manifests in one primary form and six secondary forms, the Holy Seven), and the Druze faith (an esoteric, monotheistic ethnic religion whose tenets include reincarnation and the eternity of the soul). Modern variants on ancient Iranian religion include Assianism/Uatsdin (a revival of Ossetian ethnic religion), the Roshanniya Movement (based on the monotheistic teachings of Pir Roshan), Bábism (a mid-19th century monotheistic religion founded by the Báb, who claimed to be a messenger of God. Bábism was a predecessor of the Baháʼí Faith), and the popular and widespread Baháʼí Faith (an emerging monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh, a 19th-century Persian exile. Baháʼí teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people).
Tai folk religion in Laos, Thailand, and some parts of Myanmar
Tai folk religion has been summarized in a preceding article on this webpage, but its followers are so numerous and widespread that it can be considered as a non-specific regional ethnic religion. The Lao people, the Thai Ahom people, the Shan people, the Dai people, the Tai Khamti, the Isan people and the Thais of Thailand all possess many persons who practice the Tai folk religion. It is based on animism and polytheism and incorporates shamanism and ancestor worship. Followers of the Tai religion beleive that gods and various lesser deities can patronize buildings, localities, or objects. Deities can be many types of spirits, including the spirits of ancestors. By interacting with living people, deities can either protect or harm them. Both urban and rural residents seek the mercy of the protector deities by glorifying them at meetings and offering them food. The pantheon of Tai gods includes both Hindu and non-Hindu gods (Piftan). The spirits are ubiquitous, and some of them are connected with the universal elements: air, earth, fire and water. The belief system includes 32 protector spirits called Hwang. Whenever important events occur in a person’s life (such as a wedding or a new job), the Bachi ceremony helps an individual to strengthen or restore their connection with the Hwang spirits. A weakening of these spirits leads to illness and failure. During the ceremony, all 32 Hwang spirits are returned to a person to ensure their health, good luck, and overall well-being. At the ceremony, cotton threads are tied around the participant’s wrist to bind the recaptured spirits inside. In the daily life of Tai, close to every building, there are small, covered spirit houses, miniature shrines that provide shelter for protector spirits. In difficult times, people petition these spirits for advice or assistance. Natural deities reside in forests and mountains, rather than spirit houses. Angels and the spirits of ancestors also help protect people. Those who were bad in past incarnations or who died tragically are veiwed as evil spirits. The gods of certain places such as houses, rivers, or forests are neither good nor evil. But by making offerings, a person can solicit aid from them. Priests called mofis are shamans, ritual specialists who can communicate with gods, the spirits, and the world of the dead. To do so, they enter a trance and utilize objects endowed with supernatural powers. Ceremonies begin with an offering to the gods of chicken meat and rice wine. After the gods consume the spiritual essence of the food, the people can eat the corporeal remains. Ethnic groups which preach the Tai folk religion believe that spirits live in almost everything that surrounds them. Respect and reverence for nature, living and inanimate beings help people achieve the desired harmony in life. Ethnic groups which preach the Tai folk religion believe that spirits dwell in practically everything that surrounds them. Respect and reverence for nature, the living, and even inanimate objects allows people to obtain a harmonious life.
A large minority of people in North Asia, particularly in Siberia, follow the religio-cultural practices of shamanism. Some researchers regard Siberia as the heartland of shamanism. The preceding article on Central Asia folk religions includes information about Siberian folk religion. Here is a sentence from it: "The narrowest conceptions of shamanism restrict the use of the term to a specific form of religious practice found in Siberia, where Tungus religious practitioners called šamán (source of the term shaman) serve as a model." The relatively modern term shaman is of Siberian derivation, but the article also features a statement by American anthropologist Lowell Bean: "“Shamanism is the religion of all hunting and gathering cultures, and it forms the basis of many more formalized religions that retain shamanistic elements." Traces of shamanism are present in the traditional religions of every continent to a greater or lesser extent. In the tribal societies of Siberia and Central Asia, shamanism always has been a fundamental factor of religious life since the Bronze Age. Buryat (a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia) shamanism was energetically opposed and suppressed by Soviet authorities, but many traditions were secretly preserved. Currently, tribes from Lake Baikal, Trans-Baikal, Tuva and Altai regions again perform their traditional rites. Post-Soviet shamanism is being resurrected on a grand scale. According to shamanism, the universe is divided into three worlds: the upper world, thre earth, and the underworld. These worlds are all connected by a cosmic axis called the Golden Pillar by the Buryats. It is recognised as the center of the universe and the point of entry to and departure from the individual worlds. The upper world is inhabited by gods. The underworld is inhabited by demons. The earth, positioned between these two extremes, is inhabited by humans. Spirits called Abaasies can live in all three worlds. Shamans can interact and communicate with the spirits of all three worlds. A shaman is simultaneously a soothsayer, a priest, and a healer. The power of a shaman lies in their mastery of the ecstatic techniques of dreams, visions, and trances. Shamans are valued members of their communities, so it is common in Siberia to isolate a shaman who does not participate in the everyday life of tribal society. The rituals of Shamanism in Siberia involve healing, purifying and divination. While performing these rituals, Shamans attired in costumes specific to their tribe sing, chant, dance, and strike drums and tambourines that symbolize the universe. Often they use intoxicating substances and hallucinogenic mushrooms as a means of hastening the attainment of an ecstasic state. Typically, sacrifices are offered to Mother Earth, the spirits, and the gods during these rituals. Healing is performed to rid a person of the evil spirit that has caused disease and to restore portions of a sufferer's soul that have been stolen by the evil spirits. Divination is the means whereby a Shaman can foretell the future, diagnose diseases, and seek a cure for them. In some cultures, it is believed that a shaman can escort the newly deceased persons to their place in the Otherworld. Shamans, like psychoanalysts, can interpret a person's dreams and find the solution to the problems hidden in them.
Turco-Mongol religion of Northeast Asia
Turkic mythology refers to myths and legends told by the Turkic people. It features Tengrist (a religion originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on shamanism and animism that generally involves worship of the titular sky god Tengr) beliefs along with many other social and cultural constructs related to the nomadic and warrior way of life of the Turkic and Mongol peoples in ancient times. Turkic mythology shares many of the attributes of Mongol mythology. It has also been influenced by other local Asiatic and Eurasian mythologies. For example, in Tatar mythology the elements of Finnic and Indo-European mythologies co-exist. The ancient Turks practiced every current major religions of inner Asia such as Tibetan Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Judaism, and Manichaeism before the majority converted to a form of Islam modified by preexisting Persian and Central Asian culture and the preaching of Sufi Muslim wandering ascetics and mystics (fakirs and dervishes). Often, these other religions were assimilated and integrated through syncretism into their prevailing native lifestyle, worldview, and mythological tradition. Turko-Mongol mythology is essentially polytheistic but became more monotheistic during the imperial period among the ruling class and centered around the worship of Tengri, the omnipresent Sky God. After the Turks started to migrate and leave Central Asia and encounter monotheistic religions, Tengrism became modified from its polytheistic roots. Only two of the original gods remained: Tengri, representing goodness and Uçmag (a place like heaven), and Erlik who represents evil and hell. Deities are personifications of creative and ruling powers, but even when they are anthropomorphised, their supernatural qualities always stand in the foreground. İye are guardian spirits responsible for specific natural elements, but are so numerous that they often lack personal traits. Although most entities can be identified as deities or İye, there are other supernatural entities such as Genien (Çor, or jinn which may either be good or evil) and unmistakably evil demons (Abasi). Tengri rules the fates of all people and acts freely, but is fair when he awards and punishes humanity. The welfare of the people hinges upon his will. Other Turkic dieties from the polytheistic era include Umay (goddess of fertility), Öd Tengri (possibly the god of time), Boz Tengri (possibly the god of the ground and steppes), Kayra (son of Kök Tengri and the spirit of god; a primordial god of the highest skies, upper air, space, atmosphere, light, and life), Ülgen (son of Kayra and Umay and the god of goodness), Mergen (brother of Ülgen who represents the mind and intelligence), Kyzaghan (another brother of Ülgen who is associated with war), Erlik (god of death and the underworld), Alara (a water fairy from Tatar mythology that lives in Lake Baikal with functions similar to those of Cupid), Ak Ana (the White Mother, primordial creator-goddess of the Turkic peoples and also the goddess of the water), Ayaz Ata (a winter god), Ay Dede (the moon god), Gün Ana (the sun goddess), Alaz (the god of fire), Talay (or Dalai, the god of the ocean and seas), and Elos (the goddess of chaos and control.
Americas
Acoma Pueblo religion (Puebloans)
Acoma Pueblo is a Native American pueblo approximately 60 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four communities make up the village of Acoma Pueblo: Sky City (Old Acoma), Acomita, Anzac, and McCartys. The Acoma Pueblo tribe is a federally recognized tribal entity whose historic land of Acoma Pueblo totaled roughly 5,000,000 acres. Today, much of the Acoma community lives within the boundaries of the Acoma Indian Reservation. Acoma Pueblo is a National Historic Landmark. The Acoma have occupied the area for over 2000 years, making this one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. Pueblo people are believed to have descended from the Ancestral Puebloans, Mogollon, and other ancient peoples. These influences are seen in the architecture, farming style, and artistry of the Acoma. In the 13th century, the Ancestral Puebloans abandoned their canyon homelands due to climate change and to defend themselves against raids by the Apache and Navajo. The Acoma Pueblo, which is situated on a 365-foot mesa, emerged by the 13th century. No attack against the Acoma succeeded until the Spanish arrived in the late 1500's. Acoma society is matriarchal. Women own the dwellings and household possessions. The youngest daughter in each family inherits the pueblo dwelling. In the case where the family has only boys, the youngest daughter of the of the youngest son will inherit the dwelling. Traditional Acoma religion stresses harmony between life and nature. The sun is a representative of the creator deity. Mountains that surround the community, the sun above, and the earth below balance and define the Acoma world. Traditional religious ceremonies may revolve around the weather, such as seeking to ensure a generous rainfall. The Acoma also use kachinas (a spiritual being and accessories required for its worship) in rituals. The Pueblos also had one or more kivas, which served as religious chambers. The leader of each Pueblo would serve as the community religious leader, or cacique. The cacique would observe the sun and use it as a guide for scheduling ceremonies, some which were kept secret. Many modern Acoma are Catholic, but blend aspects of Catholicism and their traditional religion. Many of the old rituals are still performed. In September, the Acoma honor their patron saint, Saint Stephen. On his feast day the mesa is opened to the public. More than 2,000 pilgrims attend the San Esteban Festival. The celebration begins at San Esteban Del Rey Mission where a carved pine effigy of Saint Stephen is removed from the altar and carried into the main plaza as people chant, shoot rifles, and ring steeple bells. The procession then proceeds past the cemetery, down narrow streets, and then to the plaza. Upon arriving at the plaza, the effigy is placed in a shrine lined with woven blankets and guarded by two Acoma men. A celebration follows with dancing and feasting.
Anishinaabe traditional beliefs cover the traditional belief system of the Anishinaabeg peoples, consisting of the Algonquin/Nipissing, Ojibwa/Chippewa/Saulteaux/Mississaugas, Odawa, Potawatomi, and Oji-Cree located primarily in the Great Lakes region of North America. The Anishinaabe have several medicine societies comprised of spiritual healers and their associated rituals. The Midewiwin is the Grand Medicine Society of the indigenous groups of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America. Its practitioners are called Midew. It is a secretive animistic religion, requires an initiation, then initiates progress through four levels, or degrees, of practice. Male Midew are sometimes called Midewinini, which can be very loosely translated into English as medicine man. The Waabanowin is the Dawn Society, often improperly called the "Magical Dawn Society". Its practitioners are called Waabanow. Like the Midewiwin, the Waabanowin is a secretive animistic religion requiring an initiation. Unlike the Mide, the Waabano have often only have two levels of expertise (but sometimes four). Waabano were systematically imprisoned in mental hospitals by the United States government in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Because of this, the Waabanowin went underground and have only just begun to reemerge since the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978. The Jiisakiiwin are also known as the Shaking Tent or the Juggler's Tent. Among the Anishinaabeg, this medicine society has established a particularly powerful and well-respected spiritual practice. Those trained from childhood are called a Jaasakiid or Jiisakiiwinini, and are also known as a Juggler or Shaking-tent Seer. According to the oral history of the Anishinaabeg, they originally lived on the shores of the Great Salt Water (presumably the Atlantic Ocean near the Gulf of St. Lawrence). They were instructed by seven prophets to follow a sacred miigis shell (whiteshell) toward the west until they reached a place where food grew upon the water. Eventually, they migrated to the wild ricing lands of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wild rice is a food that grows upon the water. Storytelling is one of the most important aspects of Anishinaabe life. Many Anishinaabe people believe that stories can create worlds and are an essential part of generational connection through teaching and listening. Storys can also facilitate a connection with the nonhuman, natural world. Anishinaabe stories feature activities and actions such as participating in ceremonies, experimenting with new ideas and people, and reflecting on the outcome of events. Nanabush stories carry the message to young Indigenous peoples that it is okay to make mistakes, and that things aren’t always black and white. Nanabush, half god and half human, was a teacher and a trickster often bent on making humans look foolish, but his jokes often backfired on him. He also was a hero and a creator who loved helping out his people and his animals by using the powers the Great Spirit, Gitchi Manitou, had granted to him at birth. Currently, there are a number of established Anishinaabe writers who are following a pattern set by Nanabush. In addition to storytelling, Anishinaabe communities also have a long tradition of music. Anishinaabe art forms include birchbark and ash baskets and boxes, which traditionally featured designs made of porcupine quills.
Aztec religion (Aztec people of the Aztec Empire)
The Aztec religion is a polytheistic and monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of teotl was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl. It embraces a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The religion of the common people tended to embrace its mythological and polytheistic aspects. The Aztec Empire's state religion sponsored both the monism of the upper classes and its more popular heterodoxies. The Aztec Empire officially recognized the more popular cults. The imperial cult was solely dedicated to the distinctive warlike patron god of Huitzilopochtli. Human sacrifice was common in worship ceremonies dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. These took place frequently throughout the region. Typically, multiple victims were sacrificed each day at any one of a number of temples. Subjugated peoples were allowed to retain their own religious traditions in conquered provinces so long as they included imperial god Huitzilopochtli in their local pantheons. The Empire, in turn, would often incorporate practices from newly conquered territories into the mainstream religion. In common with many other indigenous Mesoamerican civilizations, the Aztecs put great ritual emphasis on their calader. They scheduled festivals, government ceremonies, and even warfare around key transition dates in the Aztec calendar. Public ritual practices could involve food, storytelling, and dance, ceremonial warfare, the Mesoamerican ballgame, and human sacrifice. The cosmology of Aztec religion divides the world into thirteen heavens and nine earthly layers or netherworlds. The first heaven overlaps with the first terrestrial layer, so that heaven and the terrestrial layers meet at the surface of the Earth. Each level is associated with a specific set of deities and astronomical objects. The most important celestial entities in Aztec religion are the Sun, the Moon, and the planet Venus which serves as both morning star and evening star. Many leading deities of the Aztecs continue to be worshipped today. These deities like Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca are venerated by different names in various Mesoamerican cultures. For the Aztecs, significant are the rain god Tlaloc, Huitzilopochtli (patron of the Mexica tribe), Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent and god of wind and learning), and Tezcatlipoca (the shrewd, elusive god of destiny and fortune). Tezcatlipoca was also connected to war and sorcery. Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli were worshipped in shrines positioned at the top of the largest pyramid, Templo Mayor, in the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan (now the historic center of Mexico City). Another monument in the plaza stands in front of Templo Mayor and was devoted to the wind god, Ehecatl, who was an aspect or form of Quetzalcoatl. Nahua (the native peoples of Mexico) metaphysics centers around teotl, described as a single, dynamic, vivifying, eternally self-generating and self-regenerating sacred power, energy, or force. This is conceptualized in a type of monistic pantheism best manifested in the supreme god Ometeotl and includes a large pantheon of lesser gods and idealizations of natural phenomena such as stars and fire. Ōmeteōtl (meaning two gods) is a name used to refer to the pair of Aztec deities Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, who are also known as Tōnacātēcuhtli and Tonacacihuatl. Ometeotl was one as the first divinity, and split into Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl in order to reproduce and create the world. However, a legion of scholars question this interpretation.
Blackfoot religion (Blackfoot Confederacy)
The Blackfeet are a tribe of Native Americans who currently live in Montana and Alberta. They lived northwest of the Great Lakes and are a part of the Plains Indian culture. In Blackfeet mythology, the supernatural world is dominated by the sun (Nah-too-si) which is equated, according to some anthropologists, with the creator of the earth and everything in the universe (Apistotoke). Nah-too-si is sometimes personified by the mystical Napi, or Old Man who was reported to have been sent by the Nah-too-si to teach people how to live a sinless life patterned on that of he and his wife, Ksah-koom-aukie (Earth Woman). A-pi-su'-ahts (early riser) was the only surviving child of the sun and the moon. The rest of their offspring were attacked and killed by pelicans. Napi is also beleived to have given the Blackfoot visions and, by extension, music. The numbers four and seven, the cardinal directions, and six principle points with their center are important in Blackfoot mythology. Communication is established between the supernatural world and the Blackfeet through visions of the guardian spirits. In tandem with these visions, songs and ceremonies may be performed. The physical world is regarded as a pale shadow of the spiritual dimension, which is true reality. The Blackfoot people designate themselves as the Real People, in contrast to those who do not possess the ability to communicate with the spirit world. Ceremonies include the Sun Dance, called Medicine Lodge by the Blackfoot in English, in which sacrifices would be made to the sun. A human woman named Feather-woman fell in love with Morning Star, the child of the sun and the moon. After plucking a sacred turnip, she and her half-divine son were banished from the Sky-Country. After Feather-woman died, her son Poïa makes his way back to Sky-Country. His grandparents, sun and moon, extended mercy to him, so he honored them by performing the Sun Dance once a year. Sacrifices ranged from offering sweat obtained through the use of sweat lodges to offerings of flesh. Men from the tribe would rip off ropes tied to their skin as sacrifices to the sun. Minor deities and personifications of nature and animals are placed into three catagories: Above Persons, Ground Persons, and Under Water Persons. Deities such as Thunder, Wind Maker, and Cold Maker were worshipped to influence desired changes in the natural realm. In Blackfoot mythology, there are legends surrounding the origins of everything. Amskapipikuni (from whom a band of the Blackfoot Confederacy takes its name) is honored as the inventor of tobacco and as first to kill a person in warfare. Napi, personification of the sun, is featured in legends describing the origin of the wind. Apistotoke is the creator god, also known as the Great Spirit. Although described as a male, Apistotoke has no physical body. Apistotoke created the first Sspommitapiiksi (Sky Beings), Nah-too-si (the sun) to provide light and warmth, Nah-too-si's wife Ksah-koom-aukie (the moon) and their children (the stars). Apistotoke then created Napi (Old Man), first man and demigod who shaped the world and created the rest of mankind. Napi was assisted by his wife Kipitaakii (Old Lady). The Blackfoot believe that the world was once covered with water, so Napi sent many different animals down to the bottom of the water to fetch mud. The water was so deep that the animals were unable to do this. Finally, one animal (some stories say a muskrat and others say a duck), brought a lump of mud up from the deep. Napi used it to create humans and the earth. Historically, one of the primary sources of food and other needs for the Blackfoot was the American Bison, or buffalo. The ceremonial Buffalo Dance commemorates this reliance.
Brujeria (Latin Americans/Mestizos)
Witchcraft in Latin America, known in Spanish as brujería, is a complex blend of indigenous, African, and European influences. Indigenous cultures had spiritual practices centered around nature and healing, while the arrival of Africans brought syncretic religions like Santería and Candomblé. European witchcraft beliefs merged with local traditions during colonization, contributing to the region's magical tapestry. Practices vary across countries. Accusations of witchcraft are historically intertwined with Latin American social dynamics. A male practitioner is called a brujo, and a female practitioner is a bruja. When Franciscan friars from New Spain arrived in the Americas in 1524, they introduced Diabolism, belief in the Christian Devil, to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Spanish clergyman, writer, and Indian-rights activist Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566) believed that human sacrifice was not diabolic, but was a legitimate form of religious expression.[4] Mexican Indians gladly absorbed belief in Diabolis into their preceding beliefs about creator-destroyer deities. Denunciations and persecutions of witches was common in colonial Mexico and Brazil. Across the Afro-Latin diaspora, many forms of spiritual practices emerged: Haitian Vodou, Cuban Santería, and Brazilian Candomblé and Umbanda. What distinguishes the witches of Latin America from their European counterparts is the blending of religiosity and spirituality. The magic of the witches in Latin America is rooted in African magic, European spiritualism, and indigenous practices, yielding highly syncretic versions of sorcery and witchcraft. In contrast to other Caribbean religions derived from African progenitors, brujería is not hierarchal or requires a membership. Practices are dependent on the ritual preferences of the participants. Because of the capriciousness and spontaneity of the spirits, it is impossible for institutionalized doctrines to be imposed on the followers and practicers of brujería. In some places, demonization of brujería has ended, but in others brujas are compelled to stop practicing their magic. In recent times, brujería has been forced to adopt a modernized, less offensive form to avoid extinction. As Latin American and Carribbean separatist aspirations begin to gain momentum, particularly in Puerto Rico, cultural traditions contribute to a sense of cultural nationalism (including Afro-Boricua and Taíno folklore). In the 1950s and 1960s, Puerto Rican journalists dismissed brujería as a means of educating the masses”. A shift toward cultural nationalism beginning in the 1980s prompted the media to uncover and publicize the hidden treasures of endangered Puerto Rican Hispanic, Taíno, and African tradition. Socio-cultural anthropologist and folklorist Raquel Romberg argues the practice of modern-day Puerto Rican brujería as "the vernacular co-optation of discourses of interest and passions, of consumerism and spirituality, commodity fetishism and morality, and welfare capitalism and magic". She also beleives that, despite misconceptions, Brujería contributes to the social order through both “holistic or individualized types of intervention” and its endorsement of positive “mainstream social values.”
Candomblé is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century that arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa, especially those of the Yoruba, Bantu, and Gbe, and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. There is no central authority in control of Candomblé, which is organized around autonomous terreiros (houses). Candomblé has no fixed ethical precepts that practitioners are expected to follow, but its teachings impact the lives of its adherents. Rather than stressing a dichotomy between good and evil, emphasis is placed on achieving harmony between competing forces. Candomblé worships spirits, orixás, inkice, or vodun, which serve to a transcendent creator god called Oludumaré. The names and attributes of these deities are based on traditional West African models. The orixás are also linked with Roman Catholic saints. Every person is beleived to possess a tutelary orixá who connected to them before they were born and who influences their personality. Candomblé's members usually gather in terreiros run by a mâe de santo (priestess) or pai de santo (priest). Ritual involves the mâe de santo and pai de santo drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage an orixá to possess one of their members, with whom congregants can then interact. The orixás are given offerings like fruit and sacrificed animals. Their will is deciphered through divination. Offerings may also be given to lesser spirits, including caboclos (indigenous Brazilian deities and spirits) and the spirits of the dead, the egun. Healing rituals and the preparation of amulets and herbal remedies are also important duties the priests and priestesses of Candomblé perform. Following Brazil's independence from Portugal, the constitution of 1891 guaranteed freedom of religion, although Candomblé remained marginalized by the Roman Catholic establishment which associated it with crime and criminals. In the 20th century, growing emigration from Bahia (fourth largest Brazilian state and birthplace of Candomblé) spread the religion both throughout Brazil and abroad. Candomblé also influenced the development of another religion, Umbanda, which was formed in Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s. A variety of Umbandist groups exists. Som emphasize their connection to Spiritism, a French variant of Spiritualism. Others highlight their ties with Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomblé. Anthropologist Diana Brown notes that the boundary separating Umbanda from Candomblé is largely "a matter of individual opinion." Omolocô was founded in Rio de Janeiro as an intermediate religion that merges the beliefs of Candomblé and Umbanda. Candomblé divides into traditions known as nacões (nations). Each nation is influenced by a different African language group and possesses its own lexicon, chants, deities, sacred objects, and traditional knowledge. Although originating due to ethnic differences, this basis has largely eroded. Members can be drawn to a nation for reasons other than their ethnicity. Since the late 20th century, some practitioners, leaders of Candomblé have asvocated a re-Africanization process to remove Roman Catholic influences and create forms of worship that are closer to those of traditional West African religion.
Cherokee religion (Cherokee people of Cherokee Nation)
Cherokee spiritual beliefs are held in common among the Cherokee people, native American peoples who are Indigenous to the Southeastern Woodlands who today live primarily in communities in North Carolina (the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), and Oklahoma (the Cherokee Nation and United Keetowah Band of Cherokee Indians). For traditional Cherokee, spirituality is woven into the fabric of everyday life. The physical world is not separated from the spiritual world. Cherokee cosmology includes the concept that the universe is composed of three distinct but connected worlds: the Upper World and the Under World, which are the domains of the spirits, and This World, where humans live. Humans do not rule or have dominion over the earth, plants or animals, but live in coexistence with all of creation. Humans mediate between thr three worlds in an attempt to maintain balance between them. Plants, animals, and other features of the natural world such as rivers, mountains, caves and other formations on the earth all have spiritual powers and attributes. Cherokee culture persisted through multiple attempts by Christian missionaries to convert them. Strong ties to Selu, the corn mother in their creation story, places women in a position of power in their communities as the harvesters of corn, power that women are not willing to part with. To the traditional Cherokee, the concept of balance is central for every aspect of social and ceremonial life. For example, women balance men, summer balances winter, plants balance animals, and farming balances hunting. Cherokee once beleived that all human diseases were imposed by animals in revenge for their being killed by humans, and that each species invented a disease with which to avenge themselves on humanity. Ritual purification is traditionally important for maintaining spiritual balance. Cherokee bathe in rivers year-round, even in the winter, as one method of purifying themselves. Creation myth states that the first human beings were a brother and sister. Once, the brother hit his sister with a fish and told her to multiply. She gave birth to a child every seven days, so soon there were too many people. Humans began to hunt animals, and the population grew so rapidly that a rule was established that women can only have one child per year. During the early times, the plants, animals, and people all lived together as friends, but the dramatic population growth crowded the earth and the animals had no room to roam. Humans also killed animals for meat and displaced them to claim their habitats for themselves. The animals held a meeting to discuss what should be done to protect themselves. The Bears met first and decided that they would make their own weapons like the humans, but this only made matters worse. Next, the Deer met and came to the conclusion that if a hunter was to kill a Deer, they would develop a disease. The only way to avoid this disease was to ask the Deer's spirit for forgiveness. Another requirement was that the people only kill animals when necessary. The council of Birds, Insects and small animals met next and concluded that humans are so cruel they created a host of diseases to infect them with. The plants heard what the animals were planning. Since they had always been on friendly terms with humans, they vowed that for every disease made by the animals they would provide a cure. Every plant serves a purpose. When a medicine man does not know what medicine to use, the spirits of the plants instruct him.
Choctaw religion (Choctaw people of the Choctaw Nation, part of the United States)
Choctaw mythology is a part of the culture of the Choctaw, a native American tribe that originally a large territory in the present-day Southeastern United States (portions of Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana). In the 19th century, the Choctaw were known to European Americans as one of the Five Civilized Tribes. Today the Choctaw have three federally recognized tribes. The largest is the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The next largest is the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, made up of descendants of individuals who did not remove in the 1830s. The smallest is the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, located in Louisiana. Thousands of years of accumulated myths and stories contribute to Choctaw enthnic identity, and they continue to tell and write about these legends. Early reports indicate that the Choctaw believed in a great good spirit and a great evil spirit. Contemporary Choctaw oral histories mention numerous supernatural beings, including what might be called the Great Spirit or God and the Devil. The Great Spirit of the Choctaw was referred to by various names. One of these, Chitokaka, means The Great One. The terms lshtahullo or nanishtahullo are applied to any person or object thought to possess some occult or superior power, for example a witch. Anthropologists theorize that the Mississippian ancestors of the Choctaw placed the sun at the center of their cosmological system. Mid-eighteenth-century Choctaws viewed the sun as a being endowed with life. Choctaw diplomats spoke only on sunny days. If a conference day was cloudy or rainy, Choctaws postponed the meeting until the sun returned. They also believed in a little man, Bohpoli, who dwelled alone in the depths of the woods. Bohpoli was never seen by common Choctaw, but only by the prophets and shaman. Indian shamans or doctors beleived that Bohpoli assisted them in creating their medicines. Some stories relate that Bohpoli would steal little children and take them into the woods to teach them about herbs and medicines. After returning home, these children would grow up to become doctors of the tribe. The Choctaw have stories about shadow beings. Nalusa Chito was a great black soul-eater, a great black being. If people allowed evil thoughts or depression to enter their minds, this shadow being would creep inside of them and eat their souls. It was believed that every man had a shilombish (an outside shadow) which always followed him, and a shilup (an inside shadow, or ghost). After death, the shilup goes to the land of ghosts and the shilombish remained upon the earth to wander restlessly about its former home. The shilombish often moaned to frighten its surviving friends, hoping to force them to seek another place to live. It would assume the form of a fox, and bark like one, or the form of an owl and screech like one at night, cause great consternation. These cries were considered ominous of bad things. It was possible to distinguish a shadow being from a real fox or owl because when the shilombish imitates the sound of either animal, no response is heard. Ishkitini, or the horned owl, was believed to prowl about at night killing men and animals. Many believed that when ishkitini screeched, it was a portent of sudden death such as a murder. If the ofunlo (screech owl) was heard, it was a sign that a child under the age of seven in a family was going to die.
Guarani religion, San La Muerte worship in Paraguay and north of Argentina
Tupi-Guarani mythology is a set of narratives about the gods and spirits of the various Tupi-Guarani peoples, both ancient and contemporary. Mythology, cosmogony, stories of the origin of humanity, and ritual forms much of the religion of these peoples. The Guarani people live in the south-central part of South America, especially in Paraguay and adjacent areas of Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia. The Tupi people were one of the most populous indigenous ethnic groups in Brazil, living along the Atlantic coast of and deep in the Amazon. There are Tupi towns with no connection to the outside world. The Guarani language was not a written language until modern times, so their religious beliefs were passed down through word of mouth. Because of this, descriptions of the various gods and their related myths and legends usually differ from one locale to the next. Regional variations may be so extreme that they completely redefine the role a specific deity plays in the Guarani belief system. Despite the introduction of Christianity, the myths and legends of the Tupi and Guarani continue to evolve to this day. he primary figure in most Guarani creation legends is Tupã, the supreme god of all creation. With the help of the moon goddess Arasy, Tupã descended upon the Earth in a location specified as a hill in the region of Areguá, and from that location created all that is found upon the face of the earth, including the ocean, forests, and the animals. This is also when the stars were placed in the sky. Tupã then created humanity in an elaborate ceremony, forming clay statues of man and woman with a mixture of various elements from nature. After breathing life into the human forms, he left them in the company of the spirits of good and evil and departed. The original humans created by Tupã were Rupave (Father of the people) and Sypave (Mother of the people). The pair had three sons and an unspecified number of daughters. The first son was Tumé Arandú, the wisest of men and a great prophet of the Guarani people. The second son was Marangatú, a benevolent and generous leader and the father of Kerana, the mother of the seven legendary monsters of Guarani myth. The third son was Japeusá, considered a liar, a thief, and a trickster from birth. Japeusá always did things backwards, mainly to confuse people so he could take advantage of them. He eventually drowned himself, but he was resurrected as a crab. Ever since then, all crabs are cursed to walk backwards, just as Japeusá did. Guaran, daughter of Marangatú, was captured by the personification or spirit of evil known as Tau. The couple had seven sons who were cursed by moon goddess Arasy. All but one of the seven were born as hideous monsters. The seven are, in order of their birth: (1) Teju Jagua, the god or spirit of caverns and fruits, (2) Mbói Tu'ĩ, god of waterways and aquatic creatures, (3) Moñái, god of the open fields who perished in a fire, along with his malevolent brothers because of the self-sacrifice of Porâsý. Porâsý was a beautiful woman who pretended to be in love with Moñái so that her fellow townspeople could gain an opportunity to put an end to the misdeeds of Moñái and his brothers), (4) Jasy Jatere, god of the yerba mate plant and also of the siesta, the only one of the seven brothers who was not physically repulsive, (5) Kurupi, god of sexuality and fertility, (6) Ao Ao, god of the hills and mountains, and (7) Luison, or Luisõ, god of death and everything related to death. In return for the noble sacrifice of Porâsý, the gods lifted her soul and changed it into a small, but intense point of light. The spirit of Porasy ignites the aurora as the morning star.
Haitian Vodou (Haitian people)
Haitian Vodou is an African diasporic religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It is a blend of several traditional religions of West and Central Africa, Roman Catholicism, and (to a lesser extent) Freemasonry. Many Vodouists were involved in the Haitian Revolution of 1791 to 1801 which overthrew the French colonial government, abolished slavery, and transformed Saint-Domingue into the republic of Haiti. The Roman Catholic Church abandoned Haiti for several decades following the Revolution, thus allowing Vodou to become the dominant religion. In the 20th and 21st centuries, growing emigration has spread Vodou abroad. Recently, the religion has worked to solidify its connection to related traditions in West Africa and the Americas, similar practices such as Cuban Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. Some Vodouists influenced by the Négritude movement aspire to purge Vodou of its Roman Catholic influences. There is no central authority in control of the religion, so much diversity exists among practitioners. Vodou beleives in a transcendent creator divinity, Bondye, and subordinate spirits known as lwa who mainly derive their names and attributes from traditional West and Central African deities. lwa are also equated with Roman Catholic saints. lwa are divided into different groups, the nanchon (nations), described in various myths and stories. This theology can be regarded as both monotheistic and polytheistic. Initiates typically venerate the lwa at an ounfò (temple) run by an oungan (priest) or manbo (priestess). Vodou is also practiced within family groups or in secret societies like the Bizango. A central ritual involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage a lwa to possess one of their members so communication can be establidhed with them. Offerings to the lwa and the spirits of the dead include fruit, liquor, and sacrificed animals. Several forms of divination are used to decipher messages from the lwa. Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies and talismans are also an important component of Haitian Vodou. For Vodouists, Bondye is seen as the ultimate source of power, an entity that created the universe and is responsible for maintaining cosmic order. Vodouists view Bondye as being transcendent and remote, uninvolved in human affairs. Therefore, they do not approach Bondye directly. Bondye is often equated with the God of Christians, but Vodou does not beleive in a powerful antagonist, like Satan, that opposes the supreme being. lwa serve as Bondye's intermediaries,[80] and communicate with humans both through possession and dreams. The lwa are capable of offering people help, protection, and counsel in return for ritual service. Each lwa has its own personality, is associated with specific colors, days of the week, and objects. They are not regarded as moral exemplars for practitioners to imitate. The lwa can be either steadfast or capricious in their dealings with their devotees and are easily offended. When angered, the lwa will remove their protection from their devotees and inflict misfortune, illness, or madness upon an individual. Most lwa are associated with specific Roman Catholic saints based on their respective functions. Some scolars argue that Vodouists originally adopted the Roman Catholic saints to conceal lwa worship when it was illegal during the colonial period. Other believe that the veneration of Roman Catholic saints is a genuine devotional expression for many Vodouists. Scholar Marc A. Christophe states that "most modern Vodouists genuinely see the saints and lwa as one."
Hoodoo is a set of spiritual practices, traditions, and beliefs created by enslaved African Americans in the Southern United States assembled from various traditional African spiritualities, as well as a knowledge of remedies. Enslaved and free Africans acquired regional indigenous botanical knowledge after they arrived to the United States. Practitioners of Hoodoo are called rootworkers, conjure doctors, conjure men or conjure women, and root doctors. As a syncretic spiritual system, it also incorporates beliefs from Islam received from enslaved West African Muslims as well as Spiritualism.[6][7] Scholars define Hoodoo as a folk religion. Hoodoo is the fusion of African indigenous spirituality and Abrahamic religion. The extent to which Hoodoo could be practiced varied by region and the temperament of the slaveholders. The Gullah people of the coastal Southeast experienced an isolation and relative freedom that allowed them to retain various traditional West African cultural practices. In the Mississippi Delta, where the concentration of slaves was dense, Hoodoo was practiced secretly. Slave codes prohibited large gatherings of both enslaved and free Black people. Slave religion often ignited slave revolts, and many of the leaders of slave insurrections were black ministers or conjure doctors. The Code Noir of Louisiana and other slave laws required enslaved and free African Americans to conduct their spiritual practices in secluded areas such as woodlands and churches, and other places. Slaves devised methods to decrease noise when they practiced their religion. "Invisible churches" were secret churches where enslaved African Americans combined Hoodoo with Christianity. Enslaved and free black ministers preached resistance to slavery and taught that the power of God through praise, worship, and Hoodoo rituals would free slaves from bondage. Hoodoo spells date back to the colonial era. A slave revolt broke out in 1712 in New York. Enslaved Africans set fire to buildings in the downtown area. The leader of this revolt was a free African conjurer named Peter the Doctor who made a magical powder for the slaves to rub on their bodies and clothes to protect and empower them. Conjure bags, also called mojo bags, were a form of resistance against slavery. Black Americans and Jamaicans shared their conjure culture and had similar practices.vThe Bakongo people in Central Africa incorporated cemetery dirt into conjuring bags to establish a connection with the ancestral spirits Free blacks in northern states provided fortune-telling and conjure services to both white and black clients. In Alabama slave narratives, it was documented that former slaves used graveyard dirt to aid their escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad. Freedom seekers rubbed graveyard dirt on the bottom of their feet, or put graveyard dirt in their footprints, to prevent the slave catcher's dogs from tracking their scent. Mary Middleton, a Gullah woman and former slave from the South Carolina Sea Islands related an incident of a slaveholder who was physically weakened from conjure. The slaveholder badly beat one his slaves. The beaten slave consulted a conjurer who made the slaveholder weak by sunset. Middleton said, "As soon as the sun was down, he was down too, he down yet. De witch done dat."
Inca Religion (Inhabitants of the Inca Empire)
The Inca religion was a group of beliefs and rites relating to a mythological system that evolved from the pre-Inca times through the course of the Inca Empire, or Tawantinsuyu. Faith in the Empire was manifested in every aspect of an Inca's life, work, festivitals, and ceremonies, etc. They were polytheists and worshipped a pantheon that included local, regional, and pan-regional divinities. Inca deities occupied the three realms: (1) hanan pacha, the celestial realm in the sky, (2) ukhu pacha, the inner earth realm, and (3) kay pacha, the outer earth realm where humanity dwells. Major deities include Viracocha (typically personified as a human male, the creator of humanity and everything else in the world), Inti (sun god, an important gods for the Inca people typically viewed as a boy from the Inca society and and often depicted as a golden disk with flamelike rays emanating from a face in the middle of the disk), Illapa (thunder god who controls the weather, rain, and lightning), Mamaquilla (Mother Moon. The Coya, or Incan queen, was considered to be the daughter of Mamaquilla and was leader of moon worship. Mamaquilla also had control of the calendar, which was based on lunar cycles. She was the wife of sun god Inti), and Pachamama (Earth Mother and protector of Inca crops and fields), Mama Cocha (Mother of Lakes who strengthens the world and provides sources of water). Also worshiped were the Stellar Deities which formed constellations and other cosmologic features representative of various animals and activities. One example is Urcuchillay, a constellation which is known to western astronomers as Lira, who was believed to be the protector of llamas and alpacas. Another example is stellar deity Qollqa (the Pleiades), mother of all of the other stellar deities. The agricultural year commenced when this constellation reappeared after being invisible for 37 days. Anything, including people, places, and objects that the Inca believed possessed a supernatural spirit were called Huacas. The size of a Huaca determined how much power it had. Mountains were considered among the most powerful of Huacas. In addition to the communally worshiped deities, Incan families often worshiped household gods represented miniature figurines called chancas or conopa. A major theme in Inca mythology is the duality of the cosmos. Asymmetrical dualism is the concept that reality is shaped by forces that are different but need each other to be complete. One of these forces is slightly larger or more powerful than the other, leading to disparity or imbalance that is the foundation of reality and the cause of events. The official religion of the Inca Empire was the cult of the Sun, but the Empire allowed locals to worship their traditional deities. Many families and clans beleived that their founding ancestor arose from an precise spot, a paqarisqa. Local gods were worshipped through pilgrimages, offerings, and other rites that allowed the Inca to maintain thier traditions and also provide mandated sacrifices and offerings to the Sun god. Like the Aztec Empire to the north, the Inca generally tolerated, and even incorporated the local deities and heroes of the peoples they conquered into their own beleif system. The Inca combined their deities with those of the conquered in a manner that gave prominence to the status of the gods of the conquerors.
Inuit religion (Inuit of North America and Greenland)
Inuit religion is the shared spiritual beliefs and practices of the Inuit, an indigenous people from Alaska, northern Canada, parts of Siberia and Greenland. Traditional Inuit religious practices include animism and shamanism, wherein spiritual healers mediate with spirits. Most Inuit currently identify themselves as Christians, but traditional Inuit spirituality persists as a living, oral tradition and remains an influence on contemporary Inuit society. Many Inuit holds beleifs that are a balance of indigenous and Christian theology. Inuit cosmology provides a narrative about the world and the place of people within it. Canadian writer Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley states that "The Inuit cosmos is ruled by no one. There are no divine mother and father figures. There are no wind gods and solar creators. There are no eternal punishments in the hereafter, as there are no punishments for children or adults in the here and now." The traditional stories, rituals, and taboos of the Inuit are typically precautions against the dangers posed by their harsh Arctic surroundings. Spiritual beliefs and practices among Inuit, like the cultures themselves, are diverse. A spiritual healer is known as an angakkuq, whose duties include helping the community when marine animals, which are kept by Takanaluk-arnaluk (Sea Woman) in a pit in her house, become scarce because the people have violated certain taboos. Moon Man, another cosmic being, is benevolent towards humans and their souls after they arrived in celestial places. This belief differs from that of the Greenlandic Inuit, in which the Moon's wrath could be invoked by breaking taboos. Sila (or Silap Inua), is often associated with weather and is regarded as a power that resides within people. Among the Netsilik, Sila was imagined as a male. The Netsilik (and Copper Inuit) believed Sila was originally a giant baby whose parents died fighting giants. The Caribou Inuit have a dualistic concept of the soul. The soul associated with respiration is called umaffia (place of life) and the personal soul of a child is called tarneq. The tarneq is considered so weak that it needs the guardianship of a name-soul of a dead relative. The presence of the ancestor in the body of the child was felt to contribute to a more gentle behavior, especially among boys. This belief is analogous to reincarnation. Because of their inland lifestyle, the Caribou have no belief concerning a Sea Woman. Other cosmic beings, named Sila or Pinga, control the caribou, as opposed to marine animals. Caribou angakkuit performed fortune-telling through qilaneq, a technique of asking questions to a qila (spirit). The Inuit believed that all animals and objects have a form of spirit or soul, just like humans. These spirits persist after death. Belief in the pervasiveness of spirits, the root of the Inuit worldview, has consequences. An Inuit saying admits that "The great peril of our existence lies in the fact that our diet consists entirely of souls." Since all beings possess souls like those of humans, killing an animal is little different from killing a person. Once the soul of a dead animal or human is liberated, it is free to exact its revenge. The spirits of the dead can only be placated by obedience to custom, avoiding taboos, and performing the proper rituals.
Iroquois religion (Inhabitants of the Iroquois confederacy)
The mythology of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy, also known as Haudenosaunee (people of the longhouse), includes creation stories and folktales passed down as a centuries-old oral tradition. Through these stories, listeners learn values, laws, and acceptable behaviors in their communities. Haudenosaunee storytelling is entertaining, but also a way of preserving their culture. The stories reflect the Iroquois' perception and understanding of the world communicated through poetry and metaphor. Each Haudenosaunee village had a Hage'ota, or storyteller, who was responsible for learning and memorizing the ganondas'hag, or stories.[7] Traditionally, no stories were told during the summer months in accordance with the law of the mythical dzögä́:ö’ (Little People). Violators of this rule would suffer great evils; being stung on the lips by a bee or being strangled by a snake in their sleep. The Haudenosaunee believed that telling stories in summer would make the animals, plants, trees, and humans lazy, since work ceases when a good story is told. These stories feature spirits and dieties such as Hahgwehdiyu, the Iroquois god of goodness and light, as well as a creator god. He and his twin brother Hahgwehdaetgah, the god of evil, were children of Atahensic (an Iroquois sky goddess, but in some versions the Earth Mother), whom Hahgwehdaetgah killed in childbirth by forcing his way out from under his mother's arm instead of passing through the birth canal. Hahgwehdiyu had uprooted a council tree in heaven and dropped a pregnant Atahensic through a hole created when the tree was removed. She was carried down to a watery world by a flock of birds and placed on the back of a turtle. The water animals worked to bring soil to the surface to form an island. After the death in childbirth of Sky Woman, the island was shrouded in gloom. To remedy this, good Hahgwehdiyu shaped the sky and created the sun from his mother's face. Evil Hahgwehdaetgah, however, set great darkness in the west to drive down the sun. Hahgwehdiyu reacted by creating his sisters, the moon and the stars, from his mother's breast, positioning them to guard the night sky. He gave his mother's body to the earth, the Great Mother of every living being. Hahgwehdiyu created the first people, healed disease, defeated demons, and instituted many of the Iroquois magical and ceremonial rituals. Another one of his gifts was tobacco, which plays a central role in the Iroquois religion. Hah-gweh-di-yu is assisted by a number of subordinate spirits. Iroquois stories also tell of Hé-no, the spirit of thunder who brings rain to nourish the crops. The Iroquois address Hé-no as Tisote (grandfather). He appears as a warrior, wearing upon his head a magic feather that makes him invulnerable to the attacks of evil Hahgwehdaetgah. On his back, he carries a basket filled with rocks which he throws at evil spirits and witches. Hé-no lives in a cave under Niagara Falls. A young girl who lived above the falls was engaged to marry a disagreeable old man. Rather than marry, she boarded a canoe and was carried over the falls. Hé-no and his two assistants caught her in a blanket and took her to his cave. One of the assistants married her. Later, Hé-no rescued her village from a huge serpent by luring it to a spot on Buffalo Creek where he struck it with a thunderbolt. Fatally wounded, the serpent tried to escape to the safety of Lake Erie but died before it cpuld reach safety. The body floated downstream to the head of Niagara Falls, stretched nearly across the river and arched backward to form a dam. The dammed water broke the rocks, and the snake's body fell upon the rocks below. This story explains the formation of Horseshoe Falls. Hé-no's home was destroyed in this process.
Lakota religion (Lakota people)
Lakota mythology is the body of sacred stories that belong to the Lakota people, also known as the Teton Sioux. Like every Native American tribe, the Lakota are animists, believing that everything possesses a spirit. In the Lakota creation myth, Nyan (Inyan) is the primal being, the source of all things. Because he was lonely, he separated a piece of himself, Maka, but this act of creation drained him of power, turning him into rock. His blood (water) flowed from him to become the rivers, streams, and lakes. Thereafter, Nyan became a passive force. He created Wakinyan, the Mysterious Flyers (Thunderbirds) to serve as his active companions. The spirit underlying Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit or Great Mystery) is Nyan, who created all through his act of self-sacrafice, therefore infusing all things with His nature. Wakan Tanka can be addressed directly through prayer and ritual, but his influence in the world is diffused through other deities. Nyan created the the spirit of the sky, Skan, and the earth, Maka. Han, the spirit of darkness, existed before sky and earth was created. Han was banished to live beneath Maka by Skan, who replaced him with Anp, spirit of light (especially the reddish, sourceless sunlight of dawn). Originally, the earth (Maka) was cold and barren, but was unaware of this until Skan created Anp. Afterwards, Maka complained to Skan, so he created the sun (Wi, or Wito) to warm it. The sun was too hot, so Maka continued to complain. Arrangements were made that Han and Anp would follow each other to exile beneath Maka and return again, establishing a balance between light and dark. This arrangement satisfied Maka. The moon (Hanwi) was created by the sun (Wi or Wito) to accompany Him. Wa was the first man, the husband of Ka and the father of Ite. He aided his daughter Ite in her scheme to supplant Hanwi. Because of this, Wa was banished to Earth and was separated from Ka. On earth, he became known as Wazi, a great wizard who could either provide assistance to or cause problems for human beings. Ka was the first Woman, the wife of Wa and the mother of Ite. She was also banished to earth for the same reason as her husband was. On earth, she became known as Kanka, a great witch who can either help or harm human beings. Nyan's sons were Iktomi and Iya. Son Iktomi was wise and often beneficent, but was also a trickster responsible for many of the difficulties that humans experience. He could frighten animals, and change his shape or become invisible so he could more easily make trouble. He convinced the Lakota to live apart from one another, as nomads, thus making them more vulnerable to their enemies. Nyan's other son Iya was a purely evil deity responsible, directly or indirectly, for the existence of every other evil being in the world. Unlike his wise but mischieveous brother Iktomi, Iya was a destroyer intent upon making people suffer. In addition to these principal gods, a legion of lesser dieties influenced the daily lives of the Lakota. The Lakota people believe that after death, a deceased person's soul goes to the happy hunting ground, a realm that resembles the world of the living, but with better weather, and more animals that are much easier to hunt than they are in the world of the living.
Mapuche religion (Mapuche people of Chile)
Mapuche religion is the beleif system of the indigenous Mapuche people of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. extensive and ancient belief system. Ancient myths are common among the various groups of the the Mapuche. These myths describe the creation of the world and a variety of deities and spirits that reside in and influence it. Their beliefs are not homogenous. Among the beleifs of different families, villages, and territorial groups of the Mapuche there are variations, differences, and discrepancies. Many of the Mapuche beliefs have become integrated into the myths and legends of Chilean and Argentine folklore. Many have been altered and influenced by Christianity, due largely to the evangelization done by Spanish missionaries. Like many other indigenous American cultures, the Mapuche embrace a cyclic concept of time in opposition to the mode of linear thought of European rationalism. Introduction of the Western system has modified traditional Mapuche conceptions of time. The universe of the Mapuche is divided into two realms, the spiritual, or vertical plane and the earthly, or horizontal plane. Central to Mapuche cosmology is the idea of a creator called ngenechen, who may be embodied either as an older man, an older woman, a young man, or a young woman. They believe in worlds known as the Wenu Mapu and Minche Mapu. Wenu Mapu is the "land of above," a sacred and invisible space where the divine family resides with the good spirits and the ancestors of the Mapuche. Miñche Mapu is the underworld, where the force of evil and malignant spirits are located. Between Wenu Mapu above and Minche Mapu below is Nag Mapu, the central land, also known as "the land that we walk on". This visible space is inhabited by humans and nature. Mapuche cosmology includes complex conceptions of spirits that coexist with humans and animals. The circumstances and events of daily life dictate whatever spiritual rituals and practices are required to maintain equilibrium. Mapuche ritual includes prayer and animal sacrifice. These beliefs have persisted. In 1960, for example, a machi sacrificed a young boy, throwing him into the water after an earthquake and a tsunami. Ceremonies are often major communal events, but are sometimes performed only for the family. The main groups of deities and spirits in Mapuche mythology are the Pillan and Wangulen (ancestral spirits), the Ngen (spirits in nature), and the wekufe (evil spirits). Central to Mapuche belief is the role of the machi, or shaman, a role usually filled by a woman following her apprenticeship with an older machi. The machi performs ceremonies for curing diseases, warding off evil, influencing the weather, ensuring the harvest, facilitating social interactions, and broadly interpreting a person's dreams. Machis often possess knowledge of regional medicinal herbs and of which stones or animals are sacred. Like many cultures, the Mapuche have a deluge myth (epeu) of a major flood that destroys the world which involves two opposing forces: Kai Kai (water, which brings death through floods) and Tren Tren (dry earth, which brings sunshine to evaporate the waters). Most of humanity is drowned, and the few that survive must practice cannibalism. Ultimately, only one couple remains alive. A machi tells them that they must sacrifice their only child to the waters. They do so, and this restores order to the world.
Maya religion (Maya; Guatemalans)
The traditional Maya religion is practiced by peoples of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and five states of Mexico. Like other contemporary Mesoamerican religions, it is the result of centuries of symbiosis with Roman Catholicism. Its pre-Hispanic antecedent had already existed for more than two and a half millennia prior to arrival of Spanish missionaries. What is known of pre-Hispanic Maya religion stems from many sources, the primary ones being of Maya origin. Three original Maya hieroglyphic books have survived in addition to pottery depicting scenes with descriptive texts, mural paintings, and inscriptions in stone. For the Maya, Huracán, the wind and sky god, created the earth. Sky and earth were connected, which left no room for living beings or vegetation to grow. To make space a Ceiba tree was planted. Its roots penetrated to every level of the underworld, and its branches extended into the upper world. The trunk of the tree expanded to make space enough on earth for animals, plants, and humans. Animals and plants existed before humans, but the gods were not satisfied because animals and plants could not speak to honor them. Humans, possessing the power of speech, were created to give honor to the gods. Maya believe that there have been three creations. The first creation included people who were made of mud and were immortal, but they were limited. According to Maya sacred texts, these men “spoke but had no mind." The gods destroyed the mud people with water. For the second creation, the deities made men from wood and women from reeds. These people could function just as well as modern humans, but had no souls and did not honor the gods. They were also immortal. If they died, they only remained dead for three days, then arise from death. The gods destroyed the tree men and reed women by inundating them with boiling hot water. The third creation featured modern humans made of white and yellow maize dough and the blood of the gods. The first people were four men and four women, but they were considered to be too wise by the gods. Regarding them as a threat to their authority, the gods almost destroyed them as well. However, Heart of Heaven (also known as Huracán) saved humanity from extinction by clouding their minds and eyes of humans to make them less wise. Time and the recreation of humans are thought by the Maya to be cyclical. Some Maya believe that contemporary humans will be destroyed and yet another creation will occur. Belief in the end of humanity is not belief in end of the world. It only marks the end of an era and, perhaps, the beginning of a new epoch. Although the pantheon of Maya deities is extensive, the most consequential gods often morph with less notable gods which results in an entity which shares characteristics of both deities. Division and recombination of the deities' personalities is furthered complicated by their appearance. Many gods are the amalgamation of a human and a specific animal. The Maya participated in various religious rituals. Not all of these were related to human sacrifice, although sacrifice was a common practice in religious ceremonies. The most common sacrifice ritual was bloodletting, which was only practiced by royalty. The gods demanded blood because the gods spilled their own blood to grant life to humanity. One frightful instance of sacrifice noted by a conquistador described how typically royal women would use a thorned rope to pierce their tongue and draw blood to scatter over Maya icons. Men would do the same, except on their penis rather than their tongue. Bloodletting served to commemorate and sanctify important events such as births, coronations, and anniversaries. Human sacrifice was reserved for the most significant Maya events.
Miskito religion (Miskito people of Central America)
The Miskitos are a indigenous people of Central America who speak the native Miskito language. Many can also speak Miskito Coast Creole, Spanish, English, and German. Spanish is the language of education and government. Some African people arrived at the Mosquito Coast from wrecked slave ships in the mid-17th century. These people, along with escaped slaves from nearby Providence Island colony, settled around Cape Gracias a Dios and intermarried with the indigenous people. Those living in the southern (Nicaraguan) region were less racially mixed. Rivalries between these two groups and competition for territory often led to wars, which were divisive in the 18th century. English privateers working through the Providence Island Company made informal alliances with the Miskito and began to crown Miskito leaders as kings, or chiefs, whose territory was called the Miskito Kingdom. The king did not wield power except in wartime. These kings were not recognized by the Native American Tawira Miskito. Because of their geographic isolation and military prowess, the Miskito Coast remained independent throughout much of the period of the Federal Republic of Central America. In 1894, Nicaragua finally absorbed the territory. The Miskito were polytheistic in the Pre-monarchic era, but there are no records of human sacrifices like those of the Aztec, Maya, or Incas. Their pantheon included Lapta (god of the sun), Kati (god of the moon), Slilma (god of the stars), Alwani (god of thunder), Imyula (god of lightning), Dusdawanka (god of trees and plants), Lidawanka (god of ocean, lakes and rivers), Rayakadawanka (god of living creatures), Sinslakadawanka (god of wisdom), Disangdawanka (god of fertility) Rakidawan (god of healing), Lasadawanka (god of dead souls) and Pruradawanka (god of death). Prior to contact with Westerners, Miskito people practiced a type of Shamanism. The shaman (known as Sukya) was regarded as a healer by the community. A Sukya discovered cures by dreaming about them, and then blowing smoke on the affected part of an ill person's body. Group traditions included ritual dancing and the drinking of a beverage known as mishla. Funeral traditions included a commemorative ceremony one year after a person's death called Sikro. Only one leading shaman, known as Supreme Sukya or Okuli, could exist at a time. The Okuli was revered by neighboring tribes as well. The Okuli's role was to represent humanity before the evil spirits (Lasas). The Moravian Church, pioneering overseas missionaries, attempted to proselytize the Miskito beginning in 1849. In the 20th century, the Moravian Church enhanced its institutional presence by forming schools, producing religious materials, and conducting services in the Miskito native language. Catholic converts existed in the Miskito region as early as the 1930s. Due to a scarcity of properly trained parsons and pastors, Miskito Catholicism exhibits practices specific to the Miskito Coast. The lack of institutional presence led to many Moravian practices being infused into Catholic theology and liturgy. The Miskito experience divinity through dreams and discussions of good spirits, bad spirits, and the spirits of human beings. Shamans known as prapit, or pasa yapti, are the only individuals who physically experience divinity. The Miskito share folktales called kisi for entertainment. Kisi often include stories of a trickster rabbit named Tibang, or Bangbang.
Molokane, Spiritual Christians from Russia
The Molokans (Russian for "dairy-eater") are a Russian Christian sect that evolved from Eastern Orthodoxy in the East Slavic lands. Their traditions, especially dairy consumption during Christian fasts, did not conform to those of the Russian Orthodox Church so they were regarded as heretics. Members identify themselves as Spiritual Christians. Specific beliefs and practices varied sharply among the various sects of Molokans. Some built chapels for worship, kept the sacraments, and revered saints and icons. Others, such as the iconoclastic Ikonobortsy, discarded orthodoxy in favor of an individual approach to scripture. In general, they rejected the institutionalized formalism of Orthodoxy in an attempt to reestablish a form of Christianity patterned on its presumed original form by emphasizing spirituality and spiritual practices. The Molokans have been compared to Protestants because they reject an Orthodox priesthood and the veneration of icons, have their own presbyters, use the Bible as their primary guidebook, and interpret the sacraments spiritually, rather than literally. There are a few hundred fasting days, especially the Lenten fast, when drinking milk was prohibited by the Orthodox church. One theory holds that drinking milk during these fasts was first practiced by the Nestorian Church in the 11th century to accommodate the conversion of some 200,000 Turkic Christians, who lived on meat and milk, to Nestorian Christianity. It was decreed that the converts should abstain from meat eating on fast days, and rather than drinking soured (fermented) milk they should consume sweet (fresh) milk while fasting. Arriving in the Rus' lands with the 13th century Mongolian invasion of Batu and Möngke, the practice was adopted by other Christian pastoral communities on the Eurasian plains. Another theory posits that between 1118-1120 CE, King David the IV converted and assimilated 40,000 Cuman-Kipchak tribal families because he was at war with the Muslim Seljuk Turks to the South and wanted to reform his army. Each Kipchak family was required to provide one soldier with a horse and weapons. Milk consumption during fast days was, presumably, permitted by David, the most successful Georgian ruler in history. Judaizers preceded the modern day Molokans. They are sometimes also called Molokans, they constituted an independent movement. Their leader was tortured to death in a monastery prison. The Molokans known today by that name split off in the late 18th century from the Doukhobors (Russian pacifists who similarly rejected orthodox liturgy and the priesthood) because they thought that the Doukhobors had neglected the Bible, believing instead that God places the Word directly in their hearts. The Molokans preferred to base their practices on the written Bible. The founder of the Molokans, Semyon Matveevich Uklein (1733-1809), was a son-in-law of the Doukhobor leader Ilarion Poberokhin (1720-1792). Because of the intervention of Count Nikolay Zubov in 1795, Molokans were tolerated during the long reign of Catherine the Great but constrained by strict rules intended to curtail the growth of the Molokan community growth. Those who ignored the restrictions were punished for heresy. Prohibited from winning converts, the Molokans were constrained to choose marriage partners within the confines of their subgroup, an accommodation that enchances the odds of transmitting genetic disorders to the next generation.
Muisca religion (Muisca people and Colombian Mestizos)
Muisca religion describes the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands of the Colombian Andes prior to the Spanish conquest. This culture was a confederation of holy rulers that incorporated a variety of deities with their associated temples and ritual practices. The supreme being of the Muisca was Chiminigagua. who created light and the earth. He was not directly honoured. Worship of Chiminigagua was funneled through Chía, goddess of the Moon, and her husband Sué, god of the Sun. The Muisca worshipped their gods at sacred sites. Some were natural features such as Lake Guatavita, the Siecha Lakes, and Lake Tota. Others were manmade like the Sun and Moon Temples in Suamox (the religious center of the Muisca) and the Moon Temple in Chía (City of the Moon). During these rituals priests, or obgues, performed sacrifices. Commonly, human beings were sacrificed. The last public religious ceremony of the Muisca was performed in 1563. The rulers of Muisca served as both political and as religious leaders. The people frequently fasted. They also consumed coca, tobacco, and yopo during their rituals. Yopo was extracted from Anadenanthera trees. Its psychoactive seeds were finely ground, then inhaled through the nostrils using a hollow bird bone or a small spoon. Elaborately decorated ceremonial plates that held the yopo were made of gold or tumbaga (an alloy of gold, silver, and copper). Coca leaves were chewed during divination rituals and to heal diseases. In addition to supreme Chiminigagua, moon goddess Chia, and sun god Sué, Muisca also honored Bachué (mother of mankind), Bochica (messenger of Chiminigagua and holy teacher of the Muisca), Huitaca (goddess of happiness, pleasure and sexual liberation who rebelled against social and moral codes instituted by Bochica), Chibchacum (god of rain and thunder and protector of traders and laborers), Cuchavira (god of the rainbow), Chaquén (god of fertile soil and sports who assured good harvests and whose training prepared the Muisca for war), and Nencatacoa (god and protector of artists, painters, builders, and drunkards). To honor the gods, the Muisca organized pilgrimages led by priests to their temples and natural sacred sites. Pilgrimages featured music and dancing, and human sacrifices. The temples contained gold and silver images of their gods, made of gold and silver, are said to have been created. The discovery by Spaniards of these richly decorated temples fueled the legend of El Dorado, motivating Spanish conquerors to explore the interior of South America. The Muisca offered precious objects to their gods called tunjos, small anthropomorphic or zoomorphic figurines made of gold or tumbaga. Other offerings were emeralds, snails, clothes, and food. Parrots and other colourful birds were sacrificed since they were believed to possess a soul. As noted, human were also sacrificed humans were not uncommon, although this practice ceased prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores. In ancient times, families offered one male child to priests who raised them. At the age of fifteen (some sources state at age twelve) the boys were sacrificed. This was regarded as a great honor by the family and the victims. Sacrifices were performed by removing the heart from a body or penetrating it with spears. At the sacred site Cojines del Zaque (Cushions of the Zaque, two circular stones made of sandstone located at the base of a mountain) the boys were sacrificed to sun god Sué, just after sunrise.
The Muzo people were a Cariban-speaking indigenous group who inhabited the western slopes of the eastern Colombian Andes. They were a belligerent people who frequently clashed with their neighbours, especially the Muisca who lived in the highlands at the southeastern border of Muzo territory. The Muzo inhabited the lowland right bank of the Magdalena River. They were known as the Emerald People due to their exploitation of this gemstone. During the time of conquest, the Muzo energetically resisted the Spanish invaders. It took the conquistadors twenty years to overcome this resistance. The Muzo were endowed with good health, yet lived relatively short lives. Their health is attributed to the fact they were vegetarian, although some sources state that they cannibalized captured enemy warriors. Muzo society was divided into the warrior class, the higher castes, and slaves that were commonly captives from surrounding indigenous tribes. The oldest and bravest members of the community were most esteemed, but were not caciques (chiefs) of the tribe. A system of Muzo laws has not been discovered. Warfare and hunting were performed using poisoned arrows, a common practice among the indigenous tribes of South America. Curare, the toxin they applied to their arrows, was obtained from poisonous plants and frogs. The religion of the Muzo consisted of a handful of gods. The creator god was named Are (counterpart of the Musican god Chiminigagua). Maquipa was s deity who cured illnesses. The Muzo also worshipped the sun and the moon. Temples were not constructed for worship. Two mountain peaks bordering the Carare River named Fura and Tena were considered sacred by the Muzo people and were believed to be the parents of humanity. Fura and Tena taught the Muzo agricultural techniques, craftwork, and the art of war. The myth of Furatena includes a tale about a man with blue eyes and blonde beard, Zarbi, who entered Muzo territory searching for the Fountain of Youth. On this journey, he encountered beautiful Fura and they became lovers. Tena, the husband of Fura, became outraged so he killed Zarbi and hung his body upon Fura mountain. After this he killed Fura, then committed suicide. This killing spree gave birth to the two sacred, pointed hills. According to the Muzo legend, the tears of beautiful Fura transformed into emeralds and butterflies. Despised neighboring Muisca tribespeople performed secret pilgrimages to Fura and Tena, anxious to avoid an encounter with Muzo warriors seeking to discover them, and potentially consume their flesh. In the years before the arrival of the Spanish, the Muzo were in continual conflict with the Muisca. They hid their emeralds from their southeastern neighbours. Once, a coruler of the Musica named Tisquesusa entered Muzo territory where he killed a leader and cut the leader's daughters to pieces trying to discover where Muzo emerald deposits were located. To extract emeralds from the surrounding rock, the Muzo used pointed wooden poles called coa. Veins containing the minerals were then washed with water. The Muzo continue to extract emeralds, but in the 1980s, the techniques used to do so were deemed dangerous. Since then, conditions and treatment of workers in the emerald mining industry has improved.
Navajo religion (Navajo people)
The Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States and inhabits its largest reservation in the country, more than 27,325 square miles of land in Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. The Navajo Reservation is slightly larger than the state of West Virginia. The Navajo language is spoken throughout the region, and most Navajo also speak English. The term Navajo was coined by Spanish missionaries and historians, but the Navajo refer to themselves as the Diné, meaning the) people. Archaeological and historical evidence suggests the Athabaskan ancestors of the Navajo and Apache entered the Southwest around 1400 CE. The Navajo were originally hunters and gatherers. Later, they adopted farming from Pueblo people, growing mainly corn, beans, and squash. They adopted sheep and goat herding from the Spaniards as a source of trade goods and food. Meat became central to the Navajo diet, and sheep became a form of currency and a status symbol. Women began to spin and weave wool into blankets and clothing, creating items of high artistic value which were also traded and sold. There is a system of clans, or K’é, that defines relationships between individuals and families. The clan system is exogamous. People can only date or marry partners outside their own clan. Historically, the structure of the Navajo society is matrilineal. The family of the women owned livestock, dwellings, planting areas, and livestock grazing areas. Navajo spiritual practice is intended to restore balance and harmony to a person's life to keep them healthy and is based on the ideas of Hózhóójí (which translates into Hózhóójí). The Diné believed in two catagories of humans, the Earth People and the Holy People, and that beings passed through three worlds before arriving in this world, the Fourth World, or Glittering World. As Earth People, the Diné must do everything within their power to maintain a proper balance between Mother Earth and humanity. In the Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo creation mythology), the First, or Dark World is where the four Diyin Diné lived and where First Woman and First Man came into existence. Because this world was so dark, life could not thrive there so humans had to move on. The Second, or Blue World, was inhabited by a few species of mammal as well as the Swallow Chief, or Táshchózhii. The First World beingsnoffended Táshchózhii and were asked to leave. From there, they headed south and arrived in the Third World, or Yellow World. Four sacred mountains were discovered here, but due to a great flood, First Woman, First Man, and the Holy People were forced to seek yet another world to live in. They arrived in the Fourth World, the Glittering World where true death came into existence, as well as the seasons, the moon, the stars, and the sun. The Holy People, or Diyin Diné, had instructed the Earth People to view the four sacred mountains as the boundaries of the homeland (Dinétah) they should never depart. Certain times of day, as well as colors, are used to represent the four sacred mountains. The importance of specific numbers is emphasized in the Navajo religion. The number four appears to be especially sacred. There were four original clans of Diné, four colors, four times of day, four Diyin Diné, and typically, four songs were sung in the course of a ritual.
Obeah, or Obayi, is a series of creolized African (mostly West African) diasporic spiritual and healing traditions that arose in the former British colonies of the Caribbean. There are regional variations. Enslaved West Africans (especially the Ashanti and other Tshi-speaking peoples) brought with them to these colonies where it absorbed European (most notably, Christian) influences. Practitioners called Obeahmen and Obeahwomen serve their clients by assisting them with their problems. In the Bahamas, a practitioner is called a Bush man or bush doctor. In Trinidad, a common designation is Wanga man. In Grenada, they are often called Scientists. In Guyana a practitioner may be refered to as a Professor, Madame, Pundit, Maraj, or work-man. It is beleived that possession of spiritual gifts is revealed to a practitioner in late childhood or early adolescence through dreams or visions. It is sometimes also believed that an Obeah practitioner will bear a physical disability, such as a blind eye, a club foot, or a deformed hand, and that their powers are a compensation for this. disability. A practitioner's ability to attract clients is usually based on their reputation.[17] Older practitioners are usually esteemed more highly than are the younger ones. They do not normally wear special clothing to mark their identity. In Trinidad and Tobago, contemporary practitioners often advertise their services in the classified section of newspapers. Clients typically pay for the services of an Obeah practitioner, the size of the fee often being connected to the client's meansHealing practices often incorporate herbal and animal ingredients. Obeah often also involves the casting of spells to ontain justice for a client. Other usages include attracting a partner, finding lost objects, getting a person released from prison, obtaining good fortune for gambling or gaming purposes, and exacting revenge upon an enemy. These practices often include petitions to supernatural forces for divine intervention. British rulers of the colonies disapproved of African traditional religions, so they introduced various laws to curtail and prohibit them. Obeah emerged as a system of practical rituals and procedures rather than as an inclusive religious system involving communal worship and rituals. Consequently, Obeah differs from the more worship-focused African diasporic religions in the Caribbean like Haitian Vodou, Cuban Santería and Palo, or the Jamaican variant of Obeah. Obeah is similar to Quimbois, a related practice in the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Unlike other Afro-Caribbean religious traditions, Obeah does not strictly centered on deities who manifest themselves through divination and the possession of worshippers. Practitioners are, however, free to choose to incorporate deities into their practice, as they do with lesser spirits. Since the 1980s, Obeah's practitioners have labored to remove legal restrictions against their practices.
The religion of the Olmec people significantly influenced the social development and mythological world view of succeeding pre-Columbian Mesoamerican religions. The Olmecs, first of many Mesoamerican civilizations, developed on the southern Gulf Coast of present-day Mexico in the centuries prior to 1200 BCE and endured until roughly 400 BCE. There are no surviving direct descriptions of the Olmec's religious beliefs. Scholars and archeologists must rely upon analysis of Olmec iconography and art. They also study later, better documented pre-Columbian cultures and the modern-day cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, assuming a continuity exists that extends from Olmec times through to the present. This assumption is called the Continuity Hypothesis. Based on these techniques, researchers have extracted information about several Olmec deities and supernatural entities who embody the characteristics of various animals. Olmec religious activities were performed by a combination of rulers, full-time priests, and shamans. The rulers seem to have been the most important. Their links to the Olmec deities or provided legitimacy for their rulership. There is also considerable evidence supporting the existence of shamans in the archaeological record. Early researchers conjectured that Olmec religious beliefs centered upon a jaguar god.[4] This view was challenged in the 1970s by Peter David Joralemon, who posited what are now considered to be 8 different supernatural beings. Over time, Joralemon's viewpoint has become the dominant one. The study of Olmec religion, however, is still in its infancy. Any current list of Olmec deities is not definitive or comprehensive, but only provisional. Attributes portrayed in surviving images are not uniform, but extremely heterogeneous. Neither do they exhibit any sexual characteristics which would indicate gender. Despite a high degree of ambiguity, however, a handful of possible Olmec deities has been tentatively identified. God One is the Olmec Dragon, also known as the Earth Monster The dragon has flame eyebrows, a bulbous nose, a bifurcated tongue, and prominent fangs. Along with the Bird Monster, the Olmec Dragon is one of the most commonly depicted Olmec gods. God Two is the Maize deity, identified by the plants sprouting from its cleft head. God Three is the Rain Spirit and/or the Were-jaguar (a blend of human and jaguar characteristics). There is disagreement among researchers whether the Rain Spirit and were-jaguar are one distinct or two separate dieties. God Four is called the Banded-eye God, named for the narrow band that runs along the side of its face through its almond-shaped eye. Like many other deities, the Banded-eye God has a cleft head and a downturned mouth. Unlike the others, the Banded-eye God is only known from its profile. Rather than being a god in its own right, however, pre-Columbian scholar Karl Taube beleives that God Four is another aspect of the Maize God. God Five is the Feathered Serpent. The feathered, or plumed, serpent is depicted throughout Mesoamerica but first appears in Olmec iconography. There is disagreement concerning its importance to the Olmec. God Six is the Fish or Shark Monster, most often recognized by its shark tooth. The head of the monster also features a crescent-shaped eye and a small lower jaw. When its full body is depicted in its full-body form, the anthropomorphic Fish or Shark Monster also displays crossed bands, a dorsal fin, and a split tail.
Purépecha religion (Purépecha people of the Purépecha Empire)
The Purépecha are a group of Indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also refered to by non-Purépecha people using the derogatory term Tarascan. The Purépecha Empire was one of the major empires of the Pre-Columbian era. The capital city was Tzintzuntzan. Purépecha architecture is noted for its T-shaped step pyramids. Pre-Columbian Purépecha artisans crafted feather mosaics using hummingbird feathers which were regarded as luxury goods throughout the region. The Purépecha empire was never conquered by the Aztec Empire, and there is no record of the Aztecs ever defeating them in battle. This was likely due to the presence of metal ores within their empire. Purépecha knowledge of metallurgy was far superior to that of the Aztecs. This skills continues to be practised by their descendants, who are particularly renown as coppersmiths. Despite their being enemies with the Aztecs, the Aztec Empire traded with them, primarily to obtain metal tools and weapons. After hearing of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and with the native population diminished by an epidemic of smallpox (a European import which inhabitants of the New World did not possess resistance to), the leader of the Purépecha, Tangaxuan II, pledged his allegiance as a vassal of the King of Spain without a fight in 1525. 500 years later, many ancient Purépecha traditions continue to be observed. The Jimbani Uexurhina (New Fire) festival, celebrated on February 2, incorporates both traditional indigenous and Catholic elements. Purépechans celebrate the Day of the Dead slightly differently than do other Mexicans. On November 1 and 2, family members take part in all-night vigils at the graves of their loved ones. Purépecha believe that the souls of the dead watch over their living relatives on this day. Catholic Masses are celebrated in the Purhépecha language. This ethnic group was originally polytheistic. Among its gods were Curicaveri (the sun god, or the Great Fire, the primary Purhépecha deity whose body was painted black), Cuerauáperi (the goddess of creation, or “the one that unties in the womb,” associated with birth and considered to be the mother of all gods, men, animals, and plants), Xarátanga (the water goddess and goddess of the moon and maintenance who caused plants to germinate and cared for men and animals. Like other Mesoamerican moon goddesses, she was also connected with love and sex), Cuitzeo (the war god), Urendequauecara/Hurendequauecara (the morning star associated with Venus and the eastern sky), Auicamine (an evil goddess), Pehuame (goddess of birth, an intermediary for creation goddess Cuerauáperi), Curitacaheri (the great priest and the sun's messenger, related with the Sea God who received offerings placed in shells), the Angamu Curacha (forest gods), and the God of Hell (in the Cuingo celebration, sacrifices that had their skin removed were dedicated to this god).
Rastafari, or Rastafarianism, with 600,000 adherants, is positioned at the bottom of the list of 21 super-categories of world religions on the homepage of this website. As an ethnic religion, a brief description will be provided in this place. Rastafarianism will be more fully described elsewhere. It is an Abrahamic religion and is classified as both a new religion and a social movement. Many Rastas reject descriptions of Rastafari as a religion, instead referring to it as a way of life, a philosophy, or a spirituality. Rastafari originated among impoverished and socially disenfranchised Afro-Jamaican communities in the 1930s. Its Afrocentric ideology was largely a reaction against Jamaica's then-dominant British colonial culture. It was influenced by both Ethiopianism and the Back-to-Africa movement promoted by black nationalist figures such as Marcus Garvey. The religion developed after several Protestant Christian clergymen, most notably Leonard Howell, proclaimed that Haile Selassie's crowning as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 was a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. By the 1950s, Rastafari's countercultural stance had brought the movement into conflict with wider Jamaican society, including violent clashes with law enforcement. In the 1960s and 1970s, it gained increased respectability within Jamaica and greater visibility worldwide through the popularity of Rastafari-inspired reggae musicians, most notably Bob Marley. There is no central authority in control of the movement, and much diversity exists among practitioners who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas. Rastafari beliefs are based on a specific interpretation of the Bible. Central to the religion is a monotheistic belief in a single God, referred to as Jah, who is beleived to partially reside within each individual. Rastas regard Haile Selassie I, emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, as significant person. Some beleive he was Christ returned and Jah incarnate, while others see him as a human prophet who fully recognized Jah's presence in human beings. Rastafari focuses intently on the African diaspora, whose constituents continue to be oppressed within Western society, which is referred to Babylon. Many Rastas call for the diaspora's resettlement in Africa (as did Marcus Garvey), a continent they consider to be the Promised Land, or Zion. Some practitioners escalate this view into black supremacism. Rastas term their practices livity. Communal meetings, called groundations, are typified by music, chanting, discussions, and the smoking of cannabis which is a Rastafari sacrament beleived to possess beneficial properties. Rastas emphasize living a natural life and adhere to ital (the Rasta equivalent of "kosher") dietary requirements. The life energy conferred by the Almighty that is believe to reside in humans is termed Livity. Food that is consumed should enhance Livity, rather than reduce it. There are different interpretations of ital regarding specific foods, but a general principle is that food should be natural, or pure, and come directly from the earth. Practitioners therefore avoid food which has been chemically modified or contains artificial additives. Rastifari famously wear their hair in dreadlocks and honor Biblical patriarchal gender roles.
Umbanda (Afro-Brazilians and Afro-Uruguayans)
Umbanda is a religion that emerged in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the 1920s. Derived principally from Spiritism, it also combines elements from Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catholicism. There is no central authority in control of Umbanda, which is organized around autonomous places of worship called centros or terreiros. The followers of Umbanda are called Umbandistas. It is roughly divided between White Umbanda, which is closer to Spiritism ((a French version of Spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec), and Africanized Umbanda, which is closer to Candomblé. Umbandistas express belief in a single God who is distant from humanity. Beneath this monotheistic entity are powerful non-human spirits called orixás. In Spiritism influenced White Umbanda, orixás are viewed as divine energies or forces of nature. In African-oriented forms of Umbanda, they are seen as West African deities and animals are sacrificed to them. The emissaries of the orixás are the pretos velhos, the spirits of enslaved Africans, and caboclos, the spirits of indigenous Brazilians. These are entities that are regarded as being approachable by Umbandistas. Although they are only the emissaries of the orixás, the pretos velhos and caboclos are prominent in Umbandist rituals. During these rituals, spirit mediums sing and dance with the hope of being possessed by these spirits, through whom the congregations receive guidance, advice, and healing. Umbanda teaches a complex cosmology rooted in spiritual evolution through a series of reincarnations. Below the caboclos and pretos velhos there exists a large number of unidentified guias (spirit guides) and espíritos pretetores (spirit protectors). Other types of spirit found in Umbanda include the boiadeiros (cowboys), crianças (children), marinheiros (sailors), malandros (rogues), ciganos (gypsies) and sereias (mermaids)The Umbanda ethical systems emphasizes charity and social fraternity. Umbandistas also seek to reverse damage that they attribute to practitioners of a related tradition, Quimbanda. Roman Catholicism was the dominant religion in early 20th-century Brazil, but a sizeable minority practiced Afro-Brazilian traditions or Spiritism. In the 1920s, various groups may have been combining Spiritist and Afro-Brazilian practices, forming the basis of Umbanda. Adherants of Umbanda believe in a single God (sometimes called Olorun, a name of Yoruba origin) who is the creator and controller of the universe, a being that presides over the astral world but who is distant from humanity. Beneath the supreme God exists a pantheon of spirits who influence and intervene in humanity's daily lives. An important distinction is made between the material world and the far superior spiritual world. Many Umbandistas believe in a three-part cosmos, divided into the astral spaces, the earth, and the underworld. More highly evolved spirits dwell in the astral realm, spirits incarnated in physical forms reside temporarily on earth, and malevolent and ignorant spirits inhabit the underworld. The barrier between these worlds is permeable, so spirits from both the astral and underworld realms can visit the earth.
Santa Muerte worship (Mestizo/Mexicans and Mexican-Americans)
Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte (Spanish for Our Lady of Holy Death), often shortened to Santa Muerte, is a new religious movement, a female deity, and a folk saint in Mexican folk Catholicism and Neopaganism. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe passage to the afterlife by her devotees. Despite condemnation by the Catholic Church, and more recently by evangelical Christians, her cult has become increasingly prominent. Santa Muerte almost always depicted as a female skeletal figure clad in a long robe and holding one or more objects, usually a scythe and a globe. Depictions vary widely according to the ritual being performed or the petition being made. Her modern following was first reported in Mexico by American anthropologists in the 1940s. Santa Muerte was an occult practice until the early 2000s, and most prayers and other rituals were performed privately. Since the beginning of the 21st century, worship has become more public, initially in Mexico City after a believer named Enriqueta Romero founded a famous Mexico City shrine devoted to Santa Muerte in 2001. The number of believers has grown over the past two decades. An estimated 12 million followers are concentrated in Mexico, Central America, and the United States, with smaller numbers of followers scattered across the Americas and Europe. Santa Muerte has two male counterparts in Latin America, the skeletal folk saints San La Muerte of Argentina and Paraguay and Rey Pascual of Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico. According to Professor Andrew Chesnut, Santa Muerte lies at the center of the fastest-growing new religious movement in the world. After the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the worship of death diminished, but was never eradicated. The annals of the Spanish Inquisition record that the Chichimecs of central Mexico tied up a skeletal figure, whom they addressed as Santa Muerte, and threatened to whip it if it did not perform miracles or grant their wishes. Another combination of pre-Columbian and Christian beliefs about death can be seen in Day of the Dead commemorations when many Mexicans visit cemeteries to sing and pray for friends and family members who have died. Children participate in the festivities by eating skull-shaped chocolate or candy. In contrast to the Day of the Dead, public veneration of Santa Muerte did not commence until a few decades ago. Public reaction was often harsh, and included the desecration of shrines and altars. Santa Muerte first came to widespread public notice in Mexico in 1998 after police arrested notorious gangster Daniel Arizmendi López and discovered a shrine to the saint in his home. Widely reported in the press, this discovery inspired the common association between Santa Muerte, violence, and criminality. The recent phenomenal growth of the number of devotees of Santa Muerte is mainly due to her reputation for performing miracles. By the late 2000s, Santa Muerte had become, after Saint Jude, Mexico's second-most popular saint and a rival of the country's national patroness, the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (Mississippian culture)
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (formerly Southern Cult, Southern Death Cult or Buzzard Cult), abbreviated S.E.C.C., is the designation by modern scholars of the regional stylistic similarities of the artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture. It coincided (1200 to 1650 CE) with their adoption of maize agriculture and a complex, highly variable set of religious mechanisms that supported the authority of local chiefs. As of 2004, theories suggest that the complex developed from pre-existing beliefs spread over the midwest and southeast by the Hopewell Interaction Sphere, a network of precontact Native American cultures connected by trade routes that flourished in river settlements in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from 100 BCE to 500 CE. The social organization of the Mississippian culture was based on warfare, which was represented by an array of motifs and symbols in articles made from costly raw materials, such as conches from Florida, copper from the Great Lakes area and Appalachian Mountains, lead from northern Illinois and Iowa, pottery from Tennessee, and stone tools sourced from Kansas, Texas, and southern Illinois.[15] Such objects occur in elite burials, together with war axes, maces, and other weapons. These warrior symbols occur alongside other artifacts, which bear cosmic imagery depicting animals, humans, and legendary creatures. This symbolic imagery bound together warfare, cosmology, and nobility into a coherent whole. Some of these categories of artifacts were used as markers of chiefly office, which varied from one location to another. The term Southeast Ceremonial Complex refers to a complex, highly variable set of religious mechanisms that supported the authority of local chiefs. Most imagery focuses on cosmology and the supernatural beings who inhabit and influence the cosmos. The cosmological map encompassed real geographic locations, both in this world and the supernatural realm of the Otherworld. The cosmos is portrayed in three levels. The Above World, or Overworld, was the home of the Thunderers, the Sun, Moon, and Morning Star or Red Horn (He Who Wears Human Heads For Earrings) and represented order and stability. The Middle World was the earth that humans inhabit. The Beneath World, or Under World, was a cold, dark place of Chaos that was home to the Underwater Panther and Corn Mother (Old Woman Who Never Dies). These three worlds were connected by an axis mundi, usually portrayed as a cedar tree or a striped pole reaching from the Under World to the Over World. Each of the three levels was also believed to feature its own sub-levels. Central to the world view of the S.E.C.C. was the concept of duality and opposition. The beings of the upper and lower spheres were in constant opposition to each other. Ritual and ceremony were the means by which these powerful forces could be accessed and harnessed.
The Taíno were a historic indigenous people of the Caribbean, whose culture has been continued today by Taíno descendant communities and Taíno revivalist communities. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The Lucayan branch of the Taíno were the first New World peoples encountered by Christopher Columbus in the Bahama Archipelago on October 12, 1492. The Taíno spoke a dialect of the Arawakan language group and lived in agricultural societies. The Taíno had a matrilineal system of kinship, descent, and inheritance. Taíno society was divided into two classes: naborias (commoners) and nitaínos (nobles). They were governed by male chiefs known as caciques who inherited their position through their mother's noble line. The practice of polygamy enabled the cacique to create family alliances in different localities, thus extending his power. Taíno spirituality centered on the worship of zemis (spirits or ancestors). Major Taíno zemis included Atabey and her son, Yúcahu. Atabey was thought to be the zemi of the moon, fresh waters, and fertility. Guabancex was the non-nurturing aspect of the zemi Atabey who was believed to have control over natural disasters. She is identified as the goddess of hurricanes or as the zemi of storms. Guabancex had twin sons: Guataubá, a messenger who created hurricane winds, and Coatrisquie, who created floodwaters. Iguanaboína was the goddess of good weather. She also had twin sons: Boinayel, the messenger of rain, and his twin brother Marohu, the spirit of clear skies. Minor Taíno zemis are tied to the growing of cassava and the processes of life, creation, and death. Baibrama was a minor zemi worshiped for his assistance in growing cassava and curing people of its poisonous juice. Maquetaurie Guayaba, or Maketaori Guayaba, was the zemi of Coaybay, or Coabey, the land of the dead. Opiyelguabirán', a dog-shaped zemi, watched over the dead. Deminán Caracaracol, a male cultural hero from whom the Taíno believed themselves to be descended, was worshipped as a zemí. Macocael was a cultural hero worshipped as a zemi. Macocael had failed to guard the mountain from which human beings arose. He was punished by being turned into stone, or a bird, a frog, or a reptile, depending on local interpretations of the myth. Zemí was also the name the people gave to physical representations of zemis. These objects or drawings took many forms, were made of many materials, and were found in a variety of settings. The majority of zemís were crafted from wood, but stone, bone, shell, pottery, and cotton were used as well. Zemí petroglyphs were carved on rocks in streams, ball courts, and stalagmites in caves. Some zemís were accompanied by small tables or trays with ornately carved snuff tubes. These are believed to be receptacles for hallucinogenic snuff called cohoba which was prepared from the beans of a species of Piptadenia tree. Before certain ceremonies, Taínos would purify themselves either by inducing vomiting (with a swallowing stick) or by fasting. After communal bread was served, first to the zemí, then to the cacique, and lastly to the common people, the Taíno would sing the village epic to the accompaniment of maracas and other instruments.
Tecumseh's religion (Inhabitants of the Tecumseh's confederacy)
Tecumseh's confederacy was a confederation of indigenous peoples of the Great Lakes region of North America that began to form in the early 19th century around the teaching of Tenskwatawa, called The Prophet by his followers. The confederation grew over to include several thousand warriors. A Shawnee, Tecumseh, the brother of The Prophet, developed into the leader of the group as early as 1808. Together, they worked to unite the various tribes against the European settlers who had been crossing the Appalachian Mountains and settling on their land. In November 1811, an American military force under the leadership of William Henry Harrison engaged warriors associated with Tenskwatawa in the Battle of Tippecanoe, resulting in a definitive American victory. In retaliation for that battle, Tecumseh led the confederation to war with the United States during a conflict later named Tecumseh's War, a part of the War of 1812 alliance between the Indians and the british. In 1813, the U.S. Navy gained control of Lake Erie. The British and Tecumseh abandoned Detroit and fled east, where they were caught and destroyed as a military force. Tecumseh was killed in the Battle of the Thames near Chatham, Ontario. The small retreating British force was routed, leaving Tecumseh's 500 warriors (who refused to retreat any further) to face a significantly superior American force which included cavalry. The death of Tecumseh had a demoralizing effect on his allies. His confederacy dissolved as an organized entity soon after, although many tribes continued to fight under their own leaders, just as they had before Tecumseh's death. After Tecumseh's death in 1813, his younger brother Tenskwatawa retained a small group of followers but had no significant leadership position among the American Indians in the decade that followed. In 1824, at the request of the governor of Michigan Territory, the aging Prophet returned to the United States from Canada to assist the federal government with its plans for the Shawnee removal west of the Mississippi River. Tenskwatawa hoped his involvement would allow him to regain some influence as a leader among the Shawnee. His more effectual predecessor, Tenskwatawa, held beleifs that were greatly influenced by the teachings of Neolin and Scattamek, Lenape religious leaders who had died years earlier and had predicted a coming apocalypse in which the white men would be overthrown by supernatural powers. As part of Tenskwatawa's religious teachings, he urged Indians to reject white introductions such as liquor, Europeans style clothing, and firearms. He also called for the tribes to refrain from ceding any more lands to the United States. Numerous Indians who were inclined to cooperate with the United States were accused of witchcraft, and some of these were executed by the followers of Tenskwatawa. Tenskwatawa's religious teachings became increasingly militant following an 1807 treaty between the Americans, the Fox tribe, and the Sauk. Many members of the two tribes were outraged by the treaty which caused the Sauk to lose their greatest settlement. Many of the disaffected came to align themselves with the Prophet and his teachings. Led by Tenskwatawa and Tecumseh, thousands of Algonquin-speaking Indians gathered at Tippecanoe to gain spiritual strength. Eventually, the remnant of Tecumseh's confederacy retreated westward by 1840 to avoid the large numbers of whites that continued to enter their territory.
Teotihuacan religion (Inhabitants of Teotihuacan)
Teotihuacan is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico twenty-five miles northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is famed as the site of many of the most architecturally significant Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas, namely the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon. Although close to Mexico City, Teotihuacan was not a Mexica (Aztec) city and predates the Aztec Empire by many centuries. In addition to its pyramids, Teotihuacan is also anthropologically significant for its complex, multi-family residential compounds, the Avenue of the Dead, and its vibrant, well-preserved murals. Teotihuacan was founded as a religious center around the first century CE. The city reached its peak in 450 CE when it was the center of a powerful culture whose influence extended through much of the Mesoamerican region. The era that spans 650 to 750 CE witnessed the end of Teotihuacan as a major power. The city's elite housing compounds, clustered around the Avenue of the Dead, bear many burn marks. Archeologists hypothesize that the city experienced civil strife that hastened its decline. Factors that may also have contributed to the decline of the city included disruptions in tributary relations, increased social stratification, and power struggles between the ruling and intermediary elites. Scholars beleive that the primary deity of Teotihuacan was the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan. Politics were based on the state religion, and religious leaders were also political leaders who would commission buldings and art used for ceremonies and rituals. As evidenced from remains found during excavations of the pyramids in the city, Teotihuacanos practiced human sacrifice. Scholars believe that the people offered human sacrifices were offered in in connection with the dedication of a building to ensure the city would continue to prosper. Victims were probably captured enemy warriors captured in battle. Some victims were decapitated, some had their hearts removed, others killed by being hit several times on the head, and some were buried alive. Animals that considered sacred and representive of mythical powers and the military were also buried alive or captured and held in cages. Excavated remains of these non-human victims include cougars, a wolf, eagles, a falcon, an owl, and even venomous snakes. In addition to the supreme Great Goddess of Teotihuacan, the inhabitants of Teotihuacan venerated the Feathered Serpent (an important deity closely associated with the Feathered Serpent Pyramid), the Storm God, the Old God, the War Serpent (either an alternate or duplicate of the Feathered Serpent), the Netted Jaguar, and the Pulque God. The Fat God the Flayed God are nown primarily from figurines, so it is assumed that they are related to household rituals. Numerous stone masks have been unearthed at Teotihuacan and are generally believed to have been used in connection with funerals, but some scholars question this assumption. The archeological park of Teotihuacan is under threat from development pressures. In 2004, the government gave permission for Wal-Mart to build a large store in the third archeological zone of the park. An archeologist discovered fragments of ancient pottery were found where trucks dumped soil removed from the Wal-Mart construction site.
Totonac religion (Totonac people)
The Totonac are an indigenous people of Mexico who reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a city which they claim to have built). Until the mid-19th century they were the world's main producers of vanilla. The region of Totonacapan was subject to Aztec military incursions from the mid-15th century until the arrival of the Spanish arrival. Despite the establishment of Aztec fortifications throughout the region, rebellion against Aztec rule was continuous. Cempoala was the first indigenous city state visited by Hernán Cortés in his march to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán. The Totonac king, Chicomacatt, eagerly welcomed Cortés and promised the support of his fifty thousand warriors against Montezuma. Encouraged by Cortés, King Chicomacatt asserted his independence by seizing the Mexican tax-gatherers then residing in his country, but was restrained by the Spanish commander from sacrificing them to Totonac idols. As a final test of their friendship and obedience, Cortés commanded the destruction of the wooden images of the gods in the great pyramid temple of Cempoala, where every day human victims were sacrificed. Despite the protest of the king and the fierce opposition of the priests and their retainers, the order was carried out by a detachment of Spanish soldiers. The idols were thrown down to the foot of the temple and burned. Afterward, Fray Bartolome de Olmeda ("protector of the Indians") preached the Christian Faith and celebrated Mass before the assembled natives. Some natives were baptized, and Catholocism acquired its first converts in Mexico. Most present-day Totonacs are Roman Catholic, but Christian practice is often mixed with vestiges of their traditional religion. A notable instance of this is la Costumbre, a survival of an old rite of sacrifice in which various seeds are mixed with earth and the blood of fowls, then dispersed over planting fields. The traditional Totonac religion was described in the early 1960s by French ethnographer Alain Ichon. No other major essay on Totonac religion has been found. Mother goddesses played a very important role in Totonac belief, since each person's soul is created by them. If a newborn child dies, its soul does not go to the west, the place of the dead, but to the east with the Mothers. Ichon also recorded for posterity an important myth regarding a maize deity, a culture hero with counterparts among most other cultures of the Gulf Coast and possibly also representative of thw classic Maya maize god. Regarding traditional healers, it is believed that they are born during a storm, under the protection of thunder. A lightning bolt strikes the house of an infant healer and possesses it. Other known deities include Chichiní (the sun) and Aktzin, the Totonac god of rain. Variants of Aktzin were known as Tláloc to the Aztecs and Chaac to the Mayas. Aktzin was typically depicted as a male figure wearing some form of headdress and rings over his eyes, similar to spectacles. In one hand he held a hammer or axe which would produce thunder and lightning as it struck the clouds. Water poured from his other hand, either from his palm or from a vessel which he held. These elements represented the life-giving, but occaisionally destructive forces of the weather.
Powhatan religion (Powhatan people)
Tsenacommacah is the name given by the Powhatan people to their native homeland, an area encompassing all of Tidewater Virginia and portions of the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The Powhatan were part of a powerful political network of Virginia Indian tribes known as the Powhatan Confederacy. Members spoke the Powhatan language. The paramount chief of the Powhatan people in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Wahunsenacawh, originally controlled only six tribes, but throughout the late 16th century, through diplomacy or force, he added many more. By 1607, Wahunsenacawh controlled more than 30 tribes. Wahunsenacawh died in 1618, and the chiefdom was ultimately passed to his younger brother Opechancanough who led the Indian Massacre of 1622 as well as a second attack in 1644. Both attacks provoked retaliations from the English colonists. A peace treaty, signed in 1646, ended the conflicts. The size of Tsenacommacah was reduced. The treaty specified boundaries between Virginia Indian lands and colonial territory and restricted crossing the border to those on official business. Badges were required for all visitors. The treaty also established the payment of a yearly tribute to the English. The Virginia Colony long respected its southern boundary established by this treaty, refusing to recognize settlements beyond it as late as 1705. Every Indian reservation, except for two, were lost over the next two centuries. Despite this, many of the remaining tribes still live in or near their ancestral lands. Powhatan homes, called yehakins, were constructed by bending saplings and laying woven mats or bark over them. Virginia's natives practiced slash-and-burn agriculture and cultivated maize. A village became unusable when the productivity of the soil declined and local fish and game supplies were depleted, so they periodically moved their villages to a new location. Powhatan men were warriors and hunters who traveled on foot through forests in pursuit of enemies or game. Women tended agricultural fields and gardens. The original Powhatan religion was documented by the Jamestown colonists. The Powhatans believed in two primary gods. Ahone was the Great Hare creator god. Okee was the twin of Ahone, less powerful, but more approachable than his brother. Men cut their hair in imitation of Okee’s. To assuage his anger in times of crisis or court his pleasure before the hunt, they offered Okee sacrifices. Beneath Ahone and Okee, there were many other spirits, including an unnamed female deity. The Powhatan attempted to appease Oke with various offerings such as jewelry and tobacco. Religious leaders served as advisors to tribal leaders. It is believed that Powhatans would make offerings and pray to the god of the sun at sunrise. Relations were managed with the various spirits by the kwiocosuk, or shamans, who lived apart from common tribespeople and were Powhatan society’s ultimate authority figures. The kwiocosuk served as advisors to tribal leaders. Quiocosins, or holy temples, housed the religious leaders and hosted various rituals. When the weroances, or chiefs, died, their remains were reduced to bundles of bones and stored in the temples for several years. The Powhatans had a variety of rituals that were associated with eating, hunting, male initiation, and the killing of prisoners of war.
The Wayúu inhabit the arid Guajira Peninsula that straddles the Venezuela-Colombia border on the Caribbean Sea coast. Two major rivers flow through this mostly harsh environment. The Rancheria River in Colombia and the El Limón River in Venezuela are the main source of water for the Wayúu, supplimented by artificial ponds designed to retain rain water during the rainy season. Although the Wayuu were never subjugated by the Spanish, the two groups were in a perpetual state of war. There were rebellions in 1701, 1727, 1741, 1757, 1761 and 1768. Of all the Indigenous peoples in the territory of Colombia, the Wayúu were unique in having learned the use of firearms and horses in warfare. Lasting evangelization of the Wayuu people began in in 1887 with the return of Capuchin friars. In 1905, Pope Pius X created the Vicariate of La Guajira in an attempt to "civilize" the Wayúu people. Families in the Wayuu culture are divided into clans. The Wayúu are polytheistic and their gods represent varied aspects of their society: good, evil, procreation, and the forces of nature. The central figure of Wayúu religion is Maleiwa (God) creator of the world, the the Wayuu, and the founder of society. Pulowi and Juya, spiritual beings, are a married couple associated with procreation and life. Pulowi is a female deity related to the wind and dry seasons/ Juya a male, is a nomad god related to hunting who is seen as a powerful killer. Wanülu is an evil spirit that causes illness and death. Wayúu gods are featured in important life milestones such as birth, death, and puberty in girls. The Wayuu believe that life does not end with death, but that a relationship with one's bones continues. Burials are very important. The relatives of the dead must bury a body with its personal belongings. After five years, the bones are exhumed and placed into ceramics vessels or a chinchorro (hammock), and are then reburied in a clan's cemetery. In Wayúu culture, the dance of the Yonna is an ancestral ritual that is celebrated during important occurrences: when crops are harvested, when a harvest is abundant, to thank Maleiwa for something that is beneficial to the community, or the end a period of confinement after a girl’s first menstruation. This dance involves a woman trying to step on the feet of a man she is chasing as members of the community play music on a drum. Within the Wayúu community, healers are considered to be highly spiritual beings due to their ability to communicate with the ancestral spirits who provide them with information about illnesses and their cures. Most healers tend to be women, as they are considered to be more sacred than men in Wayúu culture, but men can also serve as healers.
Yupik religion (Yupik of Alaska and Eastern Russia)
This article is a variation on one posted above in the section describing the ethnic religions of Asia. The Yupik are a group of indigenous or peoples of western, southwestern, and southcentral Alaska and the Russian Far East. They are related to the Inuit and Iñupiat. The common ancestors of Eskimo and Aleut tribes such as the Yupik are believed to have originated in eastern Siberia, arriving in the Bering Sea area approximately 10,000 years ago. Traditionally, families spent the spring and summer at fish camp, then joined others at village sites for the winter. Traditional religious beliefs of the Yupik encompassed a system of cosmological reproductive cycles. Nothing in the universe ever permanently disappears, but is rathger reborn in succeeding generations. This view was reflected in elaborate rules concerning naming practices, ceremonial exchanges, regenerative rituals, and daily life. Over the past century, the Yup'ik have become active practitioners of Russian Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Moravianism. Although they have abandoned many of their traditional practices, the traditional generative worldview remains apparent in many aspects of contemporary village life. Traditionally, shamans exercised considerable influence due to their divinatory and healing role. When Christian missionaries arrived in the nineteenth century, they viewed the shamans as their adversaries. Many of the shamans actively resisted the influence of Christianity. Others, however, converted and became native Christian practitioners. Today the major Christian denominations in western Alaska are run by native pastors and deacons. Formerly, families spent the spring and summer at a fish camp, then joined others at village sites for the winter. The men's communal house, the qasgiq, was the community center for ceremonies and festivals that included singing, dancing, and storytelling. The traditional winter ceremonial cycle consisted of six major ceremonies and a number of minor ones. Individually, the ceremonies served to emphasize different aspects of the relationships among humans, animals, and the spirit world. Among other things, the ceremonies ensured the rebirth and return of the animals in the coming harvest season. Through dramatic ritual reversals of the normal productive relationships, the human community was opened to the spirits of game animals as well as the spirits of the human dead. These spirits were invited to enter and receive recompense for what they had given and would. hopefully, continue to give in return for Yupik ceremonial offerings. Masked dances dramatically re-created past spiritual encounters to better elicit the participation of the spirits in the future. Together, these ceremonies constituted a cyclical view of the universe whereby right action in the past and the present leads to abundance in the future.
Zapotec religion (Zapotec peoples of the Zapotec civilization)
The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian culture that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows that it originated at least 2,500 years ago. The Zapotec archaeological site at the ancient city of Monte Albán has monumental buildings, ball courts, magnificent tombs, and grave goods which include finely worked gold jewelry. Monte Albán was one of the first major cities in Mesoamerica and the center of a Zapotec state that dominated much of the territory which lies within the boudaries of the contemporary Mexican state of Oaxaca. Like most Mesoamerican religious systems, the Zapotec religion was polytheistic. Some known deities were Cocijo (a rain god similar to the Aztec god Tlaloc), Coquihani (the god of light), and Pitao Cozobi (the god of maize). Zapotec deities were predominantly associated with fertility or agriculture. Both male and female deities were worshipped and may be differentiated based on their apparel. Males are depicted wearing breechclouts, with or without capes, while females are depicted wearing skirts. There is some evidence of the worship of deities not directly associated with Zapotec culture, such as the Teotihuacan Feathered Serpent, Butterfly God, and rain god and the Nahuatl god of spring, Xipe Totec. It is believed that the Zapotec used human sacrifice in some of their rituals. There are several legends of the origin of the Zapotec. One of them states that they were the original people of the valley of Oaxaca and were born from rocks, or descended from big cats such as pumas, jaguars and ocelots. Another legend proclaims that the Zapotec settled in the Oaxaca valley after founding the Toltec empire, and were descendants of the people of Chicomoztoc. Their governing elite believed that they descended from supernatural beings who lived among the clouds, and that upon death they would return to the clouds. The name by which Zapotecs are known today results from this belief. The Zapotecs of the Central Valleys call themselves Be'ena' Za'a, meaning the Cloud People. These legends were not written down until after the Spanish conquest. The Zapotec used dedication rituals to sanctify their living spaces and larger buildings. Excavations at the Cuilapan Temple Pyramid in Oaxaca unearthed a dedication cache containing many jade beads, two jade earspools, three obsidian blades, shells, stones, a pearl, and small animal bones, likely from birds, dated to 700 AD. Each of these materials symbolized different religious concepts. As it was not easily attained, jade was highly valued, and worked jade even more so because the elite were the primary artists. Obsidian blades are associated with sacrifice, as they were commonly used in bloodletting rituals. Shells and pearl represent the underworld, being from the ocean, and the small bird bones represent the sky and its relation to the balanced cosmos. These artifacts are significant due to their placement in a structure used for ritual and associated with power. This cache is a form of dedication ritual, consecrating the Cuilapan Temple Pyramid to concepts of power, sacrifice, and maintaining harmony between the underworld and the cosmos.
Europe
Albanian folk beliefs and mythological stories comprise beliefs expressed in the customs, rituals, myths, legends and tales of the Albanian people. The elements of Albanian mythology are of ancient Paleo-Balkanic origin and almost all of them are pagan. Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in the context of a relatively isolated tribal culture and society. Albanian folk tales and legends have been orally transmitted down through the generations and continue to be related to this day. In Albanian mythology, physical phenomena, elements and objects are attributed to supernatural beings. The deities are generally not persons, but animistic personifications of nature. The earliest attested cult of the Albanians is the worship of the Sun and the Moon. In Albanian folk beliefs, the earth cult and sky cult hold a special place. An important role is played by fire, which is considered a living, divine element used for rituals, sacrificial offerings and purification. Fire worship is associated with the cult of the Sun, the cult of the hearth, and the cult of fertility pertaining to agriculture and animal husbandry. Albanian myths and legends are organized around the dichotomy of good and evil, the most famous example being the legendary battle between drangue and kulshedra. This conflict symbolizes cyclic return in the watery and chthonian world of death, and results in cosmic renewal. The weavers of destiny, the ora or fatí, control the order of the universe and enforce its laws. The characters in Albanian tales, legends and myths include humans, deities, demigods, monsters, as well as supernatural beings in the shapes of men, animals and plants. A very common motif in Albanian folk narrative is metamorphosis. Men can morph into deer, wolves, and owls, while women can morph into stoats, cuckoos, and turtles. Among the main bodies of Albanian folk poetry are the Kângë Kreshnikësh (Songs of Heroes), the traditional non-historical cycle of Albanian epic songs, based on the cult of legendary Albanians. The bravery and self-sacrifice displayed by a hero, as well as their love of life and hope for a bright future play a central role in Albanian tales. Islam was first introduced to Albania in the 15th century after the Ottoman conquest of the area. In Ottoman times, often to escape higher taxes levied on Christian subjects, the majority of Albanians became Muslims. However, one part of the region retained its Christian and pre-Christian beliefs. In the 16th century the Albanians are first recorded as being worshippers of the Sun and the Moon. British poet Lord Byron, describing the Albanian religious belief, reported that "The Greeks hardly regard them as Christians, or the Turks as Muslims; and in fact they are a mixture of both, and sometimes neither."
Anglo-Saxon paganism (Anglo-Saxons of England)
Anglo-Saxon paganism, sometimes termed Anglo-Saxon heathenism, Anglo-Saxon pre-Christian religion, or Anglo-Saxon traditional religion, refers to the religious beliefs and practices followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the 5th and 8th centuries CE. A variant of Germanic paganism found across much of north-western Europe, it encompassed a heterogeneous variety of beliefs and cultic practices with much regional variation. Developing from the earlier Iron Age religion of continental northern Europe, it was introduced to Britain following the Anglo-Saxon migration in the mid 5th century and remained the dominant belief system in England until the Christianisation of its kingdoms between the 7th and 8th centuries. Some aspects gradually blended into Anglo-Saxon folklore. The pejorative terms paganism and heathenism were first applied to this religion by Christian Anglo-Saxons. Anglo-Saxon paganism was a polytheistic belief system, focused around belief in deities known as the ése (singular ós). The most prominent of these deities was probably Woden. Other prominent gods included Thunor and Tiw. There was also a belief in a variety of other supernatural entities which inhabited the landscape, including elves, nicors, and dragons. Cultic practice largely revolved around demonstrations of devotion, including the sacrifice of inanimate objects and animals to these deities, particularly during certain religious festivals. There is some evidence for the existence of timber temples, although other cultic spaces might have been open-air and would have included cultic trees and megaliths. Little is known about pagan conceptions of an afterlife. Belief in an afterlife probably influenced funerary practices, wherein the dead were either buried or cremated, typically with a selection of grave goods. The belief system also likely included ideas about magic, witchcraft, and elements that could be classified as a form of shamanism. The deities of this religion provided the basis for the names of the days of the week in the English language. What is known about the religion and its accompanying mythology have since influenced both literature and Modern Paganism. Anglo-Saxon paganism only existed for a relatively short time-span, from the fifth to the eighth centuries. As with other areas of Europe, the conversion to Christianity was facilitated by the aristocracy. These rulers may have felt themselves to be members of a pagan backwater in contrast to the Christian kingdoms of continental Europe. In the latter decades of the ninth century, Scandinavian settlers arrived in Britain, bringing with them their own pre-Christian belief system. The English church found it necessary to conduct a campaign to Christianise the incoming Scandinavian population, and the migrants were converted within the first few decades of their arrival. Little is known about the cosmological beliefs of Anglo-Saxon paganism.
The content of this summary is a variation of a prededing aticle titled Armenian Religion located above in the Asian ethnic religion section. Armenian mythology originated in ancient Indo-European traditions. The pantheon of Armenian gods, initially worshipped by Proto-Armenians, inherited their essential elements from the religious beliefs and mythologies of the Proto-Indo-Europeans and peoples of the Armenian highlands. Historians distinguish a significant body of Indo-European language words which were used in Armenian pagan rites. The oldest cults are believed to have worshipped a creator called Ar (or possibly Ara), embodied as the sun (Arev or Areg). The ancient Armenians called themselves "children of the sun". Also among the most ancient types of Indo-European-derived worship are the cults of eagles, lions, and of the sky. After the establishment of Iranian dominance in Armenia in the 1st millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism was a major influence on Armenian religion. Until the late Parthian period, the Armenian lands practiced a syncretic form of Mazdaism which mixed Iranian religious concepts with traditional Armenian beliefs. For example, the supreme god of the Armenian pantheon, Vanatur, was later replaced by Aramazd (the Parthian form of Ahura Mazda). However, the Armenian version of Aramazd preserved many native Armenian aspects. Similarly, the traditional Armenian goddess of fertility, Nar, was replaced by Anahit, which may derived from Persian Anahita, even though the Armenian goddess was distinct from her Iranian counterpart. The pantheon of pre-Christian Armenia changed over the centuries. Originally native Armenian in nature, the pantheon became modified through Hurro-Urartian, Semitic, Iranian, and Greek influences. One common motif included in most, if not all pagan Armenian pantheons was belief in a ruling triad of supreme gods, usually comprising a chief creator god, his thunder god son, and a mother goddess. Gods derived from Proto-Indo-European religion, and believed to be native to Armenia include Areg (or Arev or Ar, god of the Sun, comparable with Mesopotamian Utu), Astłik, (linguistically derived from the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna and identified with Venus, a fertility goddess and consort of Vahagn, a warrior god), Ayg (goddess of the dawn), Angeł (meaning the unseen, god of the underworld), Tork Angegh (meaning Given by Angeł, great-grandson of Hayk and a monstrous and ugly hero who threw massive boulders to sink enemy ships in the Black Sea), Amanor (meaning the bearer of new fruits, the god of the new year who may have been identical to Vanatur), Vanatur (which either means the Lord of Van or giving asylum, the god of hospitality who may have been identical to Amanor), Nvard (consort of Ara, and comparable to Inanna, or Ishtar, ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility), Tsovinar (meaning Nar of the Sea, goddess of waters and the ocean), and Andndayin (the Abyssal Serpent that lived in the black waters that surrounded the world tree).
Baltic paganism (Lithuanians, Latvians and Prussians)
Baltic mythology is the body of mythology of the Baltic people stemming from Baltic paganism and continuing after Christianization and into Baltic folklore. Baltic mythology ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European mythology. The Baltic region was one of the last portions of Europe to be Christianized, a process that began in the 15th century and continued for at least a century afterward. No native texts survive detailing the pagan mythology of the Baltic peoples, but knowledge of these beliefs may be gained from Roman and German chronicles, from later folklore, from etymology, and from the reconstructions of comparative mythology. Fragmentary evidence found exclusively in folklore indicates only two complexes of ideas with any certainty. The first concerns the structure of the world. The second describes the enmity between Saule (Sun) and Mēness (Moon). There is disagreement as to whether the Balts pictured the world as consisting of two regions or of three. The two-region hypothesis is more plausible and is supported by a dualism found frequently in the corpus of Latvian oral traditions, the dainas: šī saule (literally "this sun”) and viņa saule (literally “the other sun”). The metaphor šī saule symbolizes ordinary everyday human life, while viņa saule indicates the invisible world where the sun goes at night which is the abode of the dead. The sky is considered to be a mountain, sometimes made of stone, and is the residence of the sky gods. Dievs is the sky god. Dievs and Laima (goddess of human fate) determine human destiny and world order. Dievs is a suitor of Saule, the sun. Wearing a silver gown, pendants, and a sword, he occasionally rides down to earth on horseback or in a horse-drawn chariot to watch over farmers and their crops. The word dievs was also used by the ancient Balts to denote god in general, and in modern usage refers to the Christian God.Dievs has two sons (Dieva dēli in Latvian) who are known as the Heavenly Twins and are the morning and evening stars. The Dieva dēli are skilled horsemen. They associate with Saules meita, the daughter of the sun, and when she is sinking into the sea with only her crown still visible, the Dieva dēli come to her rescue. Sun goddess Saule rides over the sky in a chariot drawn by a varying number of horses, and moon god Mēness rides to pay court Saule. Pērkons (Latviann for Thunderer) makes weapons and jewelry in the sky. Mēness, dressed in a starry gown and riding in a chariot drawn by gray horses, displays the traits of a war god but is known chiefly as another suitor of Saule. In some traditions, Mēness marries Saule, but he is unfaithful to her. For this infidelity, he is punished by Pērkons, the Thunderer.
Basque religion (Basques of the western end of the Pyrenees)
While many populations of Europe can be traced back to an original homeland through historical accounts of conquest and the archeological evidence of early migrations, the origins of the Basques of the Spainish Pyrenee mountains are more mysterious. The origin of their language, Euskara, is also unknown. It is a unique pre-Indo European language with only slight similarities to Caucasian and Berber. Because the Basque homeland is so easily defended, Roman, Arab, Spanish, and French invaders were never able to fully control the region. They could occupy some parts of it, and make laws to rule it to some extent, but they never fully subjugated the Basque population. In 1609 an investigator was sent from Bordeaux to report on the churches in French-held Basque regions. He observed that the Witches' Sabbat was often held in churches with the consent, and often the participation of priests. He was scandalized at how sympathetic the Basque priests were towards the Old Religion. Four centuries ago, .ost of the population was still practicing a dual religion of Paganism and Christianity. This report and others resulted in the greatest destruction of Basque religion and culture in their entire history. The Catholic Church was able to achieve something that the Romans and Arabs never could: complete domination of the Basque people. Up to this time, Witches who practiced magic were a part of many communities. If their magic was used against an enemy and it became known, then the Witch was sometimes paid to stop if the enemy would agree to cease their actions. Neighbors might protest if they felt magic was misused against someone. To keep peace within the village, the Witch was obliged to make reparations for any damages. Despite the destruction of withces and withcraft, the Basque continued to maintain a strong oral tradition. Based on folklore, the best known Basque deities are Ortzi (a sun God), Ilargia (the moon Goddess), Mari (an earth goddess), and Sugaar (a God with ties to both the sky and the sea). Ortzi, also called Ost or Eguzki, is the God of sun, sky, and thunder who is often compared to Jupiter, Zeus, and Thor. Ortzi ruled both the sun and the earth, since it was from the earth that the sun emerged every morning and back into the earth that it returned every evening. Moon goddess Ilargia is important to the Basque since lunar cycles are significant for agricultural practices. Ilargia is the guardian of the dead and leads them into the otherworld. She also rules the realms of hidden knowledge, divination, and magic. The most well-known deity is Mari, a goddess associated with storms and lightening. She is described as a beautiful woman dressed in finery and adorned with jewels. Mari is also a shape-shifter who might appear as an animal, a rainbow, a white cloud, or a burning tree. As a woman she is often depicted with cloven hooves or claws. In addition to storms and lightening, she is goddess of sorcery, divination, water, and justice. She is known to punish anyone guilty of lying or stealing. Between the worlds of gods and man is the Lord of the Woods, the Basajaun who guards the forest and its creatures. He was the first farmer. Humans obtained the right to cultivate the land after a man won a bet with Basajaun. The man seized the seeds that Basajaun was planting, then returned to his people to teach them how to grow food.
Celtic paganism (Celtic peoples and tribes of Great Britain, Ireland, and other parts of Europe)
Ancient Celtic religion, commonly known as Celtic paganism, was the religion of the ancient Celtic peoples of Europe. Because there are no extant native records of their beliefs, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts (some of them hostile and probably not well-informed), and literature from the early Christian period. While the specific deities worshipped varied by region and over time, underlying this were broad similarities in the deities that were worshiped. Celtic gods include Lugus (king of the gods who was accompanied by crows and ravens, carried a spear, and closed one eye to do his magic), Toutatis (meaning god of the tribe, widely interpreted to be a tribal protector. According to Roman writer Lucan, the Gauls offered human sacrifices to him), Taranis (god of thunder), Cernunnos (a god depicted with antlers, seated cross-legged, and associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs and bulls. He is usually shown holding or wearing a torc and sometimes holding a bag of coins, or grain, and a cornucopia), Epona (patron goddess of mares and foals), Maponos (god of youth, hunting, and music. In Roman Britain, he was equated with Apollo), Belenos (god of fire, primarily worshiped in Gaul and Britain and associated with the sun, healing, and prophecy), Ogmios (a binding god with the ability to bind people to himself and control their actions, and to bind the souls of the dead to lead them to the afterlife), and Sucellos (god of agriculture, boundaries, and wine, and associated with Silvanus, Roman god of the countryside). Sacred springs were often associated with Celtic healing deities. Triplicity is a common theme in Celtic mythology, with a number of deities are regarded as being threefold entities. The druids were the priests of Celtic religion, but little is known about them. Greco-Roman writers record that the Celts held ceremonies in sacred groves and other natural shrines, called nemetons, while some Celtic peoples also built temples or ritual enclosures. Celtic peoples often made votive offerings which would be placed in water and wetlands, or in ritual shafts and wells. Evidence exists that ancient Celtic peoples sacrificed animals, almost always livestock or working animals. There is also some evidence that ancient Celts sacrificed human beings and, though possibly cases of slanderous imperial propaganda, some Greco-Roman sources claim that the Gauls sacrificed criminals by burning them in a large wicker basket shaped like a man. Various contemporary Neopagan groups claim an association with Celtic paganism. These groups range from the Reconstructionists, who work to practise ancient Celtic religion with as much accuracy as possible, to eclectic New Age groups who draw some of their inspiration from Celtic mythology and iconography.
Proto-Christian Beliefs (Huns/Hungarians of Hunnic Empire, what is now Hungary)
Hungarians, or Magyars, are both a nation and an ethnic group that is native to Hungary and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic language family, which also includes the Finnish and Estonian languages. The origin of the Hungarians has been a matter of debate. 21st century historians argue that they did not exist as a discrete ethnic group or people before their settlement in the vast Carpathian, or Pannonian basin. The borders of modern Hungary are entirely contained in this basin. The Danube and Tisza rivers divide it roughly in half. The Hungarians took possession of the Carpathian Basin in methodical manner by displacing its inhabitants. Between 862–895, a small vanguard of early settlers were joined by the balance of the Magyars. Studies of the records of witch trials reveal that some features of Hungarian folklore are remnants of shamanistic beliefs, either maintained from the past, or possibly borrowed from Turkic peoples the Hungarians lived among prior to their conquest of the Carpathian basin. The shamanic role was filled by the táltos (wise man or blessed scholar). Their souls were thought to be able to travel between the three spheres through révülés (meditation). They had the ability to contact spirits by specific rituals and praying. This enabled them to interpret dreams, mediate between humans and spirits, cure and removed curses, and retrieve souls that had escaped the body. The concept of soul dualism, where people are believed to have more than one soul, can be observed in several north Eurasian cultures, some Inuit groups, and among the Hungarians. Many examples of soul dualism distinguish between two souls: a body soul for maintaining bodily functions, and a free soul which can depart the body (even during life). The body soul, lélek, was related to breathing. The shadow soul called íz was related to the roaming soul of the dead. Its fearsome nature can be seen in the Hungarian curse expression “Vigyen el az íz!” (“the shadow soul take you!”). Much of Magyar mythology has been lost. In the last hundred years, however, scholars of Hungarian culture have attempted to recover a significant portion of it. In Hungarian myth, the world is divided into three spheres. The first is the Upper World (Felső világ), the home of the gods. The second is the Middle World (Középső világ) or world that we know. Third is the underworld (Alsó világ). In the center of the Middle World stands a tall tree, the World Tree or Tree of Life (Világfa/Életfa). Its branches and leaves extend into the Upper World, where the Turul bird dwells atop it. The Middle World contains its trunk. The underworld surrounds its roots. In some stories, this tree bears fruit, the golden apples. A pantheon of gods, animals, spirits, and cultural heroes were venerated by the Hungarians. Translated names of some of the gods are Golden Father, Blessed Lady or Blessed Queen, Warlord or Lord of Armies, Dawn Mother, Moon Father, Sun Mother, King of the Sun, Devil, Wind Mother, King of the Wind, Fire Mother, Fire Father, Water Mother, Water Father, and simply God in the case of Isten, the god of the sky and the head of the Hungarian pantheon. Translated names of some of the animals and spirits are Miraculous Stag, Old Woman, Witch, Demon of Illness, Fair Lady, and Wild Girl.
Hungarian Christianity (Huns/Hungarians of Hunnic Empire, what is now Hungary)
The presence of Christianity in Hungary can certainly be established as dating back to the 2nd century CE. A decorated casket-mount depicting the marriage at Cana and other scenes from the Bible was unearthed at Intercisa. The first Christians were non-Hungarian immigrants, particularly from Syria, Italy and Greece. No Christian churches dated before the 4th century have been excavated, implying that Christian liturgy was celebrated in private homes. After Constantine decreed Christanity to be the religion of the Roman Empire, Hungarian Christian cemeteries became separated from the pagan necropolises. Barbarian incursions forced a significant portion of the Romanized population to flee Hungary in the 5th century, but some Christians remained. A Christian community flourished in the region of a former Roman fortress at Keszthely in the Avar (a large coalition of steppe peoples which dominated Hungary in this era) Khaganate. The local basilica with three apses was used and possibly reconstructed in the second half of the 6th century. Pressured by the armies of Charlemagne, the Avar khagan converted to Christianity in 805. A Byzantine list of newly formed Hungarian dioceses mentions the Avars among other Christian peoples under the popes' jurisdiction. After this, Avar power quickly disintegrated. Cemeteries display the traits of the growing Christianization of Hungary beginning in the 830s. Commoners were still buried near sacred groves, but the orientation of their graves was now west–east, indicative of Christian practice. Offerings of food and drink almost disappeared from gravesites in the 860s. The Magyars invaded Hungary, destroyed Moravia, and defeated the Bavarians between 900 and 907.[91] Theotmar, Archbishop of Salzburg, recorded that they destroyed Christian churches. Part of the local population survived the Magyar conquest and the Magyars captured Christians during their raids in Europe, but the role of the local Christians and the Christian prisoners in the Magyars' conversion is undocumented. In 972 Emperor Otto I sent Bishop Bruno (possibly Bishop Prunwart) to Hungary. The Bishop credited with the baptism of Hungarian Grand Prince Géza and many of his subjects. Géza remained half-pagan but did launch military campaigns against the pagan chieftains, promoted Christianity, and stabilized the region's central authority. Géza died in 997, leaving Hungary to his devout Christian son, Stephen. Stephen began to systematically Christianize Hungary. He established at least eight bishoprics and six monasteries, making magnanimous grants to them. Stephen outlawed pagan practices and prescribed the adoption of a Christian way of life. After Stephen I's nephew Peter assumed the throne, a popular uprising began. The Annales Altahenses described the rebels, who captured and blinded Peter, as pagans who murdered clerics and foreigners. The three bishops who survived the uprising crowned Peter's Christian younger brother, Andrew. Dynastic conflicts continued, but archaeological evidence reveals the general adoption of Christian customs by around 1100.
Circassian paganism (Circassians of Circassia)
Circassian paganism, also called Khabzeism or Khabzism, is the ethnic religion of the Circassians, an indigenous ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia in the North Caucasus. As a consequence of the Circassian genocide perpetrated by the Russian Empire in the 19th century during the Russo-Circassian War, most Circassians were exiled from their homeland in Circassia to modern-day Turkey and the rest of the Middle East. Circassian paganism is based on worshipping the supreme god Theshkhue and other minor deities under his rule. The religion is also focused on the perfection of the soul. Prominent concepts include honor (nape), manifestation of compassion (guschlegu), gratuitous help (psape), which along with the valor and bravery of a warrior enable a human soul to join the souls of their ancestors with a clear conscience (nape huzhkle). Like the deities, the souls of ancestors also require commemoration since they are able to observe and evaluate the affairs of their descendants. There are no indications that arcane sects nor a power wielding priestly class guarding hidden mysteries, as was the case in various ancient societies, ever existed. The oldest partaker, who passed on knowledge to his lay disciples, probably performed religious rites. In these rites, supplicants encircled a venerated object (like a holy tree, or a spot stricken by lightning) to invoke the resident spirits and unlock their latent powers. Religious rites were sometimes accompanied by chanting. Songs were intoned during feasts in honour of thunder, during sacrifices, and other traditional festivals. Rites of supplication were connected with the prevention of disease. A primitive form of inoculation existed to prevent smallpox. Inoculation would be followed by placing a person in a swing and rocking to the accompaniment of a special chant named Your Lordship (Ziywis-hen) which invoked the mercy of the deity of the disease. The faith is monistic, with utmost prominence given to the supreme creator god Theshkhue (colloquially shortened to The). Theshkhue is omnipresent in his creation. The material world is in constant flux, but its foundation remains stable. This concept is compared to a rotating wheel. Although the wheel is constantly rotating (changing position), the central hub about which it rotates remains in place. Secondary deities include Hantseguash (goddess of water and rain), Hedrixe (god and protector of the dead), Heneguash (goddess of the sea), Hyateguash (goddess of beauty and gardens), Kodes (the god of mountains), Mezguash (goddess of all fauna), Mezytha (god of forests, hunting, and beasts), Psetha (the god of life and souls), Sataney (the goddess of femininity and fertility and mother of the Narts), Schyble (god of lightning), Sozresh (god of fertility, family, wellbeing, and illness), Thageledj (god of flora and crops), Tlepsh (god of fire, blacksmiths, steel, and weapons), Theshu (god and protector of horsemen), Theqwafeshu (the herald of supreme god Theshkhue), Tetertup (god of war and bloodshed), Uashkhue (god of the skies), Merise (goddess and protectress of bees), and The Narts, demigods whose mother is Sataney). Circassia was one of the few places in Europe that retained its native religious traditions until its Islamization in the 17th century.
Dacian religion (Dacians of Dacia)
The Dacians were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, a region near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often considered a subgroup of the Thracians. Dacians and the related Getae spoke the Dacian language, which may be related the neighbouring Thracian language and a subgroup of it. Dacians derived some cultural influences neighbouring Scythians and Celtic invaders of the 4th century BCE. Mircea Eliade attempted, in his book From Zalmoxis to Genghis Khan, to provide a mythological foundation for an alleged special relationship between the Dacians and wolves. To become formidable warriors, the Dacians would ritually imitate the behavior of a wolf while wearing wolf skins. Artifacts supporting wolves as a cult or as totems have been found dating back to the Neolithic period, including wolf statues and rudimentary figurines of dancers wearing wolf masks. The items could indicate warrior initiation rites, or seasonal ceremonies in which young people wore wolf masks. An extensive account of the native tribes of Dacia is found in the ninth tabula of Europe of Ptolemy's Geography. Twelve of fifteen tribes listed by Ptolemy are ethnic Dacians and three are Celtic. The impact of the Roman conquest on the Dacians is uncertain. A substantial number may have survived, but probably became outnumbered by Romanised immigrants. Roman Dacia was evacuated by the Romans under emperor Aurelian due to counter-pressures on the Empire there caused by the Carpi, Visigoths, Sarmatians, and Vandals. Lines of defence needed to be shortened, and Dacia was considered indefensible. Dacian religion was considered by classic sources as the principal source of authority in a theocratic state led by priest-kings. The layout of the Dacian capital Sarmizegethusa, however, indicates the possibility of co-rulership by a separate high king and priesthood. The chief priest held a prominent position as representative of the supreme deity, Zalmoxis, who is also called Gebeleizis. Besides Zalmoxis, the Dacians believed in many other deities such as Gebeleizis, the god of storm and lightning, and possibly related to the Thracian god Zibelthiurdos. He was represented as a handsome man, sometimes with a beard. Gebeleizis has been equated with Zalmoxis, and Herodotus wrote that they are the same god. Another important deity was Bendis, goddess of the moon and the hunt. A decree of the oracle of Dodona which required the Athenians to grant land for a shrine or temple reveals that her cult was introduced into Attica by immigrant Thracian residents. Although Thracian and Athenian processions honoring Bendis remained separate, both her cult and her festival became so popular that in Plato's era these festivities became an official Athenian ceremony, the Bendideia. The god Gebeleizis, wielder of lightning and thunderbolts, is probably cognate to the Thracian god Zibelthiurdos. Derzelas (also Darzalas) was an underworld god of health and human vitality. Paganism survived longer in Dacia than it did in other parts of the Roman Empire. Christianity did not begin to flourish in Dacia until the fifth century.
Georgian religion (pre-Christian Colchis of the southern Caucasus)
Georgian mythology is the mythology of pre-Christian Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia (a region located between Turkey and Russia) and the South Caucasus. Georgian myths and legends are preserved mainly as popular tales, many of which fused with Christian legends after the Christianization of Georgia seventeen centuries ago. The evangelizing of Georgia, however, did not occur uniformly. While the lowland populations embraced Christianity in the fifth century, the highlanders of the mountain valleys in the Greater Caucasus range were only superficially converted about ten centuries later. Survivals of pagan beliefs and practices in the Georgian plains therefore lack mythological unity and are, essentially, folklore rather than religion. Mountain dwelling Georgians, in contrast, preserved a rich and well-organized pagan beleif system up to the beginning of the twentieth century, with differentiated cults largely due to the persistence of a priestly class and an orally-transmitted body of knowledge. Georgian mythology beleives that men and women are only emanations of, or substitutes for, the gods above (in the case of men) and the demons below (in the case of women). The same principle applies for every created being or object. The entities and substances of the universe are divided into two opposing camps. One is wild and demonic, and the other is socialized and divine. The only entities or substances that are real exist in the upper world of Zeskneli or the lower world of Kveskneli. The universe is perceived as a sphere comprised of three worlds or levels, known as skneli. Zeskneli is the highest world, and the home of the gods. White is the color of Zeskneli. Earth is the middle world, the home of mortals. Red is the colour of the middle world. Kveskneli is the lowest world, or underworld. It is inhabited by ogres, serpents, and demons. Black is the colour of Kveskneli. The mountain Georgian equivalent of the shaman is the Kadagi, a person of either gender who has become permanently possessed by one of the class of minor divinities most often named the Hat'i (sign), but also as Dzhuar (cross) and Saghmto (divinity). An exclusively female second type of practitioner of shamanic type was the Mesultane (deriving from Georgian word for soul) who was capable, while in a trance, of visiting the spirit world. Upon awakening, they would describe their journey and communicate the requests of the dead to individuals or the community. The Georgian pantheon includes dozens of gods, demigods, spirits, and humans and animals who can be either mortal or semi-divine. In the Georgian kingdom of Kartli (Iberia) Armazi is the chief the gods. Complementary strands of research suggest that the origins of Armazi lie in a syncretism between conceptions of the Zoroastrian supreme being Ahura Mazda and a native Georgian supreme lunar deity that is a regional variant of the Hittite moon god Arma. An alternate chief god is Ghmerti, supreme divinity and the head of the pantheon of gods. He is the all-powerful Lord of the universe as well as its creator. His children include the moon (his son), the sun (his daughter), and the Ghvtis Shvilni who protect people against evil. His name was later used to refer to God the Father by Georgian Christians.
Estonian religion (Estonians of Estonia)
Estonian mythology is known from the folk heritage of the Estonians and various literary sources. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian religious practices can be obtained from historical chronicles, travellers' accounts, and ecclesiastical registers. In the 19th century, Estonians Friedrich Robert Faehlmann and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald compiled a national epic, Kalevipoeg, from numerous prosaic folk legends and runic verse imitations that they themselves had written. The Estonian pantheon is a complex ensemble of gods and goddesses, each with distinct personalities, attributes, and stories. A list of the most prominent deities must begin with Taara (also known as Tharapita), the supreme god of Estonian mythology. Taara is the god of wisdom, the sky, and of thunder. He has been associated with the Scandinavian god Thor and the Baltic god Perkūnas. Peko is the god of agriculture, fertility, and the harvest. Peko is described as being benevolent and generous He ensures the well-being and prosperity of the people by providing abundant crops. Maa-ema is the mother goddess of the earth and nature. Maa-ema represents the nurturing and life-giving aspects of the natural world. She is revered for her power to grant fertility to humans, animals, and the land. Vanemuine is the god of music, song, and dance, and is associated with artistic expression and creativity. He is believed to have inspired the compilation of Kalevipoeg, the national epic. Lempo is the god of love and desire. Lempo is a capricious and sometimes malevolent figure who can both bless and curse lovers. A list of heroes and lesser deities must begin with Kalevipoeg, the central hero of Estonian mythology and the protagonist of the national epic that bears his name. Kalevipoeg is a giant warrior whose adventures include battles against demons, sorcerers, and foreign invaders, as well as quests for wisdom and power. Linda is the mother of Kalevipoeg and serves as the symbol of the Estonia. Linda is a tragic figure whose tears are said to have formed the numerous lakes of Estonia. Toell the Great is a legendary giant who featured in many Estonian myths. He is both a wise sage and a skilled warrior. He is known for constructing various landmarks in Estonia, such as the Toell's Chair, a large stone formation near the town of Kunda. Kratt is a magical creature. The Kratt is a servant created by its master from household items such as a broom, rake, or a wooden stick. The Kratt is brought to life by making a pact with the devil, and its primary purpose is to steal goods for its master. Noteworthy examples of Estonian beliefs and rituals include the Cult of the Sacred Trees and the Cult of the Stones. Trees and stones are revered in Estonian culture. Hingedeaeg is a festival that usually takes place in November, a time when the souls of the ancestors are believed to visit their living relatives. During Hingedeaeg, families prepare special meals, light candles, and visit the graves of their ancestors to honor them. Jaanipäev, also known as Midsummer Day or St. John's Day, is an important Estonian summer solstice festival. This celebration includes bonfires, singing, dancing, and various rituals to ensure fertility, abundance, and divine protection for the coming year. One unique Jaanipäev ritual involves jumping over a bonfire, which is believed to cleanse the jumper of bad luck and illness.
Etruscan religion (Etruscans of the central Italian peninsula)
Etruscan religion is comprised of the stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization. It was heavily influenced by the ancient Greecemythology, and shared characteristics with the mythology and religion of nearby Rome.The first evidence of an Etruscan religion can be traced back to the Villanovan culture (the initial phase of Etruscan civilization and the earliest Iron Age culture of Italy). Greek traders brought their religion and hero figures with them to the coastal areas of the central Mediterranean. In Greek tradition, Heracles wandered these western areas, doing away with monsters and brigands, and bringing civilization to the inhabitants. Over time, both Heracles and Odysseus were regarded as heroic leaders who led the Etruscans to settle the lands they inhabited. In Italy it could give non-Greek ethnic groups an advantage over rival ethnic groups to link their origins to a Greek hero, and establish the legitimacy of Greek claims to newly settled lands. After the Etruscan defeat in the Roman–Etruscan Wars in 264 BCE, the remains of Etruscan culture began to be assimilated into Roman culture. In the last years of the Roman Republic, the religion began to fall out of favor and was satirized by public figures such as Cicero. Based on writings and artifacts that survived, the Etruscans believed in intimate contact with divinity. They did nothing without first consultating the gods and obtaining signs from them, a practice enthusiastically adopted by the Romans. Etruscans believed their religion had been revealed to them by seers. The two main seers were Tages, a childlike figure born from tilled land who was immediately gifted with prescience, and Vegoia, a female figure who authored the Etrusca Disciplina containing the rules and ritual practices of Etruscan religion. Divination was conducted by priests whom the Romans called haruspices or sacerdotes. The Etruscan city Tarquinii possessed a college of 60 diviners. Etruscan belief was polytheistic, and all visible phenomena were considered a manifestation of divine power, and that power was embodied in deities who contolled reality. These actions of these deities could be influenced by human beings. Attested gods of Etruscan origin include Voltumna, or Vertumnus (a primordial god of the underworld), Usil (god, or perhaps goddess of the sun), Tivr (god of the moon), Turan (goddess of love), Laran (god of war), Maris (goddess of childbirth), Leinth (goddess of death), Selvans (god of the woods), Thalna (god of trade), Turms (messenger of the gods), Fufluns (god of wine), Hercle (the Etruscan edition of Greek hero Heracles) and underworld deities such as Catha, Lur, Suri, Thanr, and Calus. Ruling over the gods were higher deities of possible Indo-European origin such as Tin, or Tinia (the sky), Uni (wife of Tin, and comparable to Roman Juno), Nethuns (god of the waters), and Cel (the earth goddess). During the Orientalizing Period of 750/700–600 BCE, Greek gods and heroes were integrated into the Etruscan religion. Etruscans, like the Egyptians, apparently beleived that survival and prosperity in the afterlife depended on the treatment of the deceased's remains. Etruscan tombs were imitations of domestic structures and containedspacious chambers, wall paintings, and grave furniture. In these tomb, especially on the sarcophagus, was a representation of the deceased. Often, the spouse of the deceased was represented as well.
Finnish paganism (Finns and Karelians)
Finnish paganism was the indigenous pagan religion of the Baltic Finnic peoples. The Finnic pagans honored a number of different deities. Most of these controlled a specific aspect of nature. Finnic pagans were also animists, worshipping local nature deities at shrines dedicated to a particular deity. These shrines were mainly tree-gods, wooden statues carved from trees or treestumps depicting human figures, so few have been preserved. Another type of shrine is a cup-stone, large rocks with cup-sized recesses drilled into them. Offerings of food or drink were placed in these cups. Despite Christianization, offerings continued to be left in cup-stones until the early 20th century. Several major deities were worshiped throughout most of Finland, Ingria, Estonia and Karelia. The chief god was Ukko, or Perkele, ruler of the sky and thunder. Äkräs was the god of fertility. Mielikki was the goddess of forests and hunting. Kuu was the goddess of the moon. Great heroes who had once been human, such as Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen, were also objects of veneration, similar to Greek worship of mythical human heroes like Herakles. Lempo was the god of the wilderness and of archery. Other important deities ruled a specific aspect of the natural world and were referred to as kings. The king of water was often called Ahti. The king of the forest was called Tapio. Local animistic deities, known as haltijas or haltias, could be male or female and assumed either human or animal form. Haltijas could be found everywhere in nature, both in living creatures and inanimate objects. Human beings possessed a haltija which was one of the three parts of a person's soul. It was beleived that the human soul is composed of three different parts: henki (life, breath, or spirit), luonto (meaning nature, a guardian spirit or protector and the haltija of a person), and itse (a spirit received at birth or a few days after which shapes one's personality). Each of these three types were independent beings. Maan haltija (meaning tutelary of land) guarded a person's property, including their house and livestock. Haltijas were grouped into types or races called väki. Väkis could become angry if people behaved in a disrespectful manner in their territory. The väki of fire was perpetually angry, which explains why every time you touch a fire it burns you, no matter how respectful of it you may be. Väkis belonged to specific environments. If they were misplaced, then problems occurred. If a misplaced väki became attached to a human being, it caused illness. Shamans cured diseases by returning väkis to their proper setting, thus restoring the cosmic balance. Finns beleived that no force of nature or higher life could exist without väkis or haltijas. A person's soul was comprised of a large grouping of these spirits. In Finnic mythology, there are two distinct theories about the creation of the universe and the earth. In the Sukeltajamyytti, god sent a Black-throated loon into the primeval sea (Alkumeri) to collect mud and sand to form the earth. Another creation theory, likely of Indian origin, states that the world was born from the egg of a waterfowl. Based on its similarity to other Uralic beliefs, it can be assumed that Finnic paganism included the concept that the world is cyclic. It will never end, but will be recreated at regular intervals.
Germanic paganism (Germanic peoples and tribes of Germania)
Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the largely pre-Christian traditional religion of the Germanic peoples. For over a thousand years it dominated an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germany, and sometimes other parts of Europe. Although beliefs and practices of Germanic paganism varied, scholars acknowledge some degree of continuity between Roman-era beliefs, those found in Norse paganism, reconstructions of Indo-European religion, as well as post-Christianity folklore. The extent of this continuity is subject to debate. It is safe to say that Germanic religion was influenced by neighboring cultures, including that of the Celts, the Romans, and, later, by Christian culture. Few sources have survived that were written by pagans, so most descriptions of Germanic religion were written by outsiders. Multiple creation myths may have existed among Germanic peoples. Roman historian Tacitus describes the Germanic tribes' descent from the gods Tuisto (or Tuisco), which possibly means twin or double-being, and Mannus which suggests that Tuisto/Mannus was a hermaphroditic being capable of impregnating himself.[58][59][60] These gods are only attested in Germania. It is not possible to decide based on Tacitus's report whether the myth describes the origin of the gods or the origin of human beings. Tacitus also records a second myth. The Semnones (a Germanic group) believed that they originated in a sacred grove. He describes rituals associated with Semnones: "At a stated period, all the tribes of the same race assemble by their representatives in a grove consecrated by the auguries of their forefathers, and by immemorial associations of terror. Here, having publicly slaughtered a human victim, they celebrate the horrible beginning of their barbarous rite. Reverence also in other ways is paid to the grove. No one enters it except bound with a chain, as an inferior acknowledging the might of the local divinity." There is evidence of a myth of the end of the world in Germanic mythology, which can be reconstructed in very general terms. The best known is the myth of Ragnarök, attested from Old Norse sources, which involves a war between the gods and the beings of chaos which leads to the destruction of almost every god, giant, and living object in a cataclysm of fire. This annihilation is followed by the rebirth of the world. Some scholars discern Christian influences in this myth. Information about Germanic cosmology is only contained in Nordic sources, but there is evidence for the continuity of beliefs despite variation over time and locale. Midgard (dwelling place in the middle) is used to refer to the inhabited world, or to a barrier surrounding the inhabited world. The dwelling place of the gods is known as Asgard, while the giants dwell in lands sometimes referred to as Jötunheimar that are outside of Midgard. The ash tree Yggdrasill is at the center of the world and propped up the heavens. The world of the dead (Hel) seems to have been underground, and it is possible that the realm of the gods was also originally subterranean. In Norse myth, fate was created by supernatural female beings called Norns, who appear either individually or as a collective and who determine peoples' fate at birth and are also involved in their deaths. Early Germanic beliefs about the afterlife are not well attested but sources indicate a variety of beliefs, including belief in an underworld, continued life in the grave, a world of the dead in the sky, and reincarnation.
Greek polytheism (pre-Christian Greeks)
Ancient Greek religious practice was a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology. It was both a popular religion and the focus of dedicated cults. Most ancient Greeks recognized the twelve major Olympian gods and goddessesL: Zeus (sky and thunder god who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus), Hera (queen of the gods, sister and wife of Zeus, and daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Hera is the goddess of marriage, women, childbirth, and family), Poseidon (god the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses and protector of seafarers), Demeter (goddess of the harvest and agriculture), Athena (goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft), Ares (god of war and courage), Aphrodite (goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation), Apollo (god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, as well as other human endeavors), Artemis (goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity), Hephaestus (god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes), Hermes (the herald of the gods and protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators), and either Hestia (virgin goddess of the hearth and the home) or Dionysus (god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theater).The worship of these deities and others, with some regional variations, was widespread in the Greek world. Early Italian religions such as that of the Etruscans were influenced by Greek religion and subsequently influenced ancient Roman religion. Local deities often became absorbed into the Greek pantheon. Philosophies like Stoicism, and some forms of Platonism, can be interpreted as advocating a single, transcendent deity. Although they were immortal, the gods of Greece were certainly not omnipotent or exclusively beneficial for humanity. They were constrained by fate, which override their divine wills and powers. The gods behaved like humans and interacted with humans (sometimes reproducing with them) and displayed human vices. At times, the wills of certain gods would be opposed to that of other Gods. Many gods and goddesses were the focus of dedicated cults. Ancient sources describe cult practices, but seldom note their doctrines. The Greeks, in general, regarded what one believed to be much less important than what one did. The Greeks believed in an underworld inhabited by the spirits of the dead. One of the largest regions of the underworld was ruled by Hades, a brother of Zeus, and is named for him. Other realms are Tartarus, a place of torment for the damned, and Elysium, a place of pleasure for the virtuous. A few Greek heros such as Achilles were beleived to have been granted immortality in a physical form. Deified mortals could live forever in either Elysium, the Islands of the Blessed, heaven, the ocean, or beneath the ground. This belief is recorded in ancient Greek sources such as the poetry of Homer and Hesiod and persisted into the Christian era. Most Greeks, however, beleived that the afterlife offered nothing beyond continued existence as a disembodied soul. The philosophers Pythagoras and Plato embraced the idea of reincarnation, but this was not the popular view. Epicurus taught that the soul was composed of atoms which dissolved at death, whereupon people ceased to exist. An important moral concept was the avoidance of hubris. Hubris was a crime in Athens, and included offenses such as rape or the desecration of a corpse. Although pride and vanity were not regarded as sins, the Greeks emphasized moderation in all things. Pride only became hubris when it exceeded the bounds of decency. Worship in Greece typically consisted of ritual sacrifices of domestic animals at an altar, accompanied by hymns and prayers.
Illyrian religion (Illyrians of Illyria)
Illyrian religion is the religious beliefs and practices of the Illyrian peoples, a group of tribes who spoke the Illyrian languages and inhabited part of the western Balkan Peninsula in or before the 8th century BCE until the 7th century CE. The nature of this religion has been imperfectly reconstructed based on personal and place names, and a handful of classical sources. Much evidence pertaining to pre-Roman Illyrian religious practices is contained in religious symbols, which are depicted in every type of ornament. These symbols reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the sun. Illyrians believed in supernatural powers. They attributed to the pagan deities powers to influence everyday life, health and disease, natural abundance, and natural disasters. Illyrian names for animals identify them as mythological ancestors and protectors, and the serpent was one of the most important animal totems. In later times, vestiges of serpent worship were considered an obstacle to the adoption of Christianity. Horsemen were a common object of hero worship. A 3rd-century BCE artifact depicts a scene of warriors and horsemen in combat. One of the horsemen carries a giant serpent as a protector totem. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, and in the ability of protective amulets to waed off the evil eye or the bad intentions of their enemies. Some aspects of the deities and beliefs of the Illyrians are ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European mythology. The folk beliefs of Albania and south Slavic peoples have preserved traces of Illyrian religious symbolism. Neolithic and Bronze Age traditions included the cult of the Earth Mother, the cult of the sun, and the cult of the serpent. In early Iron Age, Illyrian art was geometric and non-representational, featuring combinations of concentric circles, rhomboids, triangles, and broken lines. The absence of figuration may indicate that anthropomorphic cults did not exist. The dominance of geometric art reached its climax in the 8th century BCE, and is the only feature that the various regions of Illyrian held in common. Artistic ornaments produced from the 6th century BCE onward began to reflect archaic Greece and Etruscan influences. Symbols indicate that the cult of the serpent was dominant in the southern regions of Illyria, while the waterfowl and solar symbols predominated in the north. The serpent, an underworld deity, was the symbol of fertility and protector of the hearth, but could also be connected with the cult of the sun. Many symbols throughout Illyria were associated with the Sun. The solar deity was depicted in animal figure such as birds, serpents, and horses, or was represented geometrically as a spiral, a set of concentric circle, or a clockwise facing swastika. In the 2nd century CE, Greek writer Maximus of Tyre reported that the Illyrians of Paeonia worshipped the sun in the form of a small round disk fixed on the top of a pole. This form is also depicted in the coins of the Illyrian city of Damastion. Archaeological findings have shown that Illyrians and Thracians practiced ritual sacrifices to the sun in round temples built in high places. The deer was an important sun symbol, and is beleived to be the main sacrificial animal offered to the Sun. Remnants of the cult of the sun were preserved by Albanians until the 20th century.
The Mari religion, or Mari paganism, is the ethnic religion of the Mari people, a Volga Finnic ethnic group based in the republic of Mari El in Russia. In the last few decades there has been an organized Neopagan revival of Mari religion. The Mari worshipped many gods (the jumo), but recognized the primacy of a Great God, Kugu Jumo. In the 19th century the role of Osh Kugu Jumo, the Great God of Light, were strengthened due to the influence of neighbouring monotheistic religions. Despite a history of persecution in the Soviet Union, since the 1990s this faith has been granted official status by the government of Mari El. It is now recognized as one of three traditional faiths (with Orthodox Christianity and Islam). Followers perform public rituals and mass prayers and engage in charitable, cultural, and educational activities. The Mari transmit their beliefs to the younger generation and publish and distribute religious literature. The timing of prayer meetings and mass prayers is based on the traditional calendar which relates to the positions of the sun and the moon. Rituals and festivals are held in sacred groves (küsoto). Ceremonies are overseen by a college of priests. There are significant differences between the pantheons of the Lowlands Mari (who worship roughly 140 gods) and Highlands Mari (who worship about 70 gods). Nine deities are most important ones and are regarded as manifestations of the high god Osh Kugu Jumo. The Mari native religion also includes tree worship and animal sacrifices. Many gods in Mari have counterparts in ancient Hinduism and European religions. Gods and spirits in the Mari pantheon include Kugu Jumo (also called Kugurak, or the Elder the main god, often perceived as a monistic godhead who is associated with a duck), Tul (god of fire and an attribute of Kugu Jumo), Surt (spirit of the household and an attribute of Kugu Jumo), Saksa (god of fertility and an attribute of Kugu Jumo), Küdryrchö Jumo (god of thunder), Tutyra (god of fog and an attribute of Kugu Jumo), Püryshö (the god of fate), Azyren (the god of death), Shüdyr-Shamych (the god of the stars), Tylmache (implementer of the divine will), Tylze (also known as Tõlze, the god of the moon), Uzhara (the god of the dawn), Mlande (the god of earth), Shochyn-Ava (the goddess of childbirth, Tünya (the god of the universe), and Keremet (a cruel and evil spirit). Many of these gods, especially those controlling natural phenomena, have female counterparts whose names end in ava (mother). Examples are Tul-Ava (goddess of fire), Mlande-Ava (goddess of earth), and Kudurcho-Ava (goddess of thunder). The Mari religion is one of Europe's indigenous religions that has survived Christianisation without interruption. It has co-existed with Russian Orthodoxy for many generations. Many Mari are baptized Christians but attend traditional prayer services instead of Christian masses. A 2004 sociological survey found that about 15% of the total population of Mari El describe themselves as adherents of Mari religion. Since the Mari represent only 45% of the republic's population (700,000), this figure means that probably more than a third of Mari remain loyal to traditional religion. The percentage of pagans among the Mari of Bashkortostan and the eastern part of Tatarstan is even higher (up to 69% among women). Mari fled to Bashkortostan and Tatarstan in the 17th through the 19th centuries to avoid mandatory conversion to Christianity.
Minoan religion (Minoan civilization)
Minoan religion was the religion of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization of Crete. Written information about the Minoans is scarce, so scholars have reconstructed it almost entirely from archaeological evidence. Arthur Evans, excavator of the Minoan palace of Knossos, thought the Minoans almost exclusively worshipped a mother goddess. Recent scholarly opinion recognizes a much more diverse Minoan religious landscape. The Minoan pantheon featured many deities, the majority of whom are female, but a young spear-wielding male god is also prominent. Possibly as aspects of the main, probably dominant, nature and mother goddess, archaeologists have identified a mountain goddess who was worshipped at mountaintop sanctuaries, a dove goddess, a snake goddess (perhaps protectress of the household), the Potnia Theron goddess of animals, and a goddess of childbirth. Late Minoan terracotta votive figures of either goddesses or worshippers carry attributes such as birds in their diadems. Some scholars regard the chief Minoan Goddess as a female divine solar figure. Hungarian philologist Károly Kerényi believed that the most important Minoan goddess was Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos and mistress of the labyrinth. Ariadne is identified in Linear B (Mycenean Greek) tablets unearthed in Knossos. One supernatural type of figure in ancient Crete, and later by the Mycenaeans, is called the Minoan Genius, a fantastic creature displaying features of both a lion and a hippopotamus. This composite nature implies a connection with ancient Egypt. These figures are portrayed as attendants and supporters of deities. Although they probably did not receive worship themselves, they may have played a role as a protector of children and were associated with fertility. The griffin is also depicted. The bull-headed man, perhaps precursor of the Minotaur that Greek mythology later located at Knossos, does not appear on Minoan seals until after the Mycenean invasion. Early conjectures by Arthur Evans about links between politics and religion have fallen out of favor, but many scholars continue to beleive that some form of theocracy existed on Crete. This would align Crete with contemporary Egypt and Mesopotamia, where kings were usually regarded as having a particularly close relationship with the gods. The evidence that priestesses conducted rituals is stronger, but men fulfilling the role of priests or priest-king are identifiable by diagonal bands on their robes and by their carrying across their shoulder a ritual axe-sceptre with a rounded blade. These male figures increase in the period that precedes the Mycenean invasion, when some evidence exists of men dressing as priestesses, possibly to overcome gender restrictions. Over 300 sites dedicated to cult prctices have been identified by the presence of metal and clay votive figures, double axes, miniature vessels, and models of artifacts depicting animals and human figures. Greek-style temples were unknown, and within the Knossos palace complex no central rooms devoted to a cult have been identified other than the center court where youths, perhaps of both sexes, may have performed a bull-leaping ritual. The bull-leaping ritual is so prominently depicted that it is assumed it was religiously significant. Bulls, especially their heads, are prominently in palace art, but they were probably sacrificed, rather than worshipped.
Mordvin Native Religion (Mordvins of Mordovia)
The Erzyan native religion, also called Erzyan neopaganism, is a contemporary revival of the ethnic religion of the Erzya Mordvins, peoples of Volga Finnic ethnic stock who inhabit the Russian republic of Mordovia and bordering lands of Russia. According to Erzya tradition, Ineshkipaz is the name of this religion's originating god. Despite Christianization, many Mordvins preserved their native traditions intact prior to energetic missionary activity by the Russian Orthodox Church in the 17th century and the early 20th century. A Neopagan revival commenced in 1990, along with revivals of many other native Russian religions in Russia as the Soviet Union began to dissolve. At the beginning of the restructuring of the political and economic systems of the Soviet Union, Mordvin nationalists waged a vigorous and successful campaign against Russian Orthodoxy. The Mastorava, or Erzyan Society for National Rebirth, was founded. A Pagan worldview and religious practices were reconstructed based on folkloric, ethnographic, and linguistic sources. A splinter group, Erzyan Mastor (Erzyan Land), hopes to spread Erzya Paganism and is militant against Christianity. It is led by headed by Raisa Kemaykina, who has written "Over the course of many centuries Christianity has bred our peoples into slaves, depriving them of freedom of thought and reducing them to the level of submissive cattle. In the Erzya religion the relationship between God and human beings is different from that in Christianity. It is deeper, more humane, more beautiful. In our religion a person's worth is not killed or suppressed but extolled." In 1992, Kemaykina, supported by Erzyan business owners, organised a Pagan national ritual. Neighbouring villages learned long-forgotten Pagan prayers. Kemaikina was proclaimed the first priestess of the Erzya people. In Erzya mythology, the superior deities were all hatched from an egg. The Supreme God is called Viarde Skai. The mother of gods is called Ange Patiai. The Sun God, Chipaz, gave birth to Nishkepaz (a cultural hero, instructor of humanity, and determiner of their fate), to Mastoron kirdi (the earth god), and to Varmanpaz (the wind god). From the union of Chipaz and the Harvest Mother, Norovava, sprang Mastorpaz, the god of the underworld. Thunder god Pur’ginepaz was the son of Niskende Teitert, daughter of Ange Patiai. Erzya cosmology states that the creation of the Earth was followed by the creation of the sun, the moon, and of humankind. Human beings were created by Chipaz, the sun god. One version of the creation myth records that Chipaz molded humankind from clay. Another version claims that people were fashioned from soil. According to these myths, the creation of the world went through several stages. First, the Devil moistened the raw materials in his mouth and then spat it out. The piece that was spat out formed a plain, but its uneven quality caused chasms and mountains to form. The first humans created by Viarde Skai were giants who could live for 700 to 800 years. The underworld of Mokshan mythology was ruled by Mastoratia (god or guardian of the underworld). He was also the guardian of the dead, whom people prayed to for nourishment for their deceased relatives. Since the lives of the dead were believed to be like the lives of the living, graves were supplied with various household tools and equipment. People also believed that some fairies were related to their ancestors and could communicate with and act in concert with the dead. Wind Mother Varmava was also believed to be a mediator between the living and the dead.
Norse religion (Norsemen and Vikings of Scandinavia)
Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch. It was supplanted by Christianity and was forgotten during the Christianisation of Scandinavia. Scholars have reconstructed some aspects of North Germanic Religion utilizing historical linguistics, archaeology, toponymy, and records such as runic inscriptions. Many Old Norse works dated to the 13th-century provide information about Norse mythology. Old Norse religion was polytheistic, venerating a variety of gods and goddesses. These deities in were divided into two groups, the Æsir and the Vanir. Some sources reveal that the Æsir and Vanir were involved in a protracted ancient war until they ceased hostilities when they realized that they were equally powerful. Major deities among the Æsir are Odin (associated with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet, and depicted as the husband of the goddess Frigg), Thor (a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and fertility), and Týr (patron of warriors and mythological heroes). Among goddesses was Skaði, a lesser deity associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter, and mountains). Earth was inhabited by other mythological races, including jötnar, dwarfs, elves, and landvættir. The Norns are female figures who determine individuals' fate, but it is uncertain that they were worshipped. The landvættir, spirits of the land, were thought to inhabit certain rocks, waterfalls, mountains, and trees where offerings were made to them. For many, landvættir may have been more important to daily life than the gods. Norse cosmology revolved around a world tree known as Yggdrasil, and various realms existing alongside Midgard, the habitation of human beings. Ancestral deities were common. Multiple afterlife realms existed, some of which were controlled by a particular deity. Old Norse religion was fully integrated with every aspect of life, including subsistence, warfare, and social interactions. Because traditions were transmitted orally, Old Norse religion focused heavily on ritual practices that served as aids to the memories of participants. Kings and chiefs playing a central role in conducting public acts of sacrifice. Various cultic spaces were used. Initially, outdoor spaces such as groves and lakes were typical. After the third century CE, cult houses seem to have been purposely erected for ritual activity, but this practice was not widespread. Norse religion featured practitioners of Seiðr, a form of sorcery that some scholars describe as shamanistic. Various forms of burial were conducted, including both inhumation and cremation, and the deceased were typically accompanied by a variety of grave goods. During the Viking Age, Norse people left Scandinavia and settled elsewhere throughout Northwestern Europe. Scandinavian settlers brought Old Norse religion with them to Britain in the latter decades of the ninth century, but converted to Christianity shortly after their arrival. A revival of interest in Old Norse religion occurred during the romanticist movement of the 19th century, inspiring a range of artworks. Serious academic research into the subject began in the early 19th century.
Roman polytheism (pre-Christian Romans of the Roman Empire)
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of various imperial and provincial religious practices followed by both the people of Rome and those who were absorbed into the Roman Empire. Romans were polytheistic and attributed their success to the maintenance of good relations with the gods. Their polytheistic religion is known for having honored many deities. The presence of Greeks on the Italian peninsula influenced Roman culture, introducing some religious practices that became fundamental such as the cultus of Apollo. The Romans found common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks, adapting Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art. Greek-influenced Etruscan religion also contributed to Roman religion, particularly the practice of augury which was used by the state to discover the will of the gods. Legends attribute Rome's religious institutions to its founders, particularly Numa Pompilius (the Sabine second king of Rome), who was believed to have negotiated directly with the gods. This archaic foundation was called the mos maiorum, or the way of the ancestors, and was central to Roman identity. According to mythology, Rome had a semi-divine ancestor in the Trojan refugee Aeneas, son of Venus, who was said to have established the basis of Roman religion when he brought the Palladium (a cult image of great antiquity), Lares (guardian deities) and Penates (household deities invoked most often in domestic rituals) from Troy to Italy. These objects were believed in historical times to remain in the keeping of the Vestals, Rome's female priesthood. The myth of Trojan origins was reconciled through an elaborate genealogy of its kings with the well-known legend of Rome's founding by twin brothers Romulus and Remus. After vanquishing a usurping king and regaining a throne that was rightfully theirs, Romulus and Remus set out to build a new city after consulting with the gods through augury. The brothers quarrel while building the city walls, and Romulus kills Remus, an act that is sometimes interpreted as sacrificial. Romulus was beleived to have founded several religious institutions. In the first Consualia festival, Romans invited neighbouring Sabines to participate. The ensuing rape of the Sabine women by Romulus's men, like the murder of Remus by Romulus, embedded both violence and cultural assimilation into the myth of Rome's origins. Romulus is described as the founder of Rome's first temple to Jupiter Feretrius where the prime spoils of war were offered in celebration of the first of many Roman triumphs. Romulus did not die but was mysteriously spirited away and subsequently deified. Roman religion was based on the contractual principle of do ut des (I give that you might give), and depended on the correct practice of prayer, rites, and sacrifices rather than faith or dogma. Despite this pragmatic approach, Latin literature contains some learned speculation on the nature of the divine and its relation to human affairs. Even diehard skeptics like Cicero, who was an augur, saw religion as the bedrock of social order. As the empire expanded, migrants to Rome brought their local cults, many of which became popular among Italians. In the wake of the Roman Republic's collapse, state religion was adapted to support the new regime of the emperors. Augustus, first Roman emperor, justified the novelty of one-man rule with a vast program of religious revivalism and reform. Public vows formerly offered for the security of the republic were redirected toward the well-being of the emperor. The Imperial cult of emperor worship emphasized Roman presence in the provinces and cultivated a sense of shared cultural identity and loyalty to the Empire. Rejection of state religion was equivalent to treason, which explains the empire's conflict with Christianity. Romans intermittently regarded Christianity as a form of atheism or superstition. Christians considered Roman religion as paganistic. Ultimately, Roman polytheism ended in 380 CE with the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the empire.
Sámi religion (Sami people of Fennoscandia)
Traditional Sámi spiritual practices and beliefs are animistic, polytheistic, and feature shamanism. Traditions can vary considerably from region to region within Sápmi. This region overlaps the borders of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. It is bounded by the Barents Sea, on the west by the Norwegian Sea, and on the east by the White Sea. The area was historically referred to as Lapland, but its inhabitants currently regard the term Lapp as pejorative. As animists, the Sámi believe that significant natural objects such as animals, plants, and rocks possess a soul. As polytheists, traditional Sámi worship embraces a multitude of spirits including those of animals and ancestors. Maintaining a good relationship with local animals that sustain the people, such as reindeer and bears, is essential for Sámi kinship groups. Some Sámi people venerate Horagalles, a thunder god, and Rana Niejta, the daughter of the green, fertile earth". Like Finnish beliefs, Sámi cosmology is symbolized the world tree or pillar which reaches up to the North Star. Laib Olmai is the forest spirit of some of the Sámi people, Laib Olmai is traditionally associated with forest animals, which are regarded as his property. His favour was so important for a successful hunt that believers prayed to and made offerings to him every morning and every evening. Each family or clan has its local spirits, and every clan has its own hill of sacrifice. The Storjunkare are described as stones which bear some likeness to a man or an animal. These were set up on a mountain top, or in a cave, or near rivers and lakes and were honored by spreading fresh twigs under them in winter, and leaves or grass in the summer. The Storjunkare exercised power over all animals, fish, and birds, and granted fortune to those that hunted or fished for them. Reindeer were often sacrificed to the Storjunkare. Shamans were called noaidi and served as mediator between the human world and saivo, or the underworld, on the behalf of the community, typically using a Sámi drum and a domestic flute called a fadno during ceremonies. The names of Sámi deities vary between regions and many also overlap. In one region, a single deity can appear as several separate deities. In another region, several deities may be united into just a few. Despite this confusion, some major deities can be identified. The principal god is, Radien-attje, the creator of the world and chief divinity. The Sámi regard him as being passive or asleep, so he is not frequently included in religious practice. With his spouse Raedieahkka, Radien-attje created the souls of human beings. Lesser gods and goddesses are the Akka (a group of fertility goddesses that includes Maderakka, Sarakka Juksakka, and Uksakka), Beaivi (goddess of the sun and the mother of human beings), Bieggagallis (husband of the sun goddess and the father of human beings), Bieggolmai (god of the winds), Biejjenniejte (goddess of healing and medicine and daughter of sun goddess Beaivi), Horagalles (the god of thunder, equivalent to Thor), Jahbme akka (goddess of the dead), Lieaibolmmai (god of men and the hunt), Madder-Attje (husband of Maderakka and father of the tribe. Maderakka gives newborns their bodies and Madder-Attje gives them souls created by Radien-attje and his wife), Mano (or Manna, or Aske, god of the moon), Mubpienålmaj (the god of evil, influenced by Christian conceptions of Satan), Radien-pardne (the son of Radien-attje and Raedieahkka who serves as the proxy of his passive father by performing his father's tasks and carrying out his will), Ruohtta (god of sickness and death who is depicted as a horseman), the Stallo (feared cannibal giants of the wilderness), and Tjaetsieålmaj (the god of water, lakes, and fishing). Currently, there are between 80,000 and 100,000 Sámi. Some have migrated to regions beyond their homeland such as Canada and the United States. Many have settled in the northern parts of Minnesota.
Samnite religion (Samnites of Samnium)
The Samnites were an ancient Italic people who lived in modern south-central Italy, placing them between the Latins to the north and Greek settlements to the south. During the 4th-century BCE, the Samnites grew to become the strongest group of the central highlands. Samnium expansion brought them into conflict with Rome's growing influence in central Italy. Samnites were the only group who possessed power equivalent to that of Romans. A series of Roman-Samnite wars (343-341 BCE, 326-304 BCE, and 298 to 290 BCE) determined which would be the leading power in Italy. The last of these wars secured Rome's leadership in Italy. The Samnites shared anthropomorphic deities with both Rome and Greece. Evidence suggests that the Samnites also believed in spirits called numina: kinless, animistic spirits that could take human form to walk amongst the living. Numina lived in places like houses, rivers, and mountains, and in natural events such as day and night. To the Samnites, maintaining good relations with these spirits was critical. To honor the numina, the Samnites would sacrifice living things or make votive offerings. Eventually, the Numina evolved into the Samnite gods and goddesses. The Samnites practiced a type of sacrifice called the ver sacrum where infants were offered to the god Mamers (the Samnite equivalent of Roman war and agricultural god Mars) in hopes of increasing their herds and offspring. Once the consecrated infants reached adulthood, they would be exiled from their community. The Samnites used a small, fenced area covered in linen cloth to sacrifice animals such as pigs, sheep, goats, birds, cows, fish, roe deer, and oysters.[3][10] In the 5th century BCE, they began to use votive offerings such as bronze figurines, terracotta figurines, pottery, coins, beverages, cakes, animal statuettes, and weapons taken from their defeated enemies. Samnites believed that magic rites and talismans could influence reality. Warriors would vow to the gods that they would not retreat in battle whatever the circumstance. Betraying these vows was forbidden. Sanctuaries were central Samnite religion, and they served many functions like marking the routes of seasonal livestock migrations and defining territorial borders. Few Samnite gods are known, but some names have survived. Many Samnite gods were also Roman gods such as Vulcan (god of fire and volcanoes, deserts, metalworking, and the forge), Flora (goddess of the flowering of plants), Mefitis (a minor goddess of the poisonous gases emitted from the ground in swamps and volcanic vapors), Apollo (a deity whose many duties include oversight of the sun, music, archery, prophecy, and healing), Angitia (associated in antiquity with snake-charmers), and Diana (goddess of wild animals and the hunt). Some deities were not embraced by the Samites until after the Roman conquest. Examples are Fortuna (goddess of chance), Fides (goddess of trust and faithfulness), and Spes (goddess of hope and one of the divine personifications in the Imperial cult of the Virtue). There were Samnite gods unique to Samnite or Oscan culture. Herentas was the Oscan equivalent of Venus. The most prominent gods in Samnite religion were Mars, previously known as Mamers, and Greek/Roman hero Heracles/Hercules. Heracles was worshipped as a divine protector of pastoralism, an important component of the Samnite economy. From the third century onwards, Samnite sanctuaries slowly became derelict due to increasing Roman influence. Roman dominance ultimately led to the extinction of Samnite civilization and language.
Slavic paganism (Early Slavs/Slavs) of Eastern and Southeastern Europe)
Slavic mythology or Slavic paganism is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianization, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the Balkans during the 6th–7th centuries, came under the sphere of influence of bordering Byzantine Eastern Christianity. They were also influenced bythe adoption of Christianity in Bulgaria in 864 and in Great Moravia in 863. The East Slavs converted after Vladimir the Great became a Christian in 988. West Slavic Christianization was more gradual and complicated. The Moravians accepted Christianity as early as 831, the Bohemian dukes followed in 845, and the Slovaks accepted Christianity somewhere between the years 828 and 863. The first historical Polish ruler, Mieszko I, accepted Christianity much later, in 966, around the same time as the Sorbs. Polabian Slavs only came under the influence of the Catholic Church from the 12th century onwards. For the Polabian Slavs and the Sorbs, Christianization occurred in tandem with full or partial Germanization. The introduction of Christianity encountered resistance by the Slavs. The West Slavs of the Baltic strenuously resisted it until it was violently imposed on them through the Northern Crusades. Among Poles and East Slavs, rebellions broke out throughout the 11th century. Christian chroniclers reported that the Slavs regularly reverted to their original religious practices. Many elements of the Slavic indigenous religion were officially incorporated into Slavic Christianity. The pagan Slavs were polytheistic. Their gods are known primarily from a handful of chronicles, letopises (semi-fictional compilations of historical documents and oral traditions), and inaccurate anti-pagan Christian sermons. More numerous are sources which preserve Slavic theonyms including proper names, place names, the names of folk holidays, as well as folk wisdom. Based on reconstructed myths about gods Perun and Veles, some scholars believe that both of these are chief deities. Perun is the god of lightning, thunder, and war. Veles rules over the underworld and conducts the souls of the dead into the meadows of the beyond. As the god of wealth, he is associated with the care of cattle, the primary form of Slavic wealth. Dazhbog is a sun god. His name means god of giving, suggesting that he was also a god of abundance. Svarozhits is a fire god who is mentioned in minor East Slavic texts. Other deities are personifications of human and natural attributes. Dola is the personification of fate and destiny abd was assigned to a person at birth. It may be inherited from ancestors. It is generally invisible but may have manifested in human or animal form. The opposite of Dola, who is associated with good fortune, was Nedola, the personification of bad fortune. Mat Zemlya, who appears mainly in East Slavic texts, is a personification of the Earth. Rozhanitsy (Givers of life), Sudenitsy (Givers of fate), and Narechnitsy (Givers of destiny) are female spirits or deities of fate. They are manifested either as a group or as a single entity. A person's fate is symbolized by the thread of life, the length of which is measured by the Rozhanitsy. Bloodless sacrifices were offered to these goddesses of fate. Zorya is the personification of the dawn. She lives overseas on the mythical island of Bujan and opens a door for the Sun to begin its daily journey across the sky. Zvezda, Utrenica, or Danica is the personification of the Morning Star, the planet Venus. The worship of Slavic gods has persisted in unofficial folk religion until modern times.
Thracian religion (Thracians of Odrysian kingdom)
Thracian religion comprised the mythology, ritual practices, and beliefs of the Thracians, a collection of related ancient Indo-European peoples who inhabited eastern and southeastern Europe and northwestern Anatolia throughout antiquity and included the Thracians, the Getae, the Dacians, and the Bithynians. The Thracians themselves did not leave many written descriptions of their mythology and rituals, but information can be drawn from archeological sources and ancient Greek writings. Thracian religion, especially its creation myth and pantheon, were derived from the conjectured Proto-Indo-European religion. Thracians believed that the world was composed of four elements: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. This concept dates from the early Bronze Age, around the fourth millennium BCE, and was recorded in poems and hymns created during the 2nd millennium BC transmitted through oral tradition. By the end of the Bronze Age, the cult of the Sun was prevalent throughout Thrace. Common household and artistic objects were decorated with symbols of the Sun, and these symbols were carved into rocks. In the late Bronze Age, there were considerable cultural contacts between Thrace, northern Greece, and Asia Minor which resulted in significant exchanges of religious beliefs. Thracian imported belief in the Great Mother Goddess. In the later 2nd millennium BCE and the early 1st millennium BCE, the concept of the divinization of the mountain coexisted with a flourishing megalithic culture as evidenced by rock-cut niches of rectangular, circular, or trapezoidal shape to receive votive gifts, platforms for sacrifices which included troughs and outlets to drain a victim's blood, rock-cut sacred steps to springs or rock sanctuaries, complexes of megalithic structures, and dolmens (megaliths consisting of a large flat stone laid upon upright stones). In this era, the four elements were conceived of as forces or energies which were combined in the form of the mountain, which was personified as the Thracian Great Mother Goddess. A symbolic representation of Thracian cosmology is the image of a horned eagle clutching a hare in its talons and a fish in its beak. The eagle represents the element of the Air and things above. The hare represents the Earth and things in the middle. The fish represents Water and things below. During the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age, the cult of underworld deity Zagreus (Dionysus) spread from Anatolia into Thrace, from where it later spread into Greece. This cult was initially opposed by practitioners of the local solar cults, but ultimately prevailed and became merged with sun worship. Cultural exchanges resulted in the Thracian adoption of the names of Greek gods who were added to the names of their own gods. The Thracians giving linked the name of Apollo to those of domestic gods Derainos, Zerdēnos (god of heaven, lightning, and rain), and Kendrisos (the Thracian God Rider, an enigmatic horseman whose image appears on over 4,000 dedicatory monuments). The name of Greek Hermes was added to that of Perpheraios, and Artemis was linked to Bendis (earth mother) and Basileia. Bendis had a dual aspect as both virgin and matron, the principal roles of women in ancient times. According to Bulgarian culturologist Ivan Marazov, only two major deities are attested in the Thracian pantheon: Great Goddess Bendis and Hero God Zis, a sky and lightening god. Zalmoxis was a demigod, the legendary founder of a dynasty of priests connected with the northernmost Thracian peoples. In the Thracian religion, no distinction was made between the mythical and heroic past and the present. Gods and heroes were believed to still be performing their valorous deeds in the present in heavenly realms that were not detached from the earth and the lives of its inhabitants.
Vainakh religion (Nakhs of the Caucasus)
The Vainakh, or Nakh peoples (Chechens and Ingush) of the North Caucasus fell under Byzantine influence during the Middle Ages. This led to the adoption of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in some parts of the country, particularly in the mountainous South). This Christianization, however, was short-lived. After the devastation of the Nakh heartland by Tamerlane, Christianity waned due to loss of contact between Georgia and Nakh Christians. Gradually, the Chechens and Ingush returned to their native, pagan beliefs. The Vainakh began to embrace Islam from 16th and 17th centuries. Most Chechens (about 2 million) and Ingush (about 1 million) people are Muslim of the Shafi`i school. The Kists, a subgroup (about 15,400 people) is mainly Sunni Muslims with a Georgian Orthodox minority. The Bats, another subgroup (approx. 3,000 people) are Georgian Orthodox Christians. Jordanian historian Amjad Jaimoukha has reconstructed some of the elements of Vainakh pre-Islamic religion and mythology, which includes traces of ancestor worship and funerary cults. The Nakh peoples, like many other peoples of the North Caucasus such as the Circassians, practiced tree worship, and believed that trees were inhabited by spirits. Vainakh peoples developed many rituals to serve different kinds of trees. The pear tree held a special place in Vainakh religion. Jaimoukha notes some comparisons with the religion of the Circassians, but a greater affinity with the Iron Age mythology of western Indo-European cultures. There are parallels to Celtic polytheism, including tree worship, and reconstructed calendar festivals such as Halloween and Beltane (May Day), the veneration of fire, and certain ghost related superstitions. Amjad Jaimoukha provides an extensive provisional list of Vainakh deities which begins with Dal, or Dala, the supreme god. Other major gods and goddesses are Gal-Yerdi, or Gela (sun god and patron of cattle breeders), Hela (god of darkness), Seela, or Sela (god of stars, thunder, and lightning, often portrayed as being cruel and evil), Sata or Sela Sata (wife or daughter of Seela according to different versions, and a goddess of artisanship, especially female crafts), Maetsill (god of agriculture, the harvest, and protector of the weak), Ishtar-Deela (the lord of life and death and ruler of the underworld who is responsible for punishing the wicked), Molyz-Yerdi (the war god), Elta (god of the hunt, animals, and before Maetsill took over this role, of the harvest), Taamash-Yerdi (the lord of fate, small in size but gigantic upon being angered), Tusholi (goddess of fertility and an even greater protector of the people than her father, Deela), Dartsa-Naana (goddess of blizzards and avalanches), Mokh-Naana (goddess of the winds), Seelasat (protectress of virgins and possibly identical to Sata/Sela Sata), Meler Yerdi (god of plants and cereal beverages), Aira (patron of the eternal timeline), Mozh (evil sister of the sun and moon responsible for eclipses), Khagya-Yerdi, or Maetskhali (lord of the rocks), and P'eerska (the keeper of time). Supernatural creatures and heroes are Nokhcho (mythical founder of the Vainakh people), Pkharmat (a semi-divine Nart who stole fire from cruel Sela), the Pkhagalberi tribe (dwarfs who were invulnerable to every type of weapon), Turpal (an untamed horse that helped Pkharmat in his journey), Uja (cyclops and faithful servant of evil Sela who chained Pkharmat to the summit of a mountain as punishment for having stolen fire), Ida (falcon king of birds who comes every morning to tear at chained Pkharmat's liver), the Narts (a race of giants who could either be good or evil), Taram (invisible spirits that protect people and househols from disasters), Uburs (evil spirits who can possess animals), Hunsag (patron spirit of the forest and forest animals who seeks to destroy hunters), and Batiga-Shertko (a shamanistic figure who can cross over into the underworld to determine the condition of the dead).
Oceania
Indigenous Australians are descendants of the various ethnic groups that inhabited the territory of present day Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania, and the Torres Strait Islanders of Melanesia. There have been many different Aboriginal groups, each with its own individual language, culture, and belief system. At the time of British settlement, there were over 200 distinct languages. In Aboriginal communities knowledge and decision making is shared between tribal elders. Within Aboriginal belief systems, a formative epoch known as the Dreaming or the Dreamtime stretches back into the distant past. In the beginning, creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the land, naming things things that they encountered. Indigenous Australia's oral tradition and religious values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime, which is simultaneously the ancient time of creation and the present-day reality of Dreaming. Different language and cultural groups each had their own belief structures. These cultural beliefs overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and they evolved over time. Major ancestral spirits include the Rainbow Serpent (the great life giver, and protector of water, his spiritual home), Baiame (creator god and sky father), Dirawong (a lizard-like Ancestral Being who taught humans how to live on the land, as well as important ceremonies and rituals), and Bunjil (who created much of south-eastern Australia, the animals within it, and humans by breathing life into figures moulded from clay. Knowledge contained in the Dreaming has been preserved and transmitted through a variety of stories, songlines, dances, and ceremonies. It provided, and continues to provide a framework for ongoing relationships, kinship responsibilities, and good stewardship of the land. Traditional healers (known as Ngangkari in the Western desert areas of Central Australia) were highly respected men and women who not only acted as healers or doctors, but were generally also the custodians of important Dreaming stories. Torres Strait Islander people have their own traditional belief systems. Stories of the Tagai represent Torres Strait Islanders as sea people, with a connection to the stars, as well as a system of order in which everything has its place in the world.[259][261] Some Torres Strait Islander people share beliefs similar to the Aboriginal peoples' conceptions of Dreaming and Everywhen.
Māori religion is a term that describes the various religious beliefs and practices of the Polynesian indigenous people of New Zealand. It differed little from the beliefs and practices of Hawaiki Nui, the Eastern Polynesian homeland of the Māori. Hawaiki, or Havaiʻi, is the old name for Raiatea, the second largest of the Society Islands after Tahiti. It is likely that the organised migrations to the Hawaiian Islands, New Zealand and other parts of East Polynesia started at Raiatea. Many Polynesians, including the Māori, beleive that Raiatea is both the ancestral homeland and the underworld dwelling place of ancestors and spirits. The Māori beleived that everything, including natural elements and all living things, is connected through whakapapa (the genealogical descent of all living things from God down to present times). Accordingly, Māori regarded all things as possessing a life force, or mauri. Illustrating this concept of connectedness are the major personifications, gods and spirits called Atua that date from before the period of European contact. Tangaroa is the great atua of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that dwell in them (especially fish). As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai, he controls the tides and is sometimes depicted as a whale. Tangaroa is a son of Ranginui (sky father) and Papatūānuku (earth mother), who used to lie in a tight embrace. Their children lived in the darkness between them but grew frustrated with their cramped confinement. Tūmatauenga, or Tū, future god of war, proposes that they should kill their parents. Tāne, future god of forests and the father of birds, trees, and humans, suggests that it is better to separate them. After many failed attempts by his brothers, Tāne lies on his back and pushes his parents apart with his strong legs. Afterward, Tangaroa is attacked by his brother Tāwhirimātea, a weather god, and forced to hide in the sea. Tangaroa's son, Punga, has two children: Ikatere, the ancestor of fish, and Tū-te-wehiwehi, the ancestor of reptiles. Terrified by Tāwhirimātea's attacks, the fish seek shelter in the sea. The reptiles seek shelter in the forests. Ever since, Tangaroa has held a grudge against Tāne because he offers refuge to his runaway children. When Māori go to sea to fish or to travel, they are representatives of Tāne entering enemy territory. For this reason, it was important that offerings were made to Tangaroa prior to an expedition. Brother Rango is the atua of peace and of cultivated plants, especially kumara (sweet potatoes), a vital crop. Brother Haumia-tiketike, or Haumia, is the atua of all uncultivated vegetative food. Brother Urutengangana is the god of light. Urutengangana had two wives. Wife Moeahuru gave birth to the red sun. Wife Hineturama gave birth to the waxing moon and also produced the stars. In the struggle between the forces of light and darkness, Urutengangana at first sided with Whiro, lord of darkness and embodiment of all evil, but in later times allied himself with Tāne. Brother Rūaumoko is the atua of earthquakes, volcanoes and seasons. The first woman, Hineahuone, was created by Tāne from the soil. The union of Tāne and Hineahuone produced daughter Hinetītama, custodian of the threshold between night and day, between darkness and light. Hinetītama later became Hinenui-te-pō, the goddess of the dead. Prior to the 1830's, the warlike Māori practiced cannibalism for purposes of revenge, since killing and eating a man was the most vengeful and degrading thing one person could possibly do to another. Colonization by Europeans worked to suppress Māori traditions. In the 1896 census, New Zealand had a Māori population of 42,113, by which time Europeans numbered more than 700,000. The Māori population began to recover in the 20th century. Influential Māori politicians worked to revitalize the Māori people after the devastation of the previous century, advocating the partial adoption of European practices while also retaining traditional culture.
Modekngei, or Ngara Modekngei (United Sect), is a monotheistic religious movement founded around 1915 by a shaman named Tamadad, a native of the island of Babeldaob, that eventually spread throughout Palau. It rose to politically significant between the First and Second World Wars and is currently professed by 5.7% of Palau's population. Modekngei is a hybrid of ancient Palauan customs and Christianity. Followers of the religion believe in the Christian God, recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but simultaneously make appeasements to the traditional Palauan deities. Adherents in Ibobang (a village in Ngatpang, Palau that faces Ngeremeduu Bay.) practice a lifestyle centered on ancient ideas of family, community, and purity. Citizens of Ibobang attend daily church services. One Modekngei custom requires members of the community to walk silently to church each morning. Speaking, especially speaking loudly before a church service is considered disrespectful. Women in Ibobang usually wear pants, but at church they are required to always wear a skirt or dress when entering or passing the building. Daily Modekngei church services are short, consisting mostly of individual and group prayers, but services celebrating both traditional and religious holidays are more elaborate, can last several days, and require weeks of communal preparation. One custom that most Palauans observe, regardless of religious affiliation, is the prohibition of alcohol or tobacco within the Ibobang city limits. Another customary activity that takes place in Ibobang is the blessing of the roads. This particular custom coincides with the lunar cycle. It is believed that during a full moon, the Modekngei goddess is better able to see the malpractices of her people so villagers exert themselves beforehand to ensure that everything is clean and in proper order. The village of Ibobang is the home of Belau Modekngei School, founded in 1974 by Modekngei elders as a boarding school for high school students to transmit the ancient traditions of the Modekngei religion to future generations. Japanese ethnologist Machiko Aoyagi attributes the widespread adoption of Modekngei to six factors: (1) Healing the sick. During the periods of German colonialism and Japanese occupation tere was an absence of specialists in traditional medicine. It was beleived that all diseases were caused by the spirits of ancestors, of gods, or by sorcery. Modekngei reinstituted the roles of diviners, white magicians, and shamans who could identify the cause of, and specify cures for diseases. (2) Prophecy, (3) Money-making. Money is the sole determinant of the social status of individual islanders, descent groups, and villages. After WWII, mtu'in (mutual financing associations) were organized which not only effectively raised funds, but also served to tighten bonds among followers of Modekngei. (4) Abolishment of food taboos and removal of old gods. In traditional religion, the gods of Belau had imposed stringent food taboos on fo11owers.To abolish these taboos, Modekngei leaders were compelled to banish the gods who had imposed them. (5) Incorporation of various local gods. (6). Introduction of Christian elements. Modekngei created an ideal environment for many islanders whose loyaties were divided between Christianity and traditional beliefs by acknowledging and incorporating both systems.
