“Windows To Spirituality”
Zhuangzi Zhuangzi (traditional Chinese characters: 莊子) was a fourth-century B.C.E. Chinese thinker of startling depth and originality, and author of a text with the same name. Zhuangzi expanded the Chinese understanding of Dao (Tao), explored its relationship with Heaven (or Nature), and firmly planted human beings within this context. Further, the Zhuangzi text described in great detail the means to...
Taoism Explained Taoism is the second of the three state religions (San-kiao) of China. This religion is derived from the philosophical doctrines of Lao-tze. “Lao-tze’s Taoism”, says Legge (Religions of China, 229), “is the exhibition of a way or method of living which men should cultivate as the highest and purest development of their nature”. According to De...
Daoism Daoism (Wade-Giles: “Taoism”) is the English name for a cluster of Chinese religious and philosophical traditions that have developed over more than two thousand years in China and have influenced religio-cultural developments in Korea, Japan, and other East Asian countries. However, despite the centrality of this tradition in Chinese culture, the definition of what...
Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom (c. 2686 – c. 2181 BCE) as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her slain brother and husband, the divine king Osiris, and produces and protects his heir, Horus. She was believed...
Thracian Religion The Thracian religion refers to the mythology, ritual practices and beliefs of the Thracians, a collection of closely related ancient Indo-European peoples who inhabited eastern and southeastern Europe and northwestern Anatolia throughout antiquity and who included the Thracians proper, the Getae, the Dacians, and the Bithynians. The Thracians themselves did not leave an extensive written corpus of their mythology and rituals,...
Ancient Celtic Religion Ancient Celtic religion, commonly known as Celtic paganism, was the religion of the ancient Celtic peoples of Europe. Because the ancient Celts did not have writing, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts (some of it hostile and probably not well-informed), and literature from the early Christian...
Scythian Religion Scythian religion refers to the mythology, ritual practices and beliefs of the Scythian cultures, a collection of closely related ancient Iranian peoples who inhabited Central Asia and the Pontic–Caspian steppe in Eastern Europe throughout Classical Antiquity, spoke the Scythian language (itself a member of the Eastern Iranian language family), and which...
Slavic Paganism Slavic paganism or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the Balkan Peninsula during the 6th–7th centuries AD, bordering with the Byzantine Empire to the south, came under the sphere of influence of Eastern Christianity, beginning...
Melanesian Mythology Melanesian mythology refers to the folklore, myths, and religions of Melanesia, a region in Southwest Oceania that encompasses the archipelagos of New Guinea (including Indonesian New Guinea and Papua New Guinea), the Torres Strait Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji. The various mythologies consist primarily of the traditions of oral literature in the different populations of Melanesia. More recent aspects include the cargo cults born in the 20th century during the Pacific War. Mythological...
Alaska Native Religion Traditional Alaska Native religion involves mediation between people and spirits, souls, and other immortal beings. Such beliefs and practices were once widespread among Inuit (including Iñupiat), Yupik, Aleut, and Northwest Coastal Indian cultures, but today are less common. They were already in decline among many groups when the first major ethnological research was done. For example, at the...
Crow Religion Crow religion is the indigenous religion of the Crow people, Native Americans of the Great Plains area of the United States. The Crow Deity In the Crow language the Creator has many names, such as Akbaatatdia (One Who Has Made Everything/Maker of All Things Above), Iichíkbaalee (First Doer/Maker), and Isáahkawuattee (Old Man Coyote). All names refer to a singular, omnipotent god who...
Olmec Religion The religion of the Olmec people significantly influenced the social development and mythological worldview of Mesoamerica. Scholars have seen echoes of Olmec supernatural in the subsequent religions and mythologies of nearly all later pre-Columbian era cultures. The first Mesoamerican civilization, the Olmecs, developed on present-day Mexico southern Gulf Coast in the...
Bantu Mythology Bantu mythology is the system of beliefs and legends of the Bantu people of Africa. Although Bantu peoples account for several hundred different ethnic groups, there is a high degree of homogeneity in Bantu cultures and customs, just as in Bantu languages. The phrase “Bantu mythology” usually refers to the common, recurring themes that...
Traditional Berber Religion The traditional Berber religion is the ancient and native set of beliefs and deities adhered to by the Berbers (Amazigh autochthones) of North Africa. Many ancient Amazigh beliefs were developed locally, whereas others were influenced over time through contact with other ancient Egyptian religions, or borrowed during antiquity from the Punic religion, Judaism, Iberian mythology,...
Ubuntu Philosophy This article covers Ubuntu philosophy. Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term meaning “humanity“. It is sometimes translated as “I am because we are” (also “I am because you are”), or “humanity towards others” (Zulu umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu). In Xhosa, the latter term is used, but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean...
Satanism And Youth’s Quest For Identity Briefly defined as the worship of Satan as if he were God, Satanism is the name given to a reaction that basically started in the 1880s in such countries as France, England, Germany, and especially in the USA, against Christianity and religious understanding and...
Christianity And Paganism This article covers the relationship between Christianity and Paganism. Paganism is commonly used to refer to various religions that existed during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, such as the Greco-Roman religions of the Roman Empire, including the Roman imperial cult, the various mystery religions, religions such as Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and more localized ethnic religions practiced both inside and outside...
Islam And blasphemy This article covers the relationship between Islam and blasphemy. Blasphemy in Islam is an impious utterance or action concerning God but is broader than in normal English usage, including not only the mocking or vilifying of attributes of Islam but denying any of the fundamental beliefs of the religion....
What Is Sunni Islam? Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world’s Muslims. Its name comes from the word Sunnah, referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagreement over the succession to Muhammad and subsequently acquired broader political significance, as well as theological and juridical dimensions. According to Sunni traditions,...
The Church The term church (Anglo-Saxon, cirice, circe; Modern German, Kirche; Swedish, Kyrka) is the name employed in the Teutonic languages to render the Greek ekklesia (ecclesia), the term by which the New Testament writers denote the society founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The derivation of the word has been much debated. It is now agreed that it is derived from the...
