“Windows To Spirituality”
Indian Shaker Church The Indian Shaker Church is a Christian denomination founded in 1881 by Squaxin shaman John Slocum and his wife Mary Slocum in Washington State. The Indian Shaker Church is a unique blend of American Indian, Catholic, and Protestant beliefs and practices. The Indian Shakers are unrelated to the Shakers of New England (United Society of Believers) and are not to be confused with the Native...
Ghost Dance The Ghost Dance (Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a new religious movement incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilson), proper practice of the dance would reunite the living with spirits of the dead, bring the spirits to fight on...
Ryukyuan Religion The Ryukyuan religion (琉球信仰), Ryukyu Shintō (琉球神道), Nirai Kanai Shinkō (ニライカナイ信仰), or Utaki Shinkō (御嶽信仰) is the indigenous belief system of the Ryukyu Islands. While specific legends and traditions may vary slightly from place to place and island to island, the Ryukyuan religion is generally characterized by ancestor worship (more accurately termed “ancestor respect”) and the respecting of relationships...
Religion in Japan The majority of Japanese people profess to adhere to both Shinto (the indigenous religion of Japan) and Buddhism. Buddhism and Shintoism are the two major religions in Japan. According to the annual statistical research on religion in 2015 by the Agency for Culture Affairs, Government of Japan, 70.4 percent of the population...
Otherworld The concept of an otherworld in historical Indo-European religion is reconstructed in comparative mythology. Its name is a calque of orbis alius (Latin for “other Earth/world”), a term used by Lucan in his description of the Celtic Otherworld. Comparable religious, mythological or metaphysical concepts, such as a realm of supernatural beings and a realm of the dead, are found in cultures throughout the world. Spirits...
Religion in Korea Religion in Korea refers the various religious traditions practiced on the Korean peninsula. The oldest indigenous religion of Korea is the Korean folk religion, which has been passed down from prehistory to the present. Buddhism was introduced to Korea from China during the Three Kingdoms era in the 4th century, and the religion flourished until the Joseon Dynasty,...
Chinese Shamanism Chinese shamanism, alternatively called Wuism (巫教; wū jiào; ‘wu religion, shamanism, witchcraft‘; alternatively 巫觋宗教 wū xí zōngjiào), refers to the shamanic religious tradition of China. Its features are especially connected to the ancient Neolithic cultures such as the Hongshan culture. Chinese shamanic traditions are intrinsic to Chinese folk religion. Various ritual traditions are rooted in original...
Religion in Africa Religion in Africa is multifaceted and has been a major influence on art, culture and philosophy. Today, the continent’s various populations and individuals are mostly adherents of Christianity, Islam, and to a lesser extent several traditional African religions. In Christian or Islamic communities, religious beliefs are also sometimes characterized with syncretism with the...
West African Vodun This article covers West African Vodun. Vodun (meaning spirit; also spelled Vodon, Vodoun, Vodou, Voudou, Voodoo, etc.) is practiced by the Fon people of Benin, and southern and central Togo; as well in Ghana, and Nigeria. It is distinct from the various traditional African religions in the interiors of these countries and is the main source of...
Longhouse Religion The Longhouse Religion is the popular name of the religious movement also known as The Code of Handsome Lake or Gaihwi:io (Good Message), founded in 1799 by the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake (Sganyodaiyoˀ). This movement combines and reinterprets elements of traditional Iroquois religious beliefs with elements adopted from Christianity, primarily from the Quakers. Anthropologist Anthony F. C. Wallace reported...
Medicine Man A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective Indigenous languages, for the spiritual healers and ceremonial leaders in their particular cultures. The medicine man and woman in North America Cultural...
Hoodoo (Folk Magic) Hoodoo is a traditional African-American spirituality created by enslaved African-Americans in the New World. It is specific to the distinct African-American lineage in North America. Hoodoo is the product of enslaved people who faced terrorism and unimaginable suffering on a daily basis yet refused to relinquish all of their power...
Mythologies Of The Indigenous Peoples Of The Americas This article covers the Mythologies of The Indigenous Peoples of The Americas in detail. The indigenous peoples of the Americas comprise numerous different cultures. Each has its own mythologies. Some are quite distinct, but certain themes are shared across the cultural boundaries. North America There...
Louisiana Voodoo Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo describes a set of spiritual beliefs and practices developed from the traditions of the African diaspora in Louisiana. It is sometimes referred to as Mississippi Valley Voodoo when referring to its historic popularity and development in the greater Mississippi Valley. It is a cultural form...
Haitian Vodou Haitian Vodou is an Afro-American religion that developed in Haiti between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional religions of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. There is no central authority in control of the movement, which comprises adherents known as Vodouists or “servants of the...
Witch Doctor A witch doctor was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft and is now more commonly a term used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing rather than contemporary medicine. Original meaning of the term In its original meaning witch doctors were not witches themselves, but...
Mongolian Shamanism Mongolian shamanism, more broadly called the Mongolian folk religion, or occasionally Tengerism, refers to the animistic and shamanic ethnic religion that has been practiced in Mongolia and its surrounding areas (including Buryatia and Inner Mongolia) at least since the age of recorded history. In the earliest known stages it...
Yoruba Religion The Yoruba religion comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria which comprised Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti as well as Lagos States and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, commonly known as Yorubaland. It shares some parallels...
Shamanism In Siberia This article covers Shamanism in Siberia. 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 people of Siberia comprise a variety of ethnic groups, many of whom continue to observe shamanistic...
Ethnic Religion In religious studies, an ethnic religion is a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group. Ethnic religions are often distinguished from universal religions, such as Christianity or Islam, which are not limited in ethnic, national or racial scope. All ethnic religions are several thousand years old, which most being of an unknown age because they stem from indigenous...
