Religion In Vietnam The majority of Vietnamese do not follow any organized religion, instead participating in one or more practices of folk religions, such as venerating ancestors, or praying to deities, especially during Tết and other festivals. Folk religions were founded on endemic cultural beliefs that were historically affected by Confucianism and Taoism from China, as...
Ghost In folklore, a ghost (sometimes known as an apparition, haunt, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter or spectre, spirit, spook, and wraith) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or...
Caodaism Caodaism (Đạo Cao Đài, Chữ nôm: 道高臺) is a monotheistic syncretic religion officially established in the city of Tây Ninh in southern Vietnam in 1926. The full name of the religion is Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ (The Great Faith [for the] Third Universal Redemption). Cao Đài, literally the “Highest Lord” or “Highest Power”) is...
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...
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...
Inca Mythology Inca mythologyincludes many stories and legends that attempt to explain or symbolize Inca beliefs. The Incas tailored their mythology to glorify their own culture and to reinforce the idea that they were a superior people destined to rule others. The Inca civilization flourished in the Andes mountains of South...
Historical Vedic Religion The historical Vedic religion (also known as, Brahminism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism) refers to the religious ideas and practices among most Indo-Aryan-speaking peoples of ancient India after about 1500 BCE. These ideas and practices are found in the Vedic texts, and they were one of the major influences that shaped contemporary...
Death In Norse Paganism Death in Norse paganism was associated with varying customs and beliefs. Not only could a Viking funeral be performed a number of ways, the idea of the soul was associated with various notions, as well as of where the dead went in their afterlife, such as Valhalla, Fólkvangr, Hel, and Helgafjell. The soul The...
Maya Religion The traditional Maya religion of the extant Maya peoples of Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and the Tabasco, Chiapas, and Yucatán states of Mexico is part of the wider frame of Mesoamerican religion. As is the case with many other contemporary Mesoamerican religions, it results from centuries of symbiosis with Roman Catholicism. When its pre-Spanish antecedents are taken into account,...
Ancestor Worship Ancestor worship is a religious practice based on the belief that deceased family members have a continued existence, that the spirits of deceased ancestors will look after the family, take an interest in the affairs of the world, and possess the ability to influence the fortune of the...
What Is Kami? This article covers the answer to the question: “What Is Kami?“ Kami (神) are the spirits or phenomena that are worshipped in the religion of Shinto. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, as well as beings and the qualities that these beings express;...