Major Beliefs and Practices

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A survey of the different beliefs, practices, and rituals associated with folk religion, such as ancestor worship, spirit possession, and divination.

Definition of Folk Religion: An overview of what Folk Religion is, including its various forms and how it differs from other religious practices.
Mythology: A study of the myths and legends associated with the religion, including creation stories, heroes, and gods/goddesses.
Rituals and Ceremonies: An examination of the various rituals and ceremonies associated with the religion, including those related to birth, death, marriage, and other significant life events.
Sacred Places and Spaces: A look at the places and spaces that are considered sacred within the religion, including temples, shrines, and other structures.
Ancestor Worship: An exploration of the role of ancestors in Folk Religion, including ancestral veneration and ancestor worship.
Magic and Divination: An examination of the use of magic and divination within the religion, including spells, talismans, and other tools used for divination.
Folklore: A study of the folklore associated with the religion, including folk tales, folk songs, and other forms of popular culture.
Cosmology: An exploration of the religious beliefs surrounding the nature of the universe, the afterlife, and other cosmological concepts.
Deities and Spirit Beings: An overview of the various deities and spirit beings associated with the religion, including their attributes and roles.
Festivals and Holidays: An examination of the various festivals and holidays celebrated within the religion, including their origins and significance.
Animism: This belief posits that all objects, both living and non-living, have spirits or souls.
Shamanism: Shamanism involves the practice of communicating with spirits or deities through a shaman or healer.
Ancestor Worship: This practice involves the veneration of ancestors and their spirits, with the belief that they can offer guidance and protection to the living.
Polytheism: Polytheistic religions believe in multiple gods or deities.
Pantheism: This belief system posits that everything in the universe, from nature to human beings, is a manifestation of divinity.
Totemism: Totemism is the belief in a close relationship between groups of people and specific animals or objects which are believed to have spiritual significance.
Divination: Divination is the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means, such as through the interpretation of omens or the consulting of mediums.
Sacred Sites: These are places considered to be imbued with spiritual significance and believed to be connected to the supernatural world.
Death Rituals: These are a set of beliefs, behaviors, and practices surrounding death and the afterlife, including funerary customs, mourning rituals, and beliefs about the soul or spirit after death.
Mysticism: Mysticism is the belief in the direct experience of the divine or mystical union with God or the universe, often through meditation or other spiritual practices.
Quote: "Folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion."
Quote: "The precise definition of folk religion varies among scholars."
Quote: "It consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of a religion, but outside official doctrine and practices."
Quote: "The first is the religious dimension of folk culture, or the folk-cultural dimensions of religion. The second refers to the study of syncretisms between two cultures with different stages of formal expression."
Quote: "The melange of African folk beliefs and Roman Catholicism that led to the development of Vodun and SanterĂ­a, and similar mixtures of formal religions with folk cultures."
Quote: "Chinese folk religion, folk Christianity, folk Hinduism, and folk Islam are examples of folk religion associated with major religions. In China, folk Protestantism had its origins with the Taiping Rebellion."
Quote: "Chinese folk religion, folk Christianity, folk Hinduism, and folk Islam."
Quote: "The term is also used, especially by the clergy of the faiths involved, to describe the desire of people... to have religious weddings or funerals, or (among Christians) to have their children baptized."
Quote: "Folk religion, popular religion, traditional religion or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion."
Quote: "Folk religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from the official doctrines and practices of organized religion."
Quote: "It consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of a religion but outside official doctrine and practices."
Quote: "The first is the religious dimension of folk culture, or the folk-cultural dimensions of religion."
Quote: "The second refers to the study of syncretisms between two cultures with different stages of formal expression."
Quote: "The melange of African folk beliefs and Roman Catholicism that led to the development of Vodun and SanterĂ­a..."
Quote: "In China, folk Protestantism had its origins with the Taiping Rebellion."
Quote: "Chinese folk religion, folk Christianity, folk Hinduism, and folk Islam."
Quote: "The term is also used, especially by the clergy of the faiths involved, to describe the desire of people... to have religious weddings or funerals, or (among Christians) to have their children baptized."
Quote: "...people who otherwise infrequently attend religious worship, do not belong to a church or similar religious society..."
Quote: "...to have religious weddings or funerals..."
Quote: "...to have religious weddings or funerals, or (among Christians) to have their children baptized."