From being characterized as 'primitive tribe' in the colonial imagination to become predominantly practitioners of the American Baptist faith, the Sumi Naga - formerly known as the Sema Naga - in the North-East Indian state of Nagaland have come a long way ever since this Naga tribe encountered the white man toward the latter half of the nineteenth century. This book in a way chronicles the transition of Sumi society from the period of colonial contact up to the present-day context. A critical understanding of Sumi society and culture is at the heart of the narrative, and the analysis of Sumi religion and world view remains the main thrust of this book. It is argued that the Sumi, who are overwhelmingly Baptists, are faced with new religious issues which has brought about not only schismatic divisions but also rendering ebullience to religious life, and that a new discourse has emerged in Sumi religion. The author positions himself as an 'insider', and in doing so has given a reflexive account of Sumi religious life, meanwhile substantiating the arguments and findings in the light of contemporary theoretical developments. The volume brings out compelling evidence that religion significantly shapes the daily life of the Sumi. It offers a detailed ethnographic study of Sumi religion and world view, as the Sumi Naga was seldom studied in-depth in the post-Independence period. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

The Church of World Messianity, a religion founded by Okada Mokichi (1882-1955), was introduced to Brazil in 1955. Messianity is best known for the religious activity Jhorei; transmission of the light of God by holding one's hand over a recipient. Messianity's doctrine and practice is strongly influenced by that of Shinto, a Japanese traditional religion. For this reason, it might be considered that Messianity would appear to be rather out of place in the Brazilian cultural milieu and different from Brazilian religious orientations. However in terms of doctrine and practice, there are some aspects that indicate continuity such as the belief in the existence of the world of spirits. During fieldwork of a pilgrimage bus tour with Messianity followers, the author encounters a busjacking where highway robbers take over the bus at late night. Through this incident Matsuoka develops his analysis of the acceptance of the religion by collecting interpretations of the busjacking from the pilgrims. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book studies several significant topics in anthropological study of religion such as sacred place, magic/religion argument, theodicy, conversion in Messianity. By doing so, Matsuoka not only elucidates the reasons why Messianity has been accepted by some non-ethnic Japanese Brazilians, but also analyzes the meaning and significance of fundamental features of the religion, which are common to Japanese new religions in general.

This volume deals with temple ritual texts from ancient Mesopotamia, in particularfrom the cities Uruk and Babylon. Key question is whether they are a reliable source of information on the cult practices in Uruk and Babylon during the Hellenistic period.
In the book an extensive description is presented of the festivals, rituals, ceremonies and offerings in Hellenistic Mesopotamia. The appendix consists of a selection of the most important temple ritual texts, which are presented in transliteration, translation and with philological comments. Four plates with so far unpublished text fragments are also included.
The evidence clearly shows how important the public cults were in Hellenistic times, at least until the first century B.C., and how active the Mesopotamians were in matters of religion and cult during this period.

Pagan Portals - Raven Goddess follows on from the author's earlier book, The Morrigan, to help the reader continue to get to know the Irish Goddess of war, battle, and prophecy with a particular focus on disentangling truth from common misconceptions. As the Morrigan has grown in popularity, understandings of who she was and is have shifted and become even more nebulous. Raven Goddess is intended to clarify some common points of confusion and help people go deeper in their study of the Morrigan and assist in nurturing a devotional relationship to her.

The thoughts and actions of people past and present have determined the current state of our planet. If we change our thinking, we can change the health of our own lives and also the future state of our world. 7 Ways to Think Differently explores ways to address personal, social, and environmental concerns in simple practical steps in our daily lives, helping us to make incremental, achievable changes.

As well as addressing our internal landscapes, Looby explains how individuals and communities can work together to achieve positive change. She also explores the current political and mainstream paradigms and where they are leading us.

Learn about: Abundance thinking Solutions thinking Systems thinking Thinking like nature Cooperative thinking Thinking for the future From thought to action

These ways to think differently are influential alternatives to the current mindset and can shift us to a better present, as well as set us on a trajectory toward a better future. This is for anyone who wants to make a difference in the world. Looby offers potent medicine for a world full of challenges."

Essays focusing on some of the ways in which myths have been made, and made to function, in the rich cultural history of India from the dawn of history through to the present day.

Featuring a Wiccan curriculum for each of the five age groups, this book offers a variety of sample lessons and both a structure and a prototype for readers who want to develop "Sun Day School" or "Moon Day School." Glossary and recommended reading list included.

Shamanism, Discourse, Modernity considers indigenous peoples' struggles for human rights, anxieties about anthropocentric mastery of nature, neoliberal statecraft, and entrepreneurialism of the self. The book focuses on four domains - shamanism, indigenism, environmentalism and neoliberalism - in terms of interrelated historical processes and overlapping discourses. In doing so, it engages with shamanism's manifold meanings in a world increasingly sensitive to indigenous peoples' practices of territoriality, increasingly concerned about humans' integral relationship with natural environments, and increasingly encouraged and coerced to adjust self-conduct to comport with and augment government conduct.

An excellent and very timely update on an area seeing many recent developments.

The growing pace of international migration, technological revolution in media and travel generate circumstances that provide opportunities for the mobility of African new religious movements (ANRMs) within Africa and beyond. ANRMs are furthering their self-assertion and self-insertion into the religious landscapes of Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Their growing presence and public visibility seem to be more robustly captured by the popular media than by scholars of NRMs, historians of religion and social scientists, a tendency that has probably shaped the public mental picture and understanding of the phenomena. This book provides new theoretical and methodological insights for understanding and interpreting ANRMs and African-derived religions in diaspora. Contributors focus on individual groups and movements drawn from Christian, Islamic, Jewish and African-derived religious movements and explore their provenance and patterns of emergence; their belief systems and ritual practices; their public/civic roles; group self-definition; public perceptions and responses; tendencies towards integration/segregation; organisational networks; gender orientations and the implications of interactions within and between the groups and with the host societies. The book includes contributions from scholars and religious practitioners, thus offering new insights into how ANRMs can be better defined, approached, and interpreted by scholars, policy makers, and media practitioners alike.

Rabbi Isaacs examines the treasure-trove of popular beliefs, customs, and superstitions that exist side-by-side with "normative Judaism."

New Age and holistic beliefs and practices - sometimes called the "new spirituality" - are widely distributed across modern global society. The fluid and popular nature of new age makes these movements a very challenging field to understand using traditional models of religious analysis. Rather than treating new age as an exotic specimen on the margins of 'proper' religion, "New Age Spirituality" examines these movements as a form of everyday or lived religion. The book brings together an international range of scholars to explore the key issues: insight, healing, divination, meditation, gnosis, extraordinary experiences, and interactions with gods, spirits and superhuman powers. Combining discussion of contemporary beliefs and practices with cutting-edge theoretical analysis, the book repositions new age spirituality at the forefront of the contemporary study of religion.

Exploring religious and spiritual changes which have been taking place among Indigenous populations in Australia and New Zealand, this book focuses on important changes in religious affiliation in census data over the last 15 years. Drawing on both local social and political debates, while contextualising the discussion in wider global debates about changing religious identities, especially the growth of Islam, the authors present a critical analysis of the persistent images and discourses on Aboriginal religions and spirituality. This book takes a comparative approach to other Indigenous and minority groups to explore contemporary changes in religious affiliation which have raised questions about resistance to modernity, challenges to the nation state and/or rejection of Christianity or Islam. Helena Onnudottir, Adam Posssamai and Bryan Turner offer a critical analysis to on-going public, political and sociological debates about religious conversion (especially to Islam) and changing religious affiliations (including an increase in the number of people who claim 'no religion') among Indigenous populations. This book also offers a major contribution to the growing debate about conversion to Islam among Australian Aborigines, Maoris and Pacific peoples.

'Religion as Magical Ideology' examines the relationship between rationality and supernatural beliefs arguing that such beliefs are products of evolution, cognition and culture. The book does not offer a false rapprochement between reason and religion; instead, it explores their interrelationship as a series of complex adaptations between cognitive and cultural processes. Exploring the nature of the tension between religious traditions and reason, 'Religion as Magical Ideology' develops a dual inheritance theory of religion - which combines the cognitive byproduct and prosocial adaptation accounts - and analyses the connection between the function of a belief and the degree of protection it gets from potential counter-evidence. With discussion ranging from individual cognitive mechanisms, general functional considerations, to the limits of evolutionary and cognitive processes, the book offers readers a systematic account of how cognition shapes religious beliefs and practices.

In spite of an upsurge in interest in the social history of the Catholic community and an ever-growing body of literature on early modern 'superstition' and popular religion, the English Catholic community's response to the invisible world of the preternatural and supernatural has remained largely neglected. Addressing this oversight, this book explores Catholic responses to the supernatural world, setting the English Catholic community in the contexts of the wider Counter-Reformation and the confessional culture of early modern England. In so doing, it fulfils the need for a study of how English Catholics related to manifestations of the devil (witchcraft and possession) and the dead (ghosts) in the context of Catholic attitudes to the supernatural world as a whole (including debates on miracles). The study further provides a comprehensive examination of the ways in which English Catholics deployed exorcism, the church's ultimate response to the devil. Whilst some aspects of the Catholic response have been touched on in the course of broader studies, few scholars have gone beyond the evidence contained within anti-Catholic polemical literature to examine in detail what Catholics themselves said and thought. Given that Catholics were consistently portrayed as 'superstitious' in Protestant literature, the historian must attend to Catholic voices on the supernatural in order to avoid a disastrously unbalanced view of Catholic attitudes. This book provides the first analysis of the Catholic response to the supernatural and witchcraft and how it related to a characteristic Counter-Reformation preoccupation, the phenomenon of exorcism.

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Cutting across three areas of interest within New Religious Movements - insider perspectives, sociology of religion and the helping professions - this book explores insiders' experience of the Indian Guru-disciple Yogic tradition and is authored by a former member of that tradition. Highlighting the rich spiritual experience of devotees of Guru-disciple Yoga, and broadening the understanding of Guru-disciple Yoga Practice, this book also adds considerably to knowledge of conversion to New Religious Movements and to issues of affiliation and disengagement. Exploring participants' experience of attraction, affiliation and disengagement, these themes highlight individuals' personal experience of Guru-disciple Yoga Practice.

Isis has a history spanning millennia and an influence stretching across land and sea. She is a Goddess who transcends time and geography, remaining one of the most popular Goddesses from the ancient world to this day. The book explores Isis' mythic journey and how she became the Goddess we recognise today. Striking a balance between the old and the new, Pagan Portals - Isis provides an historical account of her mythology and worship alongside modern Pagan perspectives and offers the reader tools for Isis' contemporary veneration.

This book seeks to explore historical changes in the lifeworld of the Mi'kmaq Indians of Eastern Canada. The Mi'kmaq culture hero Kluskap serves as a key persona in discussing issues such as traditions, changing conceptions of land, and human-environmental relations. In order not to depict Mi'kmaq culture as timeless, two important periods in its history are examined. Within the first period, between 1850 and 1930, Hornborg explores historical evidence of the ontology, epistemology, and ethics - jointly labelled animism - that stem from a premodern Mi'kmaq hunting subsistence. New ways of discussing animism and shamanism are here richly exemplified. The second study situates the culture hero in the modern world of the 1990s, when allusions to Mi'kmaq tradition and to Kluskap played an important role in the struggle against a planned superquarry on Cape Breton. This study discusses the eco-cosmology that has been formulated by modern reserve inhabitants which could be labelled a 'sacred ecology'. Focusing on how the Mi'kmaq are rebuilding their traditions and environmental relations in interaction with modern society, Hornborg illustrates how environmental groups, pan-Indianism, and education play an important role, but so does reserve life. By anchoring their engagement in reserve life the Mi'kmaq traditionalists have, to a large extent, been able to confront both external and internal doubts about their authenticity.

New Era - New Religions examines new forms of religion in Brazil. The largest and most vibrant country in Latin America, Brazil is home to some of the world's fastest growing religious movements and has enthusiastically greeted home-grown new religions and imported spiritual movements and new age organizations. In Brazil and beyond, these novel religious phenomena are reshaping contemporary understandings of religion and what it means to be religious. To better understand the changing face of twenty-first-century religion, New Era - New Religions situates the rise of new era religiosity within the broader context of late-modern society and its ongoing transformation.

The religion of the many native peoples in Siberia and the Russian Arctic is often a sort of natural religion, or shamanism, which involves a natural, harmonious and evolving approach to the natural world and to social relations, and, as such, is akin to the sort of religion and approach to life sought after by many adherents of new religions, and of new movements within established religions, in the west. However, as the demand for national recognition grows among such peoples, and with it the need for more formal state structures, built around the nation, religion too begins to become formalized, and to lose its natural, all-pervasive character.
This book explores the religion and world outlook of the Telengits of the Republic of Altai in Southern Siberia. It provides an account of the Altai, its peoples, clans and political structures, focusing particularly on the Telengits; and considers the different elements of religious belief exhibited among these native peoples. It goes on to investigate the sacred places of the Telengits, their religious customs, beliefs and rituals. It addresses important theoretical questions raised by the interaction of different kinds of knowledge, especially in the context of state intervention in the area of religion, and with a particular focus on the interaction between non-institutionalized and institutionalized religious practices and knowledge. It demonstrates how the idea of national unity as expressed in state ideology influences processes of reshaping spiritual knowledge among the Telengits. Overall, this book is a comprehensive anthropological account of the contemporary religious life of the Telengits, and has important implications forwider debates in sociology and politics.

Over the last 25 years there has been an explosion of interest in the Aboriginal religions of Australia and this anthology provides a variety of recent writings, by a wide range of scholars. Australian Aboriginal Religions are probably the oldest extant religious systems. Over some 50,000 years they have coped with change and re-invented themselves in an astonishingly creative way. The Dreaming, the mythical time when the Ancestor Spirits shaped the territories of the Aborigines and laid down a moral and ritual law for their occupants, is the fundamental religious reality. It is the basis of the Aborigines's view of their land or country, kinship relationships, ritual and art. However, the Dreaming is not a static principle since it is interpreted in different ways, as in the extraordinary movement in contemporary indigenous painting, and in attempts at an accommodation with Christianity. The contributions of anthropologists, cultural historians, philosophers of religion and others are included in this anthology which not only guides readers through the literature but also ensures this still largely inaccessible material is available to a wider range of readers and non-specialist students and academics.