Anthropology of religion

Study of religion in relation to other social institutions

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Part of a series on

Anthropology of religion

Basic concepts

* Afterlife
* Animism
* Augury
* Communitas
* Comparative religion
* Divination
* Divine language
* Evolutionary origin of religion
* Fetishism
* Great Spirit
* Henotheism
* Initiation
* Laying on of hands
* Liminality
* Magic
* Mana
* Monotheism
* Nympholepsy
* Oracle
* Pilgrimage
* Polytheism
* Rite of passage
* Ritual
* Sacred language
* Sacred–profane dichotomy
* Sacred site
* Shamanism
* Soul dualism
* Superstition
* Theories about religion
* Totem
* Transtheism
* Veneration of the dead

Case studies

Magic

* Coral Gardens and Their Magic
* Treatise on the Apparitions of
Spirits and on Vampires or Revenants
* Neo-Paganism

Ritual

* Angakkuq
* Babaylan
* Bobohizan
* Bomoh
* Bora
* Dukun
* Miko
* Jhākri
* Pawang
* Slametan
* Wu

Revitalization movements

* Cargo cult
* Ghost Dance
* Handsome Lake

Related articles

* The Elementary Forms
of the Religious Life
* Purity and Danger
* Myth and ritual
* Archaeology of religion and ritual
* Poles in mythology
* Lived religion
* Elite religion

Major theorists

* Augustin Calmet
* Akbar S. Ahmed
* Talal Asad
* Joseph Campbell
* Mary Douglas
* Émile Durkheim
* Mircea Eliade
* Arnold van Gennep
* René Girard
* E. E. Evans-Pritchard
* James Frazer
* Fustel de Coulanges
* Clifford Geertz
* Robin Horton
* Claude Lévi-Strauss
* Robert Marett
* Steven Ozment
* Roy Rappaport
* Saba Mahmood
* Marshall Sahlins
* Melford Spiro
* Stanley Tambiah
* Victor Turner
* Edward Burnett Tylor
* Daniel Martin Varisco
* Anthony F. C. Wallace

Journals

* Folklore
* The Hibbert Journal
* The Journal of Religion
* Oceania

Religions

Ethnic and folk religions

* Afro-American religion
* Alaska Native religion
* Anito
* Atua
* Böö mörgöl
* Chinese folk religion
* Hanitu
* Hausa
* Kejawèn
* Native American religion
* Noaidi
* Shindo
* Shamanism in Siberia
* Shinto
* Tengrism
* Traditional African religions

Buddhism

* Mahayana
* Nichiren
* Pure Land
* Shingon
* Theravada
* Tiantai
* Tibetan
* Vajrayana
* Zen

Christianity

* Adventism
* Anglicanism
* Armenian Apostolic Church
* Baptists
* Calvinism
* Catholic Church
* Coptic Orthodoxy
* Eastern Orthodoxy
* Ethiopian Orthodoxy
* Greek Orthodoxy
* Lutheranism
* Methodism
* Nestorianism
* Oriental Orthodoxy
* Pentecostalism
* Protestantism
* Quakers
* Russian Orthodoxy

Hinduism

* Hindu denominations
* Shaivism
* Shaktism
* Smartism
* Vaishnavism
* Ayyavazhi

Islam

* Ahmadiyya
* Ibadi
* Mahdavia
* Non-denominational
* Quranists
* Shia
* Sufism
* Sunni
* Yazdânism

Judaism

* Conservative
* Haredi
* Hasidic
* Haymanot
* Karaite
* Orthodox
* Reform

Jainism

* Digambara
* Śvetāmbara

Sikhism

Social and cultural anthropology

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* Post-structuralism
* Systems theory

Lists

* Anthropologists by nationality
* Anthropology by year
* Bibliography
* Journals
* List of indigenous peoples
* Organizations

* v
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* e

Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures.[1] The anthropology of religion, as a field, overlaps with but is distinct from the field of Religious Studies. The history of anthropology of religion is a history of striving to understand how other people view and navigate the world. This history involves deciding what religion is, what it does, and how it functions.[2] Today, one of the main concerns of anthropologists of religion is defining religion, which is a theoretical undertaking in and of itself. Scholars such as Edward Tylor, Emile Durkheim, E.E. Evans Pritchard, Mary Douglas, Victor Turner, Clifford Geertz, and Talal Asad have all grappled with defining and characterizing religion anthropologically.

## History

[edit]

In the 19th century cultural anthropology was dominated by an interest in cultural evolution; most anthropologists assumed a simple distinction between "primitive" and "modern" religion and tried to provide accounts of how the former evolved into the latter.[citation needed]

Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917), sometimes called the “father of anthropology,” took an evolutionary approach to religion. Tylor defined religion as a “belief in spiritual beings” but did not believe all religions were equal or equally “true.” His evolutionary perspective is evident in his book (1871) Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Language, Art, and Custom, in which he proposed a taxonomy of religions and believed that “primitive” religions were a result of cognitive errors. In other words, these beliefs explained natural phenomena that the people or culture did not fully understand. He called this “animism,” which included attributing a spirit to inanimate objects.[3]

James George Frazer (1854-1941), most well-known for his book The Golden Bough, also approached the study of religion from an evolutionist perspective. Frazer's hierarchy of religions included different stages: first magic, then religious, and ending in scientific. Frazer argues that magic becomes an increasingly futile practice as religious systems develop.[3] This is when the religious phase begins, in which the world is explained through reference to divine beings who intervene in the world. In the final stage, elites see religion as insufficient or incorrectly addressing world phenomena and begin to seek to understand the world through laws of nature.[4]

Towards the end of the 19th century, anthropologists of religion began to question the distinctions between magic and religion made by Tylor and Frazer. William Robertson Smith (1846-1894) in Lectures of the Religion of the Semites (1899) proposed the idea of the totem. For Smith, social groups worshiped totems which represented their ancestors and worshipping totemic items accounted for the emergence of religions. Thus, Smith's theory of totemism rose in prominent within the field of anthropology of religion, challenging and in some instances fully replacing Tylor's theory of animism.

Durkheim (1858-1917) expanded on the concept of the totem, viewing religion as a collective societal force. For him, religious forces are essentially collective societal forces, embodied in the totem. The society imparts the totem with its power, meaning, and existence, which in turn gives the god or the religion its significance. In “Origins of Belief,” Durkheim argues that a totem symbolizes society, or as he calls it, the clan, and the god. As he puts it, “the totem is the visible body of God.” The totem itself might be an inconsequential object, like an animal, or a wooden cross. Despite its physical insignificance, Durkheim contends that the totem represents the clan. However, individuals do not consciously recognize that their reverence for the totem is, in fact, reverence for society itself. Instead, they perceive the totem as something external to their consciousness. In Durkheim's view, “society gives the sensation of a perpetual dependence.”[5]

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) moved away from the inquiry into the origins of the religion shifting the theory of religion to focus on religion as a function of the social world. In his essay, “Magic, Science, and Religion,” Malinowski argues that religion in its social and psychological functions promotes social integration and community. Malinowski separates the categories of religion and magic in specifying that magic is used for functional ends: to solve problems or achieve objectives where other methods have failed.[4]

E.E. Evans Pritchard (1902-1973) is most famous for his work on witchcraft. His book Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande approaches witchcraft as a cohesive and internally consistent system of knowing. While Pritchard believed that religious systems were a reflection of social environment, he was primarily concerned with thought patterns and logic within belief systems.

Victor Turner (1920-1983) understood religion through the lens of rituals, rites of passage and symbolism. He considered religion to be the lynchpin in cultural systems. In his book The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, he proposes his theory of liminality and communitas. He developed liminality from folklorist Arnold Van Gennep. For Turner, the liminal stage is a period of ambiguity or transition where an individual's status in a ritual change from pre-ritual stage to post-ritual. The idea of communitas refers to the common experience of community during a ritual.

Mary Douglas’ (1921-2007) work and topics were inspired by Evans-Pritchard. They both explained social systems in terms of functionalism. She defined religion through the lens of ritual. In her most famous book, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo, she compares Western and “primitive” societies in showing that Western societies also relied on “magic” through rituals around purity and pollution, such as teeth brushing. She sees ritual as a collective force or system that places limits on the body. In this way, the image of society is carved onto the body through reiterations of purity and pollution.

Talal Asad (1932-now) is a prominent anthropologist of religion today who focuses on religion and modernity. Asad is well known for his work on religion and power. He has argued that overlooking the history of defining religion can lead us to overlook its imbrication with power. He has also pointed to the ways in which modernity has delimited religion to a certain sphere of life, so that religion can be pointed out or identified in certain ways and not in others. In doing this, he has also called for the development of a religion of secularity.

Clifford Geertz and Talal Asad publicly debated the “universal” nature of religion. While Geertz, provided an operational definition for religion that allowed for variation across cultures, he saw this definition as encapsulating certain universal features of “religion.” Alternatively, Asad questioned the very existence of “universal religion” in pointing to the ways in which ideas about the universal were rooted in distinctly Christian ideas and traditions. Influenced by Michel Foucault and Edward Said, Asad questions the conceptual assumptions involved in or undergirding the production of knowledge.[4] This is what led Asad to question the existence of separate sphere of society that could be called or identified as “religion.” In undermining the existence of religion as a separate sphere, Asad points to Western modernity as producing religion as distinct from other parts of society.

One key component of anthropology of religion is ethnographic fieldwork. This is what makes anthropologists who study religion distinct from other Religious Studies scholars. Ethnography is most simply put, the empirical observation and description of individuals, societies, and cultures. For anthropologists of religion, ethnographic fieldwork focuses on religion through the lens of rituals, worship, religious values, and other components of lived religion. Developments in ethnographic approaches to the study of religion or theoretical developments in the ethnographic study of religion have spanned decades.

Evolutionist perspectives were reflective of Darwinian theories of evolution and saw religious systems in a taxonomic and hierarchical way: some religions were closer to the truth than others and Christianity was always at the top of pyramid. Functionalist perspectives aimed to study religion as a part of society that played an important an integral role: non-Christian religions were not compared to Christianity on a sliding scale, but rather taken in context with the whole cultural context. Humanist theories of evolution see religions as products of human culture and invention, rather than metaphysical or supernatural phenomena that “exist” outside of the human cultures that produce them.[4] Cross-cultural or comparative theories of religion focus on “religion” as something that can be found and compared across all human cultures and societies.

The anthropology of religion today reflects the influence of, or an engagement with, such theorists as Karl Marx (1818-1883), Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), and Max Weber (1864-1920).[6] Anthropologists of religion are especially concerned with how religious beliefs and practices may reflect political or economic forces; or the social functions of religious beliefs and practices.[7][clarification needed]

Recently, a prominent ethnographer of religion, Robert Orsi, has asked scholars of religion to abandon the empirical approach to ethnography of religion that was co-emergent with modernity. This approach entails the impulse to explain God or gods in people's lives as a function or symbol of some other thing. Orsi asks those who study religion to instead take God and gods as real actors, really present.

## Definition of religion

[edit]

One major problem in the anthropology of religion is the definition of religion itself.[8] At one time[vague] anthropologists believed that certain religious practices and beliefs were more or less universal to all cultures at some point in their development, such as a belief in spirits or ghosts, the use of magic as a means of controlling the supernatural, the use of divination as a means of discovering occult knowledge, and the performance of rituals such as prayer and sacrifice as a means of influencing the outcome of various events through a supernatural agency, sometimes taking the form of shamanism or ancestor worship.[citation needed] According to Clifford Geertz, religion is

> "(1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."[9]

Today, religious anthropologists debate, and reject, the cross-cultural validity of these categories (often viewing them as examples of European primitivism).[citation needed] Anthropologists have considered various criteria for defining religion - such as a belief in the supernatural or the reliance on ritual - but few claim that these criteria are universally valid.[8]

Anthony F. C. Wallace proposes four categories of religion, each subsequent category subsuming the previous. These are, however, synthetic categories and do not necessarily encompass all religions.[10]

1. Individualistic: most basic; simplest. Example: vision quest.
2. Shamanistic: part-time religious practitioner, uses religion to heal, to divine, usually on the behalf of a client. The Tillamook have four categories of shaman. Examples of shamans: spiritualists, faith healers, palm readers. Religious authority acquired through one's own means.
3. Communal: elaborate set of beliefs and practices; group of people arranged in clans by lineage, age group, or some religious societies; people take on roles based on knowledge, and ancestral worship.
4. Ecclesiastical: dominant in agricultural societies and states; are centrally organized and hierarchical in structure, paralleling the organization of states. Typically deprecates competing individualistic and shamanistic cults.

## Specific religious practices and beliefs

[edit]

* Apotheosis – Glorification of a subject to divine level
* Apotropaic magic – Magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences
* Amulet – Object worn in the belief that it will magically protect the wearer
* Animism – Religious belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence
* Circumcision – Removal of the human foreskin
* Cult (religious practice) – Devotion to a deity, person or thing
* Deity – Supernatural being
* Demon – Evil supernatural being
* Divination – Attempt to gain insight into a question or situation
* Exorcism – Evicting spiritual entities from a person or area
* Evil – Opposite or absence of good
* Fertility rite – Religious ritual intended to stimulate reproduction
* Fetishism – Human attribution of special powers or value to an object
* Genius (mythology) – Divine nature in ancient Roman religion
* God – Principal object of faith in monotheism
* Ghost – Supernatural being originating in folklore
* Greco-Roman mysteries – Religious schools of the Greco-Roman world
* Heresy – Belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established belief or customs
* Icon – Religious work of art in Christianity
* Immortality – Concept of eternal life
* Intercession – Praying to a deity or to a saint in heaven on behalf of oneself or others
* Kachina – Spirit being in western Pueblo religious beliefs
* Magic and religion
* Mana (Oceanian cultures) – Life force energy, power, effectiveness, and prestige in Pacific Island culture
* Mask – Any full or partial face covering, whether ceremonial, protective, decorative, or used as disguise
* Miracle – Event not explicable by natural or scientific laws
* Medicine – Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illness
* Modern paganism – Religions shaped by historical paganism
* Monotheism – Belief that there is only one God
* Mother goddess – Goddess who represents, or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation
* Mythology – Type of traditional narrativePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Necromancy – Magic involving communication with the deceased
* New Age – Range of new religious beliefs and practices
* Occult – Knowledge of the hidden or the paranormal
* Omen – Portent, harbinger
* Poles in mythology – Stake or post used in ritual practicePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Polytheism – Worship of or belief in multiple deities
* Prayer – Invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with a deity
* Principle of contagion
* Prophecy – Message claimed to be from a deity
* Reincarnation – Concept of rebirth in different physical form
* Religious ecstasy – Altered state of consciousness
* Ritual – Activities performed according to a set sequence
* Sacred food as offering – Concept within anthropology
* Sacrifice – Offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity
* Science and religion
* Shamanism – Religious practice
* Spell (paranormal) – Formula intended to trigger a magical effectPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Supernatural – Supposed phenomena not subject to the laws of nature
* Supplication – Form of prayer, wherein one party humbly or earnestly asks another party to provide something
* Sympathetic magic – Type of magic based on imitation or correspondence
* Theism – Belief in the existence of at least one deity
* Totemism – Emblem of a group of peoplePages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Veneration of the dead – Cultural or religious practice
* Western esotericism – Range of related ideas and movements that have developed in the Western world

## See also

[edit]

* Religion portal

* Archaeology of religion and ritual
* Cognitive science of religion – Study of religious thought and behavior
* Evolutionary origin of religions – Emergence of religious behavior discussed in terms of natural evolutionPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Magic and religion
* Psychology of religion – Analytic approach to religion
* Religious symbolism – Icon representing a particular religionPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Rite of passage – Ritual reflecting change of social status
* Sacred–profane dichotomy – Lack of respect for things that are held to be sacredPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
* Sociology of religion
* Symbolic anthropology – Study of cultural symbols

## Notes

[edit]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Adams 2017; Eller 2007, p. 2.
2. ^ Boddy, Janice; Lambek, Michael (2013). A Companion to the Anthropology of Religion. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
3. ^ a b Bielo, James (2015). Anthropology of Religion: The Basics (1st ed.). London: Routledge.
4. ^ a b c d Guthrie, Stewart E. (2006), Martin, Michael (ed.), "Anthropological Theories of Religion", The Cambridge Companion to Atheism, Cambridge Companions to Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 283–299, ISBN 978-0-521-84270-9, retrieved 27 December 2023283-299&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=978-0-521-84270-9&rft.aulast=Guthrie&rft.aufirst=Stewart+E.&rft_id=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-atheism/anthropological-theories-of-religion/B781D301DB66CC55C8AABB5CEA641F7F&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anthropology+of+religion" class="Z3988">
5. ^ Durkheim, Emile (2008). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Translated by Cosman, Carol. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
6. ^ Eller 2007, p. 22; Weber 2002.
7. ^ Eller 2007, p. 4.
8. ^ a b Eller 2007, p. 7.
9. ^ Geertz 1966, p. 4.
10. ^ Rathman, Jessica. "Anthony Francis Clarke Wallace". Archived from the original on 27 September 2003. Retrieved 22 November 2017.

### Sources

[edit]

* Adams, Charles Joseph (2017). "Classification of Religions". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
* Bowie, Fiona (1999). The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
* Cassirer, Ernst (2006) [1944]. Lukay, Maureen (ed.). An Essay On Man: An Introduction to a Philosophy of Human Culture. Hamburg: Meiner. ISBN 978-3-7873-1423-2.
* Cotrupi, Caterina Nella (2000). Northrop Frye and the Poetics of Process. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-8141-4.
* Durkheim, Émile (1912). The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life.
* Eller, J. D. (2007). Introducing Anthropology of Religion. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-94624-4.
* Feuerbach, Ludwig (1841). The Essence of Christianity.
* Geertz, Clifford (1966). "Religion as a Cultural System". In Banton, Michael (ed.). Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Religion. London: Tavistock (published 2006). pp. 1–46\. ISBN 978-0-415-33021-3.1-46&rft.pub=Tavistock&rft.date=1966&rft.isbn=978-0-415-33021-3&rft.aulast=Geertz&rft.aufirst=Clifford&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anthropology+of+religion" class="Z3988">
* Glazier, Stephen (1999). Anthropology of Religion: A Handbook. Westport, CT: Praeger.
* Guthrie, Stewart Elliott (2000). "Projection". In Braun, Willi; McCutcheon, Russell T. (eds.). Guide to the Study of Religion. London: Cassell. ISBN 978-0-304-70176-6.
* Harvey, Van A. (1995). Feuerbach and the Interpretation of Religion. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press (published 1997). ISBN 978-0-521-58630-6.
* ——— (1996). "Projection: A Metaphor in Search of a Theory?". In Philips, D. Z. (ed.). Can Religion Be Explained Away?. Claremont Studies in the Philosophy of Religion. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 66–82\. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-24858-2_4. ISBN 978-1-349-24860-5.66-82&rft.pub=Palgrave+Macmillan&rft.date=1996&rft_id=info:doi/10.1007/978-1-349-24858-2_4&rft.isbn=978-1-349-24860-5&rft.aulast=Harvey&rft.aufirst=Van+A.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anthropology+of+religion" class="Z3988">
* Mackey, James Patrick (2000). The Critique of Theological Reason. Cambridge University Press.
* Manickam, T. M. (1977). Dharma According to Manu and Moses. Bangalore: Dharmaram Publications.
* Marett, Robert Ranulph (1932). Faith, Hope and, Charity in Primitive Religion. New York: Macmillan Company. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
* Nelson, John K. (1990). A Field Statement on the Anthropology of Religion. Berkeley, California: University of California, Berkeley. Archived from the original on 2 March 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
* Pandian, Jacob (1997). "The Sacred Integration of the Cultural Self: An Anthropological Approach to the Study of Religion". In Glazier, Stephen D. (ed.). Anthropology of Religion: A Handbook. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.
* Walbridge, John (1998). "Explaining Away the Greek Gods in Islam". Journal of the History of Ideas. 59 (3): 389–403\. doi:10.1353/jhi.1998.0030. ISSN 1086-3222. S2CID 170321617.389-403&rft.date=1998&rft_id=https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:170321617#id-name=S2CID&rft.issn=1086-3222&rft_id=info:doi/10.1353/jhi.1998.0030&rft.aulast=Walbridge&rft.aufirst=John&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Anthropology+of+religion" class="Z3988">
* Weber, Max (2002). Baehr, Peter R.; Wells, Gordon C. (eds.). The Protestant Ethic and the "Spirit" of Capitalism and Other Writings. Translated by Baehr, Peter R.; Wells, Gordon C. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-043921-2.

## External links

[edit]

* The Society for the Anthropology of Religion within American Anthropological Association
* Anthropology of Religion Page Archived 20 November 2005 at the Wayback Machine M.D. Murphy, University of Alabama
* Andrew Lang, Anthropology and Religion, The Making of Religion, (Chapter II), Longmans, Green, and Co, London, New York and Bombay, 1900, pp. 39–64.

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* Druze
* Mandaeism
* Rastafari
* Samaritanism

Iranian|

| Zoroastrian|

* Blagovery
* Ilm-e-Khshnoom
* Mazdaznan
* Zurvanism

|

Kurdish|

* Shabakism
* Yarsanism

Other|

* Assianism/Uatsdin
* Roshani
* Manichaeism
* Chinese Manichaeism
* Yazdânism
* Yazidism

Eastern|

| East Asian|

| Chinese|

* Chinese folk religion
* Confucianism
* Luoism
* Nuo
* Salvationist
* Xiantiandao
* Yiguandao
* Taoism
* Folk Taoism
* Yao Taoism

|

Japonic|

* Shinto
* list
* Shugendō
* Tenrikyo
* Ryukyuan

Korean|

* Korean shamanism
* Cheondoism
* Jeungsanism

Vietnamese|

* Vietnamese folk religion
* Đạo Mẫu
* Caodaism
* Hoahaoism
* Đạo Bửu Sơn Kỳ Hương

Indian|

| Hinduism|

* Vaishnavism
* Krishnaism
* Sri Vaishnavism
* Brahma Sampradaya
* Nimbarka Sampradaya
* Pushtimarg
* Mahanubhava
* Ramanandi
* Warkari
* Swaminarayan
* Shaivism
* Shaiva Siddhanta
* Ganapatya
* Kashmiri
* Kapalika
* Kaumaram
* Lingayatism
* Nath
* Balinese
* Shaktism
* Smartism
* Sauraism
* Śrauta
* Sant Mat
* Neo-Hinduism
* list

|

Buddhism|

* Theravada
* Mahayana
* Chan/Zen/Thiền
* Amidism
* Nichiren
* Vajrayana
* Tibetan
* Neo-Buddhism
* list

Other|

* Ayyavazhi
* Kalash
* Jainism
* Digambara
* Śvetāmbara
* Sarnaism
* Kirat Mundhum
* Vedda religions
* Ravidassia
* Sikhism
* Khalsa
* Sects

Ethnic|

| Altaic|

* Turko-Mongolic
* Burkhanism
* Tengrism
* Vattisen Yaly
* Tungusic
* Evenki
* Manchu

|

Austroasiatic|

* Sarnaism

Austronesian|

* Batak Parmalim
* Dayak
* Kaharingan
* Traditional Sabahan religions
* Indonesian
* Aliran Kepercayaan
* Kejawèn
* Kapitayan
* Karo Pemena
* Malaysian
* Philippine Dayawism
* Tagalog
* Polynesian
* Hawaiian
* Māori
* Sumbese Marapu
* Sundanese Wiwitan

Native
American|

* Abenaki
* Alaskan
* Anishinaabe
* Ojibwe
* Midewiwin
* Wabunowin
* Apache
* Blackfoot
* Californian
* Kuksu
* Miwok
* Ohlone
* Pomo
* Chilote
* Choctaw
* Crow
* Ghost Dance/Sun Dance
* Guarani
* Haida
* Ho-Chunk
* Iroquois
* Cherokee
* Four Mothers Society
* Keetoowah Society
* Longhouse
* Mohawk
* Muscogee Creek
* Seneca
* Wyandot
* Jivaroan
* Kwakwakaʼwakw
* Lenape
* Mapuche
* Mesoamerican
* Aztec
* Maya
* Purépecha
* Muisca
* Native American Church
* Navajo
* Nuu-chah-nulth
* Pawnee
* Pueblo
* Acoma Pueblo
* Hopi
* Zuni
* Sioux
* Lakota
* Wocekiye
* Tsimshian
* Ute
* Washat Dreamers
* Yaqui

Tai and Miao|

* Ahom
* Hmongism
* Mo
* Satsana Phi

Tibeto-Burmese|

* Bon
* Burmese
* Benzhuism
* Bimoism
* Bathouism
* Bongthingism
* Dongba
* Donyi-Polo
* Gurung
* Heraka
* Kiratism
* Qiang
* Sanamahism

Traditional
African|

| North African|

* Berber
* Guanche church

|

Sub-Saharan
African|

* Akamba
* Akan
* Baluba
* Bantu
* Kongo
* Zulu
* Bushongo
* Dinka
* Dogon
* Efik
* Fon and Ewe
* Ik
* Lotuko
* Lozi
* Lugbara
* Maasai
* Mbuti
* Odinala
* San
* Serer
* Tumbuka
* Urhobo
* Waaqeffanna
* Yoruba
* Ifá

* Diasporic:
* Candomblé
* Bantu
* Jejé
* Ketu
* Comfa
* Convince
* Espiritismo
* Kumina
* Obeah
* Palo
* Quimbanda
* Santería
* Tambor de Mina
* Trinidad Orisha
* Umbanda
* Vodou
* Voodoo
* Winti

Other ethnic|

* Aboriginal Australian
* Inuit
* Papuan
* Siberian

New
religious
movements|

| Syncretic|

* Blagovery
* Brahmoism
* Chinese
* Falun Gong
* Coconut Religion
* Japanese
* Meivazhi
* Modekngei
* New Acropolis
* New Age
* New Thought
* Rajneesh
* Rastafari
* Sant Mat
* Radha Soami
* Spiritualism
* Subud
* Tensegrity
* Thelema
* Theosophy
* Neo-Theosophy
* Agni Yoga and Roerichism
* Transcendental Meditation
* Unitarian Universalism
* White Brotherhood

|

Modern
paganism|

* African
* Godianism
* Armenian
* Baltic
* Dievturība
* Romuva
* Caucasian
* Abkhaz
* Circassian
* Celtic
* Druidry
* Germanic
* Hellenism (modern religion)
* Neoshamanism
* Ossetian
* Polytheistic reconstructionism
* Italo-Roman
* Kemetism
* Romanian
* Slavic
* Authentism
* Uralic
* Estonian
* Finnish
* Hungarian
* Mari
* Erzya
* Sámi
* Udmurt
* Wicca
* Zalmoxianism
* list

De novo|

* Anthroposophy
* The Christian Community
* Discordianism
* Eckankar
* Fourth Way
* Goddess
* Jediism
* Satanism
* Scientology
* UFO religion
* Raëlism

Historical religions

* Prehistoric
* Paleolithic
* Ainu
* Armenian
* Baltic
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Old Prussian
* Basque
* Celtic
* Druidism
* Irish
* Cook Islands
* Dravidian
* Egyptian
* Atenism
* Etruscan
* Finnish
* Fuegian
* Selk'nam
* Georgian
* Germanic
* Anglo-Saxon
* Continental
* Frankish
* Norse
* Greek
* Gnosticism
* Greco-Buddhism
* Hermeticism
* Mysteries
* Orphism
* Guanche
* Harappan
* Hittite
* Hungarian
* Hurrian
* Illinois
* Inca
* Jamaican Maroon
* Manichaeism
* Mazdakism
* Melanesian
* Mesopotamian
* Babylonian
* Sumerian
* Micronesian
* Nauruan Indigenous religion
* Olmec
* Paleo-Balkan
* Albanian
* Dacian
* Illyrian
* Thracian
* Proto-Indo-Iranian
* Iranian
* Vedic
* Ancestral Pueblo
* Pueblo II
* Pueblo III
* Pueblo IV
* Rapa Nui
* Roman
* Cult of Magna Mater
* Gallo-Roman
* Imperial cult
* Mithraism
* Mysteries of Isis
* Semitic
* Arabian
* Canaanite
* Yahwism
* Punic
* Scythian
* Slavic
* Somali
* Tongan
* Turkic
* Tengrism
* Urartu
* Vainakh
* Zapotec

Topics

| Aspects|

* Apostasy / Disaffiliation
* Behaviour
* Beliefs
* Call to prayer
* Laicism / Laity
* Covenant
* Conversion
* Deities
* Denomination
* Entheogens
* Faith
* God
* Goddess
* Meditation
* Monasticism
* Monk
* Novice
* Nun
* Mysticism
* Mythology
* Ordination
* Orthodoxy
* Orthopraxy
* Paganism
* Prayer
* Prophecy
* Religious experience
* Ritual
* Liturgy
* Purification
* Sacrifice
* Sacred space
* Bodies of water
* Groves
* Mountains
* Trees
* Soul
* Spirituality
* Supernatural
* Symbols
* Text
* Truth
* Water
* Worship
* Astral
* Fire
* Nature
* Place

|

Theism|

* Animism
* Deism
* Dualism
* Henotheism
* Monotheism
* Nontheism
* Pandeism
* Panentheism
* Pantheism
* Polytheism
* Transtheism

Religious
studies|

* Anthropology
* Cognitive science
* Comparative
* Demographics
* Ethnic
* Folk
* Indigenous
* Major
* World
* Evolutionary origin of religion
* Evolutionary psychology
* History
* Neurotheology
* Philosophy
* Psychology
* Sociology
* Soteriology
* Salvation
* Theology
* Theories about religion
* Women

Religion
and society

* Agriculture
* Business
* Clericalism / Clergy
* Monasticism
* Ordination
* Priest
* Conversion
* Assimilation
* Missionary
* Proselytism
* Disability
* Education
* Fanaticism
* Freedom
* Pluralism
* Syncretism
* Toleration
* Universalism
* Fundamentalism
* Growth
* Gender
* Happiness
* LGBTQ people
* Homosexuality
* Intersex people
* Transgender people
* Minorities
* National church
* National religiosity levels
* Politics
* Populations
* Religiocentrism
* Schism
* School
* Science
* Sexuality
* State
* Suicide
* Theocracy
* Vegetarianism
* Video games
* Violence
* Persecution
* Terrorism
* War
* Sectarian
* Wealth

Secularism
and irreligion

* Agnosticism
* Antireligion
* Atheism
* Criticism
* Deconstruction
* Objectivism
* Secular humanism
* Secular religion
* Secular theology
* Secularization
* Separation of church and state
* Unaffiliated

Overviews
and lists

* Abrahamic prophets
* Deification
* Deities
* Founders
* Index
* Mass gatherings
* Names of God
* New religious movements
* Organizations
* Outline
* Religions and spiritual traditions
* Scholars
* Timeline

Religion by country

| Africa|

* Algeria
* Angola
* Benin
* Botswana
* Burkina Faso
* Burundi
* Cameroon
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Comoros
* Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Republic of the Congo
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Equatorial Guinea
* Eritrea
* Eswatini
* Ethiopia
* Gabon
* Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* Kenya
* Lesotho
* Liberia
* Libya
* Madagascar
* Malawi
* Mali
* Mauritania
* Mauritius
* Morocco
* Mozambique
* Namibia
* Niger
* Nigeria
* Rwanda
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Senegal
* Seychelles
* Sierra Leone
* Somalia
* South Africa
* South Sudan
* Sudan
* Tanzania
* Togo
* Tunisia
* Uganda
* Zambia
* Zimbabwe

|

Asia|

* Afghanistan
* Armenia
* Azerbaijan
* Bahrain
* Bangladesh
* Bhutan
* Brunei
* Cambodia
* China
* Cyprus
* East Timor
* Georgia
* Hong Kong
* India
* Indonesia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Israel
* Japan
* Jordan
* Kazakhstan
* Korea
* North Korea
* South Korea
* Kuwait
* Kyrgyzstan
* Laos
* Lebanon
* Macau
* Malaysia
* Maldives
* Mongolia
* Myanmar
* Nepal
* Oman
* Pakistan
* Palestine
* Philippines
* Qatar
* Saudi Arabia
* Singapore
* Sri Lanka
* Syria
* Taiwan
* Tajikistan
* Thailand
* Turkey
* Turkmenistan
* United Arab Emirates
* Uzbekistan
* Vietnam
* Yemen

Europe|

* Albania
* Andorra
* Austria
* Belarus
* Belgium
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bulgaria
* Croatia
* Czechia
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Italy
* Kosovo
* Latvia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malta
* Moldova
* Monaco
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* North Macedonia
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* San Marino
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* England
* Northern Ireland
* Scotland
* Wales

North America|

* Antigua and Barbuda
* Bahamas
* Barbados
* Belize
* Canada
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Dominica
* Dominican Republic
* El Salvador
* Grenada
* Guatemala
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Mexico
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States

Oceania|

* Australia
* Fiji
* Kiribati
* Marshall Islands
* Micronesia
* Nauru
* New Zealand
* Palau
* Papua New Guinea
* Samoa
* Solomon Islands
* Tonga
* Tuvalu
* Vanuatu

South America|

* Argentina
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Chile
* Colombia
* Ecuador
* Guyana
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Suriname
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

* Category
* Portal

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