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agnosticism
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the belief that God or the divine is unknowable and therefore skepticism is appropriate.
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animism
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a worldview in which there is believed to be spiritual agency in all things, including natural elements such as rocks and trees.
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atheism
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the lack of belief in a god or gods.
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binary opposition
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two opposing concepts, commonly found in institutions such as kinship and in myth.
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communitas
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a cohort of individuals participating in a rite of passage who share a strong sense of equality and social bonding among themselves.
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deity
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a god, usually named, with individual personalities and interests.
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divination
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a practice or test to discern knowledge about a certain event or situation.
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doctrine
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a set of formal and usually rigid principles or teachings of a religious organization.
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earth-diver myths
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creation myths in which a creator deity sends an agent, usually an animal, into deep waters to find mud that the deity will use to create dry land and humans.
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exorcism
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the removal of an adverse supernatural spirit from a person.
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goddesses
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female deities.
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gods
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deities; often, specifically male deities.
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hierophany
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the manifestation of the sacred or divine.
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law of contagion
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the belief that things that have once been in contact with each other remain connected always; a theory of magic.
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law of similarity
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the belief that things that are alike exert a force on each other; a theory of magic.
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liminality
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a state in which an individual is viewed as being in a transition from one social stage to another.
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magic
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a supposed system of natural law, the practice of which causes a transformation to occur.
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mana
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an impersonal force that can adhere to people or animate and inanimate objects to make them sacred
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metaphor
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a symbol that is not naturally connected to what it represents.
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metonym
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a symbol in which a part stands for the whole.
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monotheistic religion
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a religion that centers on a single named god or goddess.
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multivocal
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describes symbols that have more than one meaning.
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myth
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a well-known story that teaches primary principles, beliefs, and values outside of chronological time.
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mythemes
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the stripped-down minimal and portable units that form the structure of a myth.
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none
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a person with no religious affiliation.
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pilgrimage
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a sacred journey to a shrine or other holy place.
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place
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a location that has sociocultural meaning attached to it.
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polytheistic religion
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a religion that centers on a group of gods and/or goddesses, each devoted to a specific action or behavior.
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priests
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full-time religious leaders who manage and administer at a high level within the religious bureaucracy.
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primary messages
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the meaning of a myth, which can be applied universally.
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prophet
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an individual associated with religious change who calls for a renewal of beliefs or a restructuring of the status quo. A prophet’s leadership is usually temporary or indirect.
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proselytization
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a recruitment practice in which members actively seek converts to the group.
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religion
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a shared system of beliefs and practices that are highly regarded in society. Most often, religion is focused on the interaction of natural and supernatural phenomena.
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rite of affliction
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a ritual invoked to seek some sort of redress, remedy, or compensation for an individual by means of supernatural intervention.
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rite of intensification
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a ritual performed by a religious group to affirm, strengthen, and maintain bonds of solidarity.
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rite of passage
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a ritual in which an individual or group marks a social transformation.
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rituals
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performative acts by which people carry out religious beliefs, both public and private; also called rites.
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secular religion
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a system of beliefs held by a society that elevates social ideas, qualities, or commodities to a metaphysical, semidivine status.
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shaman
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a part-time religious figure who works to connect with deities on behalf of others.
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shamanism
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a practice of healing and divination that involves soul travel to connect natural and supernatural realms in nonlinear time.
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sorcery
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a practice involving the use of material elements to cause a change in circumstances to another person.
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space
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an unmarked physical field; a place with no specific cultural meaning.
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spirit
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supernatural being associated with specific activities, such as an earth spirit or guardian spirit (or angel).
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spirituality
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a loose structure of beliefs and feelings about relationships between the natural and supernatural worlds.
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state religion
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a formal religious institution with full-time administrators, a set doctrine of beliefs and regulations, and a policy of seeking growth by conversion of new practitioners.
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structuralism
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a theory and method focused on identifying patterns in culture; also includes mythic analysis.
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superstition
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a belief or practice that is believed to have no credible evidence for its efficacy.
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symbol
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something that stands arbitrarily for something else and has no natural connection to its referent.
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syncretism
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an integration or use of more than one religious system.
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witchcraft
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a practice involving the use of intangible means to cause a change in circumstances to another person.
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worldview
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a specific outlook or orientation that an individual or group of individuals holds on the nature of the world.