Concise dictionary of Religion. 2012.
TRADITIONAL RELIGION — those religions, usually of relatively small and isolated SOCIAL GROUPS, which rely upon ORAL TRADITIONS and follow a pattern established over generations without major or conscious input from the great world religions of the ABRAMIC and YOGIC … Concise dictionary of Religion
Celtic religion — Beliefs and practices of the ancient Celts of Gaul and the British Isles. Celtic worship centred on the interplay of the divine element with the natural world. Springs, rivers, and hills were thought to be inhabited by guardian spirits, usually… … Universalium
CAYCE, Edgar — (1877 1945) American PSYCHIC whose writings provided much of the impetus for channelling in the NEW AGE MOVEMENT as well as promoting BELIEF in YOGIC RELIGION and such things as REINCARNATION. After experiencing healing as the result of a… … Concise dictionary of Religion
COSMIC — of the cosmos or relating to the UNIVERSE. In the NEW AGE MOVEMENT and various modern forms of YOGIC RELIGION the term has become quite meaningless because it is used to give scientific legitimacy to various PSEUDO SCIENTIFIC ideas … Concise dictionary of Religion
FERGUSON, Marilyn Grasso — (1938 ) popular American publicist and advocate of the OCCULT and YOGIC RELIGION which she first encountered through TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION. Her best selling book The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980), was largely responsible for giving FORM to… … Concise dictionary of Religion
GARDNER, Gerald Brousseau — (1884 1964) English Mason, OCCULTIST and creator of modern WITCHCRAFT or WICCA. He was a sickly child and received very little formal education. In 1900 he moved to Sri Lanka where he worked on a plantation and later became a civil servant. He … Concise dictionary of Religion
SCIENTOLOGY — a controversial NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT founded by L. Ron HUBBARD who in many respects was a modern SHAMAN. It aims at applying religious PHILOSOPHY through a process of education and unique counselling to recover spirituality and increase… … Concise dictionary of Religion
VEGETARIANISM — the refusal to eat meat. This is often justified on religious grounds derived from YOGIC RELIGION … Concise dictionary of Religion
PROBLEM OF EVIL — the TRADITIONAL PHILOSOPHIC and practical problem which asks how an all knowing and all powerful GOD, who is both the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE and by definition GOOD, can allow SUFFERING and EVIL. It concerns the basic human problem of MEANING… … Concise dictionary of Religion
ENLIGHTENMENT — 1) a movement characterized by the historian TROELTSCH (1865 1923) as the beginning of the really modern period of European CULTURE. It had its roots in PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY and was strongly influenced by PIETISM finding its clearest… … Concise dictionary of Religion
