Occult
Supernatural, mystical,
or magical beliefs, practices, or phenomena; matters
regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal
powers or some secret knowledge of them; a term that was originally used in
Latin to designate the hidden or unseen properties of things and that, since
the 16th century, has also been used to characterize religious traditions that
include belief in unseen forces or that otherwise behave in a secretive or
mysterious manner.
Divination
the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover
hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means.
Augury
Prophecy, predicting the future by interpreting signs and
omens. “Reading omens from weather
patterns, the flight of birds, the entrails of sacrificed animals “ and
thousands of other “omens”
Omen
anything perceived or happening that is believed to portend a good
or evil event or circumstance in the future; a portent. An omen is a phenomenon that is
believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was
commonly believed in ancient times, and still believed by some today, that
omens bring divine messages from the gods.
Animism
Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all
possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all
things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork and
perhaps even words—as animated and alive.
the attribution
of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena;
the belief in a
supernatural power that organizes and animates the material universe.
belief in innumerable spiritual beings concerned with human
affairs and capable of helping or harming human interests.
The term animism denotes not a single creed or doctrine but a
view of the world consistent with a certain range of religious beliefs and
practices, many of which may survive in more complex and hierarchical
religions. Modern scholarship’s concern with animism is coeval with the problem
of rational or scientific understanding of religion itself. After the age of
exploration, Europe’s best information on the newly discovered peoples of the
Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania often came from Christian missionaries.
While generally unsympathetic to what was regarded as “primitive superstition,”
some missionaries in the 19th century developed a scholarly interest in beliefs
that seemed to represent an early type of religious creed, inferior but
ancestral to their own.
Totem
A totem is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that
serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or
tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system.
a natural object or animal that is believed by a particular
society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem.
A totem could
be a grizzly bear, oak tree, catfish, or just about any other living thing.
Like a flag, a totem means a lot to the people it represents
Shaman and Shamanism
a person regarded as having access to, and influence in, the
world of good and evil spirits, especially among some peoples of northern Asia
and North America. Typically, such people enter a trance state during a ritual,
and practice divination and healing.
A shaman is therefore a specific type of healer who
uses an alternate state of consciousness to enter the invisible world,
which is made up of all unseen ...
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a
practitioner interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through
altered states of consciousness, such as trance.
Amulets
amulet, also called Talisman, an object, either natural or man-made, believed to be
endowed with special powers to protect or bring good ...
An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is
an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word
"amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's Natural
History describes as "an object that protects a person from trouble"
Idolatry
The religious worship of idols
Stoicheosis
The worship of statues.
