Folk religion: Encyclopedia - Folk religion

Folk religion

Folk religion consists of beliefs, superstitions and cultural practices transmitted from generation to generation. It could be contrasted with the "organized religion" or "historical religion" in which founders, creed, theology and ecclesiastical organizations are present.

The term is also applied to the blending of folk practices with those of major religions, so that folk practices amongst people in Christian countries are called Folk Christianity, in Islamic countries "Folk Islam", and so on. The term is also used, especially by the clergy of the faiths involved, to describe the desire of people who otherwise infrequently attend religious worship, do not belong to a church or similar religious society, and who have not made a formal profession of faith in a particular creed, to have religious weddings or funerals, or (among Christians) to have their children baptised.

Folk religion also can be thought of the practice of religion by lay people outside of the control of clergy or the supervision of theologians (e.g. outside of organized religion -- popular culture). There is occasionally tension between the practice of folk religion and the formally taught doctrines and teachings of a faith. For "folk religion" to be a meaningful category, there must be an institutional religion with a traditional teaching or professional clergy to contrast it against; in cultures that lack these things, it is difficult to speak of folk religion as a meaningful category.

Folk religion answers human needs for reassurance in times of trouble, and many of its rituals are aimed at mundane goals like seeking healing or averting misfortune. Many elements of folk religion stem from animistic or fetishistic practices, which is almost inevitable given its mundane goals and ritualistic nature. Folk religion also often aims at divination to foresee the future. The line is often blurry between the practice of folk religion and the practice of magic: see magic and religion.

In general, believers in these folk versions of a religion are usually not aware of any distinction between their folk practices and their official religion. No one consciously practices a folk religion or calls their own religious practices a folk religion. When awareness of the tension between folk religion and the formal creed of an institutional religion rises to conscious levels, and the folk religion successfully resists that tension, it is well on its way to becoming an institutional religion in its own right, and develops a body of doctrine of its own to justify its continued practice against the institutional opposition.

The folk religion with the largest number of adherents is the Chinese folk religion.

Folk religion - Examples

• belief in the Evil Eye
• rituals to ward off evil, curses, demons, witchcraft
• blessing of animals, crops, beer, wine, cheese
• fertility rites
• belief in traditional magic systems
• thanksgiving prayers, grace before meals and other domestic rituals
• veneration of ancestors and deceased family members, esp. in Christian, Jewish, or Islamic households
• some aspects of the veneration of various saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy
  • Marian apparitions
• hoodoo, voodoo, pow-wow, Palo Monte and Santería
• snake handling
• hex signs
• religious jewelry
• religious art in the home
• use of Bible, crucifix, other objects as talismans
• systems of interpretation of prophecy as it relates to the end times
• monsters, aliens, ghosts, yurei and yokai in anime, manga and films

See also

• Deep England
• folklore
• civil religion
• superstition
• belief
• folk medicine

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Folk religion", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki