Ancestor worship

Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Ancestor worship

Ancestor worship (拜祖), also ancestor veneration (敬祖), is a religious practice based on the belief that one's ancestors possess supernatural powers. All cultures attach ritual significance to the passing of loved ones, but this is not equivalent to ancestor worship. Rather, ancestor worship involves the same sort of religious practices one sees when people appease or supplicate other entities thought to exist and possess supernatural powers, such as gods, angels, saints, or demons. While far from universal, ancestor wors ...

Ancestor worship: Magickal Traditions Dictionary on ANCESTOR WORSHIP

ANCESTOR WORSHIP: The belief inherent in some religions, such as Shintoism, that asserts the continued existence of the deceased and the influence that the living descendants have upon their existence. Descendants have an obligation to support their ancestors through their actions and reverence.

(See also: ANCESTOR WORSHIP, Magickal Traditions, Magickal Paths, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Ancestor worship: Spiritual - Theosophy Dictionary on Ancestor Worship

Ancestor Worship A cult widely observed among peoples and usually defined as the cult of the spirits of parents and forefathers. It implies belief in the continued existence of the deceased and in certain cases in their power of being interested in and affected by the fortunes of their living descendants; the sense of a perpetual spiritual unity and moral reciprocity in obligations and services; and a dependence of the fortunes of the living on the fulfillment of these obligations.

This can be seen from the ancient Roman ideas portrayed in the Aeneid, where the household gods (lares and penates) are so carefully preserved through all vicissitudes. This belief and practice point to times when death was regarded as merely an event in a continuous life. With the ancient cults, the sense of personal separateness seems merged in the more vivid sense of family unity, from whose privileges and obligations death is no discharge. In fact, theosophy suggests that the reimbodying ego of an ancestor actually takes a body born of its own descendants as a result of the transmigration of life-atoms. Thus what might be called an ancestral blood stream, or a tree with collateral branches, subsists.

The basic idea behind ancestor worship seems to be that its holders envisaged unity in a continuous and never-ending stream of lives, perpetuating itself in succession through the ages, and out of which and back into which individuals arise and sink, an idea in direct contrast to the modern view that the individual is the most important factor in life.

Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Worship

Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. It is the informal term in English for what sociologists of religion call cultus, the body of practices and traditions that correspond to theology. Religious worship may be performed individually, in informally organized groups, or as part of an organized service with a designated leader (as in a church, synagogue, temple, or mosque). In its older sense in the Engli ...

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Worship - Objects of worship

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Ancestor worship: Traditional Wisdom Of the Yoruba - African Spirituality

The tradition of Orisa worship was kept alive by Yoruba slaves. But the second generation Yoruba had lost much of the memory of the primal worldview of our Yoruba ancestors. This work was achieved through my personal experience with the Oku folk culture in Guyana, and direct contact with the people who were struggling to maintain the little know-ledge they retained of Olodumare, whom they called Olorun, and the beautiful Orisa tradition.

Read more here: » Yoruba: Traditional Wisdom Of the Yoruba - African Spirituality

Ancestor worship: : Buddhism in Thailand

Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school. As much as 94% of Thailand's population is Buddhist of the Theravada school, though Buddhism in this country has become integrated with folk beliefs such as ancestor worship as well as Chinese religions from the large Thai-Chinese population. Buddhist temples in Thailand are characterized by tall golden stupas, and the Buddhist architecture of Thailand is influenced heavily by the architecture of other Southeast Asian countries, particularly Cambodia and Laos, with which Thailan ...

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Buddhism in Thailand - Influences
Buddhism in Thailand - Ordination and clergy

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Ancestor worship: Mobile Temples of Mind and Body

In Vedic times, there were no temples as we know them today. Temples were constructed when kingdoms began to flourish. Anand Coomaraswamy observes that the rise of the temple represents the softening of the practice of yagya or sacrifice into puja.

A constructed temple is only a symbol of the original, the body. Is it wise then to chase the symbol, when you have the original?

Ancestor worship: Back to Basics: Nature Talk

Our love and concern for animals emerge out of two basic postulates of Indian philosophy. One, that like us, every plant and living being is the ansha or part of the one Param Brahma, the Omnipotent One, and two, that born of the one earth mother all of them have equal right on all resources. So they are like our own siblings. All life forms have a symbiotic relationship - we are all linked together and our actions are bound to have an effect on our environment and other living beings.

Read more here: » Sacred Nature: Back to Basics: Nature Talk

Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Chinese folk religion

Chinese folk religion comprises the religion practiced in much of China for thousands of years which included ancestor worship and drew heavily upon concepts and beings within Chinese mythology. It is a constituent part of Chinese traditional religion. Folk religions have been practiced alongside Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism by Chinese people throughout the world for thousands of years. Worship, legends, festivals and various devotions associated with different folk gods and goddesses form an important part of Chinese cul ...

Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Tuisco

Tuisto or Tuisco was according to Tacitus (Germania, ch. 2) the ancestor of all Germanic tribes. He was the father of the first man, Mannus. He was worshipped with human sacrifice. According to Jakob Grimm, his name and variant forms (Thuisco, Thuiskon, Tuisco) come from the adjective tivisco derived from the name of the god Tiu; the name Tiu, Proto-Germanic *Tîwaz, derives from Proto-Indo-European *Dyeus, the god of the daylit sky, and the adjective derived from it could ...

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Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Aumakua

Aumakua is a Hawaiian word meaning family or personal god, often a deified ancestor. The 'aumakua frequently manifested him or herself as an animal, such as a shark or an owl. 'Aumakuas were worshipped, often at localities or rocks where they were believed to 'dwell'. The appearance of an animal one regarded as an 'aumakua was often believed to be an omen, to be noted and interpreted for good or ill. There are also many stories of 'aumakuas, in animal form, intervening to save their descendants from harm. It was ...

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Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Buddhism in Thailand

Buddhism in Thailand is largely of the Theravada school. As much as 94% of Thailand's population is Buddhist of the Theravada school, though Buddhism in this country has become integrated with folk beliefs such as ancestor worship as well as Chinese religions from the large Thai-Chinese population. Buddhist temples in Thailand are characterized by tall golden stupas, and the Buddhist architecture of Thailand is influenced heavily by the architecture of other Southeast Asian countries, particularly Cambodia and Laos, with which Thailan ...

Including:

Buddhism in Thailand - Position of women

Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Religion

Religion (see etymology below) —sometimes used interchangeably with faith or belief system—is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine; and the moral codes, practices, values, institutions and rituals associated with such belief. In its broadest sense some have defined it as the sum total of answers given to explain humankind's relationship with the universe. In the course of the development of religion, it has taken ...

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Religion - Etymology

Religion - Approaches to the study of individual religions

Religion - Development of religion

Religion - Religion today

Religion - Approaches to relating to the beliefs of others

Religion - Religion and other approaches to forming beliefs about the nature of the universe

Religion - Related philosophical stances

Religion - Compare with

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Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony marking a person's death. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from the funeral itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. These customs vary widely between cultures, and between religious affiliations within cultures. In some cultures the dead are worshipped; this is commonly called ancestor worship. The word comes from the Latin funus, which had a variety of meanings, including ...

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Funeral - Funerals in contemporary North America

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Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Ancestor

An ancestor is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, and so on). Two individuals have a genetic relationship if one is the ancestor of the other or if they share a common ancestor; in evolutionary theory, species who share an evolutionary ancestor are said to be of common descent. However, this concept of ancestry does not apply to some bacteria and other ...

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Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Hungry ghost

A hungry ghost is a kind of ghost associated with hunger common to many religions. In Judeo-Christian theology, for example, the Book of Enoch (an apocryphal book of the Bible whose complete version has only recently been discovered as a part of the Dead Sea Scrolls) describes the fall of the Watchers and the demons who might be the fallen angels (Watchers) themselves, or the offspring of the union of the Watchers and mankind. These creatures are said to wander the world in the form of evil spirits—endlessly yearning for food ...

Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Chinese traditional religion

Chinese traditional religion is a loosely-connected system of practices and beliefs that has been practiced by large segments of the Han Chinese population of China from the early period of Chinese continuing to the present. With the influx of Western cultural influences for several centuries and the complex developments and modernization of the 20th century, the prevalence of Chinese traditional beliefs has declined, but still remain strong, many or most gradually transforming into elements of culture and social b ...

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Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Animal worship

Animal worship is an ill-defined term, covering facts ranging from the worship of the real divine animal, commonly conceived as a "god-body," at one end of the scale, to respect for the bones of a slain animal or even the use of a respectful name for the living animal at the other end. Added to this, in many works on the subject we find reliance placed, especially for the African facts, on reports of travellers who were merely visitors to the regions on which they wrote. Animal cults may be classified in two ways: ...

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Animal worship - Animal Cults

Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Bajwa

Bajwa is a word derived from arabic words and means "clan of the hawk," and is a common last name amongst both Sikhs and Muslims, especially in the Punjab province of Pakistan. From a Sikh Point of View: >Bajwa is the subcaste of Jatts who lived in Punjab. This caste is called the bravest caste of Jatts. Their founder was called Wajab. They are descendents of Sun god. Bajwa Jatts have resemblance with Bajju Rajputs. Their customs are also similar. Their ancestor was Baba Manga. They originated from Bajwat in the fo ...

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Ancestor worship: Encyclopedia - Chinese Rites controversy

The Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute within the Catholic Church in the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry or not. Pope Clement XI decided in favor of the Dominicans (who argued that Chinese folk religion and offerings to the emperor were incompatible with Catholicism), which greatly reduced Catholic missionary activity in China. At the time, there was fascination among European intellectuals with Chinese culture, Confucianism, and the Chinese language. Some even pr ...

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Ancestor worship

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