Home›Ascetic Practices›Who Performs It›All adherents of the traditionBrowse ByAll adherents of the traditionThis page groups practices by who actually carries them out. Wikipedia notes that in the Catholic Church, cultus "is the technical term for Roman Catholic devotions or veneration extended to a particular saint," a practice of ordinary believers rather than clergy alone. Browsing this way lets a visitor separate a practice open to any adherent from one reserved for a specialist.FactsLearn MoreAll adherents of the traditionSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedDisciplines that withhold something the body wants - food, sleep, comfort, sexual activity, company - undertaken for a religious end. The ends differ: Jain sallekhana, Christian and Buddhist monastic renunciation and Islamic itikaf are not one impulse, and the older reading of asceticism as world-denial has been displaced by treatments that read it as the making of a self. 2StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedPractices 1Learn MoreThe Ascetic Practices This group gathers ascetic practices: disciplines of self-denial and renunciation undertaken for spiritual ends: fasting, celibacy, solitude, poverty, and the mortification of the body. Asceticism appears across the religious world as a means of purification, detachment and the pursuit of holiness. The browser will find ascetic practices from various traditions. The entries describe each practice's form and rationale, noting the tradition that prescribes it and the goal it serves.All adherents of the traditionFilter Results8 entriesOrigin Period Start YearAll-300 (4)622 (1)1835 (1)Solitary or CommunalAllPerformed alone (3)Performed alone or together (4)Performed by a gathered group (1)TraditionAllAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church (1)African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (1)Aladura (1)Anabaptism (1)Anglican Communion (1)Anglicanism (1)Armenian Apostolic Church (1)Assyrian Church of the East (1)Baptist (1)Beta Israel (1)Breslov Hasidism (1)Calvinism (Reformed) (1)Chabad-Lubavitch (1)Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (1)Church of Cyprus (1)Church of England (1)Church of God (Anderson, Indiana) (1)Church of Greece (1)Church of Ireland (1)Church of Scotland (1)Church of Sweden (1)Church of the Nazarene (1)Coptic Orthodoxy (1)Digambara (1)Dutch Reformed Church (1)Eastern Orthodoxy (1)Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (1)Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (1)Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (1)Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1)Free Methodist Church (1)Georgian Orthodox Church (1)Global Methodist Church (1)Greek Orthodox Church (1)Haredi Judaism (1)Hasidic Judaism (1)Karaite Judaism (1)Kimbanguist Church (1)Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) (1)Lutheranism (1)Maronite Church (1)Methodism (1)Modern Orthodox Judaism (1)National Baptist Convention of America (1)Oriental Orthodoxy (1)Orthodox Judaism (1)Presbyterianism (1)Progressive National Baptist Convention (1)Roman Catholicism (1)Romanian Orthodox Church (1)Russian Orthodox Church (1)Saint Thomas Christians (1)Serbian Orthodox Church (1)Svetambara (1)The Episcopal Church (1)The United Methodist Church (1)Ukrainian Orthodox Church (1)Wesleyan Church (1)Category of PracticeAllAscetic (1)Practice StatusAllLiving tradition, practised today (7)Scholarly StandingAllA standard analytic category in the study of religion (8)CadenceAllAnnual (1)As the occasion requires (2)Daily (1)Monthly (2)Once, or at a turning point in a life (1)ObligationAllObligatory (2)Optional and voluntary (1)Recommended and meritorious, not required (5)Undertaken only with authorisation or transmission (1)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 8Ekadashi observanceAll adherents of the traditionFast Sunday and the Fast OfferingAll adherents of the traditionFastingAll adherents of the traditionItikafAll adherents of the traditionKayotsargaAll adherents of the traditionMaunaAll adherents of the traditionSallekhana (ritual fast to death)All adherents of the traditionUpvasAll adherents of the traditionSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Asceticismtier 1Vincent L. Wimbush and Richard Valantasis (eds.), Oxford University Press, 1995View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.