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A standard analytic category in the study of religion

This page groups practices by how settled their scholarly classification is. Wikipedia notes that "starting about 1920, 'cult' acquired an additional six or more positive and negative definitions," a term whose meaning has shifted considerably. Browsing this way lets a visitor see which practices scholars describe consistently and which remain genuinely contested.

Facts
Overview
What Defines This Grouping
The sustained acts by which adherents attend to a deity, ancestor or holy figure - prayer at fixed hours, recitation and chant, offerings at a shrine or home altar, veneration of saints and images, pilgrimage. It is the widest and loosest of these groupings and holds acts that are obligatory in one tradition and freely optional in another. 2
Status
Standing as a Comparative Category
A standard analytic category in the study of religion 2
Directory
Category
Practices 1
Comparison
Primary Academic Discipline
Comparative Religion 3
Learn More
The Devotional Practices

This group gathers devotional practices, the acts by which the faithful express love, reverence and dependence toward the divine: prayer, worship, praise, offering, the reciting of names and the observance of daily and seasonal devotion. It is the largest practice grouping in the atlas, reflecting how central devotion is to religious life.

The browser will find devotional practices from across the world's traditions. The entries describe each practice's form, purpose and setting, noting the tradition to which it belongs and how it is performed.

A standard analytic category in the study of religion
Filter Results156 entries

Aboriginal Dot Painting

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Agpeya

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Aiwisruthrem Gah

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Akhand Path

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Altar call

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Ancestor tablet veneration

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Ancestor veneration

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Aparche (First Fruits Offering)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Asr

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Badhai

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Baptism for the dead

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Baptismal life

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Bhajan

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Bhakti (devotion)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Bharatanatyam

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Blessing

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Candle and lamp lighting

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Chaand Raat

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Chanting / Mantra

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Chanting HU

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Christian Mission

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Compline

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Consecration

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Coven-based initiatory worship

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Daily Temple Ritual (Cult Image Service)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Darshan

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Dhikr (remembrance of God)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Dhuhr

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Divine healing

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Door-to-door evangelism

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Ethiopian Church Painting

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Eucharistic adoration

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Fajr

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Family History Research

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Foot washing

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Friday prayer

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Full-Time Missionary Service

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Greater and Lesser Magic

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Hakafot

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Hatsumode

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Havan Gah

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Hellenic Household Worship

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Hetep Di Nesu (Offering Formula Recitation)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Hifz

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Hindu Temple Sculpture

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Hoshanot

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Hukamnama

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Icon Painting

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Incense offering

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Intinction

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Isha

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Istikhara

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Istisqa

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Japa

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Kabbalat Shabbat

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Kever Avot

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Khutbah

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Kirtan

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Kola Nut Offering

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Kufic Calligraphy

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Landtaking Observances (Landnam)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Lauds

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Liturgical Colors

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Liturgy of the Hours

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Maariv

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Maghrib

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Mandala offering

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Matins

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Mehndi

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Merit-making (punya)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Mincha

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Mourning of Ashura

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Musaf

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Mut'ah of Hajj

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Naskh Calligraphy

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Nastaliq Calligraphy

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Nembutsu (reciting Amitabha's name)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

New Moon observance

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Nextlahualli (Debt Payment Offering)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Nitnem

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Niyyah

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

None (Ninth Hour)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Norito recitation

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Novena

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Observing the Sabbath

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Ori Veneration

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Persian Miniature

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Pesukei Dezimra

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Pilgrimage

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Pradakshina

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Prayer

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Prayer compensation

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Praying the Rosary

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Prime

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Prostrations

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Puja (daily worship)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Qiyam

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Qiyam al-Layl

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Quimbanda Offerings at the Crossroads

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Raf al-Yadayn

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Rak'a

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Rapithwin Gah

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Refuge in Buddhism

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Retablo and Santos

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sahaj Path

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sai between Safa and Marwa

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Salatul Tasbih

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sama (spiritual music and whirling)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sand Mandala

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sandhyavandanam

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sefirat HaOmer

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Selichot

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sermon

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Seven Sacraments

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sext

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Shacharit

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Shakyo (Devotional Sutra Copying)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Shidian

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Shodo (Japanese Calligraphy)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Shrine offerings and worship

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sitting in salah

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Soferut (STaM Scribal Art)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Solitary self-directed practice

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Speaking in tongues (glossolalia)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Stations of the Cross

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Sujud Sahwi

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Tahajjud

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Talismanic and exorcistic ritual

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Tarawih

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Tawaf

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Tending the sacred fire

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Terce

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Thangka Painting

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Thanksgiving (gratitude)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

The Cem ceremony

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

The Five Pillars

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Thuluth Calligraphy

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Tilaka

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Uchen Calligraphy

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Unprogrammed silent worship

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Use of the Book of Common Prayer

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Ushahin Gah

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Uzerin Gah

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Veneration of icons

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Veneration of saints and Mary

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Veneration of saints and their shrines

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Vespers

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Votive Offering (Anathema)

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Vrata

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Wearing the Five Ks

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Witr

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Women-only covens

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Women's Mosque Movement

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Worship of the lingam

A standard analytic category in the study of religion

Yahrzeit

A standard analytic category in the study of religion
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. Worship and Devotional LifeView the Source
3. Wikipedia: Comparative religion
WikipediaComparative religion, opening definition
Quote, Comparative religion, opening definition
Comparative religion is the branch of religious studies that systematically compares the doctrines, practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the worlds religions.
View the Source
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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