Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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Performed alone

This page groups practices by whether they are carried out alone or with others. Wikipedia distinguishes "communal rites, whether of worship, where a community comes together to worship" from "rites of personal devotion, where an individual worships, including prayer and pilgrimages." Browsing this way lets a visitor separate a group ceremony from a practice one person performs alone.

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.

Performed alone
Filter Results28 entries

Aboriginal Dot Painting

Performed alone

Ethiopian Church Painting

Performed alone

Hindu Temple Sculpture

Performed alone

Icon Painting

Performed alone

Istikhara

Performed alone

Japa

Performed alone

Kufic Calligraphy

Performed alone

Landtaking Observances (Landnam)

Performed alone

Mandala offering

Performed alone

Naskh Calligraphy

Performed alone

Nastaliq Calligraphy

Performed alone

Nextlahualli (Debt Payment Offering)

Performed alone

Nitnem

Performed alone

Persian Miniature

Performed alone

Qiyam al-Layl

Performed alone

Retablo and Santos

Performed alone

Sahaj Path

Performed alone

Sandhyavandanam

Performed alone

Shakyo (Devotional Sutra Copying)

Performed alone

Shodo (Japanese Calligraphy)

Performed alone

Soferut (STaM Scribal Art)

Performed alone

Solitary self-directed practice

Performed alone

Tahajjud

Performed alone

Thangka Painting

Performed alone

Thuluth Calligraphy

Performed alone

Uchen Calligraphy

Performed alone

Votive Offering (Anathema)

Performed alone

Wearing the Five Ks

Performed alone
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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