This page groups holidays by whether they are still kept today. Wikipedia notes that "the science of religious rites and festivals is known as heortology," a field that studies festivals whether or not they are still actively observed. Browsing by status today lets a visitor separate a holiday still widely kept from one now studied only historically.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingDays and seasons a tradition sets apart for abstention from food, drink or other pleasures as an obligation of its calendar. What is given up, and for how long, differs sharply - a daylight fast kept for a lunar month, a single day from sunset to sunset, a season of restricted diet - and a fast is not always penitential: some are mourning and some are preparation. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2 Learn More
The Fasts
This group holds fasts, the days and seasons of abstinence from food, drink or other comforts, kept as acts of penitence, purification, mourning or spiritual discipline. Fasting is a widespread religious practice, from the month of Ramadan in Islam to the fast days of Judaism and Christian Lent.
The browser will find the fasts the atlas gathers. The entries describe each fast's occasion, rules and meaning, noting the tradition that keeps it.
Status Today
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. FastingView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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