This page groups religions by how they conceive of the divine, since traditions disagree sharply about whether there is one god, many, or none in the usual sense. Wikipedia notes that Hinduism's many deities, "Deva (masculine) and Devi (feminine)," are often understood as aspects of "the same Ultimate Reality called Brahman," a very different picture from the strict monotheism of the Abrahamic faiths. Browsing by conception of the divine lets a visitor compare how differently two religions answer the same basic question.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe many-deity religion of a particular people as it is actually practised: local, carried by custom, festival and household observance rather than by scripture or a professional priesthood, and commonly coexisting with an official religion layered over it. 2 Peoples and Traditions CoveredChinese and Vietnamese popular religion: distinct traditions with distinct pantheons and distinct histories, grouped here by how they are transmitted rather than by any shared content. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryContested: folk or popular religion is defined by contrast with an elite or official religion - a distinction the practice itself does not observe, and one that scholarship increasingly declines to draw. 2 Learn More
Folk polytheisms
This group gathers folk polytheistic religions, the popular, often local and unsystematised many-god traditions carried in custom, festival and household practice rather than in a formal theology or a professional priesthood.
The browser will find the traditions the atlas classes here. The entries describe each as a lived popular religion, noting its characteristic blend of deities, spirits and inherited practice.
Conception of the Divine
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. Popular ReligionView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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.