An amulet , also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum , which Pliny's Natural History describes as "an object that protects a person from trouble". Anything can function as an amulet; items commonly so used include statues, coins, drawings, plant parts, animal parts, and written words.
167-542: Amulets which are said to derive their extraordinary properties and powers from magic or those which impart luck are typically part of folk religion or paganism , whereas amulets or sacred objects of formalised mainstream religion as in Christianity are believed to have no power of their own without faith in Jesus and being blessed by a clergyman, and they supposedly will also not provide any preternatural benefit to
334-640: A homo sacer who had offended Ceres' laws against tyranny. The Eleusinian mysteries became increasingly popular during the late Republic. Early Roman initiates at Eleusis in Greece included Sulla and Cicero ; thereafter many Emperors were initiated, including Hadrian , who founded an Eleusinian cult centre in Rome itself. In Late Republican politics, aristocratic traditionalists and popularists used coinage to propagate their competing claims to Ceres' favour. A coin of Sulla shows Ceres on one side, and on
501-411: A porca praecidanea (a pig, offered before harvesting). Before the harvest, she was offered a propitiary grain sample ( praemetium ). Ovid tells that Ceres "is content with little, provided that her offerings are casta " (pure). Ceres' main festival, Cerealia , was held from mid to late April. It was organised by her plebeian aediles and included circus games ( ludi circenses ). It opened with
668-419: A "practical working definition" that combined elements from these various other definitions. Thus, he summarized folk religion as "the totality of all those views and practices of religion that exist among the people apart from and alongside the strictly theological and liturgical forms of the official religion". Yoder described "folk religion" as existing "in a complex society in relation to and in tension with
835-583: A basis for the Eleusinian mysteries . From the end of the 3rd century BC, Demeter's temple at Enna , in Sicily , was acknowledged as Ceres' oldest, most authoritative cult centre, and Libera was recognised as Proserpina, Roman equivalent to Demeter's daughter Persephone . Their joint cult recalls Demeter's search for Persephone, after the latter's abduction into the underworld by Hades . The new, women-only cult to "mother and maiden" took its place alongside
1002-439: A battle with Horus's uncle Seth. Amulets were often made to represent gods, animals or hieroglyphs. For example, the common amulet shape the scarab beetle is the emblem of the god Khepri . The most common material for such amulets was a kind of ceramic known as Egyptian faience or tjehenet , but amulets were also made of stone, metal, bone, wood and gold. Phylacteries containing texts were another common form of amulet. Like
1169-410: A belief in the rational order of nature, balance in the universe and reality that can be influenced by human beings and their rulers, as well as spirits and gods. Worship is devoted to a hierarchy of gods and immortals ( Chinese : 神 ; pinyin : shén ), who can be deities of phenomena, of human behaviour, or progenitors of lineages. Stories regarding some of these gods are collected into
1336-576: A belief the ta'wiz itself cures or protects. Astrological symbols were also used, especially in the Medieval period. These included symbols of the Zodiac, derived from Greek representations of constellations , and especially popular in the Middle East in the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. Muslim artists also developed personifications of the planets, based on their astrological traits, and of
1503-460: A cake made of far, the ancient wheat-type particularly associated with Ceres. From at least the mid-republican era, an official, joint cult to Ceres and Proserpina reinforced Ceres' connection with Roman ideals of female virtue. The promotion of this cult coincides with the rise of a plebeian nobility, an increased birthrate among plebeian commoners, and a fall in the birthrate among patrician families. The late Republican Ceres Mater (Mother Ceres)
1670-485: A diverse range of block printed amulets, the lead case should include lugs, which allowed the tiny package to be either sewn onto clothing or suspended from the owner's body. These modest containers were, most likely, kept sealed shut, their printed contents therefore invisible to a possessor who perhaps was not wealthy enough to purchase a non-serialised, handwritten amulet. The Tibetan Buddhists have many kinds of talismanic and shamanistic amulets and ritual tools, including
1837-400: A doctor or seer was unavailable, then everyday people would simply cast their spells on their own without assistance. It was likely commonplace for individuals to memorize spells and incantations for later use. Amulets were particularly prevalent in ancient Roman society, being the inheritor of the ancient Greek tradition, and inextricably linked to Roman religion and magic (see magic in
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#17327720775122004-497: A focus on the apotropaic , or thaumaturgical , i.e. it is used to assist in protecting the individual from sickness, and misfortune. He emphasizes that while Rabbinical Judaism dealt with orthodox Jewish ritual, and Halakha , magicians claimed to use unorthodox magical rituals to help people in everyday life. He points to the example of a relatively professionalised type of magician being the Baal Shem of Poland, who beginning in
2171-430: A formal profession of faith in a particular creed , to have religious weddings or funerals, or (among Christians) to have their children baptised . In The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions , John Bowker characterized "folk religion" as either "religion which occurs in small, local communities which does not adhere to the norms of large systems" or "the appropriation of religious beliefs and practices at
2338-605: A holy book placed under part of the bed or cushion. Amulets are plentiful in the Jewish tradition, with examples of Solomon -era amulets existing in many museums . Due to the proscription of idols and other graven images in Judaism , Jewish amulets emphasize text and names. The shape, material, and color of a Jewish amulet makes no difference. Examples of textual amulets include the Silver Scroll ( c. 630 BCE ),
2505-650: A horse-race in the Circus Maximus , whose starting point lay below and opposite to her Aventine Temple; the turning post at the far end of the Circus was sacred to Consus , a god of grain-storage. After the race, foxes were released into the Circus, their tails ablaze with lighted torches, perhaps to cleanse the growing crops and protect them from disease and vermin, or to add warmth and vitality to their growth. From c.175 BC, Cerealia included ludi scaenici (theatrical religious events) through April 12 to 18. In
2672-586: A hypothetical invisible planet named Al Tinnin or Jauzahr. It was believed that objects decorated with these astrological signs developed talismanic power to protect. Abstract symbols are also common in Muslim amulets, such as the Seal of Solomon and the Zulfiqar (sword of the aforementioned Ali). Another popular amulet often used to avert the evil gaze is the hamsa (meaning five) or "Hand of Fatima". The symbol
2839-414: A lamentation is raised at the crossroads everywhere by the matronae . Ovid likens Ceres' devotion to her own offspring to that of a cow to its calf; but she is also the originator of bloody animal sacrifice, a necessity in the renewal of life. She has a particular enmity towards her own sacrificial animal, the pig. Pigs offend her by their destructive rooting-up of field crops under her protection; and in
3006-493: A new form of Cerean cult was officially imported from Magna Graecia, it was known as the ritus graecus (Greek rite) of Ceres, and was distinct from her older Roman rites. The older forms of Aventine rites to Ceres remain uncertain. Most Roman cults were led by men, and the officiant's head was covered by a fold of his toga. In the Roman ritus graecus , a male celebrant wore Greek-style vestments, and remained bareheaded before
3173-414: A pig as "a worthy mark of weddings" because "our women, and especially nurses" call the female genitalia porcus (pig). Barbette Spaeth (1996) believes Ceres may have been included in the sacrificial dedication, because she is closely identified with Tellus and, as Ceres legifera (law-bearer), she "bears the laws" of marriage. In the most solemn form of marriage, confarreatio , the bride and groom shared
3340-402: A popular level." Don Yoder argued that there were five separate ways of defining folk religion. The first was a perspective rooted in a cultural evolutionary framework which understood folk religion as representing the survivals of older forms of religion; in this, it would constitute "the survivals, in an official religious context, of beliefs and behaviour inherited from earlier stages of
3507-543: A rug is not a theme: it actually is an amulet, conferring protection by its presence. In his words, "the device in the rug has a materiality, it generates a field of force able to interact with other unseen forces and is not merely an intellectual abstraction." In the Islamic world, material composition and graphic content are important in determining the apotropaic forces of the amulets. The preferred materials employed by amulets are precious and semi-precious materials, because
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#17327720775123674-425: A translation of Demeter's Greek epithet, thesmophoros . As Ceres' first plough-furrow opened the earth (Tellus' realm) to the world of men and created the first field and its boundary, her laws determined the course of settled, lawful, civilised life. Crimes against fields and harvest were crimes against the people and their protective deity. Landowners who allowed their flocks to graze on public land were fined by
3841-455: A young boy carried Ceres' torch to light the way; "the most auspicious wood for wedding torches came from the spina alba , the May-tree , which bore many fruits and hence symbolised fertility". The adult males of the wedding party waited at the groom's house. A wedding sacrifice was offered to Tellus on the bride's behalf; a sow is the most likely victim . Varro describes the sacrifice of
4008-580: Is Faustina the Younger ", empress-wife of Pius' successor Marcus Aurelius . In Britain, a soldier's inscription of the 2nd century AD attests to Ceres' role in the popular syncretism of the times. She is "the bearer of ears of corn", the "Syrian Goddess", identical with the universal heavenly Mother, the Magna Mater and Virgo , virgin mother of the gods. She is peace and virtue, and inventor of justice: she weighs "Life and Right" in her scale. During
4175-444: Is "a pure element" to religion "which is in some way transformed, even contaminated, by its exposure to human communities". As a corrective, he suggested that scholars use "vernacular religion" as an alternative. Defining this term, Primiano stated that "vernacular religion" is, "by definition, religion as it is lived: as human beings encounter, understand, interpret, and practice it. Since religion inherently involves interpretation, it
4342-476: Is All-Hearing and All-Knowing' (Qur. 20:46). A tension is therefore created between the idea of Allah as protector and the amulet as a material item that encapsulates and transmits this divine energy. Amulets and talismanic objects were used by early Muslims to appeal to God in the first instance. In this respect, these early Islamic amulets differ substantially from Byzantine, Roman, early Iranian, and other pre-Islamic magic which addressed demonic forces or spirits of
4509-494: Is an act of shirk (idolatry). Other hadith support the use of talismans with some Muslim denominations considering it 'permissible magic', usually under some conditions (for instance, that the wearer believes that the talisman only helps through God's will). Many Muslims do not consider items used against the evil eye to be talismans; these are often kept in the home rather than worn. Examples of worn amulets are necklaces, rings, bracelets, coins, armbands and talismanic shirts . In
4676-578: Is attested in Umbrian śerfe . The spelling of Latin Cerus , a masculine form of Ceres denoting the creator (cf. Cerus manus 'creator bonus', duonus Cerus 'good Cerus'), might also reflect Cerrus , which would match the other Italic forms. Archaic cults to Ceres are well-evidenced among Rome's neighbours in the Regal period , including the ancient Latins , Oscans and Sabellians , less certainly among
4843-711: Is called an ofuda . Mamorifuda are gofu amulets. In Korea, where they are called bujeok ( 부적 ) even usually in the tradition of Korean Taoist rituals , they are talismans encased inside in small brocade bags that are carried on the person. In antiquity and the Middle Ages , most Jews , Christians , and Muslims in the Orient believed in the protective and healing power of amulets or blessed objects. Many pagan religions also believe in stone worship. Talismans used by these peoples can be broken down into three main categories: talismans carried or worn on
5010-521: Is described as genetrix (progenitress) and alma (nourishing); in the early Imperial era she becomes an Imperial deity, and receives joint cult with Ops Augusta , Ceres' own mother in Imperial guise and a bountiful genetrix in her own right. Several of Ceres' ancient Italic precursors are connected to human fertility and motherhood; the Pelignan goddess Angitia Cerealis has been identified with
5177-588: Is featured both as a goddess and Queen of Sicilly in De Mulieribus Claris , a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio , composed in 1361–62 and notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature. Ceres appears briefly to bless the wedding of Ferdinand and Miranda, in a masque at
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5344-401: Is impossible for the religion of an individual not to be vernacular". Kapaló was critical of this approach, deeming it mistaken and arguing that switching from "folk religion" to "vernacular religion" results in the scholar "picking up a different selection of things from the world". He cautioned that both terms carried an "ideological and semantic load" and warned scholars to pay attention to
5511-442: Is often contrasted with elite religion . Folk religion is defined as the beliefs, practices, rituals and symbols originating from sources other than the religion's leadership. Folk religion in many instances is tolerated by the religion's leadership, although they may consider it an error. A similar concept is lived religion , the study of religion as practiced by believers. The term folk religion came to be increasingly rejected in
5678-437: Is pre-Islamic, known from Punic times. In Central and West Asia, amulets (often in the form of triangular packages containing a sacred verse) were traditionally attached to the clothing of babies and young children to give them protection from forces such as the evil eye . Triangular amulet motifs were often also woven into oriental carpets such as kilims . The carpet expert Jon Thompson explains that such an amulet woven into
5845-466: Is relevant in the urban context, but it is neglected in ethnographic studies due to its negative connotations with folk (rural masses, illiterate). According to Chris Fuller (1994), popular Hinduism is not degenerate textual Hinduism in light of ethnographic evidence, although the category of folk Hinduism remains tenuous. According to Michael Witzel (1998), the folk religion is the religion of Prakrit speaking and Dravidian speaking lower caste while
6012-487: Is sometimes seen as a constituent part of Chinese traditional religion, but more often, the two are regarded as synonymous. With around 454 million adherents, or about 6.6% of the world population, Chinese folk religion is one of the major religious traditions in the world . In the People's Republic of China, more than 30% of the population follows Chinese popular religion or Taoism. Despite being heavily suppressed during
6179-456: Is the oldest, non-literate system of Indian religions . Folk Hinduism involves worship of deities which are not found in Hindu scriptures. It involves worship of Gramadevata (village deity), Kuladevata (household deity) and local deities. It is a folk religion, polytheist and animistic belief based on locality. These religions have their own priests, who worship regional deities. During
6346-436: Is the religious dimension of folk culture , or the folk-cultural dimensions of religion. The second refers to the study of syncretism between two cultures with different stages of formal expression, such as the melange of African folk beliefs and Roman Catholicism that led to the development of Vodun and Santería , and similar mixtures of formal religions with folk cultures. In China, folk Protestantism had its origins with
6513-610: Is their social ties to one another, illustrated by the finding that religious practices that would prevent social integration – such as a strict interpretation of dietary laws and the Sabbath – have been abandoned, whilst the practices that are followed – such as the Passover Seder , social rites of passage, and the High Holy Days – are ones that strengthen Jewish family and community integration. Liebman described
6680-573: Is thus contrasted with a "universal religion" which cuts across ethnic and national boundaries. Among the scholars to have adopted this use of terminology are E. Wilbur Bock. The folklorist Leonard Norman Primiano argued that the use of the term folk religion, as well as related terms like "popular religion" and "unofficial religion", by scholars, does an extreme disservice to the forms of religiosity that scholars are examining, because – in his opinion – such terms are "residualistic, [and] derogatory". He argued that using such terminology implies that there
6847-672: The Ieiunium Cereris , and those of November 8 took place during the Plebeian Games . As a whole, the various days of the mundus suggest rites to Ceres as the guardian deity of seed-corn in the establishment of cities, and as a door-warden of the afterlife, which was co-ruled during the winter months by her daughter Proserpina, queen-companion to Dis . In Roman theology, prodigies were abnormal phenomena that manifested divine anger at human impiety. In Roman histories, prodigies cluster around perceived or actual threats to
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7014-596: The Chai necklace (though this is also worn simply to indicate Jewish identity), and inscriptions of one of the names of the god of Judaism - such as ה (He), יה (YaH), or שדי ( Shaddai ) - on a piece of parchment or metal, usually silver. Counter-examples, however, include the Hamsa (an outline of a human hand) and the Seal of Solomon . During the Middle Ages, Maimonides and Sherira Gaon (and his son Hai Gaon ) opposed
7181-586: The Etruscans and Umbrians . An archaic Faliscan inscription of c. 600 BC asks her to provide far ( spelt wheat), which was a dietary staple of the Mediterranean world . Ancient Roman etymologists thought that ceres derived from the Latin verb gerere , "to bear, bring forth, produce", because the goddess was linked to pastoral , agricultural and human fertility. Throughout the Roman era, Ceres' name
7348-457: The Quran , hadiths (recorded oral histories of early Islam) and religious narratives, and religious names. The word "Allah" (God) is especially popular, as many believe that touching or seeing it wards off evil. The ninety-nine names of God , and the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions, are also used. The names of prophets and religious figures are felt to connect the wearer to
7515-594: The Tuscan fashion ". He recommends that temples to Ceres be sited in rural areas: "in a solitary spot out of the city, to which the public are not necessarily led but for the purpose of sacrificing to her. This spot is to be reverenced with religious awe and solemnity of demeanour, by those whose affairs lead them to visit it." During the early Imperial era, soothsayers advised Pliny the Younger to restore an ancient, "old and narrow" temple to Ceres, at his rural property near Como . It contained an ancient wooden cult statue of
7682-470: The Vedic Hinduism which comprises Vedas and Upanishads is the religion of Sanskrit speaking upper caste. According to Asko Parpola (2015), the folk village Hinduism is surviving from pre-rig vedic Indo-Aryan times and Indus valley culture. Ceres (Roman mythology) In ancient Roman religion , Ceres ( / ˈ s ɪər iː z / SEER -eez , Latin: [ˈkɛreːs] )
7849-584: The blessing of the Church in the name of Jesus . The crucifix , and the associated sign of the cross , is one of the key sacramentals used by Christians to ward off evil since the time of the Early Church Fathers ; as such, many Christians wear a cross necklace . The imperial cross of Conrad II (1024–1039) referred to the power of the cross against evil. A well-known amulet associated with Benedictine spirituality present in Christianity of
8016-414: The dorje , the bell, and many kinds of portable amulets. The Tibetan Buddhists enclose prayers on a parchment scroll within a prayer wheel, which is then spun around, each rotation being one recitation of all of the stanzas within the prayer wheel. The people of Thailand, with Buddhist and animist beliefs, also have a vast pantheon of amulets, which are still popular and in common use by most people even in
8183-463: The grain supply ( annona ) and later the plebeian grain doles ( frumentationes ), the organisation and management of public games in general, and the maintenance of Rome's streets and public buildings. Otherwise, in Rome and throughout Italy, as at her ancient sanctuaries of Henna and Catena, Ceres' ritus graecus and her joint cult with Proserpina were invariably led by female sacerdotes , drawn from local and Roman elites: Cicero notes that once
8350-526: The heads of households . An inscription at Capua names a male sacerdos Cerialis mundalis , a priest dedicated to Ceres' rites of the mundus . The plebeian aediles had minor or occasional priestly functions at Ceres' Aventine Temple and were responsible for its management and financial affairs including collection of fines, the organisation of ludi Cerealia and probably the Cerealia itself. Their cure (care and jurisdiction) included, or came to include,
8517-504: The late Roman Republic and early Empire describe Ceres' Aventine temple and rites as conspicuously Greek. In modern scholarship, this is taken as further evidence of long-standing connections between the plebeians, Ceres and Magna Graecia. It also raises unanswered questions on the nature, history and character of these associations: the Triad itself may have been a self-consciously Roman cult formulation based on Greco-Italic precedents. When
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#17327720775128684-417: The mundus had been dug and sealed by Romulus as part of Rome's foundation; Plutarch compares it to pits dug by Etruscan colonists, containing soil brought from their parent city, used to dedicate the first fruits of the harvest. Warde Fowler speculates the mundus as Rome's first storehouse ( penus ) for seed-grain, later becoming the symbolic penus of the Roman state. In the oldest known Roman calendar,
8851-527: The mundus is first attested in the Late Republican Era, by Varro . The jurist Cato understood the shape of the mundus as a reflection or inversion of the dome of the upper heavens. Di Luzio observes that the Roman mundus shared functional and conceptual similarities with certain types of underground "pit altar" or megaron , used in Demeter's Thesmophoria. Roman tradition held that
9018-467: The theologies and histories ." In one of the first major academic works on the subject, titled Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion , Joshua Trachtenberg provided a definition of Jewish folk religion as consisting of ideas and practices that, whilst not meeting with the approval of religious leaders, enjoyed wide popularity such that they must be included in what he termed
9185-446: The "folk interpretation and expression of religion". Noting that this definition would not encompass beliefs that were largely unconnected from organised religion, such as in witchcraft , he therefore altered this definition by including the concept of "folk religiosity ", thereby defining folk religion as "the deposit in culture of folk religiosity, the full range of folk attitudes to religion". His fifth and final definition represented
9352-549: The 'magic'vocabulary used and the heavy implementation of the Qur'an. The regional variations of these amulets each are unique; however, they are tied together through the Quranic inscriptions, images of Muhammad, astrological signs, and religious narratives. Such text amulets were originally housed within a lead case imprinted with surat al-Ikhlas (Qur. n2: 1-4), a verse that instructs the worshipper to proclaim God's sanctity. As seen in
9519-419: The 16th century thrived with the popularity of practical Kabbalah in the 18th century. These ba'alei shem promised to use their knowledge of the names of god, and the angels, along with exorcism, chiromancy, and herbal medicine to bring harm to enemies, and success in areas of social life such as marriage, and childbirth. Charles Liebman has written that the essence of the folk religion of American Jews
9686-606: The 1920s and 1930s, theoretical studies of religiöse Volkskunde had been produced by the folklorists Josef Weigert , Werner Boette , and Max Rumpf , all of whom had focused on religiosity within German peasant communities. Over the coming decades, Georg Schreiber established an Institut für religiöse Volkskund in Munich while a similar department was established in Salzburg by Hanns Koren . Other prominent academics involved in
9853-503: The 1990s and 2000s by scholars seeking more precise terminology. Yoder noted that one problem with the use of the term folk religion was that it did not fit into the work of those scholars who used the term "religion" in reference solely to organized religion . He highlighted the example of the prominent sociologist of religion Émile Durkheim , who insisted that religion was organized in order to contrast it with magic . Yoder noted that scholars adopting these perspectives often preferred
10020-485: The 19th century, scholars had divided Hinduism and Brahmanism . Brahmanism was referred to as an intellectual, classical tradition based on Sanskrit scriptures, while Hinduism was associated with superstitious folk tradition. The folk tradition refers to the aspects of the Hindu tradition that exist in tension with the Sanskritic tradition based on textual authority. According to M. N. Srinivas (1976), folk Hinduism
10187-593: The Americas, the study of folk religion developed among cultural anthropologists studying the syncretistic cultures of the Caribbean and Latin America. The pioneer in this field was Robert Redfield , whose 1930 book Tepoztlán: A Mexican Village contrasted and examined the relationship between "folk religion" and "official religion" in a peasant community. Yoder later noted that although the earliest known usage of
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#173277207751210354-688: The Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican traditions is the Saint Benedict medal which includes the Vade Retro Satana formula to ward off Satan. This medal has been in use at least since the 1700s, and in 1742 it received the approval of Pope Benedict XIV . It later became part of the Roman Ritual . Several Christian saints have written about the power of holy water as a force that repels evil; as such in Christianity (especially in
10521-519: The Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican denominations), holy water is used in the dominical sacrament of baptism , as well as for devotional use in the home. Saint Teresa of Avila , a Doctor of the Church who reported visions of Jesus and Mary , was a strong believer in the power of holy water and wrote that she used it with success to repel evil and temptations. Lay Catholics are not permitted to perform solemn exorcisms , but they can use holy water , blessed salt, and other sacramentals, such as
10688-466: The Graeco-Roman world ). Amulets are usually outside of the normal sphere of religious experience, though associations between certain gemstones and gods has been suggested. For example, Jupiter is represented on milky chalcedony , Sol on heliotrope , Mars on red jasper , Ceres on green jasper , and Bacchus on amethyst . Amulets are worn to imbue the wearer with the associated powers of
10855-560: The Greek Orthodox tradition, wear the filakto , an Eastern Christian sacramental that is pinned to one's clothing to ward off Satan. There is a long cultural tradition of using amulets in Islam, and in many Muslim-majority countries , tens of percent of the population use them. Some hadith condemn the wearing of talismans, and some Muslims (notably Salafis ) believe that amulets and talismans are forbidden in Islam, and using them
11022-637: The Imperial family as Ceres, or with some of her attributes. Ceres was served by several public priesthoods. Some were male; her senior priest, the flamen cerialis , also served Tellus and was usually plebeian by ancestry or adoption. Her public cult at the Ambarvalia , or "perambulation of fields" identified her with Dea Dia , and was led by the Arval Brethren ("The Brothers of the Fields"); rural versions of these rites were led as private cult by
11189-614: The Islam of the "urban poor, country people, and tribes", in contrast to orthodox or "high" Islam (Gellner, 1992). Sufi concepts, which are found in orthodox Islam as well, and perennialism and syncretism are often integrated into Folk Islam. Folk Christianity is defined differently by various scholars. Christianity as most people live it – a term used to "overcome the division of beliefs into mainstream and heterodox ", Christianity as impacted by superstition as practiced by certain geographical Christian groups, and Christianity defined "in cultural terms without reference to
11356-514: The Islamic context they can also be referred to as hafiz or protector or himala meaning pendant. Amulet is interchangeable with the term talisman. An amulet is an object that is generally worn for protection and most often made from a durable material such as metal or a hard-stone. Amulet can also be applied to paper examples, although talisman is often used to describe these less robust and usually individualized forms. In Muslim cultures, amulets often include texts, particularly prayers, texts from
11523-464: The Late Imperial era, Ceres gradually "slips into obscurity"; the last known official association of the Imperial family with her symbols is a coin issue of Septimius Severus (AD 193–211), showing his empress, Julia Domna , in the corona spicea . After the reign of Claudius Gothicus , no coinage shows Ceres' image. Even so, an initiate of her mysteries is attested in the 5th century AD, after
11690-670: The May lustration ( lustratio ) of the fields at the Ambarvalia festival: at harvesttime: and during Roman marriages and funeral rites . She is usually depicted as a mature woman. Ceres is the only one of Rome's many agricultural deities to be listed among the Dii Consentes , Rome's equivalent to the Twelve Olympians of Greek mythology. The Romans saw her as the counterpart of the Greek goddess Demeter , whose mythology
11857-535: The Mesopotamians, the ancient Egyptians had no distinction between the categories magic and medicine. Indeed for them "...religion was a potent and legitimate tool for affecting magical cures". Each treatment was a complementary combination of practical medicine and magical spells. Magical spells against snakebite are the oldest magical remedies known from Egypt. The Egyptians believed that diseases stemmed from both supernatural and natural causes. The symptoms of
12024-513: The Ottoman Empire with Qur'anic verses such as 'victory is from God and conquest is near' (Qur. 6I:13) found on ta'wiz worn in combat. Texts packaged in ta'wiz were most often pre-made when used by the public, but literate wearers could change the verse upon their discretion. While criticized by some denominations, Sunni Muslims are permitted to wear ta'wiz as long as it consciously strengthens their bond with Allah and does not come from
12191-478: The Roman goddess Angerona (associated with childbirth). Ceres was patron and protector of plebeian laws , rights and Tribunes . Her Aventine Temple served the plebeians as cult centre, legal archive, treasury and possibly law-court; its foundation was contemporaneous with the passage of the Lex Sacrata , which established the office and person of plebeian aediles and tribunes as inviolate representatives of
12358-517: The Roman people. Tribunes were legally immune to arrest or threat, and the lives and property of those who violated this law were forfeit to Ceres. The Lex Hortensia of 287 BC extended plebeian laws to the city and all its citizens. The official decrees of the Senate ( senatus consulta ) were placed in Ceres' Temple, under the guardianship of the goddess and her aediles. Livy puts the reason bluntly:
12525-479: The Roman state, in particular, famine, war and social disorder, and are expiated as matters of urgency. The establishment of Ceres' Aventine cult has itself been interpreted as an extraordinary expiation after the failure of crops and consequent famine. In Livy's history, Ceres is among the deities placated after a remarkable series of prodigies that accompanied the disasters of the Second Punic War : during
12692-525: The Saint Benedict medal or the crucifix , for warding off evil. Some Catholic sacramentals are believed to defend against evil, by virtue of their association with a specific saint or archangel. The scapular of St. Michael the Archangel is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular associated with Archangel Michael , the chief enemy of Satan. Pope Pius IX gave this scapular his blessing, but it
12859-528: The Spanish as "myths" and "superstitions" in an effort to de-legitimize legitimate precolonial beliefs by forcefully replacing those native beliefs with colonial Catholic Christian myths and superstitions. Today, some of these precolonial beliefs are still held by Filipinos, especially in the provinces. Folk Islam is an umbrella term used to collectively describe forms of Islam that incorporate native folk beliefs and practices. Folk Islam has been described as
13026-480: The Taiping Rebellion. Chinese folk religion , folk Christianity , folk Hinduism , and folk Islam are examples of folk religion associated with major religions . The term is also used, especially by the clergy of the faiths involved, to describe the desire of people who otherwise infrequently attend religious worship , do not belong to a church or similar religious society, and who have not made
13193-470: The agricultural cycle. In January, Ceres (alongside the earth-goddess Tellus ) was offered spelt wheat and a pregnant sow, at the movable Feriae Sementivae . This was almost certainly held before the annual sowing of grain. The divine portion of sacrifice was the entrails ( exta ) presented in an earthenware pot ( olla ). In a rural, agricultural context, Cato the Elder describes the offer to Ceres of
13360-478: The amulet, praising Allah as the ultimate bestower of security and power and as the provider of the Qur'an and Muhammad. Diminutive amulets made in the medieval Mediterranean Islamic world include prayers executed with a block print or die ( tarsh ). Through folding, these miniature paper amulets are often even further reduced in size in order to fit into a tiny wearable box or tubular pendant cases. In other cases, however, these protective objects remain fully loyal to
13527-635: The ancient Celts , the clover , if it has four leaves, symbolizes good luck (not the Irish shamrock , which symbolizes the Christian Trinity ). In Bolivia , the god Ekeko furnishes a standard amulet, to whom one should offer at least one banknote or a cigarette to obtain fortune and welfare. In certain areas of India , Nepal , and Sri Lanka , it is traditionally believed that the jackal's horn can grant wishes and reappear to its owner at its own accord when lost. Some Sinhalese believe that
13694-554: The ancient sacrum cereale a priest, probably the Flamen Cerialis , invoked Ceres (and probably Tellus) along with twelve specialised, minor assistant-gods to secure divine help and protection at each stage of the grain cycle, beginning shortly before the Feriae Sementivae. W.H. Roscher lists these deities among the indigitamenta , names used to invoke specific divine functions. In Roman bridal processions,
13861-469: The associations that each word had. In Europe the study of "folk religion" emerged from the study of religiöse Volkskunde , a German term which was used in reference to "the religious dimension of folk-culture, or the folk-cultural dimension of religion". This term was first employed by a German Lutheran preacher, Paul Drews , in a 1901 article that he published which was titled " Religiöse Volkskunde, eine Aufgabe der praktischen Theologie ". This article
14028-633: The bearer who does not have an appropriate disposition . Talisman and amulets have interchangeable meanings. Amulets refer to any object which has the power to avert evil influences or ill luck. An amulet is an object that is generally worn for protection and made from a durable material (metal or hard-stone). Both amulets and talismans can be applied to paper examples as well. Amulets are sometimes confused with pendants , small aesthetic objects that hang from necklaces. Any given pendant may indeed be an amulet but so may any other object that purportedly protects its holder from danger. The use of amulets ( meket )
14195-462: The behest of the Sibylline oracle , the senate sent the quindecimviri to Ceres' ancient cult centre at Henna in Sicily , the goddess' supposed place of origin and earthly home. Some kind of religious consultation or propitiation was given, either to expiate Gracchus' murder – as later Roman sources would claim – or to justify it as the lawful killing of a would-be king or demagogue ,
14362-649: The benefit of all. The emperor Augustus began the restoration of Ceres' Aventine Temple; his successor Tiberius completed it. Of the several figures on the Augustan Ara Pacis , one doubles as a portrait of the Empress Livia , who wears Ceres' corona spicea . Another has been variously identified in modern scholarship as Tellus, Venus, Pax or Ceres, or in Spaeth's analysis, a deliberately broad composite of them all. The emperor Claudius ' reformed
14529-602: The body of Chinese mythology . By the 11th century ( Song period ), these practices had been blended with Buddhist ideas of karma (one's own doing) and rebirth, and Taoist teachings about hierarchies of deities, to form the popular religious system which has lasted in many ways until the present day. Chinese folk religion is sometimes categorized with Taoism , since over the centuries institutional Taoism has been attempting to assimilate or administer local religions. More accurately, Taoism emerged from and overlaps with folk religion and Chinese philosophy . Chinese folk religion
14696-413: The body, talismans hung upon or above the bed of an infirm person, and medicinal talismans. This third category can be further divided into external and internal talismans. For example, an external amulet can be placed in a bath. Jews, Christians, and Muslims have also at times used their holy books in a talisman-like manner in grave situations. For example, a bedridden and seriously ill person would have
14863-467: The book format as miniature Qur'ans, protected by illuminated metal cases. In the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, rests an example of an Egyptian block printed amulet, made during the tenth or eleventh century. Here, one can notice the minuscule ink on paper script of the size of 7.2 x 5.5 cm. Its text's final line is a verse from the Qur'an that proclaims: 'So God will safeguard you from them. He
15030-447: The boundaries between the realms of the living and the dead, and was an essential presence at funerals. Given acceptable rites and sacrifice, she helped the deceased into the afterlife as an underworld shade, or deity ( Di Manes ). Those whose death was premature, unexpected or untimely were thought to remain in the upper world, and haunt the living as a wandering, vengeful ghost ( Lemur ). They could be exorcised, but only when their death
15197-595: The conquest of the Latins. Postumius' vow was fulfilled in 493 BC: Ceres became the central deity of the new Triad , housed in a new-built Aventine temple . She was also – or became – the patron goddess of the plebs , whose enterprise as tenant farmers, estate managers, agricultural factors and importers was a mainstay of Roman agriculture. Much of Rome's grain was imported from territories of Magna Graecia , particularly from Sicily , which later Roman mythographers describe as Ceres' "earthly home". Writers of
15364-423: The consuls could no longer seek advantage for themselves by arbitrarily tampering with the laws of Rome. The Temple might also have offered asylum for those threatened with arbitrary arrest by patrician magistrates. Ceres' temple, games and cult were at least part-funded by fines imposed on those who offended the laws placed under her protection; the poet Vergil later calls her legifera Ceres (Law-bearing Ceres),
15531-534: The culture's development". This definition would view folk religion in Catholic Europe as the survivals of pre-Christian religion and the folk religion in Protestant Europe as the survivals of Medieval Catholicism. The second definition identified by Yoder was the view that folk religion represented the mixture of an official religion with forms of ethnic religion ; this was employed to explain
15698-504: The days of the mundus are marked as C(omitiales) (days when the Comitia met). Later authors mark them as dies religiosus (when no official meetings could be held). Some modern scholars seek to explain this as the later introduction and accommodation of Greek elements, grafted onto the original mundus rites. The rites of August 24 were held between the agricultural festivals of Consualia and Opiconsivia ; those of October 5 followed
15865-420: The dead. The main function of amulets was to ward off misfortune, "evil eye", and the jinn. They were meant to promote health, longevity, fertility, and potency. Despite regional variations, what unites these objects is that they are characterized by the use of particular and distinctive vocabulary of writings and symbols. These can appear in a multitude of combinations. The important elements to these amulets are
16032-513: The decades of Civil War that ushered in the Empire, such images and dedications proliferate on Rome's coinage: Julius Caesar , his opponents, his assassins and his heirs alike claimed the favour and support of Ceres and her plebeian proteges, with coin issues that celebrate Ceres, Libertas (liberty) and Victoria (victory). Imperial theology conscripted Rome's traditional cults as the divine upholders of Imperial Pax (peace) and prosperity, for
16199-424: The deity, or else wore a wreath. While Ceres' original Aventine cult was led by male priests, her "Greek rites" ( ritus graecus Cereris ) were exclusively female. Towards the end of the Second Punic War , around 205 BC, an officially recognised joint cult to Ceres and her daughter Proserpina was brought to Rome from Southern Italy (part of Magna Graecia ) along with Greek priestesses to serve it. In Rome, this
16366-491: The disease determined which deity the doctor needed to invoke in order to cure it. Doctors were extremely expensive, therefore, for most everyday purposes, the average Egyptian would have relied on individuals who were not professional doctors, but who possessed some form of medical training or knowledge. Among these individuals were folk healers and seers, who could set broken bones, aid mothers in giving birth, prescribe herbal remedies for common ailments, and interpret dreams. If
16533-498: The earth, her arms entwined by snakes, her outstretched hands bearing poppies and wheat, or her head crowned with fruits and vines. In free-standing statuary, she commonly wears a wheat-crown, or holds a wheat spray. Moneyers of the Republican era use Ceres' image, wheat ears and garlands to advertise their connections with prosperity, the annona and the popular interest. Some Imperial coin images depict important female members of
16700-675: The ending of William Shakespeare 's play The Tempest (1611). In 1801, a newly discovered dwarf planet or asteroid was named after her . Two years later, the newly discovered element Cerium was named after the dwarf planet. An aria in praise of Ceres is sung in Act 4 of the opera The Trojans (first performance 1863) by Hector Berlioz . A misanthropic poem recited by Dmitri in Dostoevsky's 1880 novel The Brothers Karamazov , (part 1, Book 3, chapter 3) reflects on Ceres' heartbroken search for her lost daughter, and her encounter with
16867-416: The evil eye away from the boys, thus serving as a form of protection. This practice continued until the early 20th century. The mezuzah and tefillin have been interpreted by some to be forms of amulet, but others disagree. Rabbi and kabbalist Naphtali Cohen (1645–1719) was said to be an expert in the magical use of amulets. He was accused of causing a fire that broke out in his house and then destroyed
17034-616: The field of religion. This included unorthodox beliefs about demons and angels, and magical practices. Later studies have emphasized the significance of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem to the many Jewish folk customs linked to mourning and in particular to the belief in hibbut ha-qever (torture of the grave) a belief that the dead are tortured in their grave for three days after burial by demons until they remember their names. This idea began with early eschatological aggadah and
17201-518: The fire remained uncertain, but its disastrous extent was taken as a sign of offense against Juno , Vulcan , and Ceres-with-Proserpina, who were all given expiatory cult. Champlin (2003) perceives the expiations to Vulcan and Ceres in particular as attempted populist appeals by the ruling emperor, Nero . The complex and multi-layered origins of the Aventine Triad and Ceres herself allowed multiple interpretations of their relationships, beyond
17368-522: The form of flat sheets made of silver, gold, copper, and lead were also popular in Late Antiquity in Palestine and Syria as well as their adjacent countries ( Mesopotamia , Asia Minor , and Iran ). Usually, they were rolled up and placed in a metal container with loops to be carried by a necklace. They were incised with a needle with manifold incantation formulars and citations and references to
17535-529: The goddess, which he replaced. Though this was an unofficial and privately funded cult ( sacra privata ), its annual feast on the Ides of September was attended by pilgrims from all over the region; this feast was also the same day as the Epulum Jovis . Pliny considered this rebuilding a fulfillment of his civic and religious duty. No images of Ceres survive from her pre-Aventine cults; the earliest date to
17702-607: The gods rather than for any reasons of piety. The intrinsic power of the amulet is also evident from others bearing inscriptions, such as vterfexix (utere fexix) or "good luck to the user." Amulet boxes could also be used, such as the example from part of the Thetford treasure , Norfolk, UK, where a gold box intended for suspension around the neck was found to contain sulphur for its apotropaic (evil-repelling) qualities. Children wore bullas and lunulas , and could be protected by amulet-chains known as Crepundia . Metal amulets in
17869-404: The grain supply and created its embodiment as an Imperial goddess, Annona , a junior partner to Ceres and the Imperial family. The traditional, Cerean virtues of provision and nourishment were symbolically extended to Imperial family members; some coinage shows Claudius' mother Antonia as an Augusta , wearing the corona spicea . The relationship between the reigning emperor, empress and Ceres
18036-480: The growth of crops, while Tellus provides them a place to grow. In 496 BC, against a background of economic recession and famine in Rome, imminent war against the Latins and a threatened secession by Rome's plebs (citizen commoners), the dictator A. Postumius vowed a temple to Ceres, Liber and Libera on or near the Aventine Hill . The famine ended and Rome's plebeian citizen-soldiery co-operated in
18203-470: The head of a lion and the body of a dwarf, was believed to be the protector of children. After giving birth, a mother would remove her Taweret amulet and put on a new amulet representing Bes. Amulets depicted specific symbols, among the most common are the ankh and the Eye of Horus , which represented the new eye given to Horus by the god Thoth as a replacement for his old eye, which had been destroyed during
18370-574: The horn can grant the holder invulnerability in any lawsuit . The Native American movement of the Ghost Dance wore ghost shirts to protect them from bullets. In the Philippines , amulets are called agimat or anting-anting . According to folklore, the most powerful anting-anting is the hiyas ng saging (directly translated as pearl or gem of the banana). The hiyas must come from a mature banana and only comes out during midnight. Before
18537-463: The humanised pattern of relations within the Triad; while Cicero asserts Ceres as mother to both Liber and Libera, consistent with her role as a mothering deity, Varro's more complex theology groups her functionally with Tellus, Terra, Venus (and thus Victoria) and with Libera as a female aspect of Liber. No native Roman myths of Ceres are known. According to interpretatio romana , by which Roman deities were identified with their Greek counterparts, she
18704-630: The import of the ritus cereris , patrician senators imported cult to the Greek goddess Cybele and established her as Magna Mater (The Great Mother) within Rome's sacred boundary , facing the Aventine Hill. Like Ceres, Cybele was a form of Graeco-Roman earth goddess. Unlike her, she had mythological ties to Troy , and thus to the Trojan prince Aeneas , mythological ancestor of Rome's founding father and first patrician Romulus . The establishment of official Roman cult to Magna Mater coincided with
18871-552: The inherent protective values of these materials depend hugely upon their natural rarity, monetary value, and symbolic implications. Among the semi-precious materials, carnelian ('aqiq) is often favoured because it was considered as the stone of Muhammad, who was said to have worn a carnelian seal set in silver on the little finger of his right hand. Besides, materials such as jade and jasper are regarded as to possess protective and medicinal properties, including assuring victory in battles, protection from lightning and treating diseases of
19038-939: The inscription " Quis ut Deus? " meaning "Who is like God?". Since the 19th century, devout Spanish soldiers, especially Carlist units, have worn a patch with an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the inscription detente bala ("stop, bullet"). Early Egyptian Christians made textual amulets with scriptural incipits , especially the opening words of the Gospels , the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 91 . These amulets have survived from late antiquity (c. 300–700 C.E.), mostly from Egypt. They were written in Greek and Coptic on strips of papyrus , parchment and other materials in order to cure bodily illnesses and/or to protect individuals from demons. Some believers, especially those of
19205-422: The internal organs. Sometimes, amulets combine different materials to achieve multiple protective effects. A combination of jade and carnelian, for instance, connotes fertility and embryogenesis. The reddish, transcalent quality of the cornelian resembles blood, which echoes the clot of congealed blood from which Allah created human (Qur. 96:2). Additionally, recurring apotropaic Qur'anic verses are often inscribed on
19372-792: The last two centuries, from the Taiping Rebellion to the Cultural Revolution , it is currently experiencing a modern revival in both Mainland China and Taiwan . Various forms have received support by the Government of the People's Republic of China , such as Mazuism in Southern China (officially about 160 million Chinese people are worshippers of Mazu ), Huangdi worship, Black Dragon worship in Shaanxi , and Cai Shen worship. The term Shenism
19539-412: The master class, there is also a forgery market in existence, which ensures that the experts of the scene maintain a monopoly on the market. With so many fakes, experts are needed for collectors to trust for obtaining authentic amulets, and not selling them fakes. Amulets vary considerably according to their time and place of origin. In many societies, religious objects serve as amulets, e.g. deriving from
19706-505: The middle Republic, and show the Hellenising influence of Demeter's iconography. Some late Republican images recall Ceres' search for Proserpina. Ceres bears a torch, sometimes two, and rides in a chariot drawn by snakes; or she sits on the sacred kiste (chest) that conceals the objects of her mystery rites. Sometimes she holds a caduceus , a symbol of Pax (Roman goddess of Peace). Augustan reliefs show her emergence, plant-like from
19873-499: The myth of Proserpina's abduction on the plains of Henna (Enna), her tracks were obscured by their trampling. If not for them, Ceres might have been spared the toils and grief of her lengthy search and separation, and humankind would have been spared the consequent famine. The myth is also a reminder that the gift of agriculture is a contract, and comes at a price. It brings well-being but also mortality. Enna, in Sicily , had strong mythological connections with Ceres and Proserpina, and
20040-498: The name of God ( Tetragrammaton ). Most of them are composed in various kinds of Aramaic ( Jewish Aramaic , Samaritan Aramaic , Christian Palestinian Aramaic , Mandaic , Syriac ) and Hebrew , but there exist also sometimes combinations with Greek . In China, Taoist specialists developed a special style of calligraphy called fulu , which they say is able to protect against evil spirits. The equivalent type of amulet in Japan
20207-748: The named person, protecting the wearer. The written stories of these people are also considered effective, and are sometimes illustrated with images of the religious figure or omens associated with them. Favoured figures include Solomon , Ali ibn Abi Talib and his sons Hasan and Husain, and the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus . Devotional manuals sometimes also promise that those reading them will be protected from demons and jinn . Apotropaic texts may even be incorporated into clothing. Weapons might also be inscribed with religious texts thought to confer protective powers. Scrolls with Qur'anic quotations, prophetic references and sacred symbols were common during war in
20374-433: The new cult had been founded, its earliest priestesses "generally were either from Naples or Velia", cities allied or federated to Rome. Elsewhere, he describes Ceres' Sicilian priestesses as "older women respected for their noble birth and character". Celibacy may have been a condition of their office; sexual abstinence was, according to Ovid, required of those attending Ceres' major, nine-day festival. Her public priesthood
20541-525: The official abolition of all non-Christian cults. The word cereal derives from Ceres' association with edible grains. Whereas Ceres represents food, her son Liber (later indistinguishable from Bacchus ) represents wine and "good living". The Roman comedian Terence (c. 195/185 – c. 159 BC) uses the line sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus which at its simplest translates as "without food and drink, love freezes" or "love needs food and wine to thrive" - probably proverbial and widespread in his own day. It
20708-408: The official doctrines and practices of organized religion . The precise definition of folk religion varies among scholars. Sometimes also termed popular belief , it consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of a religion ; but outside official doctrine and practices. The term "folk religion" is generally held to encompass two related but separate subjects. The first
20875-613: The old; it made no reference to Liber. Thereafter, Ceres was offered two separate and distinctive forms of official cult at the Aventine. Both might have been supervised by the male flamen Cerialis but otherwise, their relationship is unclear. The older form of cult included both men and women, and probably remained a focus for plebeian political identity and discontent. The new form identified its exclusively females initiates and priestesses as upholders of Rome's traditional, patrician -dominated social hierarchy and morality . A year after
21042-433: The organized religion(s) of that society. Its relatively unorganized character differentiates it from organized religion". Alternately, the sociologist of religion Matthias Zic Varul defined "folk religion" as "the relatively un-reflected aspect of ordinary practices and beliefs that are oriented towards, or productive of, something beyond the immediate here-and-now: everyday transcendence". In sociology , folk religion
21209-454: The other a ploughman with yoked oxen: the images, accompanied by the legend "conditor" ("he who stores the grain") claim his rule (a military dictatorship) as regenerative and divinely justified. Popularists used her name and attributes to appeal their guardianship of plebeian interests, particularly the annona and frumentarium ; and plebeian nobles and aediles used them to point out their ancestral connections with plebeians as commoners. In
21376-425: The person can fully possess this agimat, he must fight a supernatural creature called kapre . Only then will he be its true owner. During Holy Week , devotees travel to Mount Banahaw to recharge their amulets. Folk religion In religious studies and folkloristics , folk religion , traditional religion , or vernacular religion comprises various forms and expressions of religion that are distinct from
21543-529: The place of folk religion in the syncretic belief systems of the Americas, where Christianity had blended with the religions of indigenous American and African communities. Yoder's third definition was that often employed within folkloristics, which held that folk religion was "the interaction of belief, ritual, custom, and mythology in traditional societies", representing that which was often pejoratively characterised as superstition . The fourth definition provided by Yoder stated that folk religion represented
21710-467: The plebeian aediles, on behalf of Ceres and the people of Rome. Ancient laws of the Twelve Tables forbade the magical charming of field crops from a neighbour's field into one's own, and invoked the death penalty for the illicit removal of field boundaries. An adult who damaged or stole field-crops should be hanged "for Ceres". Any youth guilty of the same offense was to be whipped or fined double
21877-492: The poppy capsule alone is shown, this probably belongs to the opium poppy ( papaver somniferum , the "sleep-bearing poppy"). The Roman poet Vergil, in Georgics , 1.212, describes this as Cereale papaver , or "Ceres' poppy", which eases pain and brings sleep - the deepest sleep of all being death. Poppies are often woven into Ceres' wheat-stalk crown, the corona spicea , worn by her priestesses and devotees. Ceres maintained
22044-661: The present day. The belief in magic is impregnated into Thai culture and religious beliefs and folk superstitions, and this is reflected in the fact that we can still see commonplace use of amulets and magical rituals in everyday life. Some of the more commonly known amulets are of course the Buddhist votive tablets, such as the Pra Somdej Buddha image, and guru monk coins. But Thailand has an immensely large number of magical traditions, and thousands of different types of amulet and occult charm can be found in use, ranging from
22211-470: The princeps' gift of frumentio (corn dole) to the masses. Under Nerva's later dynastic successor Antoninus Pius , Imperial theology represents the death and apotheosis of the Empress Faustina the Elder as Ceres' return to Olympus by Jupiter's command. Even then, "her care for mankind continues and the world can rejoice in the warmth of her daughter Proserpina: in Imperial flesh, Proserpina
22378-493: The remit of scholars operating in both folkloristics and religious studies, by 1974 Yoder noted that U.S.-based academics in the latter continued to largely ignore it, instead focusing on the study of theology and institutionalised religion; he contrasted this with the situation in Europe, where historians of religion had devoted much time to studying folk religiosity. He also lamented that many U.S.-based folklorists also neglected
22545-503: The rituals and beliefs of contemporary Jewish folk religion in his works, The Ambivalent American Jew (1973) and American Jewry: Identity and Affiliation . June McDaniel (2007) classifies Hinduism into six major kinds and numerous minor kinds, in order to understand the expression of emotions among the Hindus. According to McDaniel, one of the major kinds is Folk Hinduism, based on local ethnic traditions and cults of local deities and
22712-556: The same conflict, a lightning strike at her temple was expiated. A fast in her honour is recorded for 191 BC, to be repeated at 5-year intervals. After 206, she was offered at least 11 further official expiations. Many of these were connected to famine and manifestations of plebeian unrest, rather than war. From the Middle Republic onwards, expiation was increasingly addressed to her as mother to Proserpina. The last known followed Rome's Great Fire of 64 AD . The cause or causes of
22879-405: The semi-legendary Numa . Ceres' senior, male priesthood was a minor flaminate whose establishment and rites were supposedly also innovations of Numa. Her affinity and joint cult with Tellus, also known as Terra Mater (Mother Earth) may have developed at this time. Much later, during the early Imperial era , Ovid describes these goddesses as "partners in labour"; Ceres provides the "cause" for
23046-476: The spirits of the dead temporary leave from the underworld to roam lawfully among the living, in what Warde Fowler describes as 'holidays, so to speak, for the ghosts'. The days when the mundus was open were among the very few occasions that Romans made official contact with the collective spirits of the dead, the Di Manes (the others being Parentalia and Lemuralia ). This possibly secondary or late function of
23213-407: The start of a new saeculum (cycle of years). It was followed by Hannibal 's defeat, the end of the Second Punic War and an exceptionally good harvest. Roman victory and recovery could therefore be credited to Magna Mater and patrician piety: so the patricians dined her and each other at her festival banquets. In similar fashion, the plebeian nobility underlined their claims to Ceres. Up to a point,
23380-468: The study of the phenomenon were Heinrich Schauert and Rudolf Kriss , the latter of whom collected one of the largest collections of folk-religious art and material culture in Europe, later housed in Munich's Bayerisches Nationalmuseum . Throughout the 20th century, many studies were made of folk religion in Europe, paying particular attention to such subjects as pilgrimage and the use of shrines . In
23547-479: The study of them, and collection. Thai amulets are still immensely popular both with Thai folk as well as with foreigners, and in recent years, a massive increase in foreign interest has caused the subject of Thai Buddhist amulets to become a commonly known topic around the world. Amulets can fetch prices ranging from a few dollars right up to millions of dollars for a single amulet. Due to the money that can be made with sorcery services, and with rare collector amulets of
23714-517: The subject of religion because it did not fit within the standard genre-based system for cataloguing folklore. Chinese folk religion is one of the labels used to describe the collection of ethnic religious traditions which have historically comprised the predominant belief system in China and among Han Chinese ethnic groups up to the present day. The devotion includes the veneration of forces of nature and ancestors , exorcism of demonic forces, and
23881-526: The takrut scroll spell, to the necromantic Ban Neng Chin Aathan, which uses the bones or flesh of the corpse of a 'hoeng prai' ghost (a person who died unnaturally, screaming, or in other strange premature circumstances), to reanimate the spirit of the dead, to dwell within the bone as a spirit, and assist the owner to achieve their goals. The list of Thai Buddhist amulets in existence is a lifetime study in its own right, and indeed, many people devote their lives to
24048-407: The term " folk belief " over "folk religion". A second problem with the use of the term folk religion that Yoder highlighted was that some scholars, particularly those operating in the sociology of religion , used the term as a synonym for ethnic religion (which is alternately known as national religion or tribal religion), meaning a religion closely tied to a particular ethnic or national group and
24215-526: The term "folk religion" in the English language was unknown, it probably developed as a translation of the German Volksreligion . One of the earliest prominent usages of the term was in the title of Joshua Trachtenberg 's 1939 work Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion . The term also gained increasing usage within the academic field of comparative religion , appearing in
24382-661: The titles of Ichiro Hori 's Folk Religion in Japan , Martin Nilsson 's Greek Folk Religion , and Charles Leslie 's reader, the Anthropology of Folk Religion . Courses on the study of folk religion came to be taught at various universities in the United States, such as John Messenger 's at Indiana University and Don Yoder 's at the University of Pennsylvania . Although the subject of folk religion fell within
24549-570: The two cults reflected a social and political divide, but when certain prodigies were interpreted as evidence of Ceres' displeasure, the senate appeased her with a new festival, the ieiunium Cereris (" fast of Ceres"). In 133 BC, the plebeian noble and tribune Tiberius Gracchus bypassed the Senate and appealed directly to the popular assembly to pass his proposed land-reforms . Civil unrest spilled into violence; Gracchus and many of his supporters were murdered by their conservative opponents. At
24716-480: The use of sacramentals in its proper disposition is encouraged only by a firm faith and devotion to the Triune God, and not by any magical or superstitious belief bestowed on the sacramental. In this regard, prayer cloths , holy oil , prayer beads , cords , scapulars , medals, and other devotional religious paraphernalia derive their power, not simply from the symbolism displayed in the object, but rather from
24883-707: The use of amulets and derided the "folly of amulet writers." Other rabbis, however, approved the use of amulets. Regional traditions surrounding the birth of children often included amulets to ward off the devil, the evil eye, or demons such as Lilith . So-called miracle rabbi ( Ba’al Shem ) would be responsible for writing text amulets and conjuring up the names of God and protective angels. Midwives would also create amulets, often filled with herbs, to protect mothers and their young children. In Southern Germany , Alsace and areas of Switzerland , young Jewish boys wore textile neckbands or collars for their Brit Milah . Coins or coral stones on these neckbands were meant to distract
25050-400: The value of damage. Ceres' signs and iconography, like Demeter's from early Mycenae onwards, include poppies - symbolic of fertility, sleep, death and rebirth. Poppies readily grow on soil disturbed by ploughing, as in wheatfields, and bear innumerable tiny seeds. They were raised as a crop by Greek and Roman farmers, partly for their fibrous stems and for the food value of their seeds Where
25217-575: The whole Jewish quarter of Frankfurt , and of preventing the extinguishing of the fire by conventional means because he wanted to test the power of his amulets; he was imprisoned and forced to resign his post and leave the city. In Christianity , regularly attending church, frequently receiving Holy Communion , Bible study , and a consistent prayer life are taught as being among the best ways to ward against demonic influence. The Catholic , Oriental Orthodox , Eastern Orthodox , Lutheran , Anglican and Pentecostal denominations of Christianity hold that
25384-630: Was reinterpreted for Ceres in Roman art and literature . The name Cerēs stems from Proto-Italic *kerēs ('with grain, Ceres'; cf. Faliscan ceres , Oscan kerrí 'Cererī' < * ker-s-ēi- < * ker-es-ēi- ), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₃-os ('nourishment, grain'), a derivative of the root *ḱerh₃- , meaning 'to feed'. The Proto-Italic adjective * keresjo - ('belonging to Ceres') can also be reconstructed from Oscan kerríiúí (fem. kerríiai ), and Umbrian śerfi (fem. śerfie ). A masculine form * keres-o - ('with grain, Cerrus')
25551-404: Was a goddess of agriculture , grain crops , fertility and motherly relationships. She was originally the central deity in Rome's so-called plebeian or Aventine Triad , then was paired with her daughter Proserpina in what Romans described as "the Greek rites of Ceres". Her seven-day April festival of Cerealia included the popular Ludi Ceriales (Ceres' games). She was also honoured in
25718-440: Was a hemispherical pit or underground vault in Rome, now lost. It was usually sealed by a stone lid known as the lapis manalis . On August 24, October 5 and November 8, it was opened with the official announcement mundus patet ("the mundus is open") and offerings were made there to agricultural or underworld deities, including Ceres as goddess of the fruitful earth and guardian of its underworld portals. Its opening offered
25885-584: Was adopted variously as a brewer's motto, celebration, warning, and a subject of art in Renaissance Europe, especially the north and the Dutch Republic. Ceres represented the grains that produced beer through the brewing process. Imagery that represented the profitable business of commercial brewing showed the grain-goddess as a respectable matron and Liber-Bacchus as a gentleman; a wholesome picture of moral sobriety and restraint. Ceres
26052-571: Was an equivalent to Demeter, one of the Twelve Olympians of Greek religion and mythology; this made Ceres one of Rome's twelve Di Consentes , daughter of Saturn and Ops , sister of Jupiter , mother of Proserpina by Jupiter and sister of Juno , Vesta , Neptune and Dis . Ceres' known mythology is indistinguishable from Demeter's: When Ceres sought through all the earth with lit torches for Proserpina, who had been seized by Dis Pater, she called her with shouts where three or four roads meet; from this it has endured in her rites that on certain days
26219-419: Was designed to be read by young Lutheran preachers leaving the seminary, to equip them for the popular variants of Lutheranism that they would encounter among their congregations and which would differ from the official, doctrinal Lutheranism that they had been accustomed to. Although developing within a religious environment, the term came to be adopted by German academics in the field of folkloristics . During
26386-471: Was first formally approved under Pope Leo XIII . The form of this scapular is somewhat distinct, in that the two segments of cloth that constitute it have the form of a small shield; one is made of blue and the other of black cloth, and one of the bands likewise is blue and the other black. Both portions of the scapular bear the well-known representation of the Archangel St. Michael slaying the dragon and
26553-610: Was first published by AJA Elliot in 1955 to describe Chinese folk religion in Southeast Asia . Indigenous Philippine folk religions are the distinct native religions of various ethnic groups in the Philippines , where most follow belief systems in line with animism . Generally, these indigenous folk religions are referred to as Anitism or Bathalism . Some of these beliefs stem from pre-Christian religions that were especially influenced by Hinduism and were regarded by
26720-403: Was formalised in titles such as Augusta mater agrorum ("The august mother of the fields) and Ceres Augusta . On coinage, various emperors and empresses wear her corona spicea , showing that the goddess, the emperor and his spouse are conjointly responsible for agricultural prosperity and the all-important provision of grain. A coin of Nerva (reigned AD 96–98) acknowledges Rome's dependence on
26887-516: Was known as the ritus graecus Cereris ; its priestesses were granted Roman citizenship so that they could pray to the gods "with a foreign and external knowledge, but with a domestic and civil intention"; the recruitment of respectable matrons seems to acknowledge the civic value of the cult. It was based on ancient, ethnically Greek cults to Demeter, most notably the Thesmophoria to Demeter and Persephone , whose cults and myths also provided
27054-425: Was reasonably due. For her service at burials or cremations, well-off families offered Ceres sacrifice of a pig. The poor could offer wheat, flowers, and a libation. The expected afterlife for the exclusively female initiates in the sacra Cereris may have been somewhat different; they were offered "a method of living" and of "dying with better hope". The mundus cerialis or Caereris mundus ("the world of Ceres")
27221-409: Was reserved to respectable matrons, be they married, divorced or widowed. The process of their selection and their relationship to Ceres' older, entirely male priesthood is unknown; but they far outnumbered her few male priests, and would have been highly respected and influential figures in their own communities. Roman tradition credited Ceres' eponymous festival, Cerealia , to Rome's second king,
27388-486: Was synonymous with grain and, by extension, with bread. Ceres was credited with the discovery of spelt wheat (Latin far ), the yoking of oxen and ploughing, the sowing, protection and nourishing of the young seed, and the gift of agriculture to humankind; before this, it was said, man had subsisted on acorns, and wandered without settlement or laws. She had the power to fertilize, multiply and fructify plant and animal seed, and her laws and rites protected all activities of
27555-537: Was the site of Ceres most ancient sanctuary. Flowers were said to bloom throughout the year on its "miraculous plain". Vitruvius (c.80 – 15 BC) describes the "Temple of Ceres near the Circus Maximus" (her Aventine Temple) as typically Araeostyle , having widely spaced supporting columns, with architraves of wood, rather than stone. This species of temple is "clumsy, heavy roofed, low and wide, [its] pediments ornamented with statues of clay or brass, gilt in
27722-564: Was then further developed by the kabbalists. Raphael Patai has been acknowledged as one of the first to utilize anthropology to study Jewish folk religion. In particular he has drawn attention to the important role of the female divine element, which he sees in the goddess Asherah , the Shekhinah , the Matronit , and Lilith . Writer Stephen Sharot has stated that Jewish popular religion in common with other forms of folk religion, has
27889-430: Was widespread among both living and dead ancient Egyptians. They were used for protection and as a means of "...reaffirming the fundamental fairness of the universe". The oldest amulets found are from the predynastic Badarian Period, and they persisted all the way through to Roman times. Pregnant women would wear amulets depicting Taweret , the goddess of childbirth, to protect against miscarriage. The god Bes , who had
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