Mizo Beliefs and the Christian Gospel: Their Interaction with Reference to the Concepts of Health and Healing

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Ngursangzeli Behera
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Northeast India ◽  
World Views ◽  
Concepts Of Health ◽  
The World ◽  
Evil Spirits ◽  
Health And Healing ◽  
Gospel Message ◽  
Christian Beliefs

The Mizos of northeast India have their own unique culture and society with indigenous religious beliefs that were closely linked with their everyday needs and their world-views. For the Mizos the world was inhabited by spirits, some benevolent and some evil. The evil spirits were believed to cause all kinds of illnesses and misfortunes, and in order to recover from such illnesses the evil spirits had to be placated by sacrifices known as inthawina which can be understood as ‘ceremonial cures’. The Mizos lived in fear, always afraid of evil spirits, and their religious energies were centred on propitiating these evil spirits through frequent sacrifices. The Puithiams (priests) would officiate at such events. Christianity brought inevitable change in the Mizos' religious and world-views. Nevertheless, many of the existing pre-Christian beliefs of Mizo society were adopted or modified by missionaries to help the Mizos to understand more fully Christian concepts and beliefs, especially with reference to the concepts of health and healing. It can also be argued that pre-Christian social, religious and cultural beliefs carried in them ‘theologies of life’ which were adopted by missionaries or those spreading the gospel message, thus allowing these practices, as well as Christian doctrines themselves, to be seen in a new light.

Themes, Diction, and Prosodic Systems in Yoruba Lullabies

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olusanmi Babarinde ◽  
Elizabeth Babarinde
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
World Views ◽  
Scholarly Research ◽  
Long Term Consequences ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Descriptive Survey ◽  
Future Learning

Lullabies are essentially sung for their soothing nature but, as this article shows, they have other important functions. One of the most important of these is that lullabies may provide much-needed language stimulation with important long-term consequences for future learning. This paper begins the work of addressing the dearth of scholarly research on lullabies, especially in the Yoruba (Nigeria: Niger-Congo) culture. It looks at the range of themes, dictions, and prosody that are intertwined to reveal Yoruba beliefs and world-views about children, starting with their time in the womb. The study uses a descriptive survey method to analyse data collected through participant observation. It shows that Yoruba lullabies not only offer insights into Yoruba cultural beliefs but also depend greatly on figurative expression and prosodic systems. These rich literary qualities identify lullabies as the earliest sub-genre of children's poetry.

Sherry C. M. Lindquist and Asa Simon Mittman. With a Preface by China Miéville, Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders. New York: The Morgan Library & Museum, 2018, 175 pp., more than 90 colored ill.

Mediaevistik ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 284-284
Author(s):  
Albrecht Classen
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Femme Fatale ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Narrow Sense ◽  
The World ◽  
Evil Spirits ◽  
Morgan Library ◽  
Illustrated Book

This wonderfully illustrated book accompanied an exhibition that took place at the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, from June 8 to September 23, 2018, authored by two well established and respected art historian*s, who provide us with a sweeping view of the world of monsters and many other related creatures in medieval fantasy. While previous research mostly focused on monsters in the narrow sense of the word, i.e., grotesque and oversized human-like creatures normally threatening ordinary people in their existence, Lindquist and Mittman pursue a much broader perspective and incorporate also many other features in human imagination, including wonders, aliens, Jews, Muslims, strangers in general, the femme fatale, sirens, undines, mermaids (but there is no reference to the Melusine figure, though she would fit much better into the general framework), devils, and evil spirits. However, I do not understand why ‘gargoyles’ have been left out here. This vast approach allows them also to address the beasts from the Physiologus tradition, then natural wonders, giants, and then, quite surprisingly, religious scenes in psalters (148), depictions of nobles playing chess (150; where are the wild men alleged surrounding the players?), the whore of Babylon (153), figures from the Apocalypse, and anything else that smacks of wonder.

Billy Graham Was a Transfer Student

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Laats
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Transfer Student ◽  
Evangelical Christians ◽  
Bob Jones University ◽  
The World ◽  
Billy Graham ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
Time Faculty

By the 1950s, tensions within the world of fundamentalism led to a new effort at reform. Self-proclaimed neo-evangelical reformers hoped to strip away some of the unnecessary harshness of fundamentalist traditions while remaining truly evangelical Christians. Often these reforms were personified in the revival campaigns of evangelist Billy Graham. The network of fundamentalist schools struggled to figure out its relationship to this new divide in the fundamentalist family. Some schools embraced the reform, while others decried it. At the same time, faculty members at all the schools wrestled with strict supervision of their religious beliefs and teaching. From time to time, schools purged suspect faculty members, as in the 1953 firing of Ted Mercer at Bob Jones University.

scholarly journals “This is not my decision; I have no alternative”. Perceptions and experiences of marriage age and family planning among Syrian women and men: a primary care study

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar Döner ◽  
Kadriye Şahin
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Family Planning ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Contraceptive Methods ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Primary Health

Abstract Purpose: Reproductive health includes the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide. In this context, both women and men have rights. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the obstacles in using these rights and to describe perceptions on marriage and family planning (FP) of Syrian women and men and to increase awareness for developing new policies on the Primary Health Care. Methods: The study was conducted using qualitative method, consisting of in-depth interviews with 54 participants; 43 women and 11 men who had to emigrate from varied regions of Syria at different times since 2011. Syrian women living in Hatay, in the south of Turkey were identified from Primary Health Care Center. Most of the Syrian women had given birth to the first two children before the age of 20 years. The interviewees were selected by purposive and snowball sampling. Results: The result was examined under seven headings: knowledge about FP and contraceptive methods, hesitation about contraceptive methods, emotional pressure of family and fear of maintaining marriage, embarrassing of talking about sexuality and contraception, the effects of belief and culture on contraception, psychological reflections of war, and changes in the perception of health during the process of immigration. The most significant factors affecting the approaches to FP and contraceptive methods of the women in this study were determined to be education, traditions, economic status, and religious beliefs. The most important factors affecting participants’ FP and contraceptive method approaches are education, cultural beliefs, economic status, and religious beliefs. Conclusions: The primary healthcare centers are at a very strategical point for offering FP services to help address patients’ unmet contraceptive needs and improve pregnancy outcomes. More attention should be paid to social determinants that influence the access to reproductive health. Moreover, efforts can be done to address gender inequality that intercept FP. The most important strategy for primary health systems to follow the gender barriers that hinder access to FP services and men are empowered to share responsibility for FP.

Elicüra: The “Feasts of Merit” Shawl of the Chakhesang Naga of Northeast India

2021 ◽  
pp. 0972558X2199079
Author(s):  
Yekha-ü ◽  
Queenbala Marak
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Northeast India ◽  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Gift Economy ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right

Feasts of Merit are an important social way of life among different tribes in the world, especially in Southeast Asia. In Northeast India, the different Naga tribes were well-known for this practice before the advent of Christianity. However, among the Chakhesang Nagas, after the advent of Christianity, the practices of giving feasts continue to this day with minor modifications in terms of rituals and taboos while the symbolic meaning and values behind this practice are retained. The Feasts of Merit, among them, are intricately connected to their worldview, whereby the feast-givers distribute their wealth in terms of sacrificing mithun, buffalo, and/or other livestock, in consecutive feasts, and receiving in return a higher social rank and the right to wear a special shawl (“Feasts of Merit” shawl), variously known as hapidasa, elicüra, and thüpikhü and the right to adorn the house with special architecture (mithun and buffalo wood carvings on the wall, and to put up a horn at the pinnacle of the house front). This article discusses the “Feasts of Merit” shawl and how it is connected intrinsically to the ethos of the tribe, and in doing so it states that the Chakhesang feasts can be looked upon as gift economy.

Japanese divine light in Kinshasa transcultural resonance and critique in the religiously multiple city

2021 ◽  
pp. 205030322098698
Author(s):  
Peter Lambertz
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Spiritual Healing ◽  
Dr Congo ◽  
Discursive Space ◽  
New Religions ◽  
Concepts Of Health ◽  
Urban Africa ◽  
Local Tradition ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Health And Healing

The Japanese “new religions” ( Shin Shūkyō) active in Kinshasa (DR Congo) nearly all perform healing through the channeling of invisible divine light. In the case of Sekai Kyūseikyō (Church of World Messianity), the light of Johrei cannot be visually apprehended, but is worn as an invisible aura on the practitioner’s body. This article discusses the trans-cultural resonances between Japan and Central Africa regarding the ontology of spiritual force, regimes of subjectivity, and the gradual embodiment of Johrei divine light as a protection against (suspicions of) witchcraft. Meanwhile, I argue that religious multiplicity in urban Africa encourages cultural reflexivity about concepts of health and healing, self-responsibility, and Pentecostal suspicion-mongering of occult sciences. Thus, Johrei divine light not only feeds into a longstanding local tradition of spiritual healing; within the religiously multiple city, it is also a discursive space for, and an experience and performance of, emic critique.

The Role of Religious Force in the Wukan Incident

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hou Yuxin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Social Management ◽  
The Village

Abstract The Wukan Incident attracted extensive attention both in China and around the world, and has been interpreted from many different perspectives. In both the media and academia, the focus has very much been on the temporal level of the Incident. The political and legal dimensions, as well as the implications of the Incident in terms of human rights have all been pored over. However, what all of these discussions have overlooked is the role played by religious force during the Incident. The village of Wukan has a history of over four hundred years, and is deeply influenced by the religious beliefs of its people. Within both the system of religious beliefs and in everyday life in the village, the divine immortal Zhenxiu Xianweng and the religious rite of casting shengbei have a powerful influence. In times of peace, Xianweng and casting shengbei work to bestow good fortune, wealth and longevity on both the village itself, and the individuals who live there. During the Wukan Incident, they had a harmonizing influence, and helped to unify and protect the people. Looking at the specific roles played by religion throughout the Wukan Incident will not only enable us to develop a more meaningful understanding of the cultural nature and the complexity of the Incident itself, it will also enrich our understanding, on a divine level, of innovations in social management.

The image of a modern shaman. A literary example of Ida Brzezińska

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-134
Author(s):  
Angelika Moskal
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Popular Literature ◽  
The Other ◽  
The World ◽  
Evil Spirits ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Way

Abstract: The shaman figure is most often associated with primitive communities, inhabiting, among others Siberia. The shaman plays one of the most important roles in them - he is an intermediary between the world of people and the world of spirits. Responds to, among others for the safe passage of souls to the other side and protects her from evil spirits. However, is there room for representatives of this institution in contemporary Polish popular literature? How would they find themselves in the 21st century? The article aims to show the interpretation of the shaman on the example of Ida Brzezińska, the heroine of the books of Martyna Raduchowska. I intend to introduce the role and functions of the „shaman from the dead”, juxtaposing the way Ida works (including reading sleepy margins from a rather unusual dream catcher, carrying out souls and the consequences that await in the event of failure or making contact with the dead) with the methods described by scholars shamans. The purpose of the work is to show how much Raduchowska tried to adapt shamanism in her work by modernizing it, and how many elements she added from herself to make the story more attractive.

“Reading mysterious Chersonesos writings”. Interactive excursion-play around cultural heritage objects of Byzantine Chersonesos (part 1)

2021 ◽  
pp. 616-631
Author(s):  
L.V. Dmitrieva
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
World Views ◽  
Cultural Space ◽  
Russian State ◽  
State Pedagogical ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Culture ◽  
Cultural Heritage Objects ◽  
Partnership Program

The proposed scenario of the interactive excursion-performance is designed for a children's audience of 9–11 years. The route is planned as a tour of the historical and cultural space, and reinvigoration of this Byzantine city. Thus, the excursion content is realized by means of a visual and associative consequence connected with the places of interests artistic artifacts: Christian character images reveal the world views of the medieval culture. The project is part of the academic partnership program of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A.I. Herzen with the historical and archaeological museum-reserve “Chersonesos Tauric” and is implemented during visiting summer practices of bachelors of the Department of Theory and History of Culture.

Anthropo-entomophagy and ethno-entomology among the ethnic Mao-Naga and Poumai-Naga tribes of Manipur, Northeast India

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 507-514
Author(s):  
K. Kapesa ◽  
W. Deepanita Devi ◽  
R.K. Bonysana ◽  
Y. Rajashekar
Keyword(s):  
Northeast India ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Traditional Practices ◽  
Edible Insect ◽  
The World ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys ◽  
Village Elders ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, has a great deal of importance and history with many countries of the world however, its consumption species of insects and their value differ from community to community. Here, we aimed to study the ethnic traditional practices of entomophagy and its uses in traditional ethno-entomology practiced by the Mao-Naga tribe and the Poumai-Naga tribe from Senapati district of Manipur, Northeast India. We conducted individual semi-structured questionnaire surveys from different villages of both the tribes with ages varying from 22 to 70 years. The respondents comprise village elders, house makers and the youth. The study shows a total of 53 and 51 species of insects being consumed by the Mao-Naga and Poumai-Naga tribes respectively consisting of 9 orders and 18 families. The order Hymenoptera has the maximum number having 20 edible insect species from both the tribes. The order Diptera, Isoptera and Mantodea has the least edible insect of 1 species each from both the tribes. Besides entomophagy, some insect’s species were believed to have ethno-entomological uses.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document