Learn about the ethereal, the other-worldly, and the unknown of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in this fascinating look at the supernatural in the modern world.

Find a path to the future as you discover the great traditions of fortune telling of the past.

Learn about the beliefs and folklore of death, the apocalypse, and the afterlife of societies around the globe, including articles on heaven and hell, our fascination with the dead, the quest for immortality, and so much more.

African traditional religion encompasses a variety of non-dogmatic, spiritual practices followed by millions around the world. Some scholars argue it is related to the Nubian religion of Egypt's Dynastic Period. In an expanded second edition, this book examines the nature of African traditional religion and describes common attributes of various cultural belief systems, with an emphasis on West Africa. Principal elements studied include sacrifice, salvation and culture, modes of revelation, divination, and African resilience in the face of invasion and colonization. The religious experiences of black people throughout the Americas are also covered. The author finds the cosmology, symbolism and rituals of the Yoruba culture to be the fundamental bases of African traditional religion, and draws similarities between the oral and written literature of West Africans and that of New World practitioners. The influence of Islam and Christianity is also discussed. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Learn about the folklore and beliefs associated with natural rites around the world in this richly illustrated text.

The volume Religion beyond its Private Role in Modern Society aims at contributing to the debate on the distinction between public and private spheres with regard to the role of religion in modern societies. This issue which is inherent to many conceptions regarding social order, modernity, freedom of conscience, and the changing role and function of religion is discussed not only from a social scientific but also from a historical and philosophical point of view. The articles dwell on several aspects of the role of religion in different societies in modern times, and the overall theme is explored from the perspective of various religious traditions and groups, both institutional and non-institutional. It turns out that the distinction made is difficult to maintain. Contributors include: Bart Labuschagne, Linda Woodhead, Niek Brunsveld, Dick Douwes, Mohammed Ghaly, Heleen Murre-van den Berg, David Novak, Alexandros Sakellariou, Matthew Tennant, Bruno Verbeek, Ernestine G.E. van der Wall, William Arfman, Stef Aupers, Jeroen Boekhoven, Meerten B. ter Borg, and Kees de Groot.

Together with the sixteenth century, the nineteenth century is universally recognized as one of the two most creative periods in Protestant thought. It is also widely regarded as a period that marked a break with the heritage of the Reformation. In five elegantly written essays, B. A. Gerrish challenges this assumption by showing that some of the foremost leaders of nineteenth-century liberal Protestantism found loyalty to their tradition compatible with change and desired a development, rather than either rejection or repetition, of traditional doctrines. Gerrish considers five basic theological issues and shows how each is developed in the thinking of a nineteenth-century theologian of the Reformed tradition. The formal question of continuity and change in theological reflection is viewed through the work of Schleiermacher. Four other Reformed leaders are then studied to exemplify the material transformation of particular doctrines: Nevin (the church), John McLeod Campbell (the atonement), Alexander Schweizer (providence and predestination), and Biedermann (life eternal). Gerrish permits each of the five theologians to speak for himself about what he was doing and how it constituted a continuation of old doctrines. In so doing Gerrish invites the provocative question whether there was not something characteristically Protestant about their thinking precisely because they understood continuity as a kind of change. The essays offer a reassessment of nineteenth-century theological history, fresh interpretations of some classical answers to enduring theological questions, and a contribution to the wider problem of tradition in the modern world.

Originally published in 1974, Ritual in Industrial Society is based on several years’ research including interviews and observations into the importance of ritual in industrial society within modern Britain. The book addresses how identity and meaning for people of all occupations and social classes can be derived through rituals and provides an expansive and diverse examination of how rituals are used in society, including in birth, marriage and death. The book offers an examination into the use of symbolic action in the body to articulate experiences which words cannot adequately handle and suggests that this enables modern men and women to overcome the mind-body splits which characterise modern technological society. In addition to this, the book examines ritual as a tool for articulating and sharing religious experiences, a point often overlooked by more intellectual approaches to religion in sociology. In addition to this, the book covers an exploration into ritual in social groups and how this is used to develop a sense of belonging among members. The book will be of interest to sociologists as well as academics of religion and theology, social workers and psychotherapists.

This book investigates the concept of worldview, in its numerous aspects, and how worldviews impact, shape, and influence individuals, communities, societies, and cultures. It explores various worldviews—religious, spiritual, and secular—using a comprehensive approach to highlight their breadth, depth, and scope. John Valk argues that everyone has a worldview, and that worldview is often shaped and influenced by individual circumstances and situations. While worldviews have similar structures to one another, they vary in content, including differences in metanarratives, teachings, ethics, and more. In the course of explaining how worldviews respond to life’s ultimate and existential challenges, the book poses ontological questions to highlight various (world)views on the nature of being and the human, and epistemological questions pertaining to sources of knowledge and certainty. Inviting readers to reflect on their own worldviews as they explore the worldviews of others, Valk also reveals how certain universal worldview beliefs are interpreted in particular contexts.