Popular belief

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Popular beliefs are studied as a sub-field of

superstitions
are some of the themes explored.

Social scientists who study popular belief offer explanations for behaviors and events that arose as a means of redress in times of adversity or from perceived practical or spiritual utility. The cause of the European witch craze, responsible for the death of many older women in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, is one such area of research. The attitudes to sanctity and relics in the central Middle Ages, which represent a

bottom-up
phenomenon (whereby relics became acceptable to the Roman Catholic Church as a result of their popularity among the masses), is another widely studied area of popular belief.

History

European Middle Ages

The population of pre-modern, Western Europe was exceedingly liable to pain, sickness, and premature death.

saints and their relics, as well as magic, making a charm from the Eucharist wafer for example, for relief of both great and small problems.[1]

Early Modern Europe

Protestant Reformation
.

Modern Europe

Only with the increased search for scientific explanation of the universe did Western Europeans begin to abandon their recourse to the supernatural. Science and technology have made us less vulnerable to some of the hazards which confronted the people of the past.

Yet in many parts of the contemporary world, spirit beliefs and practices have continue to serve a pivotal role in addressing the discontinuities and uncertainties of modern life. The myriad ways in which devotees engage the spirit world shows the tremendous creative potential of these practices and their innate adaptability to changing times and circumstances.

Modern Asia

Anthropological case studies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam investigate the role and impact of different social, political, and economic dynamics in the reconfiguration of local spirit worlds in modern Southeast Asia. Their findings contribute to the re-enchantment debate by revealing that the “spirited modernities” that have emerged in the process not only embody a distinct feature of the contemporary moment, but also invite a critical rethinking of the concept of modernity itself.

Popular Piety

Also known as

Catholic church in Western Europe, and the practices are generally allowed, if not accepted. Forms of popular piety can be seen from the earliest Christian communities through the Middle Ages
and into the present day.

Folk religions take two forms in Asia: as distinct religions (East Asia) and as popularized versions of world religions (South and Southeast Asia). Chinese Folk Religion, in its present form dating back to the

Buddha and other bodhisattvas as gods, and using Buddhist meditational techniques. The Confucian influence is the concept of filial piety and associated practices. The numerous gods are organized into a hierarchy headed by the Jade Emperor, a deity borrowed from Taoism. Important annual rituals reflect their origin in an agrarian way of life (e.g., a harvesttime festival), but have been given new or additional meaning to accord with the ancestral cult or Buddhism. The religion is not centrally organized and lacks a formal canon. Rituals take place before home altars or at temples, which have no fixed congregations. Adherents vary considerably in belief and practice. Generally, folk religionists are fatalistic yet believe that one's luck can be affected by pleasing ancestors or gods, by locating graves and buildings in places where vital natural forces are located (geomancy), and by balancing opposing forces (yin, yang) within one's body.[2]

In

Chinese Folk Religion. However, unlike the Chinese case, most Korean spirit mediums are women, a vestige from a time when female deities dominated the folk religion. The Japanese have been influenced by Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Buddhism and Shinto have separate organizations, buildings, festivals, and religious specialists. Thus one can speak of Japanese religions that individuals blend in different ways but not of a distinct Japanese folk religion.[3]

Burmese, Sri Lankan, and Thai
Buddhism.

See also

References

  1. ISBN 1-55111-133-0
  2. ^ Wee 1977, Freedman 1974
  3. ^ Smith 1974
  4. ^ Geertz 1960
  5. ^ Hassan 1987

External links

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