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Religions - Rivers of Faith

By The Pluralism Project

An introduction to the world’s religious traditions through the lens of America. The religious traditions of humankind are shown here as circles, each containing a commonly used symbol of that tradition. But this visual image of separate boundaried circles—graphically convenient as it is—is highly misleading, for every religious tradition has grown through the ages in dialogue and historical interaction with others.

Read on pluralism.org

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Samhain

Samhain is a pagan religious festival originating from an ancient Celtic spiritual tradition. In modern times, Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “SAH-win”) is usually celebrated from October 31 to November 1 to welcome in the harvest and usher in “the dark half of the year.

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The Wheel of the Year: The Calendar of Pagan Festivals Explained

There are such myriad historical and contemporary variations and semantic complexities when dealing with paganism that a book-length article would be needed to fully cover it. The wheel as described here is broadly what is observed today by modern pagans, chiefly of the UK and Ireland.

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The Wheel of the Year: The 8 Festivals in the Wiccan Calendar

The Wheel of the Year is a symbol represents the 8 festivals important to many pagans, Wiccans, and witches. These holidays — knows as Sabbats — follow a nature-based calendar and include four solar festivals and four seasonal festivals set in between them.

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What’s in a Word? Samsara

Our expert explains the etymology of samsara.

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Taking Refuge in the Triple Gem

Essentially each practitioner of Buddhist meditation makes the journey alone, but many find that committing themselves to the three jewels—Buddha, dharma, and sangha—helps take them further.

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Defining Paganism and Neopaganism

I can’t believe I am diving into this linguistic swamp again, but here goes. Recently, I’ve been engaging in some online discussions with polytheists and the “Pagan enough” debate was aroused, of course, and it got me thinking.

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Dharma: The Social Order

Dharma is a concept of social order and duty that sustains the whole universe. A person’s placement in a caste (varna) and birth group (jati) is one element of dharma. Jati is historically also used to determine social interactions and marriages, as dharma guides every aspect of daily life.

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Hindu Concepts

This article explains the Hindu concepts of Atman, Dharma, Varna, Karma, Samsara, Purushartha, Moksha, Brahman, Bhagavan and Ishvara.

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The Pāramis: Heart of Buddha’s Teachings and Our Own Practice

One of the roots of the word parami conveys the sense of “supreme quality.” Pāramītā means “going toward” something, going toward perfection.

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Find out How Hinduism Defines Dharma

Learn about the path of righteousness.

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EXPLORE TOPIC

Comparing Belief Traditions