Biographies

Jacob

Jacob, the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham, is regarded through biblical accounts as the founder of the Israelite nation. His older twin brother, Esau, was a nomadic hunter. The Hebrew Bible indicates that Jacob tricked his older brother out of his birthright by decieving their father, but escaped punishment from Esau and fled to Mesopotamia, where his ancestors lived. God later changed Jacob's name to Israel, and his twelve sons became the roots of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. T

Denominations

Sectarian Shinto

Sectarian Shinto generally refers to a set of thirteen New Religions founded in Japan prior to World War II. Because of this, Sectarian Shinto is not as much a denomination as it is a categorization for a number of individual religious systems. Although Shinto frequently inspired these religious systems, they were usually wholly new movements rather than actual denominations of the Shinto religion itself. On the surface, several of these religions seem to promote Shinto-influenced beliefs such

Symbols

Lotus

Common in Buddhism, images of the lotus generally symbolize purity. Normally, the lotus plant grows deep in the mud at the bottom of lakes and ponds, but the bud and petals of the lotus flower rise to blossom above the water, suggesting an escape from impurity. In addition to symbolizing purity, the lotus may also represent individual practitioners of Buddhism who are of the world but are no longer burdened by the sufferings of this lifetime. This gave rise to the widespread u

Texts

Yajurveda Samhita

The Yajurveda Samhita is a collection of sacrificial formulas and serves as a prayer book for a type of Vedic priest called adhvaryus. Most of the prayers contained in this scripture are short poetic prayers appearing in a formulaic fashion. Long prose prayers are present on occasion. Even more frequent, however, are the long and more esoteric formulaic prayers. This latter group often appears to be a senseless conglomeration of words, combining and identifying things that seem to have little t

Holidays

Easter

Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who, according to Christians, was crucified two days before Passover and rose from the dead on the Passover day, identified in modern times as Sunday. A passionflower, commonly used in Easter decorations. This holiday is tied to the Jewish Passover, and since Hebrew calendar is based on lunar cycles, its date changes each year. In the early days, Christians in Rome and Alexandria celebrated on the first Sunday afte

Jacob

Sectarian Shinto

Lotus

Yajurveda Samhita

Easter

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