Spanish Mysticism

Although religion is not the universal opium of the people, it helps many escape from reality. Sister Cecilia wants to become a saint, which seems to be her goal in life

Santeria is built on sympathetic, homeopathic magic, imitative. It revolves around the laws of contact and similarity.

She believes that self-knowledge must be obtained internally. In Late Medieval Mysticism, she states that “maintaining itself in the sweet retreat of self-knowledge and of God’s goodness, the soul comes humbly to see itself for what it is” (Petry, 1957, p. 265). This shows that Catherine of Siena believes that in order for us to understand and obtain self-knowledge, we must retreat ourselves towards God. In this manner, our soul will try to understand itself, thus allowing us to obtain self-knowledge. Furthermore, Catherine of Siena mentions that “the soul, who is lifted by a very great and yearning desire for the honor of God and the salvation of souls, begins by exercising herself, for a certain space of time, in the ordinary virtues, remaining in the cell of self-knowledge, in order to know better the goodness of God toward her” (Petry, section 1, p. 270). This part of the text may refer to Catherine’s own struggle to obtain self-knowledge. This is because she spent a lot of her life in isolation from the age of 18 to 23, which she did in order to exercise her soul (Hennig, 2018, p. 1). As mentioned before, she believed this would allow her to “[remain] in the cell of self-knowledge” (Petry, section 1, p. 270) and that it would allow her to know the goodness of God. In addition, she states that “if thou wilt arrive at a perfect knowledge and enjoyment of me, the Eternal Truth, that thou shouldest never go outside the knowledge of thyself, … thou wilt know me and thyself” (Petry, section 4, p. 274). This statement demonstrates that if you are able to understand God internally, it will enable you to obtain self-knowledge. In other words, this reiterates Catherine’s view that understanding God internally is the way to understand

The assigned readings present multiple occult beliefs, and describe potential causes and reinforcers. Alcock (1995) held the view that the brain and nervous system worked together to create beliefs targeting survival, while Singer and Benassi (1981) believed social, environmental, and cognitive factors acted in separate ways to reinforce occult beliefs. Parallels exist between contributing factors desccrive by Singer and Benassi (1981) and the seven units listed by Alcock (1995); however, Alcock (1995) described them as causes of the belief engine, while Singer and Benassi (1981) described them as factors contributing to the support and growth of occult beliefs.

Modern practitioners of Santeria may be attracted to the religion for a variety of reasons, notable among which are curiosity with secret rituals and the longing among many immigrants and people of color to get in touch with Caribbean and African roots. What each specific individual wants from a religion is difficult to generalize upon, but Santeria offers a way for people to achieve harmony in their lives through communication with and obedience to orishas, the divine beings that act as intermediaries between humans and the Supreme Being, Olodumare. Santeria teaches how to know and appease the specific desires of a pantheon of orishas who alert devotees to problems in their lives and protect them from harm. In

Spirituality gives meaning and purposes to their belief (51). In Reconnecting science and spirituality, Walach defines spirituality as “a way to understand the natural makeup of the world by means of rational methods of inquiry”. This quotes allows the world to have faith in their own beliefs (425). The happenings in Hydesville involving the Fox sisters started to increase the rate of mediums around the world (Walliss 129). Spiritualism started to have a greater influence of people’s lives. People started to go to mediums to communicate with lost love ones. Spiritualism was given closures to people in the world (Walliss

Buried in the culture and history of Cuba lies the religious traditions that have blended into the creation of Santeria. Santeria is a complex religion made up of West African, Caribbean, and Roman Catholic influences blurred into one. In Santeria the practices and beliefs are passed down from generation to generation through the use of "patakis." The "patakis" were parables used by Santeria followers to provide guidance and insight to those in need of advice. One of the most famous patakis is the story of the relationship between Chango and Yemaya. This pataki can be found in Romulo Lachatanere's collection, Afro-Cuban Myths: Yemaya and Other Orishas. Chango and Yemaya are orishas in the Santeria religion. The relationship between Chango and Yemaya can be seen in The Messenger's main characters, Aida and Enrico. Yemaya's confusion between motherly love and being Chango's lover, shapes their "children's" relationship, as Aida and Enrico's relationship also change in a similar manner.

The Aztecs served a strange religion.After, a while it took their gods five times to make the world.To illisterate this, it took five tries cause the gods were fighting each other.Most of the Aztec gods died during their wars.Next a god named Quetzalcoati made people.He made people out of older bones and his own blood.Now, that he did this the gods needed blood by sacrifice.So they took prisoners for sacrifice.they were especially scared of nature.The Aztecs were scared that in every fifty-two years the world end.By the way they thought there death would effect their after life.Also, the Aztecs thought they had an underworld.Obviously they thought they had an heaven to go with it.

The Tlacatecuhtli also known as "chief of men” has authority over its religious ceremonies and also the military leader. Under The Tlacatecuhtli were a group of religions and other offices which included military generals. Priests and priestesses were considered highly important in Aztec society. They played the role of doctors. Priests also taught science, art, writing, music, dance, history, and counting. They also had great knowledge in astronomy and astrology, performing difficult ceremonies.

Have you ever wondered how sexuality is viewed in the eyes of a different culture? Since America is a melting pot specifically with the Latino culture we have and is a very diverse country, it still carries culture identity. When you have a set cultural ideology for example the Latino Culture ideology, it sets the rules and norms for gender and sexual identity. In this essay we will be talking about how religious aspects of the Latino/a culture are affecting how people view sexual orientation. How religion in the Latino culture creates a discrimination against homosexuality and non-gender norms. This topic was chosen because I believe it is interesting how some cultures are used to believing that certain rituals and big events have to be within a man and a woman and cannot be both. I have personally witnessed how sexuality does affect the Latino culture; and has been involved in the rituals that make it so heteronormative. Through evidence of religious cultures, gendered identities and family structures we will see how religion in the Latino culture shapes and forms sexuality. I will be examining how Catholicism shapes cultural norms for sexual orientation and gender identity, how heteronormativity is reinforced as the main stream within the religious Latino culture and how it is insensitive towards homosexuality. How having family and social circles that are used to a culture around are perpetuating gender identity against sexuality.

Religious experiences are experiences we have of the divine or God. These experiences may be Mystical experiences, conversion experiences or revelatory experiences. Paul Tillich states that religious experience is a feeling of ‘ultimate concern’, a feeling that demands a decisive decision from the one receiving it. He describes it as an encounter followed by a special understanding of its religious significance.

Prior to understanding and describing religious experiences, it’s important to define the terms and typology of religious experiences. A point of contention for theologians is whether or not mystical or out-of-body experiences are religious in nature. To understand what the role religion plays in these experiences, for this context, you must define and understand what religion is and the major components that make it up. James states that religion “cannot stand for any single principle or essence, but is rather a collective name” (35). If you were to ask someone about the essence of an object or a concept, different people would provide various components or parts of it. You would end up of with a list ranging from objective and subjective responses, but it would provide a better understanding of it because, like religion, no one thing or person can be summed up in a sentence or a word.

Religion can impact a person's life through the teachings, and the values and attitudes presented. The effect which religion can give can either be positive or negative. The effect of the Catholic religion on mother Teresa was a positive influence, an influence whichever inspired others to follow her. Agnes Gonxha, or ‘flower bud’, the translation of Gonxha, was the birth name which Mother Teresa was given by her parents. Her family took religion quite seriously, and which in turn lead Agnes to be a religious person known by many. Though Mother Teresa sparked the world with her attitude of helping others and showing the example of God’s love, she never claimed to be anyone special, just another being following in Jesus’s words. Within her

In “Religious Experiences”, Saint Teresa argued that her two experiences were valid because she was conscious of the lord’s presence. In this paper, I will be exploring the two religious experiences Saint Teresa encountered while analyzing the argument about the epistemic value the experiences could possibly have.

The spiritual life of each person in the world is as individual as a fingerprint. Thousands of different religions create a myriad of outlines for worship, but every personal belief system is unique. “The Three Hermits” by Leo Tolstoy tells of three holy men living a silent life of prayer on an island by themselves. When an Archbishop catches word of them, he insists on diverting his own travel route so that he may visit the hermits. With diligence, he teaches the men the Our Father and departs to return to his ship. Later, the three hermits chase after the ship as if they were running on ground, for they forgot the Our Father and wished to be retaught by the Bishop. Crossing himself, the Bishop assures the hermits that their prayers will be heard by God and asks that they pray for him and other sinners.