What is the folk religion?

folk religion refers to indigenous beliefs that take place around the world, especially before the introduction of large organized religions, such as Christianity and secular movements such as science and reason. Many people still follow indigenous religions, especially in parts of South America, Africa, China and Southeast Asia. The largest folk religion in the world is the Chinese folk religion, which has an estimated 400 million followers around the world, about 6.6% of the global population. Folk religions have even more followers than Buddhism or Judaism and claim a total of about 10% of the world's population. Only Christianity, Islam and Hinduism have more adherents. Folk religion is strongly immersed in superstition and magic, especially sympathetic magic, an idea that affects as influences, even if they are not in any obvious way of causally connecting. For example, the idea that the movements of stars and planets somehow affect or lectures events or tendencies on a human scale. The popularity of astrologyE and the psyche shows us that folk religion still exists, even in the Western world.

There are several common features and/or examples of folk religion. These include theofanies or the appearance of God or the spirit of man, also known as divine publication; perception of religious images in natural phenomena; Ancestors' worship; the use of amulet and other magical objects; animism; belief in traditional systems of magic or superstition; blessings of animals, individuals and/or crops; And the rituals to avert demons, witchcraft, evil eye, etc. The classic book that describes tens of thousands of folk religious traditions and their parallels is the gold twig by Sir James Frazier.

Those who were aware of the features of folk religions can easily see how they were absorbed into modern mega-religious cartridges such as Christianity and Islam. For example, Christmas marked a pagan holiday before the arrival of Jesusbirth. Then it was known as the winter solstice. The symbolic consumption of Jesus' body and blood during the mass is an example of sympathetic magic, and one who consumes the magical substance is filled with some sacredness that comes from a divine personality. There are countless other examples.

In some places in the world, there is a deliberate revival of folk religions, which are sometimes considered real - and certainly older - than new arrivals such as Christianity. These places include Norway (Odinism), Baltic States, Celtic countries, Finland, Germany, Greece and various locations throughout Russia.