Human sacrifice was a religious practice characteristic of pre-Columbian Aztec civilization, as well as of other Mesoamerican civilizations like the Maya and the Zapotec. The extent of the practice is debated by modern scholars. Spanish explorers, soldiers and clergy who had contact with the Aztecs between 1517, when an expedition from Cuba first explored the Yucatan, and 1521, when Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, made observations of and wrote reports about the practice of human sacrifice. For example, Bernal Díaz's The Conquest of New Spain includes eyewitness accounts of human sacrifices as well as descriptions of the remains of sacrificial victims. In addition, there are a number of second-hand accounts of human sacrifices written by Spanish friars that relate the testimony of native eyewitnesses.
Native American Music Also known as ‘Amerindian’ music, the Native American music is a widespread tradition used as a form of spiritual representation of many aspects of the culture. Together with dance, their use of music in culture is hugely important in order to maintain traditions thousands of years old. So as to fully understand the different types of Native American music, we must also acknowledge the large scope of different Native American tribal units that play this music. Cultural Areas Although most of the Native American music style, along with aspects of their culture, is homogenous, there is evidence that before being forced to move to North American reservations, the Amerindians were divided into separate segments of culture. There are known to be around 1000 tribal units with almost as many languages, as well as 60 independent language families within North America.
The ayahuasca has been documented to have been used in the pre-Columbian era, however westerners have only recently had access and knowledge of it dating back roughly 150 years (McKenna, 1993). In some ways similar to the ayahuasca ceremony, the use of Peyote is popular among many native tribes as well as non indians as a means for spiritual and physical healings as well as walking the path of enlightenment. The Native American
According to the collection of Arctic ethnological research and a wide-ranging compilation of oral narratives; shamanism practiced among the Arctic indigenous peoples was the ability to be an intermediary who could travel between the physical and the spirit world. Margret Lantis says many shamans had different abilities; some were known to have more power than others (Orr, et al. 1997). One of the earliest researchers to develop theories of religion, anthropologist E. B. Tylor, argued that animism is the most primitive form of religion and shares similarities that are totemic, for example the use of inanimate objects which are taken from the natural environment is believed to embody natural forces; whereas the use of bones or skeletons can inhabit a spiritual or supernatural power (Willerslev 2007). The term used for inanimate objects that are thought to possess spirits or souls are called having an Inua.
The paper is going to cover multicultural concepts of both sexual identity and or orientation as well as religion. The paper will also analyze the two multicultural concepts and make sure to point out the significance of each in understanding cultural differences. Religion All religions support some similarities as well as differences such as some believing in multiple gods, others still doing sacrifices, and some having saints. Religion is something that can be found in any part of the world, from culture to culture in some aspect or another which can impact an individual’s interactions within the person’s culture. Santrock (2010), states that individuals in most cultures continue on in the religion that the person was raised in; the individual will continue in the religion that was taught to the person by their parents.
Celtic polytheism, commonly known as Celtic paganism,[1][2][3] comprises the religious beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age peoples of Western Europe now known as the Celts, roughly between 500 BCE and 500 CE, spanning the La Tène period and the Roman era, and in the case of the Insular Celts the British and Irish Iron Age.Celtic polytheism was one of a larger group of Iron Age polytheistic religions of the Indo-European family. It comprised a large degree of variation both geographically and chronologically, although "behind this variety, broad structural similarities can be detected"[4] allowing there to be "a basic religious homogeneity" amongst the Celtic peoples. [5]The Celtic pantheon consists of numerous recorded theonyms, both from Greco-Roman ethnography and from epigraphy. Among the most prominent ones are Teutatis, Taranis and Lugus. Figures from medieval Irish mythology have also been adduced by comparative mythology, interpreted as euhemerized versions of pre-Christian Insular deities.
With the exception of Judaism, the religions did not make any permanent incursion into the region until the 19th or 20th centuries. Each ethnic group located in a particular territory developed its own religion, usually associated with places of origin, with particular myths, with different ways of understanding God's role in its localized societies, and with the role of the spiritual world in its communal and social life. Over the centuries, groups moved to other areas looking for natural resources needed for their subsistence. Consequently, African indigenous traditions became linked with places of origin, and narratives of migration and cultural and religious adaptation came to be related to communally perceived sacred places. Ethnic groups were sometimes absorbed by other groups or, as in the case of the Chamba, individuals within groups were assimilated into other groups.
Islamic and Buddhist Religious Worldview A complex institution of diverse teachings, beliefs, and rituals; religion provides people with a greater sense of reality. It is the basic foundation of life in various cultures around the world; and its convictions provide people with a spiritual identity and define life purpose. The practice of religion allows people to go beyond the five senses and gain a “direct experience of an inexplicable presence” (Fisher, 2005, p. 1). Religious perspectives vary according to culture, ethnicity and worldviews. Two of the three major religions Christianity and Islam both worship and God, acknowledge its presence in humanity and adhere to a list of laws or sacred scriptures.
Through Indian Literature we learn that the Native American Indians came across many things differently then we do today. They had many different customs and traditions that were passed on from generation to generation. The Native American Indians had many different views on creation legends, the government, and relations with others. Together these stories, “How the World Was Made,” “From the Iroquois Constitution,” and “Offer of Help” made it possible for us to discover what their input was. The Native American Indians had many different views on how the world was made, which they called creation legends.
Shamanism The culture I researched was on the practice of shamanism. Shamanism is a religion that is performed by many people of Asian descent, the belief based on animism and ancestral worship (CO, 2004). They believe that there is a spirit world that interconnects with the real world. “Shamanism is a variation of religion where everything has a spirit and when the spiritual power of nature becomes unbalanced or disturbed, sickness and bad luck may be brought upon the family or individual,” (Xiong, 1998). Shamanism is believed to be the traditional religion of the Hmong people is still being practiced today in America.