Spirituality, TOD-âBR
Spirituality reaches beyond formal doctrine into questions of meaning, inner life, practice, and connection. Explore the many ways people have sought wisdom, transcendence, and peace.
Spirituality Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Today in HistoryâOctober 25: John and Abigail Adams Exchange Vows
During her wedding on this day in 1764, 19-year-old Abigail Smith had no way of knowing that marrying a Boston......
tonsure
tonsure, in various religions, a ceremony of initiation in which hair is clipped from the head as part of the ritual......
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation, technique of meditation in which practitioners mentally repeat a special Sanskrit word......
Trappist
Trappist, member of the reformed branch of Roman Catholic Cistercians founded by Armand-Jean Le Bouthillier de......
Tree of life
Tree of life, a widespread archetype common to many religions, mythologies, and folktales. The tree of life is......
Trinitarian
Trinitarian, member of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives (O.SS.T.), a Roman Catholic......
triumph
triumph, a ritual procession that was the highest honour bestowed upon a victorious general in the ancient Roman......
True Cross
True Cross, Christian relic, reputedly the wood of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Legend relates......
Trungpa, Chögyam
Chögyam Trungpa was the abbot of the Surmang Monastery in Tibet (China) and founder of the Tibetan Buddhist organization......
Tu Kuang-tâing
Tu Kuang-tâing was a Taoist scholar of the Tâang period who contributed to the development of Taoist liturgical......
Turin, Shroud of
Shroud of Turin, a length of linen that is purported to be the burial garment of Jesus Christ. It has been preserved......
Tyagaraja
Tyagaraja was an Indian composer of Carnatic songs of the genre kirtana, or kriti (devotional songs), and of ragas.......
Tyndale, William
William Tyndale was an English biblical translator, humanist, and Protestant martyr. Tyndale was educated at the......
Underhill, Evelyn
Evelyn Underhill was an English mystical poet and author of such works as Mysticism (1911), The Mystic Way (1913),......
Unity
Unity, new religious movement founded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1889 by Charles Fillmore (1854â1948), a real-estate......
Ursula, St
St. Ursula ; feast day October 21) was a legendary virgin martyr and the leader of 11 or 11,000 virgins reputedly......
Ursuline
Ursuline, Roman Catholic religious order of women founded at Brescia, Italy, in 1535, by St. Angela Merici. The......
Userkaf
Userkaf was the first king of the 5th dynasty of ancient Egypt (c. 2435âc. 2306 bce), under whose reign the cult......
Valentine, St
St. Valentine ; feast day February 14) was the name of one or two legendary Christian martyrs whose lives seem......
Varanasi
Varanasi, city, southeastern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It is located on the left bank of the Ganges......
Vatican City
Vatican City, landlocked ecclesiastical state, seat of the Roman Catholic Church, and an enclave surrounded by......
venial sin
venial sin, in Roman Catholic theology, a sin that is relatively slight or that is committed without full reflection......
Verethraghna
Verethraghna, in Zoroastrianism, the spirit of victory. Together with Mithra, the god of truth, Verethraghna shares......
Very, Jones
Jones Very was an American Transcendentalist poet and Christian mystic. Very was born into a seafaring family.......
Visitandine
Visitandine, a Roman Catholic order of nuns founded by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal at......
vodyanoy
vodyanoy, in Slavic mythology, the water spirit. The vodyanoy is essentially an evil and vindictive spirit, a bogeyman......
von HĂŒgel, Friedrich
Friedrich von HĂŒgel was a Roman Catholic philosopher and author who was the forerunner of the realist revival in......
wake
wake, watch or vigil held over the body of a dead person before burial and sometimes accompanied by festivity;......
Weil, Simone
Simone Weil was a French mystic, social philosopher, and activist in the French Resistance during World War II,......
Wenceslas I
Wenceslas I ; feast day September 28) was the prince of Bohemia and a Christian martyr who is venerated as the......
Western Wall
Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, a place of prayer and pilgrimage sacred to the Jewish people. It is......
What Is Jeremy Benthamâs âAuto-Iconâ?
Jeremy Bentham, the founder of modern utilitarianism, died in London on June 6, 1832, at the age of 84. In the......
Why Do Brides Wear White?
In many societies the color white has long been associated with purity and virtue, and that is one reason why some......
Why do churches bless pets?
Every October many churchesâespecially Roman Catholic parishesâhost a ceremony for blessing pets. The event is......
Why Do People Say âAmenâ at the End of a Prayer?
According to Merriam-Webster, the interjection amen is "used to express solemn ratification (as of an expression......
Why is the vigil before a burial called a wake?
A wake is a religious rite that traditionally involves mourners staying awake to watch over the body of a deceased......
William of Saint-Thierry
William of Saint-Thierry was a French monk, theologian, and mystic, and a leading adversary of early medieval rationalistic......
Wishart, George
George Wishart was an early martyr of the Reformation in Scotland. While a teacher of Greek at Montrose, Wishart......
world tree
world tree, centre of the world, a widespread motif in many myths and folktales among various preliterate peoples,......
worship
worship, broadly defined, the response, often associated with religious behaviour and a general feature of almost......
Xu
Xu, in Chinese Daoism, a state of equilibrium through which one becomes receptive to and attuned with the transforming......
yaksha
yaksha, in the mythology of India, a class of generally benevolent but sometimes mischievous, capricious, sexually......
yazata
yazata, in Zoroastrianism, member of an order of angels created by Ahura MazdÄ to help him maintain the flow of......
Zaehner, R.C.
R.C. Zaehner was a British historian of religion who investigated the evolution of ethical systems and forms of......
Zhang Daoling
Zhang Daoling was the founder and first patriarch of the Tianshidao (âWay of the Celestial Mastersâ) movement within......
Zhouli
Zhouli, one of three ancient ritual texts listed among the Nine, Twelve, and Thirteen Classics of Confucianism.......
Zinzendorf, Nikolaus Ludwig, Graf von
Nikolaus Ludwig, count von Zinzendorf was a religious and social reformer of the German Pietist movement who, as......
Zoe
Zoe, in Eastern Orthodoxy, a semimonastic Greek association patterned on Western religious orders. Founded in 1907......
ĂppĂ€rĂ€s
ĂppĂ€rĂ€s, in Sami religion and folklore, the ghost of a dead child that haunts the place of its death because it......
កusayn ibn ÊżAlÄ«, al-
al-កusayn ibn ÊżAlÄ« was a hero in ShiÊżi Islam, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter FÄáčimah and......
ងudƫd, al-
al-áž„udĆ«d, in the Druze religion, five cosmic principles that are emanations from God, the One. Al-កÄkim, the 11th-century......
âBrog-mi
âBrog-mi was a Tibetan monk and eccentric mystic. âBrog-mi studied for one year in Nepal and for eight years at......