Hidden Forces: Unveiling the Mystical Tapestry of Occultism in Indonesia

Millennialism—belief in an imminent transition to a collective salvation either on earth or in heaven or both, and accomplished by a divine or superhuman agent or by humans working according to a divine or superhuman plan—manifests in distinctive patterns that are not mutually exclusive and that may be found in various traditions, including cultures that have not been influenced by Christianity and the Christian Bible. Millennial expressions are also found in secular movements that reject belief in supernatural beings. Common millennial patterns include catastrophic millennialism (apocalypticism), progressive millennialism, nativist millennialism, and avertive apocalypticism. There is a range of millennial activities: waiting for divine intervention; attempting to elicit divine intervention by spiritual practices; living in communities separate from wider society; responding peacefully or violently when attacked; and carrying out revolution to destroy the old order to create a new order expressive of the anticipated collective salvation.

Jinn, devils, and demons are creatures of God who are invisible or unseen. Allah created them as a sign that apart from humans, supernatural beings surround them and watch their movements from any direction they want. The three magical beings are believed to exist by all humanity. Belief in supernatural beings is an identity of faith that Muslims must possess; even Allah has confirmed it that among the characteristics of people who fear Allah are faith in the unseen, as stated in the letter Al-Baqarah verse 3, which reads: "Those who believe in the unseen". However, faith in supernatural beings does not mean we have to cult them and even worship them like God. Faith in supernatural beings is only a reflection for us that Allah can create whatever He wants and that the creatures He makes them very diverse. These are all proofs of the greatness of Allah SWT. In the Qur'an, many stories are told of jinn, devils, and demons whose purpose is none other than so that humans can take a lot of wisdom and ibrah from these stories. Many people try to explore and observe the verses about them so that many debates from them give rise to various understandings and trigger disagreements. The object of research is an invisible creature, so, understandably, there will be a lot of debate going on.

When Allah meets Ganesha: Developing supernatural concepts in a religiously diverse society

By a “world-outlook” I mean a systematic account of the nature of the world which claims, by showing the place of man in the scheme of things, to indicate the point and purpose of his life. The theory of the world is often called a metaphysical theory and the theory of conduct an ethical or moral theory. In my opinion the clarification and criticism of world-outlooks is a fundamental part of philosophy. Indeed, I hardly think that philosophy would have existed as something distinct from science or poetry but for the tendency to attempt some explanation of the world as the scene of human endeavour. When Kant referred to “the inevitable problems of pure reason” about “God, freedom, and immortality,” he was referring in a summary way to the fundamental philosophical task of analysing and criticizing world-outlooks, a task that may be undertaken even by those philosophers who do not believe that any world-outlook is or could be adequate. It is clear, of course, that the civilized religions, since they seek to show how human conduct fits in with some Divine Plan or Cosmic Conflict, have world-outlooks. It is, however, misleading to look upon religions and world-outlooks as the same thing, as some people do. For in ordinary usage religion involves belief in supernatural beings and conduct regulated in the light of this belief, but according to some world-outlooks (e.g. that of Spinoza) there are no supernatural beings, while according to others (e.g. Epicureanism) beings may exist deserving that description but human conduct need take no account of them.

Related to the traditional belief in the Long Storage of Kalimati, this study aims to explain the relationship between various kinds of beliefs that exist in the residents of Leminggir Village, Mojosari District, Mojokerto Regency. The focus of this study is to determine the relationship between magic, religion and knowledge with the traditional belief system of society. This descriptive study was prepared using ethnographic methods and the use of J.G Frazer's theory of religious evolution because it is in accordance with the main concepts that discuss magic, religion, and science. The main object of this research is the Kalimati Long Storage. The main data source of this study was obtained based on the results of interviews with Mr. Turoikhan, an elder, a resident of Leminggir Village.The results of the discussion show that there is a belief in the people of Leminggir Village towards magic, religion and knowledge that go hand in hand. As shown by the public's belief in supernatural beings who are the cause of the drowning of children, so that in their search efforts use magic, as well as religious methods as well as the use of technological advances like a motorized boat. The benefit of this research is that it can be used as an educational medium about a culture of tolerance and mutual respect for the existence of various beliefs.
 Keywords: evolution religi; traditional belief system; Long Storage Kalimati

The nexus between development and proselytisation, particularly for Christianity and Islam, is increasingly becoming the subject of both study and public debate. One aspect of development is education, whose prominence in missionary activity is too well-known to need special comment, and it is with this aspect, within the framework just referred to, that this study is concerned, its geographic focus being Bangladesh. The Santals are, with a population of six millions, one of the biggest Adivasi groups in South Asia. The majority of Santals lives in the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal; only a minority estimated at around 300,000 can be found in Bangladesh. The traditional belief system of the Santals is polytheistic and polyritual and is based on the worship of Bongas, the belief in supernatural beings and ancestral spirits and a large variety of distinct festivals. While some Santals have integrated Hindu elements and festivals into their traditional religious system, others fully profess Hinduism, while still others have over the last century converted to Christianity. Like a vast majority of the members of all other Adivasi groups in Bangladesh, the Santals too are very often deprived of their land, suffer from the economical and cultural domination of their Bengali neighbours, and lack constitutional recognition, access to basic supplies, primary health care and education. Although some secular development projects can be found in Bangladeshi Santal villages, in the last decades above all missionary institutions have shown most interest in their welfare. Indeed, asked for the reason of the Adventists’ focus on ethnic and religious minorities, the president of the Bangladesh Union Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church — Eric Monnier, a Swiss citizen — replied in a personal interview that they want to help these minorities and protect them from the Muslim Bengali majority by giving them the chance to become equal members of an influential global group. But gradually these activities of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are being resisted by some target group members who fear cultural alienation. In the following, I shall attempt to analyse this dispute by citing the example of a primary school run by Seventh-day Adventists in a village in the district of Joypurhat in Bangladesh.

This chapter describes how mental representations of gods are transmitted through a population as public representations, and ultimately serve as the basis of the cultural systems called “religion.” Drawing on an “epidemiological” model of culture, the chapter shows how religious ideas, like other kinds of ideas, depend on shared mental mechanisms in the process of acquisition, storage, and transmission. These shared mechanisms in turn explain the underlying similarity of god concepts in diverse cultures. The chapter also defines and defends religion as belief in supernatural beings and the public ideas (doctrines), behaviors (rituals), and social structure (community) that coalesce around them, arguing that contrary to past perspectives on what constitutes religion, the presence of god concepts are necessary for fostering the commitment, motivation, and transmission potential that such systems require.

When humans experience various difficulties in life, including illness, then they will try to find a cure for the disease, through medical treatment, then traditional treatment after being unsuccessful with medical treatment. But there are also those who directly use traditional medicine in accordance with local beliefs. This article explores beliefs and cultural practices of tau taa wana in the treatment of diseases through momago, a traditional ritual healing practiced in Uempanapa Village.
 This study was conducted in Uempanapa Village, Bungku Utara Subdistrict, North Morowali District, considering that tau ta'a wana (ta'a wana people) in this village still practices momago (a healing ritual) which is commonly held once a year. Using qualitative approach, data was collected using in-depth interview and observation techniques. Eleven participants involved in this study, they are varied on the basis of sex (eight men, and three women), age (between 42 and 72 years), and position [three shamans (dukun), a drum beat (to paganda), a gong drummer (to myingko gong), a dancer (to motaro), patient (to ongoyo), and three patients’ family (to mongoyo).
 Momago is a traditional healing ritual using supernatural power mediated by shamans (walia). This healing ritual is based on a belief in supernatural beings that are considered to play role in causing various diseases. Momago is practiced by tau taa wana and this is not only practiced when there are calls from residents to treat their sick relatives, but they are also often performed at large events such as the reception of important guests, cultural arts festivals, and so forth. They believe that patients will recover after ancestral spirits entering one’s body. In this healing ritual, tau taa wana is carried out by utilizing supernatural power, through which walia repeatedly calls the spirit. This healing ritual is usually carried out at night and takes up to three weeks, depending on the type of disease and the number of patients. The types of diseases that are cured through momago include witchcraft (fofongontau/doti), trance (pasuak), rebuke (katrapes), crazy (fando) and drowning (mlondong), kinds of illnesses which believed to be personalistic diseases. It is also believed that the success of a ritual is marked by the number of momago participants who have possessed spirits, the more they are, the more successful the treatment has been. Although not all diseases can be cured through momago, and not all sick people treated through momago can recover from their illness, momago is still practiced because it has become a hereditary tradition from their ancestors and/or because of the requests from patients’ family.

Economics of religion is the application of economic methods to the study of causes and consequences of religion. Ever since Max Weber set forth his theory of the Protestant ethic, social scientists have compared socioeconomic differences across Protestants and Catholics, Muslims, and Christians, and more recently across different intensities of religiosity. Religiosity refers to an individual’s degree of religious attendance and strength of beliefs. Religiosity rises with a growing demand for religion resulting from adversity and insecurity or a surging supply of religion stemming from increasing numbers of religious organizations, for instance. Religiosity has fallen in some Western countries since the mid-20th century, but has strengthened in several other societies around the world. Religion is a multidimensional concept, and religiosity has multiple impacts on socioeconomic outcomes, depending on the dimension observed. Religion covers public religious activities such as church attendance, which involves exposure to religious doctrines and to fellow believers, potentially strengthening social capital and trust among believers. Religious doctrines teach belief in supernatural beings, but also social views on hard work, refraining from deviant activities, and adherence to traditional norms. These norms and social views are sometimes orthogonal to the general tendency of modernization, and religion may contribute to the rising polarization on social issues regarding abortion, LGBT rights, women, and immigration. These norms and social views are again potentially in conflict with science and innovation, incentivizing some religious authorities to curb scientific progress. Further, religion encompasses private religious activities such as prayer and the particular religious beliefs, which may provide comfort and buffering against stressful events. At the same time, rulers may exploit the existence of belief in higher powers for political purposes. Empirical research supports these predictions. Consequences of higher religiosity include more emphasis on traditional values such as traditional gender norms and attitudes against homosexuality, lower rates of technical education, restrictions on science and democracy, rising polarization and conflict, and lower average incomes. Positive consequences of religiosity include improved health and depression rates, crime reduction, increased happiness, higher prosociality among believers, and consumption and well-being levels that are less sensitive to shocks.

One of the more exciting recent developments in the study of religion has been the discovery of the relevance of cognitive science to religion. Anthropologists, psychologists, and even some historians of religion have applied the theories and findings of cognitive science to explain such important religious phenomena as the belief in supernatural beings and the regularity of certain forms of religious ritual. Although cognitive theories of religion have significant implications for our understanding of such widespread aspects of traditional religion, and have become increasingly sophisticated and powerful, the awareness of these theories within religious studies remains confined to a small (but growing) cir cle of scholars.2 The present essay attempts to widen that circle, out of a conviction that both cognitive approaches to religion and more tra ditional historical and humanistic approaches would be enriched by cross-fertilization.

References to demons abound in Ancient Egyptian magical and funerary texts, testifying to the belief in supernatural beings who were harmful to humans. One of the largest groups was made up of anonymous hordes called male and female “enemies,” “adversaries,” and the “dead.”

JUST over thirteen years ago, on 20 March 1963, Professor Mary Williams delivered, at the Annual General Meeting of the Folklore Society, a Presidential Address entitled 'Folklore and Placenames'.' In that enlightening paper she concentrated on place names in the British Isles which have apparently been created by folklore, particularly by belief in supernatural beings, such as giants, spirits, ghosts, and especially the Devil, by religious legends or by the cult of the sun. At the centre of her discussion2 were stories connected with stones, boulders, or stone circles, as for instance 'The Merry Maidens and the Pipers' in Cornwall, 'The Fiddlers and the Maids' in Somerset, or 'The Whispering Knights' in Warwickshire, and 'Long Meg and her Daughter' in Cumberland, all of which are imaginative reinterpretations, on the folk cultural level, of unusual and impressive, sometimes undoubtedly perturbing, geological conditions. In Professor Williams's view, such stories, and the other material she presented to illustrate her talk, serve as persuasive reminders that 'A study of place-names and the folklore which has given rise to them is very valuable for the understanding of the way of life today, for the foundations of the present are laid upon the past.'3 This article, while briefly touching upon some similar aspects of the relationship between folklore and place names, is intended to be complementary to, rather than merely supportive of, Professor Williams's ideas. It takes it for granted that folklore does create place names through the application of facets of popular belief and the localization of migratory legends. It also acknowledges that the names thus brought into being very seldom refer to major geographical features and hardly ever to man-made ones but usually to minor configurations of the landscape, at least in terms of absolute size or importance. Undeniably such relatively minor features must, however, have excited disproportionate local interest and demanded a convincing explanation, but not in the way in which the scientist convinces. From the point of view of folk-narrative, the stories told to satisfy local curiosity in the majority of cases meet the formal criteria normally indicative of the socalled legend. They are comparatively short, mono-episodic, and more often than not centre around only one folk-literary motif; they also satisfy most of the other requirements of this folk-narrative genre, in so far as the supernatural, the other-worldly, the numinous, or at least the extra-ordinary interferes with or breaks into the natural, the this-worldly, the profane, or at least the ordinary, in the locality where people live and love and have their daily, routine, humdrum being, a characteristic which makes such

This study examined the oral traditions of San Esteban, Ilocos Sur to uncover how folk narratives reflect cultural and social values. Addressing the lack of localized folklore research, it used qualitative methods and content analysis to interpret 17 memorates shared by cultural elders aged 50 and above. Conducted through narrative interviews in coastal barangays, stories were recorded, transcribed, and validated. Four key themes emerged: belief in supernatural beings, survival knowledge, storytelling, and spirituality. The findings affirm that these narratives are vital to cultural identity and continuity, recommending their preservation and integration into education to sustain San Esteban’s heritage.

This paper will discuss the atheistic thought of Yamagata Bantō (1748–1821). The general concept of atheism will also be discussed. The term “atheism” is often used only in the Western sense; as such, existing studies of atheism in Japan only focus on modern intellectuals who were influenced by Western atheism. But the merchant-scholar Yamagata Bantō, who lived in the Japanese Tokugawa period (1603–1868), can also be classified as an atheist. In his Yume no shiro, Bantō denies any belief in supernatural beings by adopting a rationalistic worldview and criticizing religions from philological, historical, and rationalistic perspectives. According to Bantō, gods were a “skillful means” created by humans for the purpose of guaranteeing peaceful governance. While belief in gods had become commonplace over time, Bantō believed it was impossible to govern contemporary society according to such simple beliefs. He claimed that there was no further need to worship gods. However, he did not deny every form of worship, as he approved of worship that acknowledged obligations to ancestors or ancient sages. Bantō, therefore, showed the way toward a moral life understood from a humanistic standpoint. Bantō’s “no gods” argument was influenced by Western science and Neo-Confucianism. However, because his view was considered reactionary by the Shintoist government, Bantō is little known among modern intellectuals. A study of Bantō will, therefore, make a useful contribution to scholarly knowledge of the universal category of “atheism” and its relevance to local differences in atheistic thought.

ABSTRACTThe present study aims to analyse the association that different types of spiritual and religious practices have with the occurrence of Exceptional Human Experiences (EHEs) as well as their emotional evaluation. We analysed the relation that meditation, prayer, and ‘other’ spiritual practices, or the lack of them, have with the occurrence of EHEs, which were measured employing the Exceptional Experiences Questionnaire (EEQ). Samples were recruited at psychology departments in the UK and USA. They consisted of n = 301 non-clinical participants, of whom n = 156 were from Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA (average age = 32.3, SD = 13.7); and n = 145 from Northampton, UK (average age = 25.2, SD = 9.8). Results suggest that people who pray experienced fewer experiences of deconstruction/ego loss, psychopathological and visionary dream experiences than other spiritual practice groups. Those who pray also reported more positive mystical experiences than non-practising individuals; whereas individuals with a regular meditative practice experienced more visionary dream experiences, and evaluated such experiences more positively, than those who pray and non- practising individuals. Results suggest that different spiritual and religious techniques are associated with different phenomenological end evaluative patterns of EHEs that can be differentiated from psychopathological experiences.