Religion and spirituality

Religion and spirituality have played a significant role in humanity's history. Many cultural sights from buildings to festivals and traditions are of a religious nature. Most populated places have at least one place of worship; at least one such place is usually a prominent building, often with more elaborate architecture than secular buildings.

All travellers, religious or not, should learn something about the dominant religions in the countries they visit. Even in communities that seem secular and modern, such as Europe or East Asia, religion has played an important role in customs and values in the past, and often continues to do so to this day, even among people who are no longer religious. Even religions that have now virtually disappeared have left architectural remains, and sometimes a certain influence on other religions. Good examples of this are the old Eastern Christian churches in the Middle East, and the Precolumbian religions and rituals that are still visible under a thin Catholic façade in much of Latin America.

A religious congregation can be the base of an ethnic diaspora, and provide expats and travellers a connection with their people. For example, the Anglican Communion is a communion with the Church of England, with churches in most of the world's countries, with services held in English.

Understand

Religion and politics

Many countries have a state religion, while others, such as most communist countries, are officially atheist. Countries that are neither officially atheist nor have a state religion are called secular, and some of these have laws in place restricting religious worship or observance in public spaces. For instance, it is illegal to promote any sort of religion in publicly-owned buildings in France; this extends to the wearing of religious clothing accessories such as the crucifix or hijab. However, the official status of religion in a country does not necessarily correspond to religiosity of the general population. For instance, the United States is officially a secular country, but strongly Christian in practice, with nearly half of the population attending church regularly, and politicians often citing the Bible to justify policy positions. Conversely, Iceland is officially a Lutheran country, but rather secular in practice, with only a minority of the population actively practising the faith, and religion rarely if ever featuring in the political discourse.

Pilgrimage

Talk

Liturgical languages or holy languages or sacred languages may serve as the common bridge languages (lingua franca) among the people of different linguistic or ethnic backgrounds but with common religious adherence. However, the generally known vocabulary may be restricted to what is used in the religious context; a person knowing prayers in Latin or being able to quote the Koran in Arabic doesn't necessarily mean they can keep a conversation in that language.

Arabic language – liturgical language of Islam and the Baha'i Faith
Hebrew language – liturgical language of Judaism
Japanese language – liturgical language of Shintoism
Meitei language (Classical Meitei) – liturgical language of Sanamahism
Punjabi language – liturgical language of Sikhism
Sanskrit language – liturgical language of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism
Tamil language – another liturgical language of Hinduism
Pali — another liturgical language of Buddhism
Latin — liturgical language in the Roman Catholic church
Church Slavonic — liturgical language in the Russian, Serbian and Bulgarian orthodox churches
Coptic — liturgical language in the Coptic Orthodox Chruch

Mission

Missionaries and chaplains might find work far from home, usually combined with volunteer work. See also business travel and working abroad.

Religions of Asian origin

Of West Asian origin

Abrahamic religions

Judaism was the first one established, and Christianity and Islam are the largest in terms of number of followers. All three religions have much history and many beliefs in common. Other smaller ones include Mandaeism (whose adherents believe that John the Baptist, not Jesus, was the Messiah) and the Baha'i Faith. They originate from the Holy Land in the Middle East.

There are also a number of what are sometimes called post-Christian religions — so called because they hold a post-Biblical text sacred, in addition to the Bible. Most were founded in the United States, notably including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists, all of which have sent out many missionaries and now have quite a few adherents worldwide.

Holy Land for religious destinations in the Middle East
Fátima, a Marian city known as "the altar of the World"
Way of Saint James (to Santiago de Compostela)
Painted Monasteries in northern Romania
Protestant Reformation
Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca
Travelling during Ramadan
Kashrut, Jewish dietary laws
The Crusades; religious wars in the High Middle Ages
Churches in Ethiopia
Churches in Antarctica
Amish and Mennonites

Others

While some the religions mentioned above are the most prolific, virtually all peoples of the world have some kind of spiritual tradition. For instance, the original pre-Islamic religion of the Persian people, Zoroastrianism, which was moderately important from about 600 BCE-600 CE, declined considerably after Islam reached Persia but continues to survive in Iran, India and other parts of the world. Yazidism, the religion of the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking people from the border regions of what is today Iraq, Syria and Turkey, was derived from the pre-Zoroastrian Iranic religion.

Of South Asian origin

Dharmic religions

Hinduism and Buddhism have their origins in India, together with some associated religions with much smaller numbers of adherents, such as Jainism and Sikhism. While Hinduism also flourished in much of Southeast Asia for hundreds of years, it was ultimately replaced by other religions there, with a few exceptions such as Bali. Hinduism has largely remained local to South Asia ever since, except for proselytic movements such as Hare Krishna and migrants of South Asian descent. However, Buddhist values have influenced a wide range of Asia lands, and because Buddhism does not demand exclusivity, it is often practised alongside local religions. Sikhism is still largely concentrated in the Punjab region, though there are Sikh diasporas in many parts of the world, most notably the United Kingdom, Canada, Eastern Australia and Malaysia.

You will notice the mention of yoga and meditation below. That's because both disciplines were highly developed in ancient times by Hindu and Buddhist masters, so that while many types of meditation exist and yoga nowadays is often practiced outside of Hindu and Buddhist countries in a non-religious manner, the origins of yoga and at least the most influential styles of meditation are in these dharmic religions.

Sanamahism

In Manipur (an Indian state since 1949):

Sanamahism or Meitei religion is a traditional religion of the Meitei people, the predominant ethnic group of Manipur. Though Hinduism and Christianity eventually became more popular after getting introduced in the 18th century and the 19th century respectively, this 3 consecutive centuries-suppressed polytheism is getting a revival through a wave of renaissance in Manipur. According to the census reports of the last two decades (2001 & 2011), Sanamahism accounts to be the fastest growing religion in Manipur.

Of East Asian origin

Of Chinese origin

Confucianism is more a code of conduct than what Westerners would consider a religion, though literary temples (文庙 wénmiào), also known as Confucius temples (孔庙 kǒngmiào or 夫子庙 fūzǐmiào), dedicated to the worship of Confucius exist both in China, and in Chinese-influenced civilisations such as Vietnam (Văn Miếu in Vietnamese), Korea (문묘 munmyo in Korean) and Japan (孔子廟 kōshi-byō in Japanese). Confucianism emphasizes respect for one's ancestors and willingness to play one's role in society, and also places a strong emphasis on education and study. One of the most noticeable influences from Confucianism you may notice in East Asian religious practices is ancestor worship, and richer Chinese families traditionally had ancestral temples where they would worship their ancestors. It has had considerable influence in various nations near China; see Imperial China for discussion. Both Confucius's birthplace in Qufu, and that of the second most famous exponent of the religion, Mencius in Zoucheng, draw pilgrims and tourists.
Taoism is based on meditation and the notion of wu wei (无为／無為) (non-action, going with the flow). It provides a mystical counterpoint to Confucianism and has had a large influence on some schools of Buddhism, notably Zen. There are famous statues of the founder, Lao-tzu, on San Shan Island in Lake Tai and Qingyuan Mountain in Quanzhou. While in its narrowest sense it refers only to the philosophy based on teachings of Lao-tzu, the term is often used in a broader sense to refer to the worship of traditional Chinese deities. The Wudang Mountains are widely regarded to be the holiest site in Taoism.

Of Japanese origin

Shinto is a Japanese tradition emphasizing mysticism, nature and patriotism.

Of Korean origin

Muism, or Korean Shamanism was the traditional religion of the Korean people. Though Buddhism and Confucianism eventually became more popular after their introduction from China, many Shamanistic practices continue to survive in Korean culture. A Shamanistic ritual called a gut (굿) is often performed on the site before the construction of a new building.

Of Vietnamese origin

Cao Đài is a syncretic religion that originated in Southern Vietnam in 1926, incorporating elements from Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Roman Catholicism. It is today the third largest religion in Vietnam, after Buddhism and Christianity. Tây Ninh is the headquarters of the religion, where visitors can visit its main temple, also known as the Cao Dai Holy See.

Other

Various forms of shamanism are practiced in Siberia and Mongolia. However, the context is different for each people, so the "-ism" part of the word is questioned as misleadingly implying some unified religion or ideology.

African and African diaspora religions

Yoruba religion

Yoruba religion, Santeria and Candomblé are essentially different names for the religion of the Yoruba, the second most populous tribe in Nigeria, whose homeland is now also part of Benin and Togo in West Africa. There is a large diaspora of Yoruba in the Americas, chiefly as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and therefore, Yoruba religion was spread to Cuba (Santeria) and Brazil (Candomblé). Most Yoruba today are Christians or Muslims, but many aspects of their traditional religion are still practiced in their homeland. Yoruba traditional religion is polytheistic, with many orishas (deities) venerated and represented as statues. In the African Diaspora, the religion was syncretized with Catholicism for safety, as so-called "witchcraft" has been persecuted a lot of the time in Catholic countries in the Americas, so each orisha was associated with a particular saint. Therefore, when you look at items for sale in a botánica (Santeria religious items store) in any number of communities with large Hispano-Caribbean populations, including U.S. cities such as New York and Miami, you will see many things that look like Catholic religious icons, but they are really intended to represent Yoruba deities. Practitioners of Yoruba religion are known for making animal sacrifices and performing magic, and indeed there are those who do both, but magic can be white (positive) or black (destructive), and the idea that all the millions of people practicing this religion are doing black magic is unfounded. The Afro-Cuban music associated with Santeria uses a lot of African percussion and is quite polyrhythmic and exciting, designed to alter the listener's mental state.

West African Vodun is the traditional religion of the Fon people of Benin, Togo and Nigeria and Ewe people of Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. A large number of Fon people were enslaved and transported across the Atlantic, and their religion came, too, and is now also known as Cuban Vodú, Brazilian Vodum_or_Umbanda, Puerto Rican Vudú (Sanse) and Louisiana Voodoo. Haitian Vodou has aspects of both West African Vodun and Yoruba religion, while Dominican Vudú is of mixed West African, South African and indigenous Taino origins. Vodun can be interpreted as polytheistic or monotheistic, in that it has a single creator goddess, Mawu, and Voduns of the Earth, thunder and justice, the sea, iron and war, agriculture and forests, air, and that which is unpredictable. In the Catholic colonies and countries the enslaved descendants of the Fon and Ewe found themselves in, they syncretized Vodun with Catholic beliefs in a single creator God and various saints who can be called upon to pray for you. In Africa, although most Fon and Ewe people are now Christians, many of them continue to practise the traditional Vodun religion alongside Christianity. Like Yoruba religion, Vodun and its outgrowths in the African Diaspora are known for magic, and like Yoruba religion, the bad reputation Vodun has as solely a practice of black magic is inaccurate. If you visit Lomé, Togo, or any number of cities in Benin and other countries where Vodun or traditions originating from it are practiced, look for fetish markets where you can see various items related to its practice including animal bones and dolls.

One thing to keep in mind about the belief in and practice of Yoruba religion, Vodun and their outgrowths in the Americas is that you should never assume that just because someone comes from a country where such beliefs exist, they therefore share or practice them. There are still sometimes violent, even murderous attacks on the adherents of these religions by Christians such as Pentacostalists in Brazil, and it's quite common for the much larger group of non-violent Christians to consider these to be not religions but Satanism. Conversely, you would be wrong to assume that just because someone doesn't look African to you or is even of completely European ancestry, they therefore couldn't believe in or practice these religions. So tread carefully to avoid offense.

Rastafari

Rastafari is a religion that developed among the African diaspora community in Jamaica in the 1930s. Rastafari (or Rastas in short) believe that Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and advocate for a return to Africa (known as "Zion" to Rastas) by the African diaspora, whom they regard as being oppressed by Western society (known as "Babylon" to Rastas). So in some senses, Rastafari is a post-Christian religion. Note that whereas non-Rastas sometimes refer to Rastafarians and Rastafarianism, Rastas themselves oppose what they call "ism schism", believing that having anything like an official set of required beliefs is just a way to divide people. Perhaps the most famous Rasta was the Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley. Today, the vast majority of Afro-Jamaicans are Christians, with Rastafari being very much a minority religion, though it continues to be influential in reggae music.

Religions of Oceanian origin

Religions of Polynesian origin

Although the vast majority of Polynesians today are Christians, elements of the traditional Polynesian religions survive in the local cultures. The ones foreigners are most likely to come across are the traditional religions of the Maori of New Zealand, and the native Hawaiians.

Native Hawaiian religion is traditionally polytheistic. The Hawaiian deity visitors are most likely to learn about is Pele, the goddess of volcanoes and fire. The Hawaiian islands are all of volcanic origin and therefore believed by Native Hawaiians to have been created by Pele. Anyone who violates her by taking any volcanic rocks or sand home from Hawaii is believed to be cursed, and respecting Native Hawaiian religion and traditions means leaving all natural objects where they are (except for things like a lei you may be gifted) and leaving no trace of your visits to any of the high places. Reverence for Pele has made the astronomical observatory at the top of Mauna Kea on the Big Island and proposals for its renovation controversial.

Likewise, traditional Maori religion is polytheistic, culminating in Rangi the sky father and Papa the earth mother, who are believed to have been the ancestors all living things. Although most Maori today are Christians, elements from their traditional religion have been incorporated into modern funerary rites, and you can also see influences from the traditional Maori religion in the architecture of modern-day Maori churches.

There are also beautiful traditions of choral singing in various Polynesian churches, which fuse indigenous musical styles with European ones that were brought to the region during the colonial era. This tradition is particularly well-known among the Fijians, Tongans, Samoans and the Maori of New Zealand.

Religions of Australian origin

Religions of North and South American origin

The vast majority of Native Americans today are Christians, though you can find elements of the traditional religions in their cultural practices.

There is also the Native American Church, a religion that combines elements of Native American traditions and Christianity, in that the one Great Spirit is considered the same as Jesus Christ. Having originated in the Oklahoma Territory at the end of the 19th century and using Plains Native American symbols such as a ceremonial tepee, it has about 250,000 adherents in the U.S. (especially the Great Lakes states and further west), Canada and Mexico. Their ceremonial use of peyote, a hallucinogenic cactus, has previously been persecuted under drug laws and is now protected under a 1978 U.S. law.

In Latin America, most of the indigenous people are now Roman Catholic, but various indigenous practices continue to survive. For instance, the Nahua people of Mexico, who are the descendants of the Aztecs, often fuse stories of their traditional deities with those of Christian saints, and continue to conduct some of their pre-Columbian religious rituals, albeit for the celebration of Christian festivals today. Descendants of the Mayans in southern Mexico and Guatemala likewise have fused elements of their traditional religion with Christianity; traditions once associated with the Sun God are now often associated with Jesus Christ instead, while those once associated with the Moon God are now often associated with the Virgin Mary. In Cuzco, Peru, although mostly Roman Catholic today, the descendants of the Incas re-enact Inti Raymi'rata, the traditional Inca Festival of the Sun God, on 24th June every year.

Religions of Eurasian origin

Some religions have gone extinct and been revived, such as Celtic, Old Norse, and even Greco-Roman paganism. Even disappeared ones may have left a mark on subsequent religions or "secular" traditions, but the exact extent is often hard to gauge as many cultures abandoned their former religion before the introduction of writing, and missionaries often tried to hide the fact that "the feast of Saint Whatshisface" bears some striking similarities to the former "feast of Goddess Whatshername". Hinduism is believed by many modern scholars to share a common origin with many pre-Christian European mythologies, as well as pre-Islamic Persian mythology.

Similarly, many stories in today's religions are believed to have been influenced by stories from now-extinct religions. For instance, the story of Noah's Ark in the Bible has striking similarities with the story of Utnapishtim from the Epic of Gilgamesh in Ancient Mesopotamia mythology.

While a few ancient scholars around the world have rejected religion altogether, organized atheism and irreligion became an intellectual movement in its own right with the Enlightenment of the 18th century, and the subsequent revolutions in Europe. Revolutionary France was among the first formally atheist states in Europe, and even today, the French are fiercely protective of their tradition of secularism (laïcité), and French law severely restricts displays of religiosity in the public sphere. Karl Marx notably viewed religion as "the opium of the people" in a compassionate yet critical view — something that alleviates the oppressed's pain yet solidifies the dominance of ruling class and prevents socialist/communist revolutions. The Soviet Union and other communist states of the 20th century were officially atheist, often with severe restrictions or even outright ban and persecution on religious practices.

Many authoritarian governments have had a cult of personality for current or deceased leaders, with practice and symbolism inspired from traditional religions, at times replacing the religions, and integrating with the state ideology. A notable extant example is Juche, the state ideology of North Korea, which includes a cult of the late Kim Il-Sung, who is still after his death the country's nominal leader. Another less well known example is the cult of Saparmurat Niyazov, better known by his title Turkmenbashi ("Father of All Turkmen"), the first president of Turkmenistan after its independence from the Soviet Union.

Respect

Religion is a sensitive topic, and a component in many international and regional conflicts. A comprehensive guidebook of all religious customs in the world would be very long; as a general principle, travellers should learn about ethics prescribed by the dominant religions at the destination.