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Animism is the religious belief that objects, places and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork and perhaps even words—as animated and alive. Animism is used in the anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many indigenous peoples, especially in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organised religions.
The tree of life is a widespread myth (mytheme) or archetype in the world's mythologies, related to the concept of sacred tree more generally, and hence in religious and philosophical tradition.
The Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar which made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history.
A dryad is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. Drys signifies "oak" in Greek, and dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, but the term has come to be used for all tree nymphs in general. They were normally considered to be very shy creatures except around the goddess Artemis, who was known to be a friend to most nymphs.
Asherah, in ancient Semitic religion, is a mother goddess who appears in a number of ancient sources. She appears in Akkadian writings by the name of Ašratu(m), and in Hittite as Aserdu(s) or Asertu(s). Asherah is generally considered identical with the Ugaritic goddess ʼAṯirat (Athirat).
Slavic paganism or Slavic religion define the religious beliefs, godlores and ritual practices of the Slavs before the formal Christianisation of their ruling elites. The latter occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century: The Southern Slavs living on the Balkan Peninsula in South Eastern Europe, bordering with the Byzantine Empire to the south, came under the sphere of influence of Byzantine Orthodox Christianity, beginning with the creation of the Slavic alphabet in 855 by the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius and the adoption of Christianity in Bulgaria in 863 CE. The East Slavs followed with the official adoption in 988 CE by Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus'.
The world tree is a motif present in several religions and mythologies, particularly Indo-European religions, Siberian religions, and Native American religions. The world tree is represented as a colossal tree which supports the heavens, thereby connecting the heavens, the terrestrial world, and, through its roots, the underworld. It may also be strongly connected to the motif of the tree of life, but it is the source of wisdom of the ages.
Old Norse religion is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peoples. It was displaced by Christianity during the Christianization of Scandinavia. Scholars reconstruct aspects of North Germanic religion by historical linguistics, archaeology, toponymy, and records left by North Germanic peoples, such as runic inscriptions in the Younger Futhark, a distinctly North Germanic extension of the runic alphabet. Numerous Old Norse works dated to the 13th century record Norse mythology, a component of North Germanic religion.
Nature worship is any of a variety of religious, spiritual and devotional practices that focus on the worship of the nature spirits considered to be behind the natural phenomena visible throughout nature. A nature deity can be in charge of nature, a place, a biotope, the biosphere, the cosmos, or the universe. Nature worship is often considered the primitive source of modern religious beliefs and can be found in theism, panentheism, pantheism, deism, polytheism, animism, totemism, shamanism, paganism. Common to most forms of nature worship is a spiritual focus on the individual's connection and influence on some aspects of the natural world and reverence towards it.
Takhar or Taahkarr is a demi-god in the Serer religion worshipped by many Serers. Takhar is the god of justice and vengeance in Serer religion and worshipped at the foot of certain trees in the forest deemed to be sacred. The Serer priestly class play a crucial role in the evokation of the demi-god and the implementation of its laws that devotees adhere to.
County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, 492 U.S. 573 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court considered the constitutionality of two recurring Christmas and Hanukkah holiday displays located on public property in downtown Pittsburgh. The first, a nativity scene (crèche), was placed on the grand staircase of the Allegheny County Courthouse. The second of the holiday display in question was an 18-foot (5.5 m) public Hanukkah menorah, which was placed just outside the City-County Building next to the city's 45-foot (14 m) decorated Christmas tree and a sign saluting liberty. The legality of the Christmas tree display was not considered in this case.
Turkic mythology embraces Tengriist and Shamanist and as well as all cultural and social subjects being a nomad folk. Later, especially after Turkic migration some of the myths were decorated with Islamic symbols. It has numerous common points with Mongol mythology and both of them were probably originated in a proto syncretic Tibetan Buddhist and nationalist mythology. Turkic mythology was influenced by other local mythologies. For example, in Tatar mythology elements of Finnic and Indo-European myth co-exist. Subjects from Tatar mythology include Äbädä, Alara. Şüräle, Şekä, Pitsen, Tulpar, and Zilant. Turks apparently practised all major religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Manichaeism, before the majority of Turks confessed to Islam. Turks often syncretised the other religion into their prevailing mythological understanding.
Tamagushi is a form of Shinto offering made from a sakaki-tree branch decorated with shide strips of washi paper, silk, or cotton. At Japanese weddings, funerals, miyamairi and other ceremonies at Shinto shrines, tamagushi are ritually presented to the kami by parishioners or kannushi priests.
Jayanta Bhatta was a Kashmir poet and a philosopher of Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy. In his philosophical treatise Nyayamanjari and drama Agamadambara, Jayanta mentions the king Shankaravarman as his contemporary. Also, his son Abhinanda in his Kadambari-kathasara, mentioned that the great grandfather of Jayanta was a minister of King Lalitaditya of 8th century CE. So most probably Jayanta belonged to the last quarter of 9th Century CE.
Vattisen Yaly is a contemporary revival of the ethnic religion of the Chuvash people, a Turkic ethnicity of uppermost Bulgar ancestry mostly settled in the republic of Chuvashia and surrounding federal subjects of Russia.
Tiurakh is one of the demi-gods of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. In the Serer religion, Tiurakh is regarded as the god of wealth or property. Like his adversary Takhar, they are both venerated and worshipped at the foot of the tallest trees in Serer country.
Druwi is a Baltic ethnic religious revival claiming Old Prussian origins, and mostly present in Lithuania. Adherents uphold that it is distinct from Romuva, and that Romuva could be considered as a specific form of Druwi.
Sarnaism or Sarna, also known as Sariism or Adiism, is the collective designation of the indigenous religions of the Adivasi populations of the states of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, centred around the worship of nature represented by trees. Followers of these religions primarily belong to the Munda, Ho, Bhumij, Santal, Gond, Baiga and Khuruk ethnic groups.
Trees hold a particular role in Germanic paganism and Germanic mythology, both as individuals and in groups. The central role of trees in Germanic religion is noted in the earliest written reports about the Germanic peoples, with the Roman historian Tacitus stating that Germanic cult practices took place exclusively in groves rather than temples. Scholars consider that reverence for and rites performed at individual trees are derived from the mythological role of the world tree, Yggdrasil; onomastic and some historical evidence also connects individual deities to both groves and individual trees. After Christianization, trees continue to play a significant role in the folk beliefs of the Germanic peoples.