Introduction

Figure 13.1 A man carries a Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheel, rotating it as a way of sending out prayers as blessings. (credit: “Person in face mask holding Tibetan Buddhist Prayer Wheel” by Grisha Grishkoff/Pexels, CC0)

Chapter Outline

13.1 What Is Religion?

13.2 Symbolic and Sacred Space

13.3 Myth and Religious Doctrine

13.4 Rituals of Transition and Conformity

13.5 Other Forms of Religious Practice

Religion is one of the most complex and pervasive of all sociocultural institutions. It is also universal. All cultures and societies across time have had beliefs and worldviews that can be classified as religious in nature, even within political institutions that are areligious or avow atheism. Innovative research also indicates that primates, most especially the human species, have evolved physically, socially, and emotionally toward a sense of spirituality and religiosity (see King 2007).