Background
Origins, languages, societies, historical developments and debates.
The Orabel Repository
Spiritualities
of the World
For millennia, human societies have been developing stories, rites and paths to understand existence, orient action and through the major stages of life.
127traditions identified
127detailed entries
8main categories
Our method
Understanding without judging or confounding
Each entry distinguishes historical knowledge, teachings from within the traditions, suggested practices and scientific perspectives.
Internal voices
Beliefs are presented as traditions, without transforming them into universal facts.
Diversity
No religion is reduced to a single school or uniform practice.
Caution
Demographic, scientific and historical data are accompanied by their limitations.
Timeline
The great traditions through time
A visual reading of some great landmarks of the spiritual history of humanity, from the first expressions of the sacred to contemporary forms of search for meaning.
Timeline of major spiritual traditions
From the origins of the sacred to contemporary quests
Dates indicate emergence or formal development: traditions take shape gradually and their roots are often older.
PrehistoryBefore approx. 3500 BC
Antiquityapprox. 3500 BC – 5th Century
Middle AgesFifth – fifteenth century
Modern AgeXVth – 19th century
Today19th – 21st century
← Drag the timeline to travel across millennia →
Fifth century BC
Buddhism
The teaching attributed to the historical Buddha develops in North India before giving birth to many schools across Asia.
Prehistory
At the origins of humanity, ritual practices, the relationship to ancestors, natural forces and the sacred precedes institutionalized religions.
Antiquity
Great civilizations structure lasting religious and philosophical traditions, corpus of texts and new ways of questioning existence.
Middle Ages
The great traditions spread, diversify and meet through empires, trade routes, pilgrimages and intellectual exchanges.
Modern Age
Global traffic is growing and new religious communities are taking shape in the context of political exchanges, reforms and transformations.
Today
The spiritual landscape is becoming ever more pluralistic: globalized religions, new movements, secular approaches, ecospiritualities and transnational practices are being associated.
Detailed collection
Eighty traditions to travel time and the world
This selection opens the full collection: all eighty entries are available in the directory and follow the same historical, cultural and scientific framework.
Entry available
Major religions
Buddhism
[ "Buddhism brings together traditions born around the teaching attributed to Siddhartha Gautama. It offers a diagnosis of suffering and a path of transformation based on ethics, meditation and understanding.", "There is not one form of Buddhism: Theravāda, Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna bring together schools, texts, practices and cultures. The absence of a central creative god does not mean that all schools lack cosmology, rituals or devotion." ]
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Major religions
Christianity
[ "Christianity brings together the traditions that recognize Jesus Christ as a central figure and refer to the Bible. It developed from the Judaism of the first century before diversifying into many churches.", "Doctrines, liturgies and structures vary between Catholicism, orthodoxy, Protestantism and other families. The Trinity is central to the majority of Christians, but the way of expressing it and other theological points differ." ]
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Major religions
Islam
[ "Islam is a monotheistic religion based on faith in God, Allah in Arabic, and on the Qur'an considered by Muslims as divine revelation transmitted to the Prophet Muhammad.", "The practice is organised around the profession of faith, prayer, alms, fasting Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca. Legal, theological and spiritual schools are an important diversity." ]
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Major religions
Hinduism
[ "The term Hinduism includes a wide variety of traditions in the Indian subcontinent, which do not share a single founder or a uniform creed, but have historical, ritual and philosophical ties.", "Depending on the schools, the ultimate reality can be thought of as Brahman, as a personal divinity or through several divine forms. Dharma, karma, sasāra and moksa are frequent landmarks, without being interpreted in the same way everywhere." ]
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Major religions
Judaism
[ "Judaism is a religious, cultural and historical tradition centred on the covenant between God and the people of Israel, the Torah and a life rhythmic by study, commandments, prayer and feasts.", "It includes a wide variety of practices and identities. Judaism can be lived as a religion, people, culture, family heritage or a combination of these dimensions." ]
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Taoism
[ "Taoism, or Daoism, refers to both philosophical traditions associated with Daodejing and Zhuangzi, and religious traditions organized with rituals, lines, temples and cultivation practices.", "The Dao represents the fundamental path or process of reality. The wu wei is not an absolute passivity: it evokes an unforced action, adapted to the circumstances and attentive to the transformations." ]
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Confucianism
[ "Confucianism is a Chinese tradition of ritual thought, education and practice associated with Confucius and his intellectual heirs. He is interested in person formation, relationships, family, government and social order.", "It can be lived as a moral philosophy, ritual tradition or religious dimension. Its history covers classical schools, neoconfucianism and modern adaptations in several societies in East Asia." ]
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Major religions
Sikhism
[ "Sikhism is a monotheistic tradition born in Punjab with Guru Nanak. It teaches the uniqueness of God, the dignity of each person, the memory of the divine Name, honest work and sharing.", "After the ten human Gurus, spiritual authority is attributed to the Guru Granth Sahib and the Khalsa community. Sikhs reject caste discrimination as a religious ideal, even if social realities may be more complex." ]
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Major religions
Jainism
[ "Jainism teaches that living beings possess a soul and that acts, passions and violence bind the soul to karma. Liberation requires non-violence, self-control, just knowledge and just conduct.", "Mahāvīra is the twenty-fourth Tīrtha ,kara of the present era according to tradition. The two large families, ÷vetāmbara and Digambara, share common bases but differ on texts, monastic life and some narratives." ]
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Major religions
Druzism
[ "Druzism, or Druze tradition, appeared in the early 11th century in the context of the Fatimid Caliphate. It was rooted mainly in the mountains of Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Jordan.", "It is a monotheistic and initiatory tradition. An important part of the teaching is reserved for the 的uqqāl, the initiates, while the majority of the community, the juhhāl, participates in the collective life without full access to esoteric texts. This reserve imposes great caution on the external sources." ]
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Ancient traditions
Religion of Ancient Egypt
[ "The Egyptian religion sought to maintain the \"maât*, the righteous order of the world, in the face of the forces of disorder. Deities were not enclosed in a single identity: they could combine, change function according to the cities and manifest themselves in human, animal or composite forms.", "Local cults were gradually integrated into the Pharaohic State." ]
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Ancient traditions
Mesopotamian religions
[ "It did not exist an immutable Mesopotamian religion, but traditions linked to each other by languages, exchanges and empires. Each large city had a tutelary divinity and a temple that was both ritual, economic and political center.", "The Sumerians established many myths and liturgies then translated or adapted into Akkadian." ]
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Traditions rooted in regions and stories
Full reference
An editorial atlas to grow
Eighty traditions now have a complete entry. Other traditions already listed remain planned and can be published without changing the site’s structure.
127 entries displayed
Entry available
Major religions
Hinduism
An entry from the Orabel reference book dedicated to Hinduism, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Major religions
Buddhism
An entry from the Orabel reference book dedicated to Buddhism, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Major religions
Jainism
An entry from the Orabel reference book dedicated to Jainism, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Major religions
Sikhism
An entry from the Orabel reference book on Sikhism, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Major religions
Judaism
An entry from the Orabel reference book dedicated to Judaism, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Major religions
Christianity
An entry from the Orabel reference book dedicated to Christianity, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Major religions
Islam
An entry from the Orabel reference book on Islam, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Major religions
Bahá'í faith
Bahá'í faith considers the great religions as stages of progressive revelation. Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Báb and Bahá'u'lláh are understood as manifestations of God adapted to the needs of their time.
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Major religions
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrism teaches a moral choice between *asha*, truth and just order, and *druj*, lies and disorder. Its famous maxim calls for good thoughts, good words and good deeds.
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Major religions
Druzism
An entry from the Orabel reference book dedicated to Druzism, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Major religions
Yezidism
Yezidism teaches that God has entrusted the world to seven holy beings, of whom Tawûsê Melek occupies the first place. The assimilation of the Angel-Paon to Satan is false and has fed centuries of persecution.
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Major religions
Mandeism
The Mandeans often call themselves "Nasoreans" in the priestly context and "people of knowledge". Their religion opposes the World of Light to the material world mixed, and seeks the return of the soul to its source.
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Major religions
Samaritanism
The Samaritans consider themselves as descendants of the ancient Israelites who remained faithful to the Torah and to the chosen sanctuary of Mount Garizim. Their tradition must not be defined only through the Christian parable of the "good Samaritan".
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Taoism
An entry from the Orabel reference book dedicated to Taoism, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Confucianism
An entry from the Orabel reference book on Confucianism, placed in its historical, geographical and cultural context.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Shintō
*Shintō*, "way of the kami", means a tradition without a founder and without a single creed. *kami* can be linked to landscapes, phenomena, ancestors, characters or creative powers.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Chinese People's Religion
Many Chinese simultaneously honour ancestors, local deities and Buddhist or Taoist figures without defining themselves by an exclusive affiliation. The category "popular religion" describes this network, but can mask strong regional differences.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Muism, Korean shamanism
Muism is a diverse ritual tradition that has coexisted with Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity. Its specialists act as intermediaries during family crises, diseases, deuils, economic projects or community celebrations.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Tenrikyō
Tenrikyō teaches that humans are the children of God-Parent and that their bodies are a loan received to live in mutual aid. The purpose of creation is a Joy Life where everyone rejoices with others.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Cheondoism
The Donghak movement, "Oriental Knowledge", was born in the face of social crises, foreign presence and "Western knowledge." It taught that Heaven lies at the heart of every person, founding dignity and equality.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Bön
Bön does not simply refer to the "pre-Buddhic shamanic religion of Tibet." The current institutional tradition, often called Yungdrung Bön, has canon, monasteries, philosophy and contemplative paths developed in contact with Buddhism.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Caodism
Caodism seeks to bring together the teachings of several traditions in a new revelation destined for the unity of humanity. It incorporates Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, Christian and spirit elements.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Hòa H
Hòa H is presented in its setting of origin — Vietnam, 20th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as plain Buddhist practice, devotion, ethical conduct and mutual aid.
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Internal and mystical currents
Buddhism Theravāda
Buddhism Theravāda is presented in its setting of origin — Indian subcontinent, Old current — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the path to liberation transmitted through the Pali Canon and monastic communities.
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Internal and mystical currents
Mahāyāna Buddhism
Mahāyāna Buddhism is presented in its setting of origin — India and Asia, 1st century BC/A.C. — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the bodhisattva ideal, compassion and wisdom directed toward the awakening of all beings.
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Internal and mystical currents
Buddhism Vajrayāna
Buddhism Vajrayāna is presented in its setting of origin — India and Tibet, I millennia — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as tantric methods framed by initiation, a teacher and ethical discipline.
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Internal and mystical currents
Zen / Chan
Zen / Chan is presented in its setting of origin — China and Japan, 6th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as seated meditation and direct attention to experience within lineages of transmission.
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Internal and mystical currents
Buddhism of the Earth pure
Buddhism of the Earth pure is presented in its setting of origin — China and Japan, I millennia — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as trust in Amitabha and recitation of the Buddha’s name in aspiration for birth in the Pure Land.
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Internal and mystical currents
Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism is presented in its setting of origin — Japan, 13th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the centrality of the Lotus Sutra and chanting its title, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo.
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Internal and mystical currents
Sufism
Sufism is not a separate religion from Islam. It aims at a living knowledge of God through the Qur'an, the prophetic example, ethics and a transmission from master to disciple.
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Internal and mystical currents
Kabbale
The Kabbalah seeks to understand how the infinite and unknowable God reveals himself in a finite world. The ten "sefirots" are modalities or relationships of the divine presence, not ten separate gods.
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Internal and mystical currents
Hassidism
Hassidism is presented in its setting of origin — Podolie, 18th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as divine presence in everyday life, joyful devotion and attachment to the righteous teacher.
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Internal and mystical currents
Christian mystic
Christian mystic seeks a living knowledge of God through Christ. It generally maintains a distinction between Creator and creature, even when it uses the bold language of union, deification or spiritual marriage.
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Internal and mystical currents
Hesychasm
Hesychasm is presented in its setting of origin — Eastern Christianity, Middle Ages — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as prayer of the heart, inner stillness and transformation of the person in Eastern Christianity.
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Internal and mystical currents
Quakerism
Quakerism is presented in its setting of origin — England, 17th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as attention to the inward light, communal discernment and testimonies of peace and integrity.
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Internal and mystical currents
Ancient Gnosticisms
"Gnosticism" is a modern category discussed, and it includes Sethian, valentine and other currents that were not all named in the same way.
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Internal and mystical currents
Hermetics
Hermetics brings together spiritual dialogues about God, the cosmos and the intellect, as well as traditions of astrology, magic and d'alchemy. Not all the texts attributed to Hermes Trismegiste share a single doctrine.
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Internal and mystical currents
Neoplatoness
Neoplatoness is presented in its setting of origin — Roman Empire, Third century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the procession of all reality from the One and the contemplative return toward its source.
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Internal and mystical currents
Advaita Vedānta
Advaita Vedānta is presented in its setting of origin — India, 8th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the non-duality of atman and brahman, realized through study, discernment and contemplation.
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Internal and mystical currents
Bhakti
*Bhakti* means participation, attachment and devotion. It can take the forms of friendship, service, parental love, marital love or confident abandonment.
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Internal and mystical currents
Tantra
Tantra is not limited to sacred sexuality or a technique of wellbeing. It designates many traditions that use the body, speech, imagination and ritual to transform ordinary perception into a way of awakening or union with the divine.
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Internal and mystical currents
Traditions of Yoga
Traditions of Yoga is presented in its setting of origin — India, Antiquity — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as paths of ethical, bodily, breathing and meditative discipline oriented toward liberation or transformation.
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Internal and mystical currents
Nāth Tradition
Nāth Tradition is presented in its setting of origin — India, Middle Ages — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as a yogic discipline of body, breath and mind transmitted through guru lineages.
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Internal and mystical currents
Sant Mat
Sant Mat is presented in its setting of origin — North India, Middle Ages — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as devotion to the divine Name, inward experience and critique of ritual hierarchies.
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Internal and mystical currents
Radha Soami
Radha Soami is presented in its setting of origin — India, 19th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as inner attention to a current of sound and light under the guidance of a living teacher.
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Internal and mystical currents
Lingayasis
Lingayasis is presented in its setting of origin — Karnataka, XIIth century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as personal devotion to Shiva embodied in the ishtalinga, community and an ethic of work.
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Internal and mystical currents
Ayyavazhi
Ayyavazhi is presented in its setting of origin — South India, 19th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the teaching of Ayya Vaikundar, social reform and the advent of a just order.
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Internal and mystical currents
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj is presented in its setting of origin — Bengal, 19th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as reformist monotheism shaped by the Upanishads, reason and social engagement.
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Internal and mystical currents
Arya Samaj
Arya Samaj is presented in its setting of origin — India, 19th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as a return to Vedic authority together with religious reform and educational and social programs.
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Internal and mystical currents
Ramakrishna Movement
Ramakrishna Movement is presented in its setting of origin — India, 19th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as spiritual realization, dialogue among religious paths and service to humanity.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Tradition yorùbá and Ifá
The Yorùbá tradition affirms a world in which personal destiny, character, ancestors, natural forces and community are related. The *òrìs* are not mere "gods of nature": they possess stories, cults, cities, lines and complex characters.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Vodun d'West Africa
Vodun refers to powers and traditions that organize relations with them. The word has been caricatured by colonial imagination and cinema.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Akan traditions
Akan traditions is presented in its setting of origin — West Africa, Old origins — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as relationships among deities, ancestors, lineages, authority and land in diverse Akan societies.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Odinani igbo
Odinani igbo is presented in its setting of origin — West Africa, Old origins — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as relationships among Chukwu, personal destiny, deities, ancestors and Igbo community life.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Spiritualities san
Spiritualities san is presented in its setting of origin — Southern Africa, Old origins — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as relationships with land, animals, ancestors and healing among distinct San communities.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Bantu ancestral traditions
Bantu ancestral traditions is presented in its setting of origin — Central and Southern Africa, Old origins — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as a highly diverse set of cosmologies relating kinship, ancestors, spiritual forces and collective life.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Indigenous Spiritualities of the Americas
Indigenous Spiritualities of the Americas is presented in its setting of origin — Multiple peoples, Old origins — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as nation-specific sacred relationships among people, lands, other living beings, ancestors and spiritual powers.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Spirituality lakota
Lakota spirituality affirms the interdependence of all relationships. The translation of Waksásásásáska by "Great Spirit" is approximate: the term refers to a great mystery or sacred whose expressions are multiple.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Spirituality dined
It is not simply "happiness" but a way of moving forward in beauty and balance with family, territory, body and sacred Beings.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Haudenosaune spiritual tradition
The Haudenosaune tradition is not a generic "Indian religion" and belongs to sovereign nations with their languages, governments and protocols.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Mayan Spiritualities
There is no single Mayan spirituality. The K-iche, Yucatecian, Q-eqchi-, Tzotzil and many others have their languages, calendars and customs.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Mexican or Aztec religion
The Mexican religion was part of a much older Mesoamerican heritage. The cosmos had lived many ages and remained fragile.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Contemporary Andean Spiritualities
The present Andean spiritualitys are neither an intact inca survival nor a mere folk Catholicism. They have transformed for five centuries and often articulate saints, Virgin, Pachamama, mountains, dead and weather forces.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Mapuche Spirituality
Mapuche spirituality is inseparable from the earth, community and language. *ngen* are guardian presences linked to places or elements; relations with them require respect and authorization rather than domination.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Inuit Spiritualities
Inuit spirituality has developed in environments where material survival, cooperation and respect for animals are inseparable, they do not constitute a uniform system and many Inuit are today Christian while maintaining ancestral values and stories.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Spirituality sámi
Traditional Sami spirituality linked breeding or reindeer hunting, fishing, kinship and landscapes. Mountains, rocks *sieidi*, waters and passages could become places of relationship and offering.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Australian Aboriginal Spiritualities and Dreaming
"The Dream Time" is an imperfect translation if it suggests an imaginary past finished. Dreaming refers to both creation, law, ancestral presences, itineraries, identity and order always active.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Spirituality of the Māori
*whakapapa*, genealogy, connects people, ancestors, atua, animals, plants and landscapes. Spirituality is therefore not separated from identity, right of belonging and responsibilities towards the territory.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Polynesian Spiritualities
Polynesian Spiritualities is presented in its setting of origin — Polynesia, Old origins — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as genealogies linking people, ancestors, deities, ocean and islands across distinct Polynesian cultures.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Traditional Hawaiian Spirituality
The land, *
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Melanesian Spiritualities
Melanesian Spiritualities is presented in its setting of origin — Melanesis, Old origins — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as highly diverse relational worlds in which ancestors, land, exchange, initiation and authority are locally intertwined.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Siberian shamanism
"Siberian shamanism" is not a single religion. The term refers to comparable specialists and practices, but each people has its cosmology, songs, rules of initiation and history.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Tengricism
Tengrism links sovereignty, destiny, heaven, territory and lineage. Tengri is not necessarily a personal god comparable to that of monotheisms; according to the times, it represents the supreme heavenly power that grants fortune and legitimacy.
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Ancient traditions
Religion of Ancient Egypt
The Egyptian religion sought to maintain the "maât*, the righteous order of the world, in the face of the forces of disorder. Deities were not enclosed in a single identity: they could combine, change function according to the cities and manifest themselves in human, animal or composite forms.
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Ancient traditions
Mesopotamian religions
It did not exist an immutable Mesopotamian religion, but traditions linked to each other by languages, exchanges and empires. Each large city had a tutelary divinity and a temple that was both ritual, economic and political center.
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Ancient traditions
Ancient Greek religion
The Greek religion had no single creed or revealed book, but was based mainly on transmitted rites, shrines, feasts and poetic accounts.
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Ancient traditions
Ancient Roman religion
The Roman religion sought to accomplish the rites exactly in order to preserve the agreement with the divine powers. It was not limited to a copy of Greece: Rome had its institutions, its calendar, its priests and a strong family tradition.
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Ancient traditions
Ancient Nordic religion
The Nordic religion was not a uniform system, and the religions varied according to region, family and social groups.
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Ancient traditions
Ancient Celtic Polytheisms
The term "Celtic religion" covers a wide range of peoples and centuries. Deities were often linked to a source, river, territory, social function or group.
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Ancient traditions
Ancient Slavic religion
Slavic peoples probably did not share a perfectly common pantheon. Perun, linked to thunder and warrior power, and Veles, associated especially with cattle, wealth and the underground world, appeared in several reconstructions, but their exact relations varied.
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Ancient traditions
Ancient Baltic religions
Baltic traditions are particularly important for the study of Indo-European mythologies, because their languages and songs have retained ancient forms, but they remain diverse: Lithuanian, Latvian and Prussian religions are not interchangeable.
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Ancient traditions
Canaani and Phoenician religions
"Cananean" and "Phoenician" refer to close cultural ensembles, not a unified Church. Pantheons varied according to the cities.
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Ancient traditions
Phoenician religion
Phoenician religion is presented in its setting of origin — Rising, Antiquity — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as civic cults linking cities, protective deities, maritime trade and Levantine dynasties.
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Ancient traditions
Minoan religion
Minoan religion is presented in its setting of origin — Crete, Bronze age — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as ritual practices of Bronze Age Crete known mainly through archaeology and iconography.
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Ancient traditions
Etruscan religion
The Etruscans considered that the gods communicated through nature and events. A ritual tradition called by the Romans *disciplina Etrusca* taught how to observe, interpret and appease these signs.
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Philosophy of life
Stoicism
Stoicism is presented in its setting of origin — Athens, Third century BC — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as virtue as the fundamental good and rational accord with nature and what is up to us.
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Philosophy of life
Epicurism
Epicurism is presented in its setting of origin — Athens, Third century BC — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as a simple life, friendship, freedom from disturbance and release from superstitious fears.
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Philosophy of life
Pythagorasm
Pythagorasm is presented in its setting of origin — Greece, 6th Century BC — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as cosmic harmony, the role of number, communal discipline and transmigration of the soul.
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Philosophy of life
Humanism
Humanism is presented in its setting of origin — Europe, Renaissance and modernity — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as human dignity, reasoned inquiry, freedom of conscience and responsibility toward others.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Secular spirituality
Secular spirituality is presented in its setting of origin — Multiple households, 20th–21st centuries — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as a search for meaning, depth, awe or compassion without requiring religious affiliation.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Religious naturalism
Religious naturalism is presented in its setting of origin — Europe and the Americas, 19th–21st centuries — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as nature understood as the real whole and as a source of awe, meaning and ethical commitment.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Eco-spirituality
Eco-spirituality is presented in its setting of origin — Multiple households, 20th–21st centuries — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the interdependence of life and a spiritual, moral or existential responsibility toward ecosystems.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Transpersonal psychology
Transpersonal psychology is presented in its setting of origin — United States and Europe, 20th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the study of self-transcending experiences and spiritual dimensions within a psychological framework.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Modern Theosophy
The Theosophy affirms the existence of a primordial wisdom common to religions. It combines Western traditions, Indian and Buddhist concepts, spiritual evolution and teachings attributed to Masters of Wisdom.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Anthroposophy
L-anthroposophy presents itself as a path of knowledge allowing to study the spiritual with a discipline comparable, according to Steiner, to that of the sciences of nature. This methodological claim is not recognized as science by modern scientific institutions.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Kardecist spiritism
Kardec wanted to subject the mediumnic messages to a methodical comparison and to present spiritism as a "scientific observation" and a moral philosophy. However, in the current academic sense, his assertions about spirits are not scientifically established.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
New Thought
New Thought is presented in its setting of origin — United States, 19th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the power attributed to thought, affirmative prayer and a spiritual reading of health and prosperity.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Transcendentalism
Transcendentalism is presented in its setting of origin — New England, 19th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as intuition, moral independence and an experience of nature that opens toward spirituality and social reform.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Neopaganimism
Neopaganimism is presented in its setting of origin — Europe and the Americas, 20th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as contemporary revivalist, reconstructionist or creative religions inspired by pre-Christian traditions.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Wicca
Wicca is a modern religion inspired by folklore, ceremonial magic, nature romance and ancient assumptions about witchcraft. It does not constitute the secret and uninterrupted survival of a prehistoric cult, even though some early Wiccans believed it.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Neodriidism
Neo-Druidism does not always claim to reproduce exactly the ancient Druids. As ancient sources are fragmentary, many groups assume a modern tradition inspired by the Celtic world rather than direct historical continuity.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Heathenry / Ásatrú
Heathenry / Ásatrú is presented in its setting of origin — Northern Europe, 20th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the reconstruction and reinterpretation of pre-Christian Germanic religions in modern communities.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Modern Hellenism
Modern Hellenism is presented in its setting of origin — Greece and diaspora, 20th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as the contemporary renewal of Greek polytheistic worship through historical reconstruction and living adaptation.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Universalist Unitarianism
Universalist Unitarianism is presented in its setting of origin — United States, 20th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as a non-creedal religious community grounded in dignity, free inquiry and justice.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Rastafari
Rastafari was born in a colonial society marked by slavery, racism and poverty. He read the Bible from the African experience and proclaimed black dignity, return to Zion and rejection of oppressive systems called Babylon.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is presented in its setting of origin — China, 20th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as meditative exercises and a moral teaching centered on truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Eckankar
Eckankar is presented in its setting of origin — United States, 20th century — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as experience of oneself as Soul, chanting HU and teachings about spiritual travel.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
New religious movements
New religious movements is presented in its setting of origin — Multiple households, 19th–21st centuries — without reducing it to a single formula. Its central orientation can be summarized as a scholarly category covering very different movements that emerged or became visible in modernity.
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Ancient traditions
Orphism
The word "orphism" includes poems, rites and communities that claimed the authority of Orpheus. Researchers are still discussing their unity.
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Ancient traditions
Mysteries of Eleusis
Mysteries related Persephone's disappearance and return to the pain and joy of Demeter. Initiation promised less a detailed dogma than an experience capable of changing the look on life and death.
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Ancient traditions
Roman Mithraism
Roman mithraism was a mainly male initiatory religion, well-attested among soldiers, officials, traders and freemen. Its iconography is abundant, but its secret teachings have almost never reached us in the form of internal texts.
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Ancient traditions
Vedic religion
Vedic religion must not be confused without a nuance with contemporary Hinduism. It is one of the major sources of it, but its gods, ritual organization and social horizon belong to an ancient context.
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Ancient traditions
Chinese religion of Shang and Zhou
Under the Shang, the kingship communicated with the ancestors and powers through divination. Under the Zhou, the notion of *Tian*, Heaven, and the Mandate of Heaven gave a moral dimension to political legitimacy: an unjust ruler could lose his mandate.
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Ancient traditions
Manichaeism
Mani presented himself as the last of a succession of messengers including Buddha, Zoroaster and Jesus. He proposed a universal revelation, written and illustrated, intended to transcend linguistic boundaries.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Religion inca
The Incas did not erase all the religions of the conquered peoples. They promoted imperial cults, especially that of the Sun, while integrating many local *huacas*, powers or sacred places.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Ainu Spirituality
In the Ainu vision, many animals, phenomena and objects can manifest "kamyy". They visit the human world in a visible envelope and must be welcomed with respect before returning to their domain.
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Indigenous Spiritualities
Traditional religion of the Ryūkyū
The ryūkyūane religion shares certain traits with Shintō and East Asian cultures, but has a history of its own. Women have long held a major ritual place, including in the former Ryūkyū kingdom.
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African and Afro-diasporic religions
Vodou Haitian
Vodou is a Haitian religion of care, memory and service to the *lwa*. Bondye is far away; humans mainly relate to the spirits, ancestors and saints associated with them in Creole history.
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African and Afro-diasporic religions
Candombread
Candomblé is not a single uniform liturgy. Its "nations" preserve and recreate different African languages, rhythms, divinities and genealogies in a Brazilian world marked by the violence of slavery.
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African and Afro-diasporic religions
Umbanda
L-Umbanda was formed in a society marked by race and class hierarchies, and gives spiritual authority to historically marginalized figures: former slaves, idealized Aboriginals, children, street people and gatekeepers.
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African and Afro-diasporic religions
Lucumí or Santería
"Santería" is a popular name, sometimes outside; Lucumí or Regla de Ocha-Ifá are often preferred. The rapprochements between orichas and Catholic saints have protected and transformed the cults, without making the two traditions identical.
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Philosophy and Religions in Asia
Yiguandao
Yiguandao teaches that the same truth goes through Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and Islam. Humanity, far from its heavenly home, must receive the Way and cultivate virtue and compassion before the completion of a great cosmic cycle.
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Major religions
Yarsanism
Yarsan teaches that divine reality manifests itself in cycles through human figures accompanied by spiritual beings. Tradition often remains discreet because of persecutions and pressure to be classified as a branch of Islam.
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Internal and mystical currents
Alevism
Alevism is a plural tradition, often located in the Shiite and Sufi world, but which some faithful consider to be an autonomous way. It favours the inner sense, *batın*, rather than a uniform literal observance.
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Internal and mystical currents
Yoga Philosophy
Yoga is much older and wider than modern postural gymnastics. In the classical system, postures are only one member of an eight-part discipline designed to discern the pure consciousness of nature's phenomena.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
Modern Spiritualism
Spiritualism affirms that personality survives death and can communicate through mediums. It developed in a passionate era through telegraph, social reform, magnetism and new sciences.
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Contemporary Spiritualities
New Age
The New Age brings together very different beliefs and markets around the idea that a change of individual and collective consciousness can bring about a new era. It has neither founder, nor canon, nor central institution.
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