Database Highlight #24: We've got the World Religion for That
It’s the final database highlight of the year! The highlights will pick up again after the New Year's holiday.
To close out 2017, this week’s highlight is World Religions Online. This unbiased, comprehensive database is packed full of information delivered through articles, videos, and images. With an easily navigated interface designed to encourage browsing and/or keyword searching, it’s a great place for members or students to start researching a major world religion.
From the beginnings of human history, societies and cultures have established themselves around religious and spiritual practices. Religion has affected decisions personal and political, local and global, and continues to play an important role in the lives of individuals and in the cultures of nations. With a dynamic new design, new features, and expanded coverage, World Religions explores religion and spirituality in an objective manner, from the ceremonies of the first practitioners to the elaborate rituals of today. – from the vendor
Visit timedatedate.com , this week’s open site. You'll have to deal with some annoying banner ads but this site has everything you need to know about time and dates. There's a time zone converter, countdowns, holiday lists, and the ability to print a pdf calendar just in time for 2018!
Action Steps
- Check out World Religions Online. Choose a religion you’re unfamiliar with and describe a celebration/tradition in the comments.
OR
- Run a keyword search for a secular holiday you’re either familiar with or a secular holiday you’re unfamiliar with and share something you find interesting in the comments.
Last chance for pocket hand sanitizers!
- Log in to post comments
Comments
I chose Sikhism. I found their name giving ritual interesting. The official or family member opens their holy book (Guru Granth Sahib) to a random page. The first letter of the word in the upper left-hand corner of the page will be the first letter in the child's name. The child's last name will either be "Kaur" if it's a female, and "Singh" if male.
Singh, Nikky-Guninder Kaur, and Lucy Soucek. “Sikh Rites of Passage.” Sikhism: A Quick Reference, Facts On File, 2016. World Religions, online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/22?articleId=415081. Accessed 18 Dec. 2017.
I was interested in reading about the festivals of traditional religions in Africa. The Egungun festival (which is Yorubian), is a festival honoring ancestors of the community. During the festival, a masked and cloaked dancer dances through the town. He is masked and covered so that he becomes the ancestor that the festival is honoring.
Davis, R. Hunt, and Willie F. Page. "Festivals in Africa." Encyclopedia of Ancient Africa (Prehistory to 500 CE). Facts on File, 2017. World Religions, http://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/22?articleId=215236.
I chose the Baha'i Faith because I knew very little about it. I read about their Naw-Ruz festival (because of its awesome name!) which is a celebration of the Spring Equinox. It has been celebrated for over 3,000 years as a "Zoroastrian New Year's Day" and Persian spring celebration. The Baha'i view the day as one of their holiest and as a "celebration of the spiritual oneness and renewal of humankind." It takes place after a 19 day fast, similar to Ramadan, in which no food or drink is allowed until sunset. The celebration revolves around the themes of food, family, and hospitality.
So interesting! I love these database highlights!
Buck, Christopher. "Naw-Ruz." Baha'i Faith: A Quick Reference. Facts On File, 2016. Accessed December 22, 2017. http://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/22?articleId=416645.