Books and e-books
Milestone documents of world religions : exploring traditions of faith through primary sources
Milestone Documents of World Religions examines the key sacred texts and foundational documents of the world's primary religions, from ancient times to the present, providing researchers with a fresh perspective on how critical religious texts have influenced both the past and the present.
Rituals and practices in world religions : cross-cultural scholarship to inform research and clinical contexts
This book codifies, describes, and contextualizes group rituals and individual practices from world religious traditions. At the interface of religious studies, psychology, and medicine, it elucidates the cultural richness of practices and rituals from numerous world religions.
The Thing About Religion : An Introduction to the Material Study of Religions
Common views of religion typically focus on the beliefs and meanings derived from revealed scriptures, ideas, and doctrines. David Morgan has led the way in radically broadening that framework to encompass the understanding that religions are fundamentally embodied, material forms of practice. This concise primer shows readers how to study what has come to be termed material religion--the ways religious meaning is enacted in the material world. Material religion includes the things people wear, eat, sing, touch, look at, create, and avoid. It also encompasses the places where religion and the social realities of everyday life, including gender, class, and race, intersect in physical ways.
Encyclopedia of mythological objects
Containing detailed entries on the magical and mythical items from the different folklore, legends, and religions the world over, this encyclopedia is the first of its kind. Each item is described in as much detail as the original source material provided, including information on its origin, who was its wielder, and the extent of its magical abilities.
Open Internet Collections
- Library of Congress -- Selections of Prayer Materials from Africa, the Middle East and Central AsiaThe Selections of Prayer Materials in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia contain 121 items in the formats of manuscripts, rare books, lithographs, and historical postcards, written in African languages, Hebrew, Arabic, Armenian, Ge’ez, Georgian, Ladino, Persian, Turkish, or Turkic languages. The oldest materials date back to the 11th century.
Collections at Regis
- The Regis University Santos CollectionThe collection includes nearly 1,000 items and is housed at Dayton Memorial Library on the Denver (Northwest) campus. Father Thomas J. Steele, who retired as a Regis College faculty member in 1997, assembled the collection from the mid-1960s until his death in 2010, and the collection continues to grow. Santo, translated literally from Spanish, means saint, although this collection also features other Roman Catholic holy persons and devotional objects. Santos generally are in the form of retablos, or paintings on wood panels, or bultos, which are sculptural carvings in the round. A distinctive santo style developed in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado in the 18th and 19th centuries. Using materials at hand, such as pine and cottonwood, and creating pigments from natural materials, santeros (saint-makers) made objects for use in religious observances as well as for home devotions.