WORLD Religions

Shang Ti

Upper ruler, Lord Above

Yin/Yang

representative of balance and harmony; yang - masculine, bright, warm; yin - feminine, dark, cold, mysterious.

Shen

Good spirits

Kwei

evil spirits

Feng Shui

science of the flow of air and water to achieve harmony

Chun Tzu/K’ung Fu Tzu

Historical figure, a teacher, Confucious

Li

Ceremonies of propriety, proper relations, respect

Shu

Reciprocity, giving and getting back, altruism

Jen/Ren

Supreme humanness, Combination of Chang and Shu

Hsun Tzu

denied basic good of man, restrain evil within, no supreme divine power

Analects

philosopical writings and sayings of confucious

Mencius

idealist affirmation, humans are born good

Tao

“the way” or the way of nature, the path

Lao Tzu

“old master”, wrote Tao Te Ching, founded Taoism

Wu-wei

quietism, non-aggression

p’u

an uncarved piece of wood, representing natural harmony and simplicity

T’ai Hsu

Space awareness, “the great nothing”, the space that is there when you aren’t looking

Chung Tzu

cyclical view of time, governments corrupt natures integrity

School of Hygiene

focused on dietary and hygienic means

School of Alchemy/5 elements

focused on the 5 elements and the belief that there is a perfect combination of them to make an elixir of immortality

Tsao Chun

kitchen god

Isle of the Blest

magic secret island where it is said you can find magic mushrooms that make you immortal

Falun Gong

Dharma wheel practice, meditation, new religious movement

Kami

spirits, occultic forces

Amaterasu

supreme sun goddess, descended on mt Fuji and gave birth to the emperor, the emperor was thought to be divine

Kami-dana

god shelves in the home, offerings and incense

Samuari

hereditary soldiers who followed a strict moral code called bushido

Hara Kiri

also called seppuku, ritualistic suicide by disembowlment

70 AD, Judaism

the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple

1949, Judaism

the official formation of the state of Israel

1941, Judaism

“the ultimate solution”, nuremberg laws, holocaust

Mishnah

first major written collection of Jewish oral tradition

Gemara

commentaries on the Torah

Talmud

combination of mishnah and Gemara, primary source used by rabbinic judaism, aside from the Torah

Torah

first five books of the Hebrew bible/old testament, also known as the Pentateuch, books of the law

Moses Ben Maimon

rabbi and influential Torah scholar

Kabbala

mystical number system, implies there is a deeper meaning to scripture that can be deciphered with numbers

Mendelssohn

a guy that responded to persecution of Jews by believing that religions have no right to compel human beings to act in certain ways.

False Messiahs

when Jews were very heavily persecuted, lots of people came forward pretending to be the Messiah, either in want for glory or in an effort to encourage the Jewish people

Hasidism

extreme separation from the world, very closed off to outsiders and foreigners

Zionism

political movement, radical Jewish/Israelite nationalism in attempt to return to Palastine