<text><span class="style10">he Primal Religions: Modern Times (3 of 3)</span><span class="style7"></span><span class="style10">Primal religions today</span><span class="style7">Most primal peoples today have been profoundly influenced by contact with more 'sophisticated' and powerful societies and their religions. This has led to the development of new movements with-in primal religions, and in some cases to new religions. Most of these movements have developed out of interaction with Christianity. In Papua, New Guinea and some other Pacific Islands, for instance, primal and Christian elements have combined in movements, often called 'cargo cults', to create a new society, and in North America renewed resistance by Native American ('American Indian') peoples to White domination is expressed in a revival of some elements of traditional Native American religion.PBa </span><span class="style10">SHAMANISM </span><span class="style7">Shamanism is generally found in hunting and gathering cultures among peoples living in scattered, often migratory groups.It is the dominant religious element among the Inuit (Eskimo) from Greenland to Alaska, and among the reindeer herders and fishers of northeastern Asia. It also occurs to a lesser extent in other places, for example in some African religions ΓÇô but there it is not a central feature of religious life.The shaman is a religious specialist ΓÇô either a man or a woman ΓÇô who, in times of trouble, mediates with the spirit world on behalf of his people. The shamanΓÇÖs power lies in his ability to enter an ecstatic trance. During ecstasy he sends out his soul to communicate with the beings of the spirit world. The shaman is often called upon when a shortage of game animals threatens a group with starvation, and in such cases the shaman enters a trance and sends out his soul to the spirit who controls the animals. The shamanΓÇÖs task is to find out why the spirit has withheld the game and to persuade the spirit to send more animals to be hunted. The shaman can also use his power to diagnose and cure disease.</span></text>
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<text>ΓÇó AGE ROLES AND RITES OF PASSAGEΓÇó AFRICA, AUSTRALASIA AND OCEANIA TO THE COLONIAL AGEΓÇó WHAT IS RELIGION?ΓÇó WORSHIP, PRAYER AND PILGRIMAGEΓÇó SACRED PLACES AND RITUALSΓÇó THE MAKING OF MYTHS</text>
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<text><span class="style10"> Voodoo ritual</span><span class="style7"> in Haiti. Voodoo - which combines elements of West African religions with elements derived from Roman Catholicism - is practiced by the descendants of Black African slaves in parts of the Caribbean and South America. In Voodoo rituals, dancers enter trances and an animal (usually a chicken) is sacrificed.</span></text>
