The Encyclopedia of World Religions

126 S Druze, the

According to legend, the goddess Durga was created when a powerful water buffalo demon, Mahisha, began to savage the Earth. Each of the gods tried to stop him, but they were unable to, so they decided to combine their powers into one being more powerful than any of them. Perhaps because the Sanskrit word sakti, divine power, is feminine, the being they created was female, Durga. Her images portray her defeating Mahisha. Durga is one of several manifestations of the Goddess in H INDUISM . She is worshipped by fol lowers known as Saktas. Her major festival is Navaratri, observed in Bengal in the cooler time of the year just after the monsoons ( see H INDU FESTI VALS ). It celebrates Durga’s victory over Mahisha. Durkheim, Émile (1858–1917) a French thinker who helped invent the study of sociology He has had an immense impact on the study of religions. Durkheim’s early writings contributed some terms that scholars have used to study religions. An example is the term “anomie.” It refers to the social and moral disorder that arises when tradi tional social forms break down. But Durkheim’s most important book for the study of religions appeared later: The Elementary Forms of the Reli gious Life (1912). The Elementary Forms starts with the idea that TOTEMISM and TABOO in Australia are the most basic forms of religion. Although this idea is no longer accepted, other ideas in Durkheim’s sys tem have proven very useful. Durkheim proposed that religion serves to bind individuals to society. It does so, he says, because religious symbols, such as totems and gods, along with religious rules objectify and represent society and its val ues. Therefore, religious RITUALS actually celebrate human society. dynamism Also called preanimism; a once popular theory of the origin of religion. At the end of the 19th century, scholars tried to identify the earliest form of religion. Many followed E. B. Tylor, who suggested that the earliest religion was ANI

priests, poets, and soothsayers. Women could hold the position of soothsayer. Druids ceased to exist when the British Isles were converted to C HRISTIANITY during the first millennium (1–1000) C . E . But during the 19th and especially the 20th centuries, people in Britain and the United States tried to revive the order of dru ids. They not only used ancient traditions but also relied on images of the druids that arose as late as the 18th century. Druze, the A small religious community in the Near East. The Druze are an offshoot of S HI ’ ITE I SLAM . In 1017 C . E ., a Fatimid ruler of Egypt named al-Hakim became convinced that he was divine. Two MISSIONARIES , Hamza ibn Ali and Darazi, pro moted his divinity. Shortly thereafter all three “dis appeared.” The Druze believe that they went into hiding. A follower named al-Muktana assumed leadership of the community. His letters, as well as those of Hamza and al-Hakim, form the communi ty’s sacred book. The Druze observe seven “pillars” or prac tices. These include always speaking the truth within, but not outside, the community; helping members of the community by military means, if necessary; and confessing the oneness of G OD , who was incarnate in al-Hakim. The Druze expect al-Hakim and Hamza to return at the end of time to establish universal justice. The Druze do not accept converts. Their com munity consists of two groups, the initiated and the ignorant. Only the initiated may read the Druze secret writings and attend the secret RITUALS . Druze also accept “dissimulation.” That is, for survival they may pretend to practice the majority religion wherever they are. In the 19th and 20th centuries the Druze were intensely involved in the military conflicts of Lebanon and the surrounding regions.

Durga A Hindu GODDESS , especially popular in eastern India. She is usually shown with eight arms that hold weapons and riding either a tiger or a lion.