The Encyclopedia of World Religions

healing, religious S 193

Many Christians have sought SALVATION as eternal life in the midst of their current reality, sometimes seen as a vale of tears. Theravada Buddhists, very numerous in southeast Asia, distinguish NIRVANA , the goal of religious practice, from life in this world, SAMSARA . But most Christians and Buddhists think that religious practice benefits them here and now, too. And many other religious people expect religion to help promote a better life or a thriv ing and flourishing life primarily in this world. Among other things, they expect religion to heal them when they are sick. In many cultures, as evi dence of the importance of religious healing, the first physician is said to have been a god. The influential scholar Mircea E LIADE devel oped a model of how religions heal. He suggested that for religious people disease is not just a mal function. It is a disruption in the being of the entire cosmos. In order to heal, one must restore, or better, recreate the entire cosmos. Not only the sick person but the cosmos itself must return to the moment of creation and be renewed. This can happen in a number of ways. A healer may recite the COSMOGONY —the myth of creation—and include in it the mythology that tells of the creation of the medicine that she or he is about to give ( see MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY ). Or a RITUAL may place the sick person in a fetal position. This position signals a return to the womb and a rebirth. Eliade’s model can be helpful. At the same time, one must be careful in using it. The model may tempt us to distort what religious people say and do so that their words and actions fit the model. It may also tempt us to read into words and actions symbolic meanings that might not be there or ignore other meanings that are there. WHAT CAUSES ILLNESS? Religions attribute illness to many causes. Some times they attribute them to personal beings. Traditional A FRICAN RELIGIONS often attribute sickness to the acts of other human beings. That is, they talk about WITCHCRAFT and sorcery. Accord ing to a well-known study of the Azande, witch craft was a substance in a person’s abdomen. It harmed other people. Sometimes those who

alism. But in doing so, it has not hesitated to make use of the most modern technology. From 1950 until his death in 1994 Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn led the Lubavitch community. At the time of his death his followers were speculating that he might be the promised MESSIAH . Hasidism has consistently opposed chang ing the Jewish way of life to fit Gentile ways. In particular, Hasidic Jews have been very critical of Reform Judaism. They have also opposed Z IONISM . They have seen this latter movement, which led to the founding of the state of Israel, as an attempt to force God to usher in the Messianic age. Some Hasidic Jews have gone so far as to claim that the H OLOCAUST was God’s punishment for the sins of Reform Judaism and Zionism. Hathor A GODDESS of ancient Egypt. The name Hathor means “house of H ORUS .” It links her with the sky. Hathor was given form as a cow or as a human figure with a cow’s head. In the latter case, the disk of the sun rests between her two horns. In mythology from the Old Kingdom of Egypt (2650–2180 B . C . E .) Hathor is the wife of Re, the sun god, and the mother of Horus. Because the king is the living Horus, Hathor is also the mother of the king. Later, Isis was said to be the king’s mother. Nevertheless, illustrations from the New Kingdom (1570–1080 B . C . E .) often show Hathor as a cow giv ing the king milk. In addition to this role, Hathor was a goddess of lovers and childbirth. Her main temple was at Dendera. In the area around Thebes she took on a somewhat different character. She was called “the lady of the west” and was associated with the dead.

Hawaiian religion See P ACIFIC O CEAN RELIGIONS .

healing, religious Religious techniques for over coming physical and mental illness. Whatever else it may be, religion is a means used by individu als and communities to help promote a better life.