The Encyclopedia of World Religions

408 S Sarah

present their instruments to her in the hope of obtaining her blessings during a performance.

deity, able to mediate that god through possession, are long and elaborate, involving a lengthy period of isolation and instruction. On the other hand, many people use simple everyday Santería practices for divination and luck. Santería has flourished in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, both in Cuba (despite the rev olution of 1959) and in the United States, where Cuban exiles have made it a presence in most major metropolitan areas. Although it has occa sionally been controversial in the United States because of its use of animal sacrifice and alleged magical practices, it appears to be well established and has drawn some non-Cuban adherents. Sarah Also spelled Sarai; in the B IBLE the wife of A BRAHAM and also his half-sister ( see Genesis 20.12). Sarah is best known for her difficulties in becoming a mother. She did not become pregnant for many years, and it was assumed that she could not have children. As the Bible tells the story, Abra ham then had a son with her servant, Hagar. The son’s name was Ishmael. In jealousy, Sarah even tually drove Hagar and Ishmael away. Arabs rec ognize Ishmael (Arabic, Ismail) as their ancestor. Stories of Hagar (Arabic, Hajar) and Ishmael are especially connected with the region of M ECCA . After the birth of Ishmael, Abraham and Sarah were visited by messengers from G OD . The messengers promised Abraham a son by Sarah. Because Sarah was past menopause and, therefore, beyond child bearing, she laughed. Nevertheless, she became pregnant, and the child was named I SAAC , after a Hebrew word related to laughter. Saraswati The Hindu GODDESS of learning and the arts. Saraswati is usually said to be the con sort of the god B RAHMA . She is often shown with a stringed instrument known as vina. Sometimes she is accompanied by a goose, her vehicle or ani mal attendant. Unlike Brahma, Saraswati is actually wor shipped. Students invoke her as the goddess of learning. So do various Sanskrit texts. Musicians

Satan The chief EVIL being in J UDAISM , C HRISTIAN ITY , and I SLAM . In the Hebrew B IBLE Satan appears most prominently in the book of J OB . There he is not the familiar figure of later times. He is an ANGEL in G OD ’s court. His function is to make accusations against human beings to God. A little before the time of J ESUS , Satan took on more familiar form. He became an adversary of God who tempts human beings to SIN . In the N EW T ESTAMENT he constantly opposes Jesus. He appears as a tempter in the Q UR ’ AN , too. There he is also called Iblis. Jewish, Christian, and Islamic images of Satan and his functioning differ in detail. All three, however, associate Satan with the serpent. The image of Satan common in North America—a horned being with pitchfork and tail—seems to derive from medieval Christian folklore. Neither Judaism, Christianity, nor Islam makes Satan equal in power to God. All of them insist that God will ultimately vanquish Satan. Indeed, for Christians that victory has already been won in the death and RESURRECTION of Jesus. But some have taken a more positive view of Satan. For example, the Sufi al-Hallaj ( c. 857–922: see S UFISM ) took Satan as his model. As he saw it, Satan faithfully fulfilled the role God had assigned him, despite the consequences. sati (suttee) The practice in which a Hindu widow immolates herself (burns herself to death) on her husband’s funeral pyre. It is, understand ably, one of the most controversial practices in H INDUISM . Sati is a Sanskrit word that means “good woman.” It is also the name of a wife of the Hindu god S IVA , who burns herself to death. The British rulers of India often spelled it suttee. It was never universally required for a widow to commit or, more properly, “become” sati. The most authorita tive ancient lawbook, the Laws of M ANU , says more than once that a widow is expected to submit to