The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Arctic religions S 31

northern Europe differed from those of the Inuit in Alaska, as well as from other peoples who lived closer to them. But Arctic religions show some striking similarities, too. In the Arctic it is not possible to grow plants. The people who live there have to get their food from animals or import it. Traditionally, they have hunted and fished. In Europe and Asia they have also kept herds of animals, such as reindeer among the Saami. (Recently Inuit in northern Canada have also experimented with herding caribou.) Much of the religious life of Arctic people focused on the animals. They believed that ani mals, like people, had souls. Hunters performed rituals addressed to the souls of the slain animals. Some scholars think that they were giving the souls of the animals gifts so that they would be happy and return again. Especially important for most Arctic peoples were rituals for slain bears. They treated the bear as an honored guest and carefully disposed of its bones. The Inuit in Alaska treated whales in a similar way. Arctic peoples believed that there were many spirits in nature, not just the souls of animals and people. Some spirits connected with features of the landscape, such as mountains and lakes. Arc tic peoples often believed that special spirits con trolled animal life. Each species had its own pro tector; in addition, a special protector, whom mod ern scholars sometimes call the Master or Mistress of Animals, had charge of many animal species. A good example of such a protector is Sedna, whom the Inuit thought of as the mistress of sea animals. Many Arctic peoples also assigned a special role, such as the role of creator, to the Sun, the Moon, or both. People everywhere in the region had the same kind of religious leader, the shaman ( see SHAMAN ISM ). Some shamans inherited their positions; oth ers received them as a result of special experiences that they had. Shamans were healers. They often healed by traveling to the realm of spirits, as the Arctic peoples thought, trying to bring back the soul that had left the sick person. In addition to healing, shamans performed hunting and fishing rituals, helped people find objects that they had

The Jewish temple or synagogue also basically adopted the model of the Roman basilica, because its primary function after the Diaspora or disper sion of Jews throughout the world was to serve as a place of meeting for worship and study. Features of the ancient temple at Jerusalem, however, have also been used, along with other reminders of Near East origins such as domed windows and doors. In recent times Jewish temples and synagogues, espe cially in the United States, have experimented with modern architectural forms. Throughout history architecture has been one of the most important of all forms of religious art, capable of conveying messages as profound as any other art about the nature of the human relation to the divine. Further reading: J. G. Davies, Temples, Churches, and Mosques: A Guide to the Appreciation of Religious Architecture (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1982); Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1959); Edward Norman, The House of God (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1990); Phyllis Richardson, New Spiritual Architecture (New York: Abbeville Press, 2004); Harold Turner, From Temple to Meeting House: The Phenomenology and Theology of Places of Worship (The Hague: Mouton, 1979). Arctic religions The religions of the far north ern regions of Europe, Asia, and North America. The term Arctic religions usually refers to the tra ditional religions of Arctic peoples. Today, most of them practice C HRISTIANITY . For example, the Inuit (formerly called Eskimo) of North America mainly practice R OMAN C ATHOLICISM and A NGLICANISM . The Saami (formerly called Lapps) in Norway, Swe den, Finland, and Russia practice L UTHERANISM and E ASTERN O RTHODOX C HRISTIANITY . The former Soviet Union tried to make the peoples in its far northern territories, such as the Samoyed, into atheists ( see ATHEISM ). They had only limited success. As the names just mentioned indicate, the Arctic is a large region. As one would expect, the traditional religious practices of the Saami in far