Zombies

What better way to mark learnalittle’s return from the dead than a short history of zombies?

Tales of the living dead abound in cultures across the world. The Norse draugar are the bodies of slain Vikings, said to inhabit their graves and jealously guard the treasures buried with their former selves. In Chinese folklore, jiang shi are reanimated corpses that hop around with their arms outstretched, sucking the life-force qi out of the living. And according to Medieval British accounts, deceased ne’er-do-wells may return as revenants – risen bodies bloated with blood – to terrorize their families and neighbors.

Scientology

In 1950, science fiction writer Lafayette Ronald Hubbard – better known as L. Ron Hubbard – created a self-help program called Dianetics. The program’s popularity grew, and Hubbard soon found himself leading an international movement. The Dianetics method quickly evolved into more than self-help, and Hubbard officially incorporated the Church of Scientology in 1952.

Scientologists contend that belief in God or gods is a personal matter, but do accept a pervading spiritual force called Theta. Theta is present in all beings, and all humans are actually immortal spirits called thetans. Throughout time, thetans are reincarnated, not only as humans, but also aliens on distant planets. The eventual goal of Scientology is to free oneself from reincarnation through a process called auditing.

Shinto

Today, learnalittle, gets into Shinto.

Shinto (or kami-no-michi) is the indigenous spiritual tradition of Japan. Shinto may be as old as Japan itself, originating from millennia of folk and oral traditions, rather than one founder or scripture. Still, Shinto isn’t exactly a religion, but a set of spiritual views and rituals synonymous with traditional Japanese culture.

Salem Witch Trials

To mark this significant date in the fake magical community, today’s post dabbles in the dark past of the Salem Witch Trials.

The Salem Witch Trials were a series of court hearings held in 1692-93, addressing allegations of witchcraft in several colonial Massachusetts towns. In 1692, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams – the young daughter and niece (respectively) of Reverend Samuel Parris – began suffering episodes of uncontrollable convulsions, screaming, and grunting. Doctors could find no physiological cause, and when two other girls started reporting the same symptoms, they turned to more supernatural explanations.

Mormonism

Today on a learnalittle, get to know Mormonism (well-dressed twenty-something not included).

Mormonism is a branch of Christianity and the most prevalent religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement began in the 1820s Western New York, when – according to Mormon belief – Joseph Smith, Jr. discovered a set of buried golden plates inscribed with an Ancient language. Guided by God, Smith translated the plates into the Book of Mormon, one of the primary texts of the LDS movement.

The Bible

Let’s get biblical. Today on learnalittle, we take a good look at the Good Book.

The Bible is the central religious text of Christianity, composed of Judaic and early Christian texts written over centuries. Its name comes from the Greek biblia, meaning “books.” The plural is quite appropriate: the Bible itself is composed of many individual books, the total number varying across denominations – ranging from 66 to 81.

Hinduism

Unfurl your yoga mats and focus on your computer screen. Today on learnalittle, it’s a brief look at Hinduism.

Hinduism is perhaps the oldest surviving religious tradition, dating back to 1700BCE or earlier and evolving from thousands of years of separate practices from the Indian subcontinent. Because it lacks a historic founder and a single concept of god, Hinduism isn’t one “religion,” but an incredibly varied collective of traditions and beliefs.

The End of the World

As today might prove regrettably penultimate, why not inform yourself on what the world’s major religions think of The End of the World?

The general term for the study of the end of the world and/or the ultimate destiny of humanity is eschatology. Let’s start with the Christian take.

Most Christians believe in a common set of events involved in the End of the World, drawing from passages throughout the Bible (including the apocalypse-focused Book of Revelations). Eventually, certain signs will arise, including the conversion of Jews to Christianity; natural disasters; and the reign of the Anti-Christ, a charismatic leader who enacts Satan’s will.  Eventually, Jesus returns in the Second Coming to defeat the Anti-Christ in The Battle of Armageddon and judge all humanity – living and dead. The wicked are sentenced to eternal damnation, heaven and earth are destroyed, and the righteous enter the perfect World to Come with God.

Christianity

Break out the Holy Rollers jackets: today’s learnalittle post is Christianity.

Christianity is a monotheistic religion that most centers on the teachings of Jesus Christ and the belief that he is the Son of God, humanity’s savior, and – in the majority of denominations – God as part of a Holy Trinity, along with God the Father, the God of Judaism; and the Holy Spirit, a divine force through which God acts and inspires. Christians don’t see this Trinity as three separate gods, but one God with three distinct yet unified natures.