Most civilizations regard an “angel” as a messenger between people and a Higher Power; however, many indigenous societies hold a more polytheistic view of the universe. The spirits of animals or ancestors may still communicate with people, mainly via dreams or vision quests. Each person in var...
dreams and visions only after a fast that required the total dedication of the devotees. Among the pre-Columbian peoples of Peru, fasting often was one of the requirements for penance after an individual had confessed sins before a priest. In manyculturesthe practice was considered a means to...
Types of prophecy can be classified on the basis of inspiration, behaviour, and office.Divinatoryprophets include seers,oraclegivers, soothsayers, and diviners, all of whom predict the future or tell the divine will in oracular statements by means of instruments, dreams, telepathy,clairvoyance, or...
Shirk, in Islam, idolatry, polytheism, and the association of God with other deities. In the dogmatic development of Islam, it came to be used as the opposite of tawhid (belief in the oneness of God) and to refer to a variety of prohibited beliefs and pr
welfare of the community in general are thought to depend. Occult power and insight may be derived from spirits with which the prophet or diviner is related in a trance or ecstasy, or else in dreams, visions, or auguries and oracles that make known the divine will. To occupy such a ...