... to keep religious teachings a secret from the public and the uninitiated. The emphasis on secrecy maintains the transmission of oral teachings, but the secrecy feeds public suspicions of immoral and illegal acts in Santeria. (Murphy 1993: viii-ix) The ritual possessions and use of magic in Santeria already make it a mysterious' religion to outsiders, and with the secrecy inherent in the religion, outsiders construe it as evil or Satanist. Another ... dilemma for Santeria is the development of texts. Santeria, since its birth, has always been a non-text base religion in ... ...

• Word Count: 8386
• Approx Pages: 34
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... sexual relationship with a man, rather than brings shame to her family and their name she killed herself. The book also explains that after her death the rumors were exposed as false and Yamato became a sort of kami herself (106). Women weren't really considered outsiders until the Tokugawa period. This being the warrior ruled time in Japan it's not hard to believe that during ... the Tokugawa period women were slipping through the cracks of a testosterone-fueled society. It is during this period in Japan that the separate spheres for gender change in Shinto. Women were immediately asso...

• Word Count: 3406
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography