大洋洲宗教

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实践在大洋洲中之非基督教的宗教。在资本主义与基督教的压力下让位的传统美拉尼西亚(Melanesian)宗教,认为祖先的魂灵与其他精灵,都是日常生活的参与者。他们的在场与影响,在梦、占卜以及人类的成败中彰显。魔法受到广泛运用,巫术则被视为引起死亡和疾厄的主要原因。大部分皆已灭绝的密克罗西尼亚(Micronesia)的传统宗教,认可有数名高位的神祗和其他的精灵,包括祖先以及死者的魂灵。魔法则扮演重要的角色。在玻里尼西亚(Polynesia),每位神祗,不论是高高在上或地方性,都有祂自己的仪式要求,而通常由祭司学校来执行这些仪式。一般相信,所有的事物都具备马那,且必须透过复杂的规则和禁忌来保护马那。玻里尼西亚人常常在重要的场合以人类殉祭,像是正式册立祭司或酋长之时。随着现代商品的输入,所有这些岛屿的人民都受到货物崇拜的影响。

Oceanic religions

Non-Christian religions practiced in Oceania. Traditional Melanesian religions, which are giving way under the pressures of Christianity and capitalism, hold that ancestral ghosts and other spirits are participants in daily life. Their presence and effects are manifested in dreams, in divination, and in human successes and failures. Magic is widely practiced, and sorcery is seen as the major cause of death and illness. The traditional religions of Micronesia, which have largely died out, recognized several high gods and many other spirits, including the spirits of ancestors and the dead. Magic played an important role. In Polynesia, each of the gods, whether high or local, had its own ritual requirements, and schools of priests were often required to carry them out. All things were believed to possess mana, which had to be protected by complicated rules and taboos. The Polynesians often offered human sacrifices on important occasions, such as the formal investiture of a priest or chief. With the introduction of modern goods, the peoples of all these islands became susceptible to cargo cults.