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Charles Sprague Pearce: Religion
Detail of Religion, mural in lunette from the Family and Education series by Charles Sprague Pearce, 1897; in the Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
nature worship
religion
nature worship, system of religion based on the veneration of natural phenomena—for example, celestial objects such as the sun and moon and terrestrial objects such as water and fire. In the history of religions and cultures, nature worship as a definite and complex system of belief or as a predominant form of religion has not been well documented. Among the indigenous peoples of many countries, the concept of nature as a totality is unknown; only individual natural phenomena—e.g., stars, rain, and animals—are comprehended as natural objects or forces that influence them and are thus in some way worthy of being ...(100 of 8865 words)