Spiritism

Spiritism: According to the 1997 Encyclopedia Britannica Book of the Year, there were 10,292,500 adherents of "Spiritism" in the world. But a recent census from Brazil indicates 15 million professed spiritists (practitioners of Umbanda, for instance), as well as a fringe following (not officially professed, but possibly quite avid) of up to 50 million. The boundaries between Spiritism and other categories, especially Christianity (especially Catholic and Baptist), Yoruba religion and primal-indigenous religions, can be quite uncertain. 

The fundamental principles of Spiritism, enunciated by Allan Kardec in his seminal work The Spirits Book, are: (i) A belief in the existence of spirits - non-physical beings that live in the invisible or spirit world - and (ii) the possibility of communication between these spirits and living people through mediumship. There is a clear difference, according to Kardec, between the terms "Spiritism" and "Spiritualism"; the latter is the "opposite of materialism", a belief that "there is something...more than matter" but it does not necessarily follow that a spiritualist "believes in the existence of spirits, or in their communication with the visible world."^[4]

^{This little abstract was done late last night- I had been into some spirits of my own...(:}

Kim-Il- Sung, watercolor on paper

The next religion ranked by size is Juche.

Juche is the only government-authorized ideology in North Korea, to the point of excluding all other religions. "Juche" means "self-reliance" in the Korean language. Some writers cited in the Adherents.com database (under "Juche" as well as "Kimilsungism") classify Juche as a North Korean form of Marxist Communism. Juche began in the 1950s and is the official philosophy promulgated by the North Korean government and educational system. Its promoters describe Juche as simply a secular, ethical philosophy and not a religion. But, from a sociological viewpoint Juche is clearly a religion, and in many ways is even more overtly religious than Soviet-era Communism or Chinese Maoism.

Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a Korean communist, and later Juche, politician who led North Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994.^[2] He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death. He was also the General Secretaryof the Workers Party of Korea.

During his tenure as leader of North Korea, he ruled the nation with autocratic power and established an all-pervasive cult of personality. From the mid-1960s, he promoted his self-developed Juchevariant of communist national organisation.^[3] Following his death in 1994, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. North Korea officially refers to Kim Il-sung as the "Great Leader" (Suryong in Korean 수령) and he is designated in the constitution as the country's "Eternal President". His birthday is apublic holiday in North Korea.

Sikh- guaoche on sketchbook page

A Sikh  is a follower of Sikhism. Sikhism primarily originated in 15th century Punjab region of India. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य (śiṣya), meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष (śikṣa), meaning "instruction".^[23][24] A Sikh is a disciple of the Guru.

According to Article I of the "Rehat Maryada"a Sikh is defined as "any human being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Dev to Sri Guru Gobind Singh; Sri Guru Granth Sahib; the teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru; and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion". Sikhs believe in the equality of mankind, the concept of universal brotherhood of man and One Supreme God .

Sikhs are recognized by their distinctly wrapped turbans, uncut hair, and iron bracelet (kara), although in the Western world this is not necessarily the case (Sikhs not keeping uncut hair are considered apostates).

The greater Punjab region is the historical homeland of the Sikhs, although significant communities exist around the world.

Shaman, watercolor on sketchbook page

.

primal-indigenous: Alternatively termed "tribal religionists, "ethnic religionists," or "animists," estimates range from 100 million to 457 million. (457 million is the combined total for "Ethnoreligionists," "Animists," and "Shamanists" from Barrett's 2001 world religion calculations. But this total includes all African Traditional religionists, which we have listed as a separate category.) This group also includes, but is not limited to, people whose native religion is a form of shamanism or paganism (such as millions of people in traditional Siberian shamanist cultures).

I didn't try to paraphrase this- it is directly copy and pasted from here-http://www.adherents.com/
I subscribed to a site called Practical Philosophy. Todays quote was this-

Web of Life

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”

Chief Seattle
(1780 - 1866)
Native American

Buddhism, sketchbook page

Buddhism is a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who lived about 26 centuries ago in what is now Nepal and northeastern India. He came to be called "the Buddha," which means "awakened one," after he experienced a profound realization of the nature of life, death and existence. In English, the Buddha was said to be enlightened, although in Sanskrit it is bodhi, "awakened."In the remaining years of his life, the Buddha traveled and taught. However, he didn't teach people what he had realized when he became enlightened. Instead, he taught people how to realize enlightenment for themselves. He taught that awakening comes through one's own direct experience, not through beliefs and dogmas.In the centuries following the Buddha's life, Buddhism spread throughout Asia to become one of the dominant religions of the continent.
Lotus as a Symbol
Lotus as a flower symbolizes the journey and advancement of the soul through the realization of the material world to be one with the supreme soul.

Chinese Traditional Religion

This one is the next largest religion,and it is comprised of many different religions."Chinese traditional religion" is meant to categorize the common religion of the majority Chinese culture: a combination of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, as well as the traditional non-scriptural/local practices and beliefs.
Fifty years ago religious Taoism was one of the largest, strongest institutions in China. Since the Cultural Revolution and the government's campaign to destroy non-Communist religion, Taoism lost, for the most part, the main mechanism through which it remained distinct from the larger Chinese religious environment: its large numbers of temples and Taoist clergy.You  can read more about Chinese religion here.

I have been consulting the I Ching ( prounounced ee-ching) for the past several years. Brian Browne Walker's  version is simple and concise and has been a grest help for me in times of uncertainty. Coins are thrown 6 times to create an odd or even number, to create trigrams. The combination of the two trigrams create a hexagram -there are 64 different readings possible.
It is an ancient form of  divination and philosophy. The qualities the I Ching counsels one to embody are modesty, awareness, acceptance, adaptability, compassionian, restraint, innocence, perserverence, tolerance,  reticence, devotion to inner truth, conscientiousness, balance and inner independance. The qualities the I Ching urges us to let go of are fear, anger, desire, arrogance, aggressiveness, anxiety, harshness, cunning, goal orientation and self indulgence.

Also the book refers to the "Sage". "the Creative" "the Higher power" and so on. One can put the word "God", "Allah", "my Higher Self", "the universe" "the great spirit" or what ever term suits. It is for anyone to use.

Ganesh 7"x7" watercolor on paper ( in my sketchbook)

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of India. Hinduism is often referred to as Sanātana Dharma (a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law") by its adherents. Generic "types" of Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as in Vaishnavism. Hinduism also includes yogic traditions and a wide spectrum of "daily morality" based on the notion of karma and societal norms such as Hindu marriage customs.

Hinduism is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. Among its roots is the historical Vedic religion of Iron Age India, and as such Hinduism is often called the "oldest living religion"or the "oldest living major tradition".

Ganesh is the Hindu God considered to be the Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings, Patron of Arts and Sciences, Lord of Intellect and Wisdom.