The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena

Description

Based on more than 250 occurrences and extraordinary experiences that have served to lift believers out of the mundane world and place them in contact with a transcendental reality, The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena explores unusual and unexplained physical events, apparitions, and other phenomena rooted in religious beliefs. Well-known religion expert, J. Gordon Melton takes readers on a tour amongst angels, Marian apparitions, and religious figures such as Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammad, and Tao Tzu. Melton reports on dreams and near-death experiences; feng shui and labyrinths; statues that bleed, drink milk, weep, and move; snake handling, speaking in tongues, and stigmata; relics, including the spear of Longinus and the Shroud of Turin; and sacred locales such as Easter Island, the Glastonbury Tor, the Great Pyramid, Mecca, and Sedona. Each entry includes a description of the particular phenomenon and the religious claims being made for it as well as a discussion of what a scientist might have to say about it. Transcending the mundane, the entries take no sides and make no arguments: the journey is the experience and the experience is the journey. Content: Introduction -- Index -- A: -- Al-Aqsa Mosque -- Alchemy -- Amritsar (Punjab) -- Amulets -- An Najaf (Iraq) -- Angel of Mons -- Anne, Saint -- Apparitions of the Virgin Mary -- Apports -- Ark of the Covenant -- Arunachala (India) -- Aura -- Auroville (India) -- Automatic Writing -- Avebury -- Avignon (France) -- Ayyad, Ala -- B: -- Babaji -- Bah 'í Temples -- Beauraing/Banneux (Belgium) -- Benares/Varanasi/Kashi (India) -- Betancur, Pedro de San José -- Bethlehem -- Bible Code -- Bi-location -- Bioryrhms -- Black Madonnas -- Black Mass -- Bodhi Tree -- Borobudur -- Branham, William Marion -- Browne, Sylvia -- Buddha, Relics of the -- C: -- Canterbury (England) -- Carey, Ken -- Cargo Cults -- Cartago -- Cayce, Edgar -- Chakras -- Chartres Cathedral -- Chimayo (New Mexico) -- Chromotherapy -- City of Refuge (Hawaii) -- Comets -- Committee for the Scientific Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal -- Communes -- Conyers, Georgia (Marian Apparition) -- Cottingley Fairies -- Crop Circles -- Crystal Balls -- Crystal Skulls -- Crystals -- Cumae -- Cumorah -- Curé d'Ars D -- D: -- Da Vinci Code -- Dalai Lama -- Damanhur (Italy) -- Dark Night of the Soul -- Darshan -- Davenport Brothers -- Dee, John -- Deganawidah -- Delos Island (Greece) -- Delphi -- Dentistry, Paranormal -- Divine Mercy -- Dodona (Greece) -- E: -- Easter Island -- Ecstasy -- Ectoplasm -- Edward, John -- Edwards, Harry -- Estabany, Oskar -- Exorcism -- Ex-votos -- F: -- Face Cloth (of Jesus) -- Fakirs -- Fatima (Portugal) -- Feng Shui -- Findhorn (Scotland) -- Firewalking -- Flagellation -- Ford, Arthur -- Fortune Telling -- G: -- Garabandal (Spain) -- Geller, Uri -- Giant of Cerne Abbas -- Glastonbury (England) -- Glastonbury Tor -- Golden Palace -- Grand Tetons -- Great Pyramid of Giza -- Green Man -- Grilled Cheese Sandwich (Virgin Mary) -- Grimoires -- Guadalupe (Spain) -- Guardian Angels -- H: -- Hagia Sophia -- Hajj -- Hardwar (India) -- Harer (Ethiopia) -- Healing, Miraculous -- Heiligenkreuz (Austria) -- Helena, Saint -- Hill of Crosses (Lithuania) -- Hillula -- Hinn, Benny -- Holy Blood (Bruges, Belgium) -- Holy Coat of Trier -- Holy Grail -- Holy Infant Child of Prague -- Holywell (Wales) -- Home, Daniel Dunglas -- I: -- Icons -- Ife (Nigeria) -- Image of Edessa -- Indigo Children -- Iona (Scotland) -- Istanbul -- J: -- Jagannath -- Jama Masjid -- James Ossuary -- Januarius, Saint -- Jerusalem -- Johrei -- Joseph of Cupertino -- K: -- Kabbalah -- Kamakura -- Karbala (Iraq) -- Khajuraho Temples -- Khomeini, Ayatollah -- Kirlian Photography -- Knock (Ireland) -- Kuan Yin -- Kuhlman, Kathryn -- Kumbh Mela -- Kusinagara (India) -- L: -- Labyrinth -- Lake, John Graham Lalibela (Ethiopia) -- La Salette (France) -- Latihan -- Laying on of Hands -- Levitation -- Lindsey, Gordon J -- Locutions -- Loreto (Italy) -- Lourdes (France) -- Lumbini (Nepal) -- M: -- Machu Picchu -- MacLaine, Shirley -- Magic Mirrors -- Mahatma Letters -- Malachy, Saint -- Mandalas -- Mary's House (England) -- Masada -- Materialization -- McPherson, Aimee Semple -- Mecca -- Mediums and Mediumship -- Medjugorje (Bosnia-Herzegovina) -- Meeji Jingu -- Menas, Saint -- Mesmer, Franz Anton -- Milk-drinking Statues -- Miraculous Medal -- Moodabidri (India) -- Mother of the World (Kibeho) -- Mount Athos -- Mount Fuji -- Mount Horeb -- Mount Kailas/Lake Manasarovar -- Mount Shasta -- Moving Statues -- Mudras -- Mystery Hill (New Hampshire) -- N, O: -- Noah's Ark -- Nuestra Señora de la Presentación -- Oak Island (Nova Scotia) -- Omens -- Ouija Board -- Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace (Lipa City, Philippines) -- Our Lady of Kevelaer -- Our Lady of Peace Cathedral -- Our Lady of the Roses, Mary Help of Mothers -- Oyotungi -- P: -- Padre Pio -- Pendulums -- Penitentes -- Philip -- Pilgrimage -- Potala (Tibet) -- Prambanan -- Prasadam -- Psychic Surgery -- Q-R: -- Qigong -- Rajgir (India) -- Rappings -- Reiki -- Relics -- Rennes le Château -- Richmond, Cora Scott -- Rila -- Rishikesh -- Roberts, Oral -- Rome/Vatican City -- Rosary -- Rosslyn Chapel (Scotland) -- Rydén, Vasula -- S: -- Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary -- Sadhus -- Sai Baba -- Saint Catherine's Monastery -- Saint Joseph's Oratory (Montreal) -- Saint Nectan's Glen -- Saint Nicholas' Tomb -- Salem Village (Danvers), Massachusetts -- Samadhi -- Santiago de Compostela -- Santo, Audrey -- Sarnath -- Scapulars -- Sedona, Arizona -- Serpent Handling -- Shah Faisal Mosque -- Shakipat -- Shipton, Mother -- Shroud of Turin -- Shwedagon Pagoda (Myanmar) -- Silbury Hill -- Sirius Mystery -- Skeptics Society -- Slate Writing -- Slaying in the Spirit -- Smith, Helene -- Speaking in Tongues (Glossolalia) -- Spear of Longinus -- Spirit Photography -- Spiritualist Camps -- Stigmata -- Stonehenge -- Stupa -- T: -- Tai Shan -- Talismans -- Tarot -- Templars -- Temples of the Latter-day Saints -- Tenri City -- Teotihuacan -- Thaipusam -- Therapeutic Touch -- Three Magi (relics) -- Tirumala//Tirupati (India) -- Tomb of Christ -- Topkapi Palace -- Touro Synagogue -- Tower of Babel -- Trier (Germany) -- Trondheim Cathedral -- True Cross -- Tulku -- Tummo -- Tzaddik -- V, W: -- Veronica's Veil -- Virgin of Las Lajas -- Vishnu's Footprints -- Wailing Wall -- Weeping Statues and Icons -- Whirling Dervishes -- X, Y, Z: -- Xenoglossy -- Yantra -- Yazd -- Yogananda, Paramahamsa -- Zimbabwe -- Zion, Illinois.