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voodoo

(Encyclopedia)voodoo vo͞oˈdo͞o [key] [from the god Vodun], native W African religious beliefs and practices that also has adherents in the New World. Voodoo believers are most numerous in Haiti, where voodoo was...

Caldwell, Taylor

(Encyclopedia)Caldwell, Taylor (Janet Taylor Caldwell), 1900–1985, American novelist, b. London, England. Her best-selling works ranged from romance to satire to fictionalized biography, often reflecting her Chri...

Slavic religion

(Encyclopedia)Slavic religion, pre-Christian religious practices among the Slavs of Eastern Europe. There is only fragmentary and scattered information about the myths and legends of the pagan Slavs, and it is not ...

Chamfort, Sébastien Roch Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Chamfort, Sébastien Roch Nicolas sābästyăNˈ rōk nēkōläˈ shäNfôrˈ [key], 1740–94, French writer. He is remembered only for his maxims and epigrams. His acute observations on literature, ...

Hand, Wayland Debs

(Encyclopedia)Hand, Wayland Debs, 1907–86, folklorist, b. Auckland, New Zealand. Hand wrote Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from North Carolina (1964), which is ranked among the finest published studies of supe...

Crapsey, Algernon Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Crapsey, Algernon Sidney, 1847–1927, American Episcopal clergyman, b. Fairmont, Ohio. In 1879 he became rector of St. Andrew's Church, Rochester, N.Y., which under his administration was known for i...

Euhemerus

(Encyclopedia)Euhemerus yo͞ohĕmˈərəs [key], fl. c.300 b.c., Cyrenaic philosopher, b. Sicily. He is famous for a theory of mythology embodied in his philosophical romance, Sacred History, a work of which only f...

Stephen, Saint, Christian martyr

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Saint, d. a.d. 36?, first Christian martyr, stoned at Jerusalem. He was one of the seven deacons. Accused of blasphemy, he was brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. His speech defending ...

Moody, Deborah

(Encyclopedia)Moody, Deborah, d. 1659, American colonial religious leader and colonizer, b. England. She emigrated (1639) to Massachusetts Bay and settled in Saugus (now Lynn, Mass.). After being admonished (1643) ...

Mather, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Mather, Richard, 1596–1669, British Puritan clergyman in North America, b. Lancashire, England. He studied at Oxford, began preaching, and was ordained in 1620. His Puritan beliefs led him into diff...