Supernaturals:

Believe It or Not!
ELTAGONDE, RICA
GAITERA, FELA MAE
GUARIN, ME-ANN
 INTRODUCTION

● According to William James’ book “The Principle of Psychology in 1890”, the spiritual self

is one of the four constituents of the “self”.

● The spiritual self is the most intimate, inner subjective part of the self.

● The ability to use moral sensibility and conscience may be seen through the expression of

religion, its beliefs and practices. In the same manner, cultural rituals and ceremonies are

some manifestations what people believe in. Moreover, seeking the meaning of life is a

journey that the spiritual self is on.

 RELIGION
Rebecca Stein (Stein,
2011) works on the
definition of religion as
“a set of cultural beliefs
and practices that
usually includes some
or all of the basic
characteristics” which
are:
 RELIGION
1. A belief in anthropomorphic supernatural being, such as spirit and gods.
2. A focus on sacred supernatural, where refers to a feeling of reverence and awe.
3. The presence of supernatural power or energy that is found on supernatural beings as well as physical
beings and objects.
4. The performance of ritual activities that involves the manipulation of sacred object to communicate to
supernatural beings and/or to influence or control events.
5. The articulations of worldwide and oral codes through narratives and other means.
6. Provide the creation and maintenance of social bonds and mechanism of social control within a
community; provide explanation for unknown and a sense of control for individuals.
 RITUAL
- the performance of
ceremonial acts prescribed
by a tradition or sacred law
(Britannica 2017).
 RITUAL
The three fundamental characteristics of rituals according to
Penner (Britannica 2017) are as follows:

1. A feeling or emotion of respect, awe, fascination, or dead in

relation to the sacred

2. Dependence upon a belief system that is usually expressed in the

language of myth

3. Is symbolic in relation to its reference

SOME WORLD RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
 Major Religions

• There are different religions

with different beliefs and
practices. Some of the major
religions are Buddhism,
Christianity, Hinduism, Islam
and Judaism. Excerpt of some
religious beliefs and practices
are found in the university of
London's Religion and Belief
Guide 2017.
 BUDDHISM

Image of Buddha Buddhist Monks Buddhist Temple

Beliefs

Buddhism believes that life is not a bed of roses. Instead, there are
suffering, pain, and frustration, when people suffer, they want to experience
the goodness of life and avoid disappointments.

CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES Samatha

Meditation
 Samatha
- practiced as mindfulness of breathing
and development of loving-kindness (Metta Bhavana).
 Vipassana
- practices aim at developing insight into reality.
Acquiring wisdom is by studying Buddha's teachings,
the Dharma. Through the reflection of Dharma, Dharma
Buddhists can achieve a deeper understanding of life. Wheel
Buddhist believe in non-violence principle.
 Major Buddhist Celebrations

Parinirvana Bhuddha Day Dharma Day Padmasambhava Sangha Day

(Wesak) Day
- month of -month of - month of - month of - month of
celebration celebration celebration celebration is celebration
is February is May is July October is November
 CHRISTIANITY

Portrait of Jesus Catholic Church Protestant Church

 Beliefs

Christians believe in Trinitarian God. One God in three Personas: God the Father
(Creator), God the Son (Savior), and God the Holy Spirit (Sustainer). Eternal life after
death will be achieved through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God the Son, who
came into flesh, to spread the Good News Of Salvation. He died on the cross for the sin of
humanity but resurrected from death, so that anyone who believes in him will be saved and
have eternal life. The Holy Bible is a selection of books, which is divided into two, the Old
Testament and New Testament.
CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES

Sacrament of Communion
Sacrament of Baptism
— an act of resemblance of
— symbolizes the birth
Jesus Christ's sacrificial
in Christian World
love.
 HINDUISM

Portrait of Vishnu Shri Radha- Krishna Mariamman Hindu

Beliefs

Hinduism covers a wide range of traditional beliefs and religious groups; thus,
there is no single founder or leader. Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of
birth, death and rebirth, governed by Karma.
Karma
 a concept of where the reincarnated life will
depend on how the past life spent

Vedas
 are sacred scriptures of Hindus

Mahabharata and Ramayana

 are two other important text of the Hindus
Customs and Practices

Diwali and Navratri - the most celebrated festivals.

Diwali Navratri
 Festival of lights  the festival of nine nights which
celebrate the triumph of good over evil.
 ISLAM

Mosque Mohammed Quran

Beliefs

Muslims believe in Allah, who is their “One God”. They believe that
Mohammed is the last and final prophet sent by God. Mohammed was born in
Mecca in 570 CE and received revelations from God through the Angel Gabriel
over a period of 23 years. The Holy Book of Islam is called the Quran, which was
taught to be recited in Arabic because any translation is seen as inadequate.

CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES 2. Salat 3. Zakat

 The prayer that  The monetary
is practiced five offering for the
1. Shahadah times a day. poor.
Five Pillars  “There is no God but
the one true God
of Islam and Mohammed is 4. Hajj
5. Sawm
his messenger.”  the yearly
pilgrimage to  the fasting
Mecca.
 Two Major Festivals in Islam

EID AL-FITR EID AL-ADHA

 the celebration at the end  Celebrated within the

of Ramadan completion of the Pilgrimage,
the Hajj.
 JUDAISM
Inside the
Abraham Jewish Temple Jewish Temple
Beliefs

The Jews believe in the God of Abraham. They believe in the coming of the
Messiah, the Savior. Their sacred scripture is called the Torah or the Law. The
Torah is the guide of the Jewish living. The study and interpretation of the Torah
is part of the Jewish culture.

Moses
with the Ten
Torah
Commandments
in stone tablets
 Five Major Festivals in Judaism

Rosh Yom Kippur Pesach Shavuot Sukkot

Hashanah
- The Day of - Passover - Pentecost - Tabernacules
- New Year Atonement
 Finding and Creating Meaning of Life
So many people walk this earth,
With purpose in their eyes,
But in their heart of hearts they know,
What they're living is a lie,
The alarm goes off at 6 am,
Like every other day,
So they can walk into a job they hate,
Because they need the pay,
All time does is take from them,
But it never seems to give,
Always waiting for the day to come,
When they finally start to live.
I'm all too scared that one day soon,
I'll become just like the rest,
Only walking with the crowd,
Because my dreams have been oppressed,
That one day I'll look back on life,
At the opportunities that I missed,
And realize I never truly lived,
All I did was just exist.
~e.h
 VICTOR FRANKL

published a book about

an Austrian logotherapy. In 1959,
psychiatrist born on the book was translated
March 26, 1905 in to English and was
Vienna. revised in 1963 as The
Doctor and the Soul:
An Introduction to
Logotherapy.
survivor of the
holocaust known as the
Father of
Logotherapy
LOGOTHERAPHY
 LOGOTHERAPY

 a psychotherapy which  aids individuals to find  meaning can be discovered by

main belief is that “man’s
primary motivational
force is search for
meaning”
creating a work or doing a deed,
personal meaning of life, experiencing something or
whatever life situation encountering someone, and the
they may be attitude toward
unavoidable suffering.

 where people are  deriving from guilt the

 uses the philosophy of
optimism in the face of
tragedy
(Victor Frankl Institute of
Logotheraphy, n.d.)
capable of "turning
suffering into human
achievement and
accomplishment;
opportunity to change
oneself for the better; and
deriving from life's
transitoriness an incentive
to take responsible action.
 Basic Concepts of Franklian Psychology

1. Life has meaning 2. Main motivation for 3. Freedom to find

under all circumstances. living is our will to find meaning.
meaning in life.
 LOGOTHERAPY ASSUMPTIONS

1. The human being is an 2. Life has meaning under 3. People have a will

entity consisting of body all circumstances, even the to meaning.
(soma), mind (psyche), most miserable.
and spirit (noos).

4. People have freedom 5. Life has a demand

6. The individual
under all circumstances quality to which people
is unique.
to activate the will to must respond if decisions
find.  are to be meaningful.
 Franklian Psychology

make conscious
spiritual
resources

Franklian
Psychology 1 2 3
aims to:

become aware use “defiant power of the

of spiritual human spirit" and stand
resources up against adversity.
 Frankl's Sources of Meaning

1. Purposeful Work 2. Courage in the Face of  3. Love

Difficulty.

 To find the meaning  A meaningful life is  The ultimate factor

of life starts with a life with to find the meaning
holding a future goal. suffering. of life is love.
  Popova (2017) quoted Dr. Frankl's
3. Love definition of love: "Love is the only way
to grasp another human being in the
innermost core of his personality. No
one can become fully aware of the very
 Costello (2015)
essence of another human being unless
captured Viktor Frankl's he loves him. By his love, he is enabled
message: "The to see the essential traits and features in
ultimate secret on the the beloved person; and even more, he
spiritual foundation of sees that which is potential in him.
life is that love is Furthermore, by his love, the loving
salvation and joy person enables the beloved person to
eternity." The ultimate actualize these potentialities. By making
factor to find the him aware of what he can be and of
what he should become, he makes these
meaning of life is love.
potentialities come true."
THANK
YOU!