Like A Prayer Trivia Quiz

Answer: Genuflecting

Catholicism is not the only religion to use the bended knee form of supplication as an honor. Dating back to the ancient Persian Empire, the act of kneeling on bended knee has been known as a sign of respect for an authority figure. When Alexander the Great conquered Persia he adopted the practice and it later spread to the rest of Europe. The description of bending to a knee as genuflection comes from the Latin "genuflectio", the word for kneeling.

Genuflecting in the Roman Catholic Church is considered one the highest forms of respect and is reserved for the most sacred of rituals. According to the General Instructions of the Roman Missal (a guidebook of the Catholic liturgy) No. 274, genuflection signifies adoration. As such, it is reserved for receiving the Most Blessed Sacrament (communion), as well as for certain celebrations during the Good Friday/Easter period. Genuflecting, however, remains a congregant's personal choice and is performed by Catholics to signify deep emotion and respect.

Answer: Mantras

Buddhism does not have a unified set of practices and liturgy. In part, this is because the nature of Buddhism is different from classic western religions. Buddhists do not worship the Buddha or "enlightened one" as a deity, but rather venerate his insights and teachings. As such, the purpose of prayer is different. A Buddhist prayer is not a profession of faith, but is an attempt to focus the worshipper's energy to accomplish a task or achieve greater understanding.

At its most basic, a mantra is a word or phrase recited to raise the level of concentration or awareness of the person. The mantra is supposed to opens the mind of the Buddhist to permit a deeper sense of self-understanding and the natural world. Thus, any verse or words the adherent believes are powerful when repeated often can be used as a mantra.

Answer: Tallit

Tallit is the Hebrew word for the prayer shawl worn by Jewish men as a symbol of commitment to the faith. The tallit (or tallis in Yiddish) has been a part of the Jewish prayer ritual for over 3800 years. The tallit is worn outside the clothing of the worshiper during the morning prayers and during the Sabbath celebration. The tallit is also worn during certain holiday services, in particular during the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) services. The garment is usually made of wool or other natural fibers and varies between the simple and the intricately decorated. However, the shawl itself is not the important part of the tallit. The most important religious part of the tallit is the "tzitzit" or four corned knotted fringe that extends at the garment's end. The Jewish Bible or Torah does not specifically command Jews to wear a tallit. However, passages in both Numbers and Deuteronomy compel the display of a twisted fringed, knotted, garment with four corners and a blue thread running throughout. For this reason traditional tallit were simple white and blue colored garments. Historically, only men were required (permitted) to wear the tallit. Modern Conservative and Reformed Jewish practices now support women wearing tallit. Often, the presentation of the first tallit to a young Jewish child is by a loved one as part of the bar or bat mitzvah service.

The yarmulke is the head covering worn by Jewish men, while the tefillin are a part of morning prayers where two small boxes containing prayers are wrapped around the head and forearm of Jewish males. The tefillin is also an ancient device used by Jews to fulfill a biblical commandment to praise God both in their heart and with their might (arm).

Answer: To provide a clean surface for prayers

Muslims often show humility during worship by bowing, kneeling, and/or lying flat on the floor. In Arabic, a prayer rug is a "sajada" and comes from the same root word as "masjed" or mosque. Islamic law does not set out strict requirements for how the worshiper should stand during prayer, only that the praying is done in a clean area. The purpose of the prayer rug is thus to provide the worshiper with a clean surface for prayer at all times. Prayer rugs are not universally utilized by Muslims. The rugs are a popular method for many Muslims to guarantee proper hygiene in their place of prayer and to create a calm space to focus prayer. The top of the rug has a slight point that is used to align the mat towards the city of Mecca as required by Muslim scripture.

The decoration of the prayer rug will vary, often distinguished by the weaver or location of the weaving. Prayer rugs can depict family symbols, provide reminders of the requirements of prayer for the worshiper, show important locations or symbols of the Muslim faith or simply be decorative. Like other valuable textiles, the prayer mats can be as simple as machine made carpets or can be handmade art pieces worth thousands of dollars.

Answer: False

Yoga means "union" or joining together in Sanskrit. Yoga, conceptually, is the joining of physical acts with spiritual focus to achieve some purpose. The spiritual purpose may be, but does not have to be, a communication with a sense of the divine. Many people use yoga as a technique to clear the mind and focus their energy towards problem solving or providing meditative rest.

Historically, yoga is associated with both the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. These religions ascribe value to the focus of energy towards positive goals and utilize yoga movements and techniques to achieve this result. However, neither religion conceptualizes prayer to a deity as a central tenet nor uses yoga as a form of supplication. In the West, yoga is often used as a form of physical exercise and stress relief.

Answer: turban

The turban is a head covering formed by wrapping a cloth around the wearer's hair. In and of itself, the turban is not a religious symbol of Sikhism or any other religion, but is used for its functional purpose of containing hair. The turban's roots appear to have come from Persia and spread throughout Asia and Africa as the Persian Empire spread.

In modern times, the wearing of a turban has been associated with followers of the Sikh faith. Sikhism is a faith founded in Northern India's Punjabi region during the 15th Century, practiced by over 30 million people worldwide.

While based in India, Sikhism is not a form or branch of Hinduism. For starters Sikhs are monotheistic with a strong belief in a single unifying deity. One of the basic tenets of Sikhism is not to try and change God's creations including man. Thus, the keeping of long hair is itself a form of veneration. From a practical perspective, since human hair grows at a fast rate, the Sikh male needs a way to restrain his hair. Thus, the turban is used, often piled high on the wearer's head to control the hair and observe the religious tenet.

Answer: Dancing

Native American religious practices vary by tribe. In many tribes dancing is a mechanism of religious expression. Much of Native American religion is tied to the land and the plants and animals that inhabit the shared space with humans. Ritual dances celebrating the importance of the sun and rain are common. Some of the traditional dances in Native American ceremonies beseech their deities for successful hunts. These dances are usually named after animals relevant to the local tribe such as the Deer, Elk or Bison dances. In these dances it is not uncommon for the mostly male participants to dress and act as the animals to be hunted with a backdrop of rhythmic drumming and chanting.

A famous late 19th-century religious dance was the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance was a new prayer designed to mix the living Native American with the spirits of their dead. The energy created from this mixing was expected to increase prosperity and unity amongst the Native Americans. Some tribes, like the Lakota Sioux, were accused of using the dance as a rallying cry for inciting violence against US military targets. The prevalence of the Ghost Dance, and fear of its effect on young Sioux men, contributed to the killing of 153 Sioux by US army forces at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1890.

Answer: Incense

Herbs and oils were used in religious practices from the very beginning of human spirituality and are common to almost all faiths. Ancient Egyptians and Chinese religions recorded the use of incense 4500 years ago. Hindu practices include the burning and waving of incense sticks as a part of daily prayers. Incense, in particular frankincense (resin from the Boswellia tree) and myrrh (resin from Commiphora trees), play a role in Christianity. Frankincense and myrrh were two of the "gifts" given to the newborn Jesus by the Magi. In addition, frankincense and myrrh were part of the "ketoret" or ritual incense burned by Jews at the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem as a sign of piety.

Aromatherapy is the use of flowers, bark, stems, leaves, roots or other parts of plants to enhance psychological and physical well-being. Shuckling or "shokling" is a Yiddish term for the ritual side-to-side swaying that is practiced by many Jews during prayer.

Answer: Sexual

The use of sex and sexuality in religious ritual is a common, if often misinterpreted, practice. Fertility rites of some kind exist in many ancient faiths, including the Greek, Roman and Norse religions, as well as Hindu and Taoist rites. The power and importance of sexual union in the tantric ritual is the basis for the well known "Kama Sutra" written by the Hindu philosopher Vâtsyâyana.

Contrary to many lurid depictions in film or books, modern sexuality in religious rites is practiced on a consensual basis. Such is also the case in the Wiccan faith. Wicca is a modern term for varied "neopagan" practices that share a similar belief structure. Most Wiccans believe that there are two complementary deities representing both opposite and complementary energies. The female Goddess is usually depicted as Mother Earth and/or the Moon, while the male God figure is often a horned animistic figure and/or the Sun. The Great Rite is the expression of the union of the Goddess and God to release energy or magic into the world. In modern text, the Great Rite is performed physically or symbolically by the High Priest and Priestess of the group (coven) or through volunteer designates. Both consensual sexual intercourse and symbolic joining are accepted forms of the ritual. In the symbolic form the male Priest plunges a knife into a chalice of wine held by the Priestess.

Answer: The Five Elements

Tibetan prayer flags are part of pre-Buddhist traditions. These ancient traditions, often called "Bonism", include the use of colored cloth flags enhanced by magical symbols to seek harmony with the natural elements. Five colors of prayer flags were used, each representing one of the five natural elements. Yellow was used for earth, green for water, red for fire, white for the air and blue for space. According to the Bonists, when the elements are balanced externally the environment is in harmony; when balanced internally the body and mind are healthy and happy.

After adopting Buddhism, Tibetans continued to place the flags, inscribed with mantras or longer prayers, outside their homes and holy places. Like their Bonist ancestors, they intended the wind ruffling the flags to carry the messages across the countryside. The flags are displayed either horizontally (called "lung ta", which translates literally as "wind horse") or vertically (Darchor style). Displaying a prayer flag is a request for happiness, health and prosperity for the flag planter and to all people touched by the wind running through the flag.