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This chapter examines the different myths and rituals of the Kamar tribes. It first studies the mythology of the Universe, and observes that the Kamars' folklore is poor in terms of traditional myths and legends. The next section examines their story of the origins of the world, which is composed of five main parts. The first two discuss the destruction of the old universe and the creation of the new universe. The last three parts analyse the creation of the human race and several animal species, and the origins of the castes and occupations. From here, the discussion moves on to the religion of the Kamars. It introduces the Kamar pantheon, where several categories of deities and gods are worshipped, and studies the legend of the Kachna Dhurwa. This chapter also covers the Kamars' religious ceremonies and festivities, as well as the origins of magic and witchcraft.

This chapter examines the development of Jeffers’s sacramental poetics through the lens of ritual studies, arguing that rhetoric must be included in any discussion of myth-ritual patterns in his poetry. Through rhetoric, Jeffers is able to sacramentalize material nature, thereby allowing science and mysticism to coexist rather than conflict. The chapter also traces how Kenneth Rexroth and Gary Snyder extend and revise Jeffers’s sacramental poetics by examining all three poets’ use of geological themes in wilderness settings. Whereas Jeffers revitalized the pathetic fallacy through his use of rhetoric, Rexroth and Snyder suppressed the trope by filtering Jeffers’s sacramental poetics through modernism.

In order to study the broad topic of divinity, it is essential to survey the history of scholarship, especially to understand the foundation of views inherited by modern scholars. The Enlightenment is chosen as a starting point due to the growth of the critical study of the Bible during these times. Germanic scholarship of the Hebrew Bible in nineteenth century is articulated as a critical turning point. Subsequent developments include the emergence of sociological methods, the “history of religion” comparative approach, and the “myth-and-ritual” school of thought. Newly discovered archaeological remains caused yet another shift, with scholars now debating whether ancient Israel’s religion was in fact as unique as confessional traditions taught. More recently, varying methodological approaches have exploded on the scene including epigraphy, socio-historical linguistics, revisionist historical hermeneutics, feminist approaches, intertextuality, and iconographic studies together with the maturing of the fields of archaeology and sociology.

An analytical comparison is made of the near-death experiences (NDEs), afterlife beliefs, and myths in the three regions, in relation to their shamanic practices, funerary rituals, revitalization movements, and attitudes toward death and the dead. In order to explain the cross-cultural similarities and differences in all their manifestations, a comprehensive interdisciplinary theory is put forth. The experiential source hypothesis is combined with elements from the psychological, cognitive, social, and historical sciences. Beyond the three regions, despite general thematic similarities worldwide, certain NDE themes occur only in indigenous societies, while some occur in seemingly random unrelated pairs of cultures. Philosophical implications for beliefs in life after death are explored in light of the cross-cultural evidence, and models of the nature of a possible afterlife are discussed. The implications of the study for contemporary historiographical and epistemological issues are also put forth.