The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2725 page)

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Ya‘q
b
.

Islamic form of
Jacob
.

 
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Yaqui Church
.

A body in N. Mexico and Arizona. It derives from
Jesuit
missions among the Yaqui people in Mexico from 1617 until the Jesuits were suppressed in 1767. Left on their own, with Yaqui religion now defunct, they integrated the new
Roman Catholic
form with community life, and resisted Mexican government efforts to assimilate them. Many Yaqui migrated to Arizona in the late 19th cent. and now there are community villages centred upon the church at Guadalupe, Old Pascua, New Pascua, and Barrio Libre, with a total of some 5,500 members, and up to 3,000 scattered elsewhere. The great cycle of open-air ritual dramas features the biblical events in
Holy Week
.

 
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(Yid., etym. uncertain; the tradition that it is a corruption of the Heb. for ‘in fear of God’ is unlikely). Skull cap worn by
Orthodox
Jewish men. The yarmulke is worn by the observant at all times as a sign of humility before God. The less orthodox only cover their heads for prayer. The
custom
is of relatively recent origin (
c.
17th cent.) and its religious basis lies in the proscription of
gentile
practices (i.e. of uncovering the head as a sign of respect). See also
HEAD, COVERING OF
;
HAIR
.

 
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(from
yaz
, ‘sacrifice, worship’). Worship among Zoroastrians (the word is akin to
yajña
). Yasna is an obligation in general, originally undertaken in close proximity to the creations of
Ahura Mazda
, in conditions of great purity, and only later in temples. Yasna is also the daily ritual of Zoroastrians, with offerings to fire and water (
zaothra
). The offering is made by a
zaotar/zot
, and is not congregational. The offering to fire, which initially involved blood sacrifice, creates a sense of bonding between animals and humans, in which the souls of humans, and of domestic and wild animals, are equally reverenced. Yasna is also the name of the liturgical text recited during the ritual, the central section of which, Staota yesna, is believed to be the most powerful
manthra
(cf. Skt.,
mantra
). Of central importance are the
G
th
s
.

 
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