Historical Vedic religion Historical Vedic religion The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedism, Brahmanism, Vedic Brahmanism, and ancient Hinduism) refers to the religious ideas and practices among Indo-Aryan-speaking peoples of ancient India after about 1500 BCE. These ideas and practices are found in the Vedic texts, and they were one of the major influences that shaped contemporary Hinduism. According to the "Encyclopædia Britannica", in the Hindu tradition and particularly in India, the Vedic religion is considered to be a part of Hinduism. According to Heinrich von Stietencron, in the 19th century western publications, the Vedic religion was believed to be different from
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon of "deploying the same old Enlightenment tropes that didn't work all that well the first time around". "Breaking the Spell" has been translated into several other languages, including: Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon is a 2006 book in which the American philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett argues that religion is in need of scientific analysis so that its nature and future may be better understood. The "spell" that requires "breaking" is not religious belief itself but the belief that it is off-limits to or beyond scientific inquiry. The