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One of the most continually surprising aspects of spiritual belief

is just how many common features are shared by religions

separated by vast distances, language and cultural mores.

Before it was possible for the average person to engage in intercontinental travel

and well before the advent of instant communication, faith was restricted to whatever was passed down within one's own immediate environment.

And yet, despite some obvious differences,

there are certain aspects which are shared by virtually all of the world's religions.

Each employs designated sites of worship, whether it be something rudimentary,

like a tree or an altar stone, to more sophisticated structures like synagogues and mosques.

Many have a figure who stands for the ultimate personification of good, as well as a corresponding

evil force that must be fought against or resist

it in order to achieve salvation. And each of Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic

traditions at least, involved the story of a messianic figure with special fealty to whatever

supreme being, the respective religions

advocate worshipping. Perhaps one of the most insidious common features shared by every major

religion is the idea that we are vulnerable to possession by evil. From the Su kimono of Japanese Shinto to the Jin of Islam,

the notion of the malevolent otherworldly puppeteer has been present in our understanding

of the universe for millennia. Very often these are supposed phantoms, motivated by vengeance

or a will to power, who seek to conduct

their business using people as their vessels. Like parasites, they feed on the negative emotions

of their host and use up all of their resources until their charges life force is spent,

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