The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (65 page)

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Authors: John Bowker

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Affliction, cults of
.
Cults and their associated ritual activities which deal with the occurrence of affliction, especially disease. The cause may be thought to be human or supernatural. The rituals often take the form of contest against the cause of the affliction and thus merge into possession and
exorcism
.
Afgh
n
:
Afikomen
(Heb.). The middle of three pieces of
mazzah
which is broken and set aside during the
Passover
Seder
and is left to be eaten at the end. In
Ashkenazi
households, it has become the custom for the children to hide the afikomen from the leader and only return it after a ransom has been paid.

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