The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (929 page)

Hall
j
(S
f
)
:

see
AL-HALL
J
.

 
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Hallel
.

Psalms 113–18. The full Hallel is chanted in
synagogue
on the first day of
Passover
, on Sukkot and on
anukkah
. It is also recited in two parts during the Passover
seder
.

 
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Hallelujah
.

Hebrew (biblical) expression of praise. Hallelujah occurs twenty-three times in Psalms and means ‘praise the Lord’ (
halelu-Yah
).

 
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Hallelujah religion
.

A group of new movements among Amerindian peoples in the interior of Guyana and across into neighbouring states. The 19th-cent. origins are obscure, pointing to Christian mission contacts and including a Makushi, Bichy Wung, who is believed to have visited England where, in a dream, God gave him the new Hallelujah religion (so-named from the shouting of ‘Hallelujah’ in worship). After his death, it spread to the Akawaio whose own prophet Abel (d. 1911?), after visiting heaven and receiving prayer-songs, reformed the religion which had drifted back into traditional shamanist forms. With Anglican assistance, Hallelujah became affiliated in 1977 to the Guyana Council of Churches and secured more recognition from the government.

 
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