Religious practices: experience of definition and classification

The author critically assesses the attempts to define the concept of «religious practice» as an analogue of the national non-written tradition, as well as attempts to oppose «the activity» and «the word» in the study of religious practices. The possible classification of religious practices is proposed in terms of the presence or lacking of written fixation and on the basis of their belonging to a certain time cycle: life, annual, daily, as well as taking into account the social or individual nature of religious practice. The importance of universal cultural symbols in the formation of the language of religious practices is emphasized. The definition of the concept of «religious practice» is proposed based on the value it performs in the individual spiritual experience of the practice performer and in General in culture.