Around the World in 80 Faiths

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Australasia and the Pacific Ring of Fire

Anglican priest Simon Owen-Jones starts his comparative studio of religions -especially minorities- in Australasia. In largest Muslim country Indonesia, he meets the Bougie people, which also maintains its animism with transgender mediums, and the pure animism of the isolated Tora, where corpses are kept in their room and treated as if alive during the years of preparation for extremely elaborate funerals, the family's priority and community-building. On the mainly Catholic Philippines, he enjoys a church festival incorporating a bull ride as symbol of the submitting paganism, which thus survives culturally. In Australia, he meets Aboriginals, where much of the dream world paganism gets lost, but immigrants find a new home for persecuted religions mistaken for devil-worship, like dualism, and the urban revival of nature-cult witchcraft. Finally to Tanna island in Vanuata, isolated enough for tribal religion to survive in its original form, volcano worship and hallucination-inducing plant extract, and spring new cults founded by modern prophets, one anti- and one Christian-inspired.

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The Far East

Pete Owen Jones presents the definitive guide to faith on earth. Here, Pete encounters the exotic religions of the Far East, including Buddhism, Shinto and Taoism.

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Africa

Pete Owen Jones presents the definitive guide to faith on Earth. Pete continues his odyssey with a gruelling journey exploring the spiritual traditions of Africa.

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The Middle East

Pete Owen Jones's epic journey exploring the world's beliefs continues in the Middle East, taking him to Syria, Samaria, northern Iraq and Jerusalem.

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USA

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India

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Latin America

Pete Owen Jones's exploration of world faiths continues in Latin America, where he visits a UFO-worshipping community and goes down a mine to meet an underworld god.

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Europe

Peter Owen Jones journeys across his home continent, Europe. He finds a few surprises, and discovers that his own church was responsible for persecution and death.