Religious occupations

A priest is a certain male religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the "priesthood", a term which also may apply to such persons collectively. A priest may have the duty to hear confessions periodically, give marriage counseling, provide prenuptial counseling, give spiritual direction, teach catechism, or visit those

thumb|264x264px A monk (; from , monachos, 'single, solitary', via ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions, and in philosophy, across numerous cultures.

thumb|right|upright=1.35|Catholic Church|Catholic missionaries in [[Papua New Guinea]] A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.

thumb|325px|right|Jerome|Saint Jerome, who lived as a hermit near [[Bethlehem, depicted in his study being visited by two angels (by Cavarozzi, early 17th century)]]

thumb|upright=1.15| Roman Catholic Church|Catholic clergy at the consecration of the [[Sacred Heart Cathedral, Sarajevo (1889). ]]

thumb|Two Druids, 19th-century engraving based on a 1719 illustration by Bernard de Montfaucon, who said that he was reproducing a bas-relief found at [[Autun, Burgundy]]

A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent. The term is often used interchangeably with religious sisters, who do take simple vows but live an active vocation of prayer and charitable work in the wider society.

alt=Martin of Tours giving his capellanu cape, from where the field of chaplaincy got its name from.|thumb|Martin of Tours giving his capellanu cape, from which the field of chaplaincy got its name. thumb|The Reverend Manasseh Cutler, [[American Revolutionary War chaplain who served in George Washington's Continental Army and co-founded Ohio University]]

thumb|Jesus of Nazareth was an itinerant apocalyptic preacher in 1st-century Judea. A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a moral or social worldview or philosophy.

thumb|A novice is at the left. The religious habit|habit of a novice often differs from that of the full professed sisters.|alt= The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian novice (or prospective) monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to vowed religious life. It often includes times of intense study, prayer, living in community, studying the vowed life, deepening one's relationship with God, and deepening one's self-awareness. In the Catholic Church,

sexual rite performed in the context of religious worship

thumb|Modern miko in Meiji Shrine, [[Tokyo, in 2000]]

thumb | right | alt=Books of the people of the Sunnah and the community. | Books of the people of the Sunnah and the community. A muhaddith () is a scholar specialized in the study, collection, and interpretation of hadiths, which are the recorded sayings, actions, and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad. The role of a muhaddith is central to the science of hadith (ʻilm al-ḥadīth), a key field for understanding and preserving Islamic teachings and laws. Muhaddith can either disseminate the hadiths or compile them into an ahadith.

person responsible for maintaining a Shinto shrine as well as for leading worship of a given kami

A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A novice can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience.

thumb|Taoist Priest on Mount Langya (Anhui)|Mount Langya, 1940s. thumb|Shao Yuanjie, the taoist priest of the Jiajing Emperor of mid-Ming Dynasty. thumb|Taoist clergy of , Xi'an, 1910-1911.

are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic religion, which includes Tantric Buddhism and Shinto.

thumb|Sami noaidi with a meavrresgárri drum used for [[runic divination. Illustration printed from copperplates by O.H. von Lode, after drawings made by Knud Leem (1767).]] A noaidi (, , , , , , ) is a shaman of the Sami people in the Nordic countries, playing a role in Sámi religious practices. Most noaidi practices died out during the 17th century, most likely because they resisted Christianization of the Sámi people and the king's authority. Their actions were referred to in courts as "magic" or "sorcery" (cf. witchcraft). Several Sámi shamanistic beliefs and practices are similar to those

ministers to military personnel

thumb|African babalawo

thumb|Cell of a recluse with hagioscope in [[Bro Church, Gotland, Sweden]] A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion and solitude. The word is from the Latin , which means 'to open' or 'disclose'.

thumb|Oleg of Novgorod|Oleg meets the volkhv. Painting by [[Viktor Vasnetsov.]] A volkhv or volhv (Cyrillic: Волхв; Polish: Wołchw, translatable as wiseman, wizard, sorcerer, magus, i.e. shaman, gothi or mage) is a priest in ancient Slavic religions and contemporary Slavic Native Faith.

The Enarei, singular Enaree, were Scythian priestesses and shamanistic soothsayers who played an important role in the Scythian religion. The Enarei were assigned male at birth but considered to have undergone a divine/religious transformation of their sex, after which they assumed feminine roles and lived as women. They served the Snake-Legged Goddess and the goddess Artimpasa.

thumb|Artistic rendition of a classical "mystagogue" A mystagogue or mystagog (from ) is a person who initiates others into mystic beliefs, and an educator or person who has knowledge of the sacred mysteries of a belief system. Another word for mystagogue is hierophant.

thumb|250px|right|Acllas in the manuscript of Guamán Poma of 1615. Aclla (), also called Chosen Women, Virgins of the Sun, and Wives of the Inca, were sequestered women in the Inca Empire. They were virgins, chosen at about age 10. They performed several services. They were given in marriage to men who had distinguished themselves in service to the empire; they produced luxury items, weaving fine cloth, preparing ritual food, and brewing the chicha (beer) drunk at religious festivals; and some, the most "perfect," were selected as human sacrifices for religious rites. Others lived out their li

thumb|Ikpukhuak and his angatkuq wife, Higalik (Ice House), between 1913 and 1916 thumb|The angakkuq, Niaqunguaq, between 1921 and 1924

Witchcraft

Fangshi () were Chinese technical specialists who flourished from the third century BCE to the fifth century CE. English translations of include alchemist, astrologer, diviner, exorcist, geomancer, doctor, magician, monk, mystic, necromancer, occultist, omenologist, physician, physiognomist, technician, technologist, thaumaturge, and wizard.

thumb|Slavic priest of fire, Jan Matejko, ca. 1870 A zhrets is a priest in the Slavic religion whose name is reconstructed to mean "one who makes sacrifices". The name appears mainly in the East and South Slavic vocabulary, while in the West Slavs it is attested only in Polish. Most information about the Slavic priesthood comes from Latin texts about the paganism of the Polabian Slavs. The descriptions show that they were engaged in offering sacrifices to the gods, divination and determining the dates of festivals. They possessed cosmological knowledge and were a major source of resistance aga

preacher who is not a member of the clergy

spiritual leader and healer in Mapuche culture

A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds.

thumb|A Granthi reading from the Guru Granth Sahib A Granthi (, ) is a person, female or male, of the Sikh religion who is a ceremonial reader of the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the holy book in Sikhism, often read to worshipers at Sikh temples called a Gurdwara.