One pattern I noticed from the beginning came from the portion of Geertz's definition about religion being comprised of a system of symbols. Symbols were prevalent throughout all of the works we studied.
The symbols found in the cave paintings and the Indian Mounds are somewhat ambiguous to modern observers . It is unclear what they represent or, in the case of the paintings, if they are religiously significant at all. We can't know from looking at the symbols what the religion was really all about. I think this illustrates how sometimes symbols that are important to a religious group might not be understood by outsiders. Even if someone knows that something is religiously symbolic, they cannot necessarily surmise any concrete information about the religion from it. Symbols in a religion often have a deeper meaning than can be completely understood by an outsider.
Religious texts themselves can be, in a way, symbols. Sacred texts hold a great significance in many religions. The Bible in Christianity. The Torah and various Hebrew texts in Judaism, the Qur'an in Islam, etc. We studied the significance of the Kebra Negast in Ethiopia. These texts hold a great deal of meaning to people who practice the religions and could be considered symbolic in many ways.
Symbols can function within and outside of the religion as well. Some do both. For example, the cross and crucifix symbolize Christianity to people in general. However, similar to the mounds or the cave paintings, while to outsiders, a cross simply means "Christianity," within the religion, it symbolizes specific things (i.e. Christ's death and resurrection). In Rastafari, things such as dreadlocks are representational of the religion to those of us who do not practice it. To people who do, they do not necessarily represent the religion as a whole, but certain aspects of it.
Symbols are prevalent in all religions and are important, but they represent different things to different people, especially when the distinction is made between an "outsider" and an "insider" of the religion.
