Religious Symbolism and the Experience of Life as Meaningful: Addition, Enhancement, or Both?

This paper explores the question of how religious symbolism functions to provide a more meaningful or enriched experience life. It examines common and highly influential view, referred here as “source model”, for which this function requires addition transcendent meanings generated by rituals other specially adapted kinds symbolic activity. Using Robert Bellah’s Religion in Human Evolution Clifford Geertz’s “Religion Cultural System” representative examples, I critique key premise source model, namely that meaning-making evolved response universal life problematic. argue problematic is product symbolism, not precondition. Moreover, with respect experience, propose add meaning but enhance are vaguely discerned everyday close suggestion an enhanced itself kind important affective power practice.