A Nepalese devotee bows in front of a cow during the 'Gai Puja', also known as the Cow Worship Day, as part of the Tihar festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, 11 November 2015. The Tihar festival is the second most important event for Nepalese Hindus. During the celebrations people worship cows, considered the incarnation of Lord Laxmi, the god of wealth. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)

Believers bathe in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino near TV Tower in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, January 18, 2023. Across Russia, the devout and the daring are observing the Orthodox Christian feast day of Epiphany by immersing themselves in frigid water through holes cut through the ice of lakes and rivers. Epiphany celebrates the revelation of Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God through his baptism in the River Jordan. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

A boy sits next to sacrificial goats resting during Eid al-Adha in New Delhi, India, 29 June 2023. Muslims around the world celebrate Eid al-Adha or feast of sacrifice, by slaughtering sheep, goats and cows to commemorate Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son Ismail at God's command. (Photo by Harish Tyagi/EPA)

Tip Toland is a sculptor and instructor living in the Seattle, Washington area. Her current focus is figurative ceramic sculpture. Tip is represented by the Nancy Margolis Gallery in New York City.

Photo: “Letter to God”, 2011. Stoneware, paint, chalk pastel, hair. (Photo by Tip Toland/Marie-Andrée Côté)

“The Nine Emperor Gods Festival is a nine-day Taoist celebration beginning on the eve of 9th lunar month of the Chinese calendar, which is observed primarily in Southeast Asian countries like Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and also the Riau Islands. In Thailand, this festival is called Tesagan Gin Je, the Vegetarian Festival. It is celebrated throughout the entire country, but the festivities are at their height in Phuket, where about 35% of the population is Chinese. It attracts crowds of spectators because of many of the unusual religious rituals that are performed”. – Wikipedia. Photo: A devotee gest pierced at the Bang Neow shrine in Phuket. (Photo by Paula Bronstein)

A naked Hindu holy man arrives to bath in the Godavari River during Kumbh Mela, or Pitcher Festival, at Trimbakeshwar in Nasik, India, Saturday, August 29, 2015. Hindus believe taking a dip in the waters of a holy river during the festival, will cleanse them of their sins. According to Hindu mythology, the Kumbh Mela celebrates the victory of gods over demons in a furious battle over a nectar that would give them immortality. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

A participant wearing a motorcycle helmet gets sprayed with firecrackers, during the “Beehive Firecrackers” festival at the Yanshui district in Tainan, Taiwan on March 1, 2018. According to Taiwan's Tourism Bureau, the “beehive” festival started in the late 1885 as a request to the gods to spare Yanshui from a cholera outbreak which was making its way through the villages. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Bangladeshi Muslims travel on the roof of an overcrowded train as they head to their hometowns ahead of Eid al-Adha in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, September 1, 2017. The festival commemorates the story of Abraham and his readiness to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God, who provided a lamb to be used instead. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)