A question of faith; More and more people, including a host of celebrities, are joining the search for new beliefs. Ian Parri looks at changes in religion over the past century.

Byline: Ian Parri

ACENTURY ago Wales was rocked by a wave of religious fervour that verged on near-hysteria, as the Great Revival of 1904-05 spread like wildfire through the land. It was spearheaded by the unlikely figure of 26-year-old Evan Roberts, a theology student and former coal miner from Loughor near Swansea. He was intelligent and charismatic, and soon gained a vast following, especially among young women.

The short- lived but highly influential revival had immediate and far-reaching consequences. It saw the public houses all but emptying, and people spurning sports and popular entertainment in favour of the chapel pew.

Now fast forward a century. In the 2001 census 72pcof the Welsh population described their religion as Christian, while 1pc -- or 22, 000 people-- described themselves as Muslims. 19pc said that they had no religion, while bizarrely 16, 154 described themselves as being Jedi Knights, the fictional faith portrayed in the Star Wars films.

However, empty pews in churches and chapels amply show that the influence of Protestant non- conformism and Christianity in general has long since been on the wane in Wales.

Nowadays ever increasing numbers throughout the nation are joining in the world- wide penchant for new religious beliefs.

Many are even turning back to much older beliefs such as druidism, which still manages to attract hundreds of its gowned adherents to Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice every year.

Hollywood A-listers have long been queueing up to join fringe spirituality groups. Scientology has so many famous adherents that the Church Of Scientology has built bespoke centres for its celebrity disciples. These include John Travolta, Kirstie Alley -- who claims it rescued her from drug dependency -- Juliette Lewis and Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson. Tom Cruise says it was Scientology which enabled him to overcome childhood dyslexia.

The Church Of Scientology was founded by the famously eccentric science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard, who built his church by fusing insights from psychotherapy with some very outlandish notions. These include the bad energy, or body thetans, exuded by the disembodied souls which fell into Hawaiian volcanoes 75 million years ago.

If this sounds like a notion from the kind of science fiction which Hubbard himself wrote, it hasn't dissuaded hundreds of thousands of people from signing up.

Many of these claim it has had a huge impact on their lives -- curing everything from learning difficulties to drug problems.

But Scientology may be losing ground, in Hollywood at least, to Kabbalah -- which is acquiring well- known disciples by the score.

Madonna and her film director husband Guy Ritchie are only two of the most vocal of the famous celebrities who've adopted the sect's trademark red wool bracelet, designed to ward off the evil eye. Others include Britney Spears, Barbra Streisand, Mick Jagger, Jeff Goldblum, Roseanne, Elizabeth Taylor and Naomi Campbell.

Some reports have suggested that England soccer captain David Beckham and his wife Victoria have been spotted wearing the red bracelet.

Kabbalah itself is a venerable aspect of the Jewish tradition, dating back at least nine centuries. Its mystic texts such as the Zohar, or Book Of Splendour, are said to unravel the deepest mysteries of existence. Unfortunately they are also so exquisitely arcane that some rabbis advised that no-one should attempt to read them before they reached 40.

The popular version of Kabbalah the celebrities follow is rather more approachable, with``speed meditations'' and astrology and numerology packaged in easy-to-swallow books andlectures. So what is it that's drawing these successful, intelligent and apparently rational individuals into the orbit of these movements?

Elizabeth Mytton, a psychologist who has researched cults, refers to the way in which celebrities ``can be quite unhappy people. They can become quite isolated by their fame''.

She suggests that for many performers, the original spur to fame was an urge to feel close to others -- but they can find that their success, in fact, cuts them off from people.

She says: ``There is a need in human beings to belong to a group. As human beings we do like to be attached somewhere, somehow. So there's a degree of safety and security you get from joining one of these groups. ''

But it's not just in Hollywood that beliefs that lie on the fringe of religion are increasingly being taken up.

Dr Sarah Lewis teaches religious studies at the University of Wales in Lampeter, which houses Europe's foremost department of theology. She says that people are not just interested in religions, though, but spiritualities and philosophies in general.

``In Wales there's quite a bit of paganism, nature-worship, that kind of thing: the environment's good for that, '' she says.

``There are all sorts of diverse groups in Wales, from Jehovah's Witnesses and Latter Day Saints through to paganism. There's been a huge interest in our Celtic Christianity MA course over the last few years. It comes from pagan, pre-Christian times when people were so reliant on nature, so nature became the thing to revere and to worship.

``But it's not just the organised stuff. People are much more into what I call pick 'n' mix religion, and I think we've seen the privatisation of religion where people will not necessarily join a group but rather do things themselves. ``Not everyone believes in the traditional male God and saviour that's found in Christianity, Islam and Judaism. People are looking outside of that and moving away from the idea that humanity needs saving by something else. ``I don't think there's anything particularly different now to the past, only that we hear more about it, and that there's more on offer. Christianity and Islam emerged because Judaism wasn't fulfilling the needs of a lot of people. '' She doesn't however believe that this is necessarily the death knell for more traditional religions in Wales.

``The decline is probably just a cycle, which will probably come full-circle again, '' sheadds. But she does point out that in the 19th century many beliefs now deemed to be mainstream were given a distinctly wide berth.

``In the 19th century we saw massive growth in things like Methodism, the Baptists, the Salvation Army, the Quakers -- they were the new religions of the day which became mainstream. Now we've got a whole new batch, and one day they'll be mainstream. ``Back in the 19th century Methodism and the Salvation Army were hugely controversial. They had a very rough time, and John Wesley (one of the founding fathers of Methodism) was very much a disliked and controversial figure.

``After World War II a lot of people asked why on earth did God let this happen, and there was a turning away from Christianity. But people still need answers, and if they can't find them in traditional religions they'll look elsewhere. .

``People tend to generalise with new religions, which are seen as being very controversial, and they can all be tarred with the same brush. But time makes things more acceptable. '' n There will be a rare opportunity to re-visit the excitement and fervour of the Great Revival of 1904-05 at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, from this Saturday until January 8, 2005. To Save A Poor Sinner is an exhibition that includes photographs, memorabilia and articles from Wales' last religious revival.

CAPTION(S):

Madonna is one of Kabbalah's best known disciples; Britney Spears is a Kabbalah follower; Evan Roberts spearheaded the Great Revival of 1904-05; Tom Cruise says Scientology enabled him to overcome childhood dyslexia. John Travolta (below) is also a follower of Scientology; Druids flock to Stonehenge for the summer solstice