Anthropology has never agreed on a definition of religion — and that is not a failure of effort. Every serious attempt is built from the same small set of elements, and every attempt draws its boundary in a different place. Tap elements below to assemble a definition of your own, then watch six hard cases move inside or outside the line. Switch to Classic definitions to see where Tylor, Durkheim, Wallace, Geertz and Spiro each put it.
Six elements, one boundary
The ring holds the six elements. The circle is your definition — it tightens as you require more. The numbered dots are the test cases: inside the line means your definition counts them as religion.
The boundary is a teaching schematic. Which side a case falls on is a consequence of the definition chosen, not a measured fact about the tradition.