Because I interviewed eleven women, and a student "Claire" interviewed two, drawing conclusions from such a small sample is tenuous at best; nevertheless, some trends were interesting.  All of the women, with the exception of Basimah, 14, and Maya, 13, have college degrees.  Two have Ph.D.s, one an M.D., one a chiropractic degree, and one a masters degree.  Three are teaching at a university. 

Nine of the thirteen women indicated that prayer or meditation is central to their religious practice.  While women of all faiths represented stated the importance of attending a place of worship, our subjects emphasized the necessity of going into the community and serving others.  The exceptions were the Islamic women whose focus centered on their families. 

All of the women, with the exception of Nancy, followed at least one religious practice of their mothers.  Nancy's mother, who did not transmit any religion to her daughter, has gravitated toward Judaism after marrying her Jewish husband.  Nancy feels that exposing her daughter Elizabeth to world religions is important, so Elizabeth will have knowledge on which to base her spiritual journey.  Four of the women from various faiths indicated that their practice resembled their maternal grandmothers' practice.

Another interesting trend relates to blending religions on the one hand and preserving inherited religions as a way of preserving cultural identity on the other.  The two women who have blended religion--Rachel, messianic Jew, and Nancy, Buddhist who attends the Unitarian Church and who observes Jewish and Christian holidays--have families long established in the United States.  The conservative Jewish women (three generations of one family) along with first and second generation immigrant women feel they must follow closely their inherited religion to maintain their cultural identity.  The new immigrant group felt that living in American culture made their practice a challenge while also giving them a clearer perspective of their faith because their religions are in the minority. 

Sacred objects ranged widely from holy books--the Koran, the Bible, the Talmud, spiritual literature--to prayer rugs, stones, waterfalls, music, a rosary, paintings, letters, jewelry, a tzedaka (box for money for the poor), candles, images of Lord Ganesha, incense, and reminders of mothers and grandmothers (cup, glasses, jewelry, pictures, silk fabric). 

These women seek to pass down to their children universal values and core practices:

prayer (Muslim, Christian, Hindu)
fasting (Muslim)
preserving identity (Muslim)
the hijab (Muslim)
the Hebrew language and the celebration of the Sabbath (Jewish)
"good deeds, caring for others" (Jewish)
celebration of holy days (Jewish, Hindu)
caring for family (Jewish)
an example of integrity (Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu)
a sense of the sacred (Jewish, Christian, Hindu)
the value of service (Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist)
language and rituals (Hindu)
belief in God's "unconditional and never-ending" love (Christian)
going to a house of worship (Christian, Hindu, Buddhist)
knowledge of religion and morals (Hindu, Buddhist)
meditation (Buddhist)
peace (Buddhist)
mindfulness (Buddhist)