Rice University RELI 101 Kripal Midterm 2 (Final Exam)

agricultural pattern

a basic comparative pattern evident through human culture through which traditional societies understood human sexuality to be analogous to agricultural practices, that is, the male was understood to be the planter of the "seed" in the female "soil"

reality principle

the fundamental value and goal of Freud's psychoanalysis whereby one bases one's worldview on human reason, the inevitability of death as extinction, and a subsequent renunciation of all illusions, including and especially those of religion and its false promises of immortality, etc.

pluralism

the potential acceptance of all religious worldviews as cultural approximations or partial actualizations of the sacred, which is understood to overflow or transcend them all

Oedipus complex

a psychological pattern identified and developed by Freud through which the son's sense of self emerges gradually from its infantile love of the mother and its aggressive, but hopeless, stance toward its father; a successful resolution of the Oedipus stage requires that the young boy accept defeat, surrender the mother, and identify with the victor, that is, with his father

in-group

the group or community to which a particular believer belongs and in which he or she feels at home.

libido

the life energy of the body within psychoanalytic thought that is closely aligned with sexuality but can be employed for all sorts of nonsexual ends

sublimation

a Freudian term that describes how libidinal energies are diverted from their original sexual aims and converted into cultural accomplishments, such as art, literature, or religious experience

repression

the psychological process through which sexual or aggressive instincts are denied and "pushed down" into the unconscious, from where they will likely emerge in different forms

reflexive re-reading

a way of analyzing or "re-reading" religions that embrace the basic methods of the rational re-readings but reject the idea that these methods are completely adequate to the human experience of revelation and transcendence; the "reduction" of religious phenomenon to human nature only to find that this human nature is itself "divine"

purity codes

ritual rules about "purity" and "pollution" that structure how a particular society or community works by defining not only what a people can eat, but also what they can touch, with whom they can mingle or eat, whom they can marry, how ill, wounded, or dead bodies are to be handled, what constitutes a "polluting" sore or disease, what kind of sexual act is proper, and so on

paternity-patriarchy principle

the method for comparing sex, gender, and religion across traditional cultures that works from the two principles that (1) religious purity codes about proper sexual behavior can be explained by the traditional (male) concern over paternity and the passing of wealth and inheritance through the son; and (2) societies tend to structure themselves around male interests, authority, and power

relics

the ritual preservation and use or human bodies or body parts that are considered to be holy, as if the sacred power contained in such bodies functions as a kind of contagion, as if it can be transmitted through presence, contiguity, or touch

magic

any activity that seeks to influence or control events through the positing of "correspondences" or "connections" between internal states of mind and external occurrences or physical objects

psychical

literally, a force "pertaining to the psyche," a word that came into use in the early 1870s through the writings of the British chemist William Crookes, who was studying the American super-medium Daniel Dunglas Home.

pluralism

the potential acceptance of all religious worldviews as cultural approximations or partial actualizations of the sacred, which is understood to overflow or transcend them all

Symbol

sign that appears spontaneously in psyche of inspired individual to somehow share in essence or nature of that which it signifies

faithful re-reading

interpretation of religion that attempts to engage religious pluralism from within a particular religious stance or faith position; includes excluvism, inclusivism, and pluraism

gnostics

Jewish and Christian communities whose emphasis on personal and direct mystical knowing (gnosis) did not always sit well with the bishops and churches

Vedas

the ancient Sanskrit texts widely considered to be the font and origin of what would later become classical Hinduism; the "canon" of Hinduism

second naivete

a phrase drawn from the French philosopher Paul Riceour for a renewed appreciation of mythical and symbolic language as especially appropriate means of understanding human nature, but only after the interpreter has passed through the "desert" of rational criticism and robust forms of reductionism, like Freud's psychoanalysis

subliminal Self

according to Frederic Myers, the vast region of the human personality that exists and works "below" (sub-) the "threshold" (limen) of normal consciousness and that may be responsible, at least in its most extreme capacities, for extraordinary capacities like telepathy and clairvoyance

filter thesis

a theory which suggests that consciousness is filtered, translated, reduced, or transmitted through the brain and its various physiological, neurological, linguistic, egoic, and cognitive processes, but not produced in toto by it

out-group

the group or community against which the believer identifies himself or herself and his or her community; usually framed as other, as foreign, as dangerous, as impure, and so on

bridge-bonding dilemma

the basic conflict that arises when a particular social strategy poses real benefits on a personal or individual community level but compromises the community's ability to form links or connections to the broader society in which it is embedded, or vice versa; in short, the dilemma that arises when one attempts to balance the needs of the in-group and the out-group

reductionism

the explanation of religious phenomena as the product of some deeper, more basic non-religious processes or mechanisms

philosophy of religion

a branch of the study of religion that seeks to rationally analyze and assess the truth claims of revelation, usually across a broad spectrum of religions

psychology of religion

a branch of the study of religion that focuses on the internal or experiential dimensions of religions

sociology of religion

a branch of the study of religion that focuses on the external or institutional dimensions of religions

functionalism

the study of religion that approaches religious behaviors and institutions by examining their practical psychological and social functions, not whether their truth claims are objectively true or false

defense mechanism

the psyche's attempt to protect itself from difficult material that would expose its own illusions and false assumptions; Freud said religion was one of these

unconscious

the realm of the human mind that is not accessible to the ego, that is, the realm of the psyche of which the conscious individual is unaware but which nevertheless influences, if not determines, much of the individual's thinking, emotional life, and social behavior

ego

Latin for "I," a Freudian term that refers to one's conscious sense of self, one's named personality

id

Latin for "it," a Freudian term to describe the sea of submerged, largely unconscious, instinctual drives, primarily of a sexual and aggressive nature, within an individual

superego ("Over-I")

a Freudian term that refers to the psychological realm of moral judgments, which are understood to be derived from social interactions with the parents and, later, with other social actors and institutions; basically, the conscience, but here understood to be socially constructed from the outside in

androgyne

a mythical figure, often symbolizing wholeness or completeness, who is both male and female at the same time; not to be confused with hermaphroditism, which is the physiological condition of possessing both male and female genitals

foot-binding

the practice of the higher social classes in China in which the woman's foot was essentially broken and bent back to prevent her from performing physical labor; it was considered a sign of high social status or wealth

honor killing

the killing of a daughter, sister, or wife for shaming the family after she has been raped, participated in an adulterous affair, or has been otherwise sexually violated

sexuality

a biologically driven instinct that, although genetically determined to varying degrees, is nevertheless open to the profound cultural conditioning and influences of the social environment in which it develops and comes to maturation; put the emphasis on biological matters here

gender

a culturally variable model of masculinity or femininity, that is, the meanings, values, and practices normally associated with being a man or a woman in a particular social system; put the emphasis on social influences here

sexual orientation

the specific ways a person's sexual desires are oriented or directed toward a particular kind of sexual object or objects; not to be understood in simple "binary" or either-or terms, as if every person is always either heterosexual or homosexual

celibacy

a religious state defined by a commitment not to engage in any sexual activity for the sake of some religious end

queer criticism

a technical term used by scholars to refer to any kind of sexual lifestyle, orientation, institution, text, or symbolic system that is fluid, ambiguous, and constantly morphing with respect to the direction of desire and/or the gender identity of the figures involved

third gender

an umbrella term for all those mixed genders, alternative sexualities, bisexualities, or transsexualities that do not follow the traditional binary logic of male/female or heterosexual/homosexual but break out into other "queer" modes of sexual being and religious experience

patriarchy

literally, the "rule" (archos) of the "father" (pater), a modern critical term that refers to the very stable, nearly universal observation that traditional cultural systems and religions are heavily weighted toward male interests, values, authority, power, education, and perspectives

moral or cultural relativism

the position that it is, in principle, impossible to judge fairly between different cultural value systems on moral matters, since one can only make such judgments from the perspective of one's own culture or society

circumcision

the "cutting around" of the tip of the foreskin of the penis; a marker of religious identity in Judaism and Islam that originated in patriarchal notions of male inheritance and lineage

the erotic

a sexual experience that also functions as a religious experience

brahman

the ultimate nature of reality, the cosmic essence of all there is in Hinduism and certain branches of Indian philosophy

atman

the inner, immortal, divine "Self" within the human being, the Witness behind all cognitive and sensory experiences, first articulated in the Upanishads and later articulated in Hinduism and Indian philosophy

ch'i

the "life energy" of Chinese Daoist philosophy and sexual yoga.

sublimation

the process in psychoanalysis by which sexual energies are routinely displaced or transformed into other forms of emotional, cultural, artistic, and religious experience

drive model

any psychological model, particularly evident in early forms of psychoanalysis, in which the psyche and body are imagined as a hydraulic system in which various "drives" or "currents" being are constantly being directed, repressed, displaced, and sublimated into different forms of experience

male-female spirit-nature

male is to female as spirit is to nature; a comparative pattern evident throughout human culture in which the male is associated with spirit and transcendence and the female is associated with nature and immanence; male is "up," and female is "down"

sexual trauma

the psychological condition in which the psyche or person has been damaged, cracked open, or otherwise compromised by some sexual violation or negative experience

panentheism

"all-in-Godism," that is, a model of God that views God as existing "in everything" or, alternately, that views everything as existing in God

charisma

a special power or "electricity" attributed to a religious figure who is set apart as holy or sacred within a particular community or culture

institutionalization of charisma

the social process whereby the special power or "charge" of a religious figure is preserved, maintained, and passed on after his or her death, often in a social form, office, or set of rituals

shaman

a generic or comparative term, drawn from the indigenous religions of Siberia, for a religious specialist who serves numerous common functions and demonstrates any number of special skills and features around sickness and healing, the fate of the soul after death, and crisis moments in the life of the community (the hunt, war, etc.)

prophet

a comparative term drawn from Max Weber for a religious individual endowed with special superhuman gifts who speaks for God to a particular community

priest

a comparative term drawn from Max Weber for a religious individual who channels and mediates the charisma of the tradition through official ritual and formal role or office and whose authority does not rely on any special prophetic or personal charismatic gifts

ideal type

an abstract description of some social pattern that exists nowhere in the real world in this ideal or pure form, but which can nevertheless be used as an interpretive tool to think about history in rigorous and insightful ways; usually associated with the sociology of Max Weber

Church

a comparative term drawn from the sociologist Ernst Troeltsch for a religious organization that is closely aligned with the political polity of the land and its elites; that has toned down its otherworldly orientation and recognized the wisdom of a certain practical compromise with the social world; that is privileged economically and socially by virtue of this religious-political alignment; and that instills in its subjects, through public ritual and doctrine, a comprehensive and singular worldview that the people participate in more or less automatically

sect

a comparative term drawn from the sociologist Ernst Troeltsch for a group of people, usually from the lower economic and uneducated classes, who have become disillusioned with the public Church for its formality and have broken away to form a smaller community in order to intensify the religious life of individuals around some traditional doctrinal point or ritual practice; a sect is still closely aligned with the values and worldview of the Church type

denomination

a modern sect that no longer takes a hostile or contentious position vis-à-vis the world and other religious communities, but instead has become respectable and gone mainstream in a modern pluralistic society

mysticism

here a comparative term drawn from the sociologist Ernst Troeltsch for any experience or teaching that expresses some "secret" or "hidden" relationship, unity, or even identity between the human and the divine and that leads to a kind of religious individuality that is independent from the Church and sect types of religious organization; perhaps best framed today as the "I am spiritual, but not religious" type

miracle

an anomalous or uncommon event that functions as a "sign" for the truth of a particular religious tradition

saint

literally, a "holy person," a comparative category used to describe a person considered to be especially sacred or set apart and representative of the values and worldviews held to be true by a particular religious community

binary

any set of "two" within a particular cultural or cognitive system, such as self/other, subject/object, mental/material, inside/outside; these are usually foundational to the ordering and understanding of any worldview or religion

occultism

the philosophical view that we are surrounded and interpenetrated at all times by a hidden world of subtle beings and mysterious powers that can be accessed and, with the proper training and techniques, negotiated and even mastered

theurgy

literally "the work of god," any set of ritual or contemplative practices that are believed to influence the divine realm itself, including God or the gods

angel

an intermediate being in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim worldviews, often imagined as a military leader, violent warrior, or messenger that can also take on human form; from the Greek angelos for "messenger"

jinn

an intermediary being in Islam that is at once visible and invisible, mundane and supra-mundane, like and unlike human

empowered religious imagination

moments in which the human imagination ceases to be simply a spinner of fantasies but becomes instead a mediator or translator of sacred realities, often after being "zapped," "magnetized," or "electrified" by some nonordinary energies or presence

telepathy

literally, "pathos at a distance," a word coined in 1882 by the British classicist Frederic Myers to refer to the phenomenon of apparent psychical communications between loved ones within extreme emotional states, often in traumatic, dangerous, or deadly contexts

imaginal

an adjective for the veridical content of the human imagination empowered or energized by an "influx" of spiritual energy; not to be confused with "imaginary," that is, the content of the human imagination in its ordinary state of functioning

monster

a figure of the religious imagination that can function as a "sign," omen, or revelation of the sacred in its "left" or "negative" mode

Fortean

an adjective used to describe any author inspired by the original archival research and irreverent books of the American humorist turned collector of anomalies Charles Fort (1874-1932); today mostly associated with the subjects of UFOs, apparitional monsters, and other unexplained phenomena

paranormal

literally, "beyond the normal," an adjective referring to the human organism's apparent ability to "exteriorize" emotional energies, usually of an extreme sort, into the external environment, as with Pöltergeist phenomena

Pöltergeist

a German word that means "angry ghost," commonly considered by psychical researchers not to be a ghost but the exteriorized energies of an emotionally conflicted human being

supernormal

literally, "above the normal," a word developed by Frederic Myers that offered an alternative to "supernatural" explanations (Myers did not think psychical phenomena were generally supernatural, that is, he thought they were part of the natural world), and that carried distinct evolutionary connotations, that is, some "supernormal" function (say, telepathy) is what presently normal human nature is evolving toward

placebo effect

literally, "I please," the phenomenon in which a fake substance has more or less the same effect as a real drug in a particular trial

nocebo effect

literally, "I do not please," the negative version of the placebo effect, that is, the phenomenon of a fake act or substance harming an individual when he or she believes, falsely, that it is real

mantra

a single-syllable sound that is meant to be repeated over and over again in order to concentrate one's meditation; common in Hindu and Buddhist meditative practice

promissory materialism

the philosophical position that, although we do not yet know how to explain some phenomenon, like awareness, through material processes or mechanisms, we eventually will be able to do so

theology

literally, the "study" (logos) of "God" (theos), the attempt to relate human reason to some revelation, usually for the believing community in a particular place and time

comparative theology

any theology or model of God that seeks to take into account the historical fact that there have been not one, but many human experiences of revelation

exclusivism

the rejection of other religious worldviews based on the categories of one's own religious worldview.

inclusivism

the acceptance of other religious worldviews based on the categories of one's own religious worldview

Material Religion

physical objects or things that enable people to imagine their religious worlds into being on a daily basis

Materialization

human imaginations' apparent capacity to inform, influence, project material and quasi-material events

hermeneutics

way of reading that interprets symbols; mistrusts the symbol and speaks of metaphor, can also be suspicious of language's ability to represent things as they are

comparative practices of popular culture

all the weird shit Kriap likes- monsters, UFOs, mothman

Separable Soul

ancient religious idea that the body and the soul are separable

Animism

earliest model of deity or soul lies in belief that all things contain souls, aka panpsychism

Petitionary prayer

request for something to happen

Liturgical prayer

communal praise or formal worship

contemplative prayer

communing with a deity or some ultimate state

auditions

hearing things

channeling

person communicates or channels a new text or scripture to guide a community

Eschatology

doctrine about the end- how life ends