Religious Taboos: Key Terms and Concepts

Vocabulary flashcards covering core terms and concepts from the lecture notes on religious taboos, Leviticus, and the intersection of food and religion.

Taboo

Originates from the Polynesian word tapu; a sacred or forbidden thing that marks boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Prohibition

A rule within a religious system that forbids certain foods or practices (a formal ban).

Religious ritual

A formal, prescribed practice connected to religion, often involving worship, food, or purification.

Pollution (spiritual pollution)

Ritual impurity arising from certain actions or foods that requires cleansing before holiness can be restored.

Cleansing (purification)

The process of removing pollution to restore cleanliness or holiness in a religious context.

Cleansing ritual

A specific ritual (e.g., purification after contact with a corpse) used to render a person or object clean.

Leviticus

A book of the Hebrew Bible outlining laws, including dietary prohibitions, within the Torah.

Torah

Sacred text of the Jewish people that includes Leviticus and other laws.

Transubstantiation

Christian doctrine that bread becomes the body and wine becomes the blood during Communion.

Communion (Holy Communion)

Ritual sharing of bread and wine to remember the Last Supper.

Bread and wine

Elements used in Christian Eucharist symbolizing the body and blood of Christ.

Halal

Islamic dietary rules for permissible foods; overlaps with kosher in some cases.

Kosher

Jewish dietary laws detailing permissible foods, slaughter methods, and preparation.

Vegetarianism

Dietary restriction, often religiously motivated (e.g., in some Hindu communities).

Aestheticism

Extreme religious restriction of nutrients as a form of spiritual discipline.

Hesiod

Ancient Greek poet who wrote Works and Days and Theogony, discussing gods and foods for veneration.

Theogony

Hesiod’s poem describing the origins of the gods and the foods associated with worship.

The Book of Rites (Li Ji)

Classical Chinese text on rituals, decorum, and proper food practices.

Red heifer ash ritual

Purification ritual in Numbers 19 using ashes of a red cow to cleanse impurity.

Water of lustration

Purifying water made from the ashes mixed with spring water, used to cleanse impure objects or people.

Impurity of the dead

Ritual pollution resulting from contact with a corpse, necessitating purification.

Cannibalism

A taboo practice; historical depictions reflect cultural boundaries and power dynamics.

Sacrificial animals

Animals designated for sacrifice and required to be brought willingly to the sacrifice.

Food is a code

Mary Douglas’s idea that food practices reveal social and political structures; deciphering the code clarifies society.