Classical Belief Systems: WHAP

Shamanism

• Prehistoric Belief System

• The belief that certain people (shamans) can access the spiritual realm to bring about healing. Think of a shaman as a “medicine man.”

Animism

• Prehistoric Belief System

• The belief that inanimate objects, such as plants or bodies of water, have spiritsA

Ancestor Worship

• Prehistoric Belief System

• Veneration of deceased ancestors, whose spirits are believed to have the power to intervene in the lives of their living descendants

HInduism

• Originated in the Indus River Valley in South Asia before 600 BCE and was brought in by Aryan Migrations

• Texts: Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana

• Monotheistic and Polytheistic: Brahman, the universal life force

• Beliefs: 4 Proper goals - reincarnation (samsara), based on karma (deeds), rituals to help the soul on its journey to the moksha, varna (caste)

• Spread in South Asia and Southeast Asia through trade, 19th and 20th Century migrations to Great Britain, East Africa, the Caribbean, and North America because of imperialism and decolonization

• Impact: Castes - social stability, provides stability in a politically fragmented place; reinforces patriarchy