ANTH 111 - Cultural Anthropology - Topic 10: Religion & Ritual
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70 Terms
How do anthropologists study religion?
Relativistically
They do no judge
Look at religion HOLISTICALLY & its interconnectedness with other dimensions of culture
What is mana?
An impersonal & powerful supernatural force that can reside in people, animals, plants, and objects.
What is totemism?
A mystical or spiritual relationship between an animal or plant (the totem) and a group of people or kinship group.
What is monotheism?
Belief in a single all-powerful deity.
What is polytheism?
Belief in many gods or goddesses (deities).
What is animism?
Belief that animals, plants, and inanimate objects are animated by spirits.
What are zoomorphic supernaturals?
Attributing animal qualities or characteristics to a god.
Example: deity Ganesha in Hinduism
What are anthropomorphic supernaturals?
Beings that look or act like humans but have animal, monster, or god-like traits.
Example: Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god of the dead (human body, head of a jackal)
What is religion?
A system of beliefs and rituals based on a vision of how the world ought to be and how life ought to be lived, often, not always, focused on a supernatural power and lived out in a community.
Can be seen as a social system that is socially enacted by these rituals and other aspects of life.
It is performed in public displays, rites and rituals which dramatize the beliefs of a group of people and over time create a sense of continuity and belonging.
What life’s big questions does religion answer?
Why are we here?
What happens when we die?
What does it all mean?
What are the 2 subcategories of the functions of religion?
Social and psychological
What are the categories of the social functions of religion?
Social Control
Conflict resolution
Reinforcement of Group Solidarity
What are the categories of the psychological functions of religion?
Cognitive Function
Emotional Function
What is social control and how does it help?
How society regulates people’ behaviors in order to maintain order and stability. It is more believable when backed by supernatural authority —> sanctions are more compelling. It also adds the fear of divine retribution and shifts the burden of decision making.
What is conflict resolution and how does it help?
Process of finding a solution to a disagreement. It helps deal with stress.
What is reinforcement of group solidarity and how does it help?
Process of strengthening unity in a group through values, norms and support. It helps as it enables people to express their common identity.
What is cognitive function and how does it help?
Mental process that allow us to think, learn, remember and solve. It helps explain the unexplainable and provides a framework for giving meaning to events and experiences.
What is emotional function and how does it help?
Ability to recognize, express and manage emotions. It helps as it helps individuals cope with anxieties and to try to control circumstances of their lives.
What is a myth?
A religious or sacred story that explains how the world, people or some event, phenomenon or practice came to be. They provide societies with a worldview.
It is often taught informally or passively that tells why people should or should not act in a certain way and what happens if they do.
What is a worldview?
A person’s way of understanding how the world came to be, its design and their place in it.
Example: Christian myth of God creating the Earth
What are 2 ways to express religious beliefs?
Myth & doctrine/dogma
What is a doctrine (dogma)?
Direct statements about religions beliefs, written and formal.
Example:
What are cults?
In a general sense, to refer to forms of religion that have their own set of beliefs, rituals and goals.
What are individualistic cults?
Least complex type of religious organization in which each person is their own religious specialist.
What are shamanistic cults?
Part-time religious specialist (shamans) intervene with the deities on behalf of their clients.
What are shamans?
Part-time religious specialists who is thought to have supernatural powers by virtue of birth, training or inspiration.
What are communal cults?
Groups of ordinary people conduct religious ceremonies for the well-being of the total community. They are the rites of passage and of solidarity.
Examples:
Puberty rites
Ancestral ceremonies
What are ecclesiastical cults?
They are found in states. They are full-time religious specialists that conduct rituals that occur regularly. They are found in pantheons and are monotheistic. There is also a clear distinction between religious specialists and laypersons.
What are pantheons?
The group of gods or deities that a particular culture or religion believes in and worships.
What does monotheistic mean?
Refers to believing in only ONE God (single and all-powerful).
Example: Christianity, Islam & Judaism
What are laypersons?
Those responsible for supporting the religious bureaucracy (through labour and financials). Essentially, regular members of the community.
Example: Those who go to church and are not a part of the clergy.
What is world religion?
Religions based on written sources. Many of them cross political borders.
What are the 6 world religions primarily studied?
Christianity
Islam
Buddhism
Judaism
Hinduism
Features of African Religions
How is religion in Canada?
Most of the congregation is made up of older generations.
There is a general decline in attendance of service at church.
There are more young people with no religious affiliation (25%).
Immigration brings in other religions.
There is a growth in proselytizing (attempt to convert) and evangelical (teaching the Gospel) churches.
What are 2 directions of religious change?
Syncretism
Revitalization
What is syncretism?
The synthesis of old religious practices (or an old way of life) with new religious practices (or a new way of life) introduced from outside, often by force.
Example: In Latin America, the blending of Indigenous, African, and European traditions, shaping unique religious practices, festivals, and cultural identities.
What is revitalization?
A religious movement designed to bring about a new way of life within a society.
What are cargo cults?
A Melanesian (Pacific Ocean) event that arose during times of American occupation during WWII. After the war, material goods disappeared. cargo cults developed to bring back manufactured goods. Mostly disappeared except on Vanuatu.
What is the ghost dance religion?
A part of Nations of the Great Plains in which the slaughtering of buffaloes was done to force Nations onto reservations. Wovoka prophesied the need to dance to change their lives. It ended with the slaughter at Wounded Knee.
What is a religious movement?
Characterized by a return and strict adherence to the fundamental principles of the religion and often involving literal interpretations of religious texts and intolerance of other faiths.
What is islamic fundamentalism?
A movement within Islam that seeks to return to what its followers believe are the original teachings and practices of Islam, often rejecting modernity and secularism. It emphasizes strict adherence to the Qur'an, Hadith, and traditional Islamic law (Sharia), and in some cases, advocates for political systems based on these principles.
What is religious nationalism?
The belief that a particular religion should play a central role in the political and cultural identity of a nation, often blending religious and national identities. It seeks to promote the idea that a nation's identity, laws, and governance should be based on the values and teachings of a specific religion.
What is magic?
The use of spells, incantations, words and actions in an attempt to compel supernatural forces to act in certain ways, whether for good or for evil. Its a part of cultural practices in every part of the world, and most religions have some component of imitative or contagious magic.
Who still uses magic now?
Modern day Wiccas or Neo-Pagans may use magic as a part of their religion which is centered on the Earth, nature and the seasonal cycle. Others may use it in times of uncertainty.
Who is George Gmelch and what did he study?
He studied rituals, taboos and sacred objects in baseball, magical beliefs that exist in almost every sport.
What is sorcery?
The performance of certain magical rites for the purpose of harming others.
What is witchcraft?
The practice of an inborn, involuntary and often unconscious capacity to cause harm on others.
Who is Clifford Geertz and what did he suggest?
He suggested that religions is essentially a system of ideas surrounding a set of powerful symbols.
What are symbols?
Anything that represents something else. Symbols with deep meaning create a sense of order and resist chaos by reinforcing a larger worldview.
Examples:
Bread and wine
Torah scroll
What is authorizing process?
The complex historical and social developments through which symbols are given power and meaning.
What are rituals?
Patterned, repetitive behavior that may or may not have a supernatural component.
What are types of rituals?
Sacred
Secular
Sacred AND secular
What are sacred rituals?
The enactment of beliefs expressed in myth and doctrine.
What are secular rituals?
Have no connection to the supernatural realm.
Example: Sorority or fraternity rituals
What are some rituals that are both sacred AND secular?
American Thanksgiving —> People give thanks through prayers or gratitude, while also celebrating with food.
What are periodic rituals?
Regularly performed rituals.
Examples: Mass, Solstice celebration
What are non periodic rituals?
Occur irregularly at unpredictable times, in response to unscheduled events.
Examples: Floods, birth, marriage
What is a pilgrimage?
A religious journey to a sacred place as a sign of devotion and in search of transformation and enlightenment. More suffering involved = more merit pilgrimage accumulates.
Examples: Jerusalem, Mecca, Varanasi
What is sacrifice?
One of the oldest forms of ritual that offers something to get supernatural abilities. May involve killing and offering animals, humans or produce/plants.
What are rituals of inversion?
When normal social roles and relations are temporarily inverted. It provides a reminder about the propriety of normal, everyday roles and practices.
What are life cycle rituals or rite(s) of passage?
It marks change in status from one life stage to another of an individual or group. It includes events such as births, nitiations, confirmations, puberty, weddings, funerals, etc.
What are the 3 phases of life-cycle rituals?
Seperation
Transition
Incorporation
What is separation?
To be apart physically, socially, or symbolically from normal life. They leave behind symbols and practices of previous position.
What is transition?
Also called the liminal phase. Its when the person is neither in one category nor the other. They are cut off from old status, but not yet achieved new status.
What is liminality?
It involves the learning of specialized skills that will equip the person for the new status. It is a time of ambiguity (uncertainty) and perceived danger.
What are some examples of those in a liminal phase?
Sleeping Beauty & Snow White
What are communitas?
Refers to a feeling of "one with humanity" or a sense of shared experience and unity. An unstructured community that focuses on camaraderie and collective liminality (experience this transition together).
What is incorporation (or reincorporation)?
Occurs when the initiate (person), welcomed by community as an individual occupying a new status.
What is an example of incorporation (or reincorporation)?
Graduation
What is the Sunrise Ceremony?
Also known as na’’ii’ees, it’s an event that last for 4 days and 4 nights filled with songs, prayers, dances as well as running toward 4 directions. During this time, they also participate in and conduct sacred rituals, receiving both gifts and blessing and experiencing their own capacity to heal.