primal

How did the Ashanti of western Africa become alienated or estranged from their god?

An old woman, while mashing yams, repeatedly struck Onyankopon with her pestle. Annoyed, he left humans to be on their own.

Which of the following expressions, often found in primal or basic religions, promotes the reverent treatment of (as opposed to the destruction or exploitation of) the various aspects of the natural world (e.g., rocks, trees, buffalo, etc.)?

Animism

Which of the following refers to the belief, common among primal or basic religions, that all things (rocks, trees, lakes, etc.) are inhabited or enlivened by a spirit or soul?

Animism

How are the Navaho of North America alienated or estranged from the sacred powers of the world?

Coyote pulled down the arrow path to the spirit world, so, unlike Mother Earth and all of nature, when human beings die, they do not come back to life.

In Native African religion this person's task is to discover the causes of present misfortune, to recover lost secrets, and to discern the future. This person may read patterns of nuts cast upon a surface in order to accomplish his/her task.

Diviner or Witch Doctor (Doctor to the Bewitched)

In the Apo ritual of purification, practiced among the Ashanti of Africa, how are people purified to begin the new year?

Everyone is granted equal status, and they are allowed to speak their mind to bosses and leaders without fear of retribution.

Crazy Horse, the Native American Sioux chief, carried a sacred stone like one he had seen in a vision, and he believed that when he was in danger, the stone became heavy and protected him. Which of the following terms would best describe Crazy Horse's stone?

Fetish

When Pu-eng-yii, of the Tallensi tribe of Africa, suffered a serious accident, he went to a diviner in order to learn the cause of his accident. Who, according to the diviner, was responsible for Pu-eng-yii's accident?

His deceased ancestors

Illustrating the notion of the high god common to tribal or basic religions, why, according to the myth concerning the origin of alienation from Mozambique, does the high god (Nyammbi) distance himself from humanity (Kamonu)?

Humanity annoys the high god in various ways.

Why, among the Malawi of Africa, were young men reluctant to become the ruler or king of the people?

If he became ill, he was killed immediately to keep the tribe from harm

Which of the following refers to the notion that God or sacred reality participates in all things while all things also participate in God or sacred reality?

Panentheism

How was sympathetic magic used in the hunting ritual of the Native American tribe of the Pueblo?

People dressed so that they looked like the intended prey, and they were symbolically killed by the hunters of the tribe.

Which of the following refers to the notion that those who die continue to live on as spirits in another dimension of reality and are capable of influencing the lives of those who have not yet tasted death?

Spiritism

According to the Yoruba of Africa, what work did the five-toed hen perform at the creation of the world?

The hen scratched the dirt so as to form the surface of the earth with its mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes, et cetera

Which Native American ritual was performed in the "Moon of Making Fat" and was designed to show appreciation for some sacred gift: protection, bravery, power, endurance, victory, et cetera?

The sun dance

Which of the following, common among primal religions, refers to the practice of identifying oneself, one's tribe, or one's family with an animal, plant, object, or phenomenon?

Totemism

What is the name of the ritual, in Native American religion, whereby children, at age nine or ten, depart from their families to live alone until they have a spiritual experience that will guide the rest of their lives?

Vision Quest

Which Native American myth anticipated the end of white oppression, the restoration of Indian glory, the revival of Indian values, the return of Indian autonomy, and the resurrection of those Indians who had died in the struggle against the "white man"?

Wovoka's Ghost Dance

According to a myth of origin, a beautiful young maiden came to the Native American Sioux and gave them something. The maiden said, "With this you shall multiply and be a good nation. Nothing but good shall come from it." As she left, the maiden became a White Buffalo. What did the maiden bring to the Sioux?

a pipe

Which of the following refers to a power object believed to possess a super-ordinary energy which can be controlled for the purpose of protection, bringing good fortune, or perhaps even causing harm to others?

fetish

Which of the following would refer to a god among tribal or basic religions who is responsible for creating the world but who no longer interacts with the world on an everyday basis?

high god

Which kind of ritual among primal or basic religions often involves sexual wounding -- circumcision for males or, perhaps, a clitoridectomy for females -- so as to create an awareness of the sexual responsibilities of young adulthood?

life-cycle rite of passage into puberty

What kind of time do eschatological myths relate?

post-history or a time of last things

Which of the following refers to a gifted individual who has the ability to enter the spirit world through dance, vision, trance, and, often times, sickness? After visiting the spirit world, this person returns with messages or powers (e.g., healing or foreseeing) that can be utilized for the benefit of the tribe.

shaman

Which of the following terms would best describe these actions in native African religion: commoners entering the sacred enclosure of the divine ruler, using ordinary language to describe the journeys of the divine ruler, greeting the divine ruler in the common manner, associating with the wives of the divine ruler.

taboo

Which Native American ritual might involve putting leather thongs through participants' pectoral muscles and hanging the participants from a central pole?

the Sun Dance