Anth midterm

Evidence of ancient shamanism involving a "horned figure" or half-human half-beast apparently in a state of trance -- dancing and wearing deer or other horns

"Shamanic religions evidence several characteristics which can make us understand cave art better. -The first one is their concept of a complex cosmos in which at least two worlds - or more - coexist, be they side by side or one above the other. -The second one is the belief of the group in the ability for certain persons to have at will a direct controlled relationship with the other-world. ***A shaman thus has a most important role as a mediator between the real world and the world of the spirits, as well as a social role."

The cosmic serpent

How do shamans "communicate" with nature? -magick" by some contemporary Western practitioners, relies on communication with the spirits of nature or supernatural forces to effectuate a change. -However, the anthropological definition of "magic" refers to practices involving the supernatural. Most of the world's people stand in awe of the supernatural, and even some scientists have resorted to supernatural explanations for unexplained phenomena. -Narby's theory is based on his ethnographic research among South American Indians and his experiences with shamanistic trance states and hallucinogenic drugs. His research suggests that the basis for human consciousness is embedded in the DNA code, and that we share much knowledge with other living things, because nearly all living things have DNA.

Crop circles

-A design or shape appears in a field of wheat or other type of grain crop. They are not always in a circle. ourists and believers arrive every year to view crop circles - in England. They acknowledge that some are man-made, but others feel that these "formaQons" "have energy" and they consider them to be "temporary temples" of extraterrestrials who visit overnight. The "energy" is said to make people dizzy or even sick, and affect their cameras. Some have even sent soil samples to labs, and said that the soil was affected - there was an output of "energy" so powerful that it changed the soil into silica.

this problem of "rationality."

-Contemporary indigenous peoples' belief in reincarnation, ghosts, and "other worlds" seems irrational, from the perspective of modern science. But is it? -Making rules for things creates order, and having some kind of order is a form of human power over nature. -For early humans, an explanation of how the world works was based on experimentation and empirical knowledge, the kind of knowing that you get through your five senses (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting). By observing a dying person, they learned about the living.

***Animism, religion, and science are all similar in just that one respect - they are ways of explaining the world.

-Creationists base their beliefs on God's word - the Bible. -Animism and science base their beliefs on empirical knowledge and logic. -What separates animism and science is the amount of accumulated knowledge that scientists have about the world, and the technology for accessing it in greater detail. From the perspective of science, animism seems irrational, because science has not been able to find any basis for proving or disproving spirits. However, from the perspective of the cave man, animism was the best logical attempt to understand things in a world that didn't have microscopes and computers.

Dowsing

-is a type of divinaCon. The idea is to find hidden things through magical means, without using scienCfic equipment -The user then concentrates on water, and supposedly the sCck focuses the user's energy and leads the person to a place where there is underground water, and a well can be dug. -Many cultures believe that certain trees are sacred or magical. There is something about such trees that can effect a change, or make magic happen. Such people may not talk about "spirits" in the trees, but this belief indicates an animisCc origin - a belief in spirits that live in things of nature like plants and animals. -The idea is that there can be a psychic connecCon between the dowser or diviner, and the object sought, due to an energy force or "vibraCon" of the object.

Slideshow anthropology:

Anthropology: Anthropology is a humanistic science that seeks to understand humans through four fields: culture, language, biology, and archaeology . The 4 fields of anthropology: -- Cultural anthropology studies people's culture, their symbolic practices -- Linguistic anthropology studies how people use language, a symbol system -- Biological anthropology studies how humans evolved, and variations in human populations -- Archaeology studies cultural remains of the past

Perception in trance states

cave paintings, -images of another world: Psychologists differentiate two stages in trance states induced by drugs, fasting, and/or sensory deprivation. 1) Antopic forms - abstract geometric forms such as grids, dots and spirals 2) Realistic images from memory combined in surreal ways against a geometric background. -Eskimo lighting: -hypnogogic images: "Hypnogogic images are the germinal stuff of dreams, and they usually begin with flashes of light. Often, an illuminated circle, lozenge, or other generally round form appears to come nearer and nearer, swelling to gigantic size. -

Priest

for religious practionaers of the major world religions

primatologist

have shown that non human primates will sometimes look after their dead for a short while, and exhibit behaviors that may be interpreted as curiosity about death

Shamans social role

in the narrow sense it involves -physical or mental challenge (fever, physical deformity) - A vision -a calling -training : Apprenticeship -practice -ritual performance; can be part time practionaer or fast to prepare for ecstatic trance state

A CLASSIFICATION OF SHAMANS

on powerpoint pages

The Art of Mind-reading

philosophers interested in the nature of minds coined the term 'intentionality' to refer to the kinds of mental states that we have when we are conscious of holding some kind of belief, desire or intention. The term refers collectively to mind-states like knowing, believing, thinking, wanting, desiring, hoping, intending, etc. It refers to the state of being aware of the contents of your own mind. Intentionality can be conceived of as a hierarchically organised series of belief-states.

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor and animism

-He taught at Oxford, and created the four sub-fields of anthropology (cultural, physical, archaeology, linguistics). -cultural evolution: Tylor discerned that the world's societies (hunting, herding, farming, industrial) represented different stages of cultural evolution: the practices and beliefs of modern societies evolved over thousands of years, from simpler cultural ways developed among earlier humans, which can still be observed to some extent among less developed peoples today. - We thus gain a window on the past by looking at the beliefs and practices of less developed societies today. His special interest was the mentality of "primitive peoples," and his most important contributions were his theories on the origins of magic and religion. -his theories on the origins of magic and religion. Especially important were his observations on animism - the belief systems of primitive people, in which everything has some sort of soul or spirit. Tylor said that modern religions are belief systems that have evolved from the animistic belief systems of primitive peoples. -Tylor believed that early humans developed the idea of soul as a rational explanation for the natural experiences of dreaming, illness, and death. He said that animism--the belief in souls--was the first stage in the evolution of all religions, which started with animism, then progressed to polytheism, and then to monotheism

Germs and spirits

-Later I learned that Twaregs believe the mischievous little spirits can get into the water of unscrupulous people, but that good hosts with honest intentions never have little spirits in their water, because good people are protected by good spirits. And if you refuse to drink the water offered you, it's just as though you accused your host of feeding you evil spirits. This belief is widespread in Africa, and the Songhay in Paul Stoller's book "Fusion of the Worlds" have exactly the same belief. -After thinking about it, it occurred to me that, although the ancients didn't have microscopes, they nevertheless understood that it was some small exogenous entities that were making people sick. They didn't have antibiotics to kill them, but they had other means of coping with illness. The Twaregs have a similar belief system. They lack microscopes and antibiotics, but have ancient customs that help them cope with illness. They have a disease theory of their own, very similar to the disease theory of many indigenous peoples all over the world, one that goes back into antiquity. Their explanation for illness has to do with "spirits."

Magic, religion, and science

-Magic, religion, and science are ways of explaining the world that put order into everyday life and give people a sense of power and control over their environment. -From the perspective of MAGIC, people are in control individual people themselves have the possibility of changing things by practicing magic. -The focus is on fusing the two worlds—the world of humans, and the world of the spirits—through shared food, music, dancing, and sociality. -From the perspective of RELIGION, God and God's laws are in control; people have little control over what happens to them, except through their belief that God will reciprocate if they have faith in his Word, obey him, -Major world religions thus mirror the political and economic structures of the state-level societies out of which they emerged --centralized government, hierarchy, laws, taxation, punishment by jural authorities. -From the perspective of SCIENCE, the principles of science are in control. The focus is on understanding the laws of science, which work independently of people's opinions, the mischieveness of spirits, and the Bible. Science holds that only proven scientific theories are the "truth." -Science holds that only proven scientific theories are the "truth." -Magic practitioners—those who seek to transform the world by invoking the spirits of nature, and *not* by using sleight of hand, are frequently termed "pagan," and may use an alternate spelling, magick, to emphasize this difference.

The first shaman lecture

-One of the Neanderthal burials excavated by Ralph Solecki at Shanidar (Shanidar IV), an adult male 30-45 years old called the "flower burial," was accompanied by seven or eight species of small, bright wildflowers that are used today by modern people living in the area as healing herbs. -The pollen analysis showed presence of St. Barnaby's thistle, groundsel, grape hyacinth, hollyhocks, and bachelor's buttons, among others. -Perhaps the flowers and their seeds were a symbol of death and rebirth, meant to protect and care for the departed, and facilitate a return in some way. -Nicknamed "Nandy," Shanidar I must have been of great value to his people in some remarkable way, since he couldn't contribute to hunting. Thus, Solecki thinks, this man may have been a shaman - a medicine man, one who is good at communicating with the spirits and getting answers and solutions for his people, perhaps to help with hunting magic, or with curing illness. -In animistic societies, a shaman might use or wear some part of his "power animal," whose spirit guides him and gives him strength in wielding his magic. For example, in Siberia, Altaic shamans wear special animal "disguises" -- robes made of reindeer skins decorated with ermine pelts, bear's claws and bear foot bones, eagle owl's claws -- all these animals have special spiritual significance and aid in ritual practices. -Shamans are often empathetic and reflective individuals who have suffered from some illness or physical infirmity, such as a fever and hallucinations, and feel a "calling" to take up a spiritual role in society. They apprentice themselves for several years to an experienced practitioner who teaches them the ways of the shaman. They follow a "career path," of personal experiences that lead them to an awareness of the spirit world, their calling to help others, their apprenticeship, and their practice.

Ethnocentrism

-One of the goals of anthropology is to help people understand that all humans are equally human. -The goal of anthropology is to avoid making damaging judgments about other people because of their culture. When you judge people because of their cultural habits, you are being ethnocentric. Everybody is a little ethnocentric We are all familiar with job discrimination, housing discrimination, racism, and sexism. These sorts of ethnocentrism hurt people's life chances. Ethnocentrism displays a variety of forms: racism, ethnic hatred, sexism, age-ism, and discrimination on the basis of physical and mental disability. People who are fat or anorexic are also discriminated. One of the goals of the anthropological perspective is to look at other people's habits from their perspective (cultural relativism), and avoid ethnocentrism as much as possible.

WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC AMONG CONTEMPORARY MAGIC USERS

-Some groups intentionally worship evil spirits; for example, Anton La Vey's "Church of Satan" is based on the worship of Satan. -"white magic" (magic that produces good effects), who call themselves "witches," and their practices "witchcraft." Most of these groups -- Wicca is one example -- are benign, nature-based religions that believe in doing good, healing, bringing about good outcomes, and *not* causing harm. In fact, the Wiccan religion prohibits practices that might cause any harm to others.

What does archaeology tell us about the origins of spiritual beliefs?

-Some of the first archaeological evidence we have for human burial of the dead dates back to about 60,000 years ago with the Neanderthals. At a site called Shanidar Cave in Iraq, archaeologist Ralph Solecki excavated the remains of nine Neanderthals, where four of the bodies had apparently been deliberately placed, in a fetal position, into shallow, crescent-shaped pits. Some of the burials were covered with flowers, as evidenced by pollen analysis. The species of flowers found in Neanderthal graves are the same species used by local people today for medicinal, restorative purposes. A circle of stones surrounded one of the burials. -Anthropologists hold that a belief in spirits is a uniquely human characteristic, a widespread, long-standing, and enduring feature of the human condition. And anthropologists are interested in what it is that makes us "human." Anthropologists study the beliefs and practices relating to the spirit world, in order to understand human nature.

SIR EDWARD EVANS-PRITCHARD

-The main anthropological perspective on witchcraft is derived largely from the writings of British anthropologist Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard, who studied the Azande and Nuer in Africa -Evans-Pritchard explains that witchcraft beliefs allow people to feel that their misfortunes are not due to their own ignorance, incompetence, or bad luck but are due to other people who can be identified and then remedied, either through a ritual that nullifies or reverses the effects of the magic, or through punishment or death.

WITCHCRAFT AS RELIGIOUS HERESY

-The term "pagan" comes from Latin pagus, 'country district.' It originally meant "country folks," and after the emergence of Christianity, it became a means of distinguishing the people who retained their traditional animist beliefs and practices, and who generally lived in rural areas. -pagan" as: (a) "A person not subscribing to any major or recognized religion, esp. the dominant religion of a particular society; spec. a heathen, a non-Christian, esp. considered as savage, uncivilized. (b) A follower of a pantheistic or nature-worshipping religion; esp. a neopagan. The term pagan first appears in English literature in the year 1400. Individuals who practice Wicca and other "pagan" religions sometimes use the term "pagan" to describe their beliefs and practices. However, some reject the term "pagan" because of its connotations as "heathen" or "non-Christian." occult: refers to the realm of the unknown the supernatural world or its infleucen "The Inquisition" :was a permanent institution in the Catholic Church established early in the development of Christianity, that was charged with the eradication of heresies. Efforts to suppress heretical sects was a problem for Christianity from the outset, and the New Testament.

reflexivity and spirtuality

-Thinking: Lots of organisms can "think," but not all of them are "aware" they are thinking or that others are thinking. -Awareness of self: Most organisms are aware that they think (except for the above exceptions). Being aware that you think just means that you know what you want. -Awareness of others: When you are aware of other people's thinking, then you are thinking reflexively. You are able to figure out what others are thinking. Humans acquire this capability at about the age of four. -Deception: When you know what others are thinking that you're thinking, this lays the foundation for lying about something. -Distinctively human awareness: When you know what someone else is thinking that you're thinking about them.... Now you can really make a complicated plan to outwit them.

Magic from a thread

-Tuaregs also have another contagious magic belief called "stealing your tracks." If you have an enemy, they can sneak up behind you, and take a pinch of the sand you have walked on with your bare feet, and do black magic with it against you.

magic, religion, science

-Tylor distinguished between religion, magic & science: they are all ways of explaining the world. But Tylor, a man of science, believed that only scientific laws are "true" -- magic is "fake," and religion is based on the "false" assumption that deities are in control of things and have to be obeyed. Apart from his *opinions* on spiritual belief systems, Tylor's observations on the connection between cultural evolution and animism are still considered central to the study of spirituality.

Cultural evolution and sympblosim

-Tylor's theory about the cultural evolution of spiritual belief systems explains that modern religions evolved from animism. This was an important observation because it demonstrated continuity between prehistoric peoples, traditional peoples in the world today, and ourselves. -." Those who worshipped animal spirits and prayed to the Earth and Water must have a very different level of intelligence from humans. They were an abomination. -Evolutionary theory has gradually gained some ground over the past hundred years, but a fairly significant proportion of the world's population still holds to pre-industrial explanations of creation. -Animal sacrifice, incantations, spells, magic - these are seen as *deviations* from human behavior by a majority of people in the developed world today -One of the most powerful theories anthropologists have that helps reveal the powerful motivations behind people's thinking and behavior is symbolism -

Similarities between science and magic

-When scientists are confronted with something they can't explain, they sometimes attribute it to "chance," "spontaneous effects," or "random" actions, *wave theory,Atomic Theory, Quantum Mechanics,Genetics

Anthropologist Sir Edward Burnett Tylor

-believed that this may have been the origin of a belief in the soul, which is one kind of spirit. Tylor termed a belief in spirits animism. -The ancestors, and the souls of the departed, have the power to travel through time and space, learn things that we cannot know, and help us, if we know how to communicate with them. They might do our bidding, and help solve our problems. -However, based on empirical knowledge - the same criteria science uses to explain the world - early humans made connections that we no longer make from the perspective of science. Early humans lacked our technology and accumulated knowledge, but they attempted with their limited means to put together a logical picture of the universe. -Every society has its own creation story, and its own ways of explaining how things came to be.

Anthropology

-is a science that seeks to understand humankind. Most anthropologists look to evolutionary theory to explain the world. -But that doesn't mean that we dismiss the importance of spiritual and religious beliefs and practices: the fact that the lives of most people in the world today are enormously influenced by their spiritual and religious beliefs is compelling and exciting! Something so widespread, enduring and profound must be at the very root of what it means to be human.

Types of magic

-magic a practice that effects *change* through supernatural force or energy, by invoking, acquiring and using the power of the spirit world to accomplish specific, intended, aims; includes spells, formulas, and incantations used with spirits, deities or with impersonal forces; a belief in magic exists in all cultures, and in all religions. -Sir James George Frazer:Frazer's areas of specialization were myth and religion. He was the first to suggest that rituals mirror, and legitimate, a society's myths. -He distinguished two types of magic (both types are sometimes glossed as "sympathetic magic") 1. imitative magic (also called "homeopathic" magic) - produces a desired effect by imitating the magical action desired; for example, drinking an infusion of lung-shaped leaves to remedy a lung infection; sticking pins in voodoo dolls to imitate the action of stabbing someone, or of magic darts entering their body. To paraphrase Frazer's words, "Like produces like, or has an effect that resembles its cause." 2. contagious magic - whatever is done to an object is believed to affect a person who once had contact with it; so, contagious magic would be a spell that is cast over an article of clothing, someone's possessions and, especially, body products from the intended victim, such as a lock of hair or fingernail clippings. "Contagious" has to do with direct contact. To paraphrase Frazer's words, "Things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after the physical contact has been severed."

SHAMANISM HAS A BROAD SENSE AND A NARROW SENSE

-narrow sense: a shaman is a ritual specialist who has undergone extensive training, is adept at achieving an ecstatic trance state, and can "will" his or her own spirit to leave the body and journey to other worlds to get guidance and power. This sense of the term accurately describes most of the activities of shamans in the Americas and the Arctic, where the term "shaman" was first documented over 300 years ago. -Broad sense: a shaman is someone who can heal illness or help get solutions to everyday problems by obtaining power from the spirit world. This broad sense includes many kinds of practices, including curing, divining, and witchcraft, which are found all over the world.

Tarror cards

-people didn't start using them for fortune-telling and divina@on un@l the 1700s. Some pagan writers believe they can be traced to the Kabbalah or to ancient Egypt -A popular brand of Tarot cards in the U.S. are the Rider- Waite 78-card deck, developed by a member of the Herme@c Order of the Golden Dawn in 1909.

Shaman

-refers to a person who communicates with spiritual beings in order to get supernatural power with the intent of using his own abilities to effectuate some sort of change in the lives of human beings - found in traditional or indigenous societies § The word "shaman" derives from a word in the language of the Evenk, a small group of Tungus-speaking hunters and reindeer herders in Siberia. § In the Tungus language, "shaman" is both a noun and a verb, connoting what they practice - interestingly, there is no word in Tungus for the practitioners themselves. § Anthropologists began using the word "shaman" to connote the practitioners themselves. § Anthropologists use the word "shamanism" to connote what they practice. § Anthropologists use the words "shaman" and "shamanism" in describing such practices of people all over the world. § Shamanism and shamans are found in groups that are animistic (believe in spirits of nature). § Animism, a belief in spirits of nature, encompasses the earliest prehistoric belief systems, as well as nature-based belief systems among contemporary peoples. § Archaeological evidence suggests that shamanism and shamans go back at least 60,000 years, probably as early as the Neanderthals at Shanidar Cave, or even earlier. § Shamanism was first observed among native peoples of the Americas and the Arctic. § Anthropologists have used the term to describe similar practices anywhere in the world. § Archaeologists have used the term to describe the evidence found at prehistoric sites, such as red ochre or deer antler headdresses.

Awarness and symbol

.- Humans have a vast array of very complex meanings that they can communicate through language, and they are always inventing new ones -Anthropologists characterize this special facility that humans have as "symbolizing" thought and behavior - "culture." -Anthropologists hold that symbols themselves, along with their meanings, are not biologically generated, they arelearned. -Human culture is heavily embedded with symbols that are learned by children, and passed along to future generations. Each culture has a unique set of symbols (a symbol system) that distinguishes it. Essentially, "culture" is symbolizing behavior. -Magic is heavily embedded in symbols, and the symbols of magic are used to gain power.

Exotification

Exotification is a form of ethnocentrism that makes people seem more primitive than they are. Europeans who encountered Native Americans or Africans during the Age of Discovery experienced a variety of mixed feelings. Some of the first responses were culture shock - complete disgust and horror at the "others," the wild "savages."

Robin Dunbar's Theory of Brain Evolution:

He believes that only humans have levels of awareness and "intentionality" that can support "language" and culture such as we have.

Feildwork

Most anthropologists do fieldwork to find out about another culture. Fieldwork involves going to the place where the other culture is, living among them, and learning their language so they can understand what people are saying in their own language. Cultural anthropologists do fieldwork that involves observing what people say and do, while participating with them in their daily activities: this method is called participant observation. Cultural anthropologists write up what they learned about another culture, in an ethnography. Anethnographyis a written description of a culture

SHAMANS AND 'MAGIC USERS'

Perhaps the best way to differentiate between magic users is to look at the amount of power, control, and intent they manifest in society, as well as the "good" versus "bad" effects of their magic. Remember that "good" and "bad" are value judgments, and their meanings can vary from one society to the next. Often, the really "bad" ones who are suspected of causing death and major destruction have a lot of power and control over others, and are termed "sorcerers" in the ethnographic literature, although the term "witch" has also been used. In the ethnographic literature, those accused of being "witches" are often people who don't actually ritualize or "practice" magic, and sometimes they don't even intend to do any harm, they are just suspected of it.

Charactertics of accusations

Some characteristics of people who get accused of evil magical practices: -- Their behavior is eclectic, out of the ordinary, not "normal." (deviant) -- They aren't friendly, and don't like to greet others when they see them. (selfish) -- They live alone and apart from others in the community. (selfish) -- They charge too high a price when they sell things. (greedy) -- They engage in outrageous sexual practices, adultery, incest (deviant) -- They walk about alone, and in the night time. (deviant) -- They don't show sufficient grief over the death of a relative or community member. (selfish) -- They don't take good care of their children, spouse, or parents. (deviant) -- They are "hard-hearted." (selfish)

Explaining the unexplainable

Sometimes, really amazing things happen that seem to have no easy explanation available. What do you do when that happens? Are you skeptical? How do you choose to explain it? -Through magic? -- The fairies have been at work again. That crystal must have some kind of power in it. My ritual worked. If I avoid stepping on a crack, I'll have good luck. I forgot to wear my power ring. -Through religion? -- God willed it. God wanted it to happen. God said it would happen. It says so in the Bible. It was preordained. -Through science? -- My friend called on the phone because he always calls about this time of year, it's a predictable event. Actually, I must have been confused, I don't think I started thinking about my friend until after I answered the telephone. -Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon proposed by Leon Festinger in 1956. It refers to inconsistency between two or more things you believe separately, but cannot reconcile together because it would require a new belief to reconcile them. *. Festinger believed that cognitive dissonance is the driving force behind human invention. ****Magic, religion and science each offer distinctive ways of explaining the unexplainable. Each perspective provides a cultural tool that helps people feel secure and gain control over difficulties and tensions created by cognitive dissonance. The perspectives of magic, religion, and science are symbolizing behaviors peculiar to humans that give people power over their environment.

Culture

What do anthropologists mean when they talk about a "culture"? -A culture is a group of people who share similar practices. -Members of a culture often share the same language, religion, food habits, music preferences, and so on. Members of a culture may live in a particular country, but often, they live in more than one country. A culture is not the same thing as a country. For example, Africa is a continent, not a country. There are around 55 countries - but over 1,000 cultures - in Africa. The Tuareg people are a culture. They live in five different countries on the continent of Africa. They sometimes identify themselves as Malians, Nigeriens, Algerians, Libyans, or Burkinabe (people who live in Burkina Faso). But their primary cultural membership is Tuareg. They all speak dialects of the Tuareg language, and they all share the same religion, Islam. They share other habits, too, which make them a unique culture. One of their unique features is that the men veil their faces with their head wrap (see photo). -Culture involves an integrated system of meanings, values, and rules of conduct by which the people of a society live. Culture is acquired by learning it. People learn their cultures. Immigrants often learn a second culture in addition to the one they learned as a child. Tuaregs often know several other cultures pretty well, since they live near Songhay, Hausa, Fulani, Bambara, and Arab peoples. Many Tuaregs speak some of these languages as a second or third language. But they identify as Tuaregs. You can learn another culture and not be a member of it. Anthropologists learn another culture by doing fieldwork. Culture is not inherited genetically.

cultural relativism

When you understand why people are doing what they do, in terms of their cultural values, from their cultural perspective, you are practicing cultural relativism. The differences in people's food preferences are culturally relative.

Paleontology

teaches us that first humans emerged two and half million years ago -at some point they began to refelect the meaning of death