Exploring Religious Meaning - Midterm
Emile Durkheim quote
"A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden - beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them." (b) [Religion is] "the self-validation of a society by means of myth and ritual."
Mystacism Kripal Quote
"Mysticism is a modern comparative category that has been used in a wide variety of ways to locate, describe, and evaluate individuals' experiences of communion, union, or identity with the sacred" (Kripal, 321). Basically - Way of understanding individuals experiences
Modern Construction of mystacism (slides)
"Mysticism" "as an obscure, universal dimension of man, perceived or experienced as a reality hidden beneath a diversity of institutions, religions, and doctrines" (de Certeau 1992, p.14. Psychology has played a central role in defining the modern approach to the study of mysticism. Mysticism understood as the "loss of self"
Sigmund Freud quote
"Religion is comparable to childhood neurosis." "(R)eligion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires."
Rudolf Otto quote
"Religion is that which grows out of, and gives expression to, experience of the holy in its various aspects."
Karl Marx quote
"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature... a protest against real suffering... it is the opium of the people... the illusory sun which revolves around man for as long as he does not evolve around himself."
Clifford Geertz quote
"[Religion is] a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, persuasive, and long lasting moods and motivations.... by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."
William James quote
"[Religion is] the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine."
E. B. Tylor quote
"[Religion refers to] belief in spiritual beings."
Testimony
"closely related to confession but more confident and less guilt ridden air...is on balance more an act of conviction than an admission fallenness" (43).
Confession
"confession is a form of writing or speaking in which an individual or group acknowledges, often some guilt in play, his/her/their past actions and dispositions to an audience" (43).
What are "cosmologies of mediation"?
"cosmologies of mediation"? Our religious values and worldviews also shape not only the stories we tell but the choice of medium Cosmologise of mediation - we choose different medium, modes etc. we choose them for stories influenced by religious values and worldviews
Wayne Proudfoot quote
"moments of experience are clearly dependent on the availability of particular concepts, beliefs, and practices" (xv-xvi).
Jeffrey Kripal claims that "whereas pre-modern mysticism was historically embedded deeply in traditional forms of liturgical, scriptural, and doctrinal contexts, modernity has witnessed an increasing deracination of the mystical from the traditional forms of authority and faith and an ever-increasing psychologization of its meanings" (Kripal 2001: 10).
"whereas pre-modern mysticism was historically embedded deeply in traditional forms of liturgical, scriptural, and doctrinal contexts, modernity has witnessed an increasing deracination of the mystical from the traditional forms of authority and faith and an ever-increasing psychologization of its meanings" (Kripal 2001: 10).
What 7 things do myths typically explain
1) The primordial chaos 2) The emergence of the first gods from the chaos 3) The creation, often by generation of further gods 4) The production of the earth and other geographical features 5) The production of animals and first people, by generation, awakening, or emergence and of the genders and social structure. 6) The coming of evil/death 7) Opportunities for renewal, by means of universal flood or heroes and finally a vision of a restored world.
According to Stausberg and Engler theories of religion seek to account for religion by answering what questions
1) What kind of subject matter does religion constitute? 2) What is the structure of religion? 3) What is distinctive/specific about religion? 4) What are the origins of religion? 5)What are the effects, functions, or products of religion?
Myths include (slides)
1) accounts of creation and origins, on the grounds that to know what something really is, or how it is to be done, we need to know where it came from. 2) foundational social myths, such as those establishing kingship, gender roles, etc., usually from a generation soon after the beginning. 3) hero myths, whether warriors or saviors, that exemplify the defeat of evil and the way back to original right relationships between the ideal and the real in self and world. 4) myths of the ultimate destiny of the individual life and of the world. 5) myths that serve to warn against bad behavior. 6) myths explaining the essential rituals, pilgrimages, and other religious practices of the society.
Different modes of speaking the self
1. Confession: a form of writing or speaking in which an individual or group acknowledges often some guilt in play his her their past actions and dispositions to an audience guilt 2. Testimony - closely related to confession but more confident and less guilt ridden air is on balance more an act of conviction than an admission fallenness Testify to something you witnessed
Thomas Tweed 5 ways of understanding theory
1. Deductive nomological view - theories are systems of universal laws (scientific theorizing) We can figure out through experimentation and observation Ex. gravity 2. Law oriented view - there are law like regulators; not exact but highly probable 3. Idealizing notion of theory - social scientific approach; not really set laws but ideal types; idealization of human motives 4. Constructivist view of theory - rejects idea of universalism; suggests that we can only understand things in context 5. Critical theory - theories are all constructions in specific contexts; also looks at how power operates within those contexts
What theory from Tweeds 5 ways of understanding theory do we use most
4 or 5 which is constructivist view of theory and critical theory
Map and territory metaphor of religion (By Thomas Tweed)
A map is stable terrain with a fixed referent and measurements but theories are palpable and fluid. Theories embody travels so they cannot be the same throughout Theorists in motion offer partial views of shifting terrain. Therefore, theory moves and it changes. Theory is not only wandering but its representation. Theories are "sightings from sites" Theories are sightings, which brings cautions as theories always have blind spots (you cannot see the entire picture only your view), theories have limitations (as sightings is a metaphor which also brings limitations) Thus, theorists are bodily and culturally mediated processes that include much more than just seeing
Robert Elwood myth
A myth is "a story of gods, heroes, or other exceptional beings, usually set in primordial times or in an alternative world, which establishes in narrative form the basic worldview and values of a society. It sets forth the origin, meaning, and practice of the society's organization, rituals, and codes of behavior"
Empowerment & psychical / special abilities
Ability to see have visions - ability to fly telekinesis and ability to heal Access to knowledge that gives you a sense of empowerment Ex. John Franklin - claiming a kind of present that gives him direct access to what is true; he knows all Claiming that your spirit continues on and on and you never die
Taxonomy/ typologies of ritual (slides)
According to Grimes there are four kinds of taxonomies for categorizing ritual: Libraries option Bipolar option Singular option Radically local or ethnographic option
Ritualizing
Act of cultivating inventing rites It's a process; history; stories behind them Process of creating rites
Functionalist
As the name implies, a functionalist definition approaches religious phenomena in terms of how it functions. more interested in what religion is doing in the world, what is it doing for individuals groups societies how it intersects with politics
Cambell synthesized what works
Campbell synthesized the ideas of Sigmund Freud (Oedipus complex) and Carl Jung (collective unconscious/archetypes). Campbell's purpose is to show the underlying structure of the hero myth and to help us understand why humans keep telling versions of it over and over again, in culture after culture. He believes that the hero myth is actually written about every human being and that, by studying these stories, we can learn about the stages of our own struggle to become the heroes of our own lives.
"To understand the causes of drunkenness... is not to be drunk" William James
Can't understand the feeling someone has until you have experienced it You can read about what it is like but it is ultimately different
What did Chamberlain talk about?
Chamberlain showed how cultures not only have different stories but having different ways of telling stories, modes for telling stories, and protocol for telling stories Special words and stories that have more power than others Stories shape your world view; makes the world make more sense to us Truthiness
Karl Marx
Claims religion alienates us from ourselves, each other and reality; this sense of alienation is a product of economic factors Religion is an illusion religion legitimizes the power of the elite/rich and provides comfort and escapism for the poor Religion imprisons us, but it also distracts us from contesting status quo. The aim is not to interpret but to take action to undermine its status
Thinking dialectically and / or paradoxically
Coincidentia oppositorum - collapsing opposites; bring opposing things together Ex. "Tatt vam asi" -> "you are that" To try to push you towards an experience of the mystical Used to help job linear way of thinking Get you to step out of regular mind Ex. Haiku Ekaku - "with form that his no form" "with thought that is no thought" Dualistic thinking
Myth definition
Contemporary perspective - myth is often framed as a purely fictitious narrative Myth has elements of truthiness to it Needed myth to explain how things grow why we are here etc.
Myths include (notes)
Creation stories (why are we here? What are we doing here? Where did we come from) Foundational social myths (kingship gender roles) Hero myths (defeat of evil) Myth of ultimate destiny (attempt to answer what is the point of it all Warn against bad behavior Explain essential rituals etc. religious practices of the society
Clifford Geertz
Culture is a "pattern of meanings" carried in symbols by which people pass on knowledge Religion is a cultural system All knowledge as local knowledge
Theory
Derived from Greek theoria, meaning viewing or spectacle Theory offers a way of "seeing" in the sense that it provides a conceptual lens to explain our understanding of a problem. Tweed - Theories are sightings from sites Stausberg and Engler - Theory "an interconnected set of ideas or statements expressed in language that frames cognitive claims about some phenomenon"
Transgression
Doing something wrong; going against set rules Transgress societal norms - how we are meant to relate and interact with each other Not all norms are the greatest and we know this with the law Women voting, educational rights of those of color Not transgressive but pushing us toward something better; therefore, transgression not always bad Many mystics are transgressive Ex. Ramakrishna - "God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true." Some books were banned because they were so controversial Ex. Meister Eckhart - "Therefore I pray to God to make me free of God, for my essential being is above God, taking God as the origin of creatures. For in that essence of God in which God is above being and distinction, there I was myself and knew myself so as to make this man." Saint Teresa - women priests?? Claims she has direct access to god
Ann Taves and the Experience of Things Deemed Religious
Experience of the Things Deemed Religious Interested in not only the causes of religious experience but also how religious experience has been interpreted valued or devalued throughout history of the US She found that certain times during history religious experience has been valued and devalued because it is dangerous You usually gain knowledge from it; extraordinary; outside bounds of society which can make it dangerous and disruptive to the status quo Ex. Jesus was very detrimental to the status quo at the time; he has his own religious experiences We can study how language influences experiences without reducing it to mere language Both and approach - approach where religion is recognized and not downsized to social process but is contextualized Interested in thinking about cognitive science; what is the mind doing when experiencing this
Sigmund Freud
Freud identifies a close resemblance between activities of religious people and behaviors of neurotic patient = both seek actions that are patterned, ceremonial and feel guilty if not done correctly. Freud claims that religion is universal obsessional neurosis religion as the unconscious minds need for wish fulfillment to feel secure God as the exalted Father
Delgamukw v. British Columbia
Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en Peoples claiming aboriginal title over 58,000 km of traditional lands Had been negotiating jurisdiction over their territory since 1800s when Europeans began to settle in BE Europeans clear cut log their territories 374 day trial Chief Justice McEachern's decision 1991 Supreme Court decision 1997 Had elders come in and share their stories about the land Certain stories connect you to certain places Judge didn't want to hear it; did not think the courtroom was a place for singing (they sang about myth; story etc) Says he has a tin ear Doesn't have the knowledge to listen to those stories Therefore, has no right to occupy land Supreme court overturned the judge's decision because they admitted the oral history
Delgamikw v. British Columbia (Slides)
Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en Peoples claiming aboriginal title over 58,000 sq km of traditional lands. Had been trying to negotiate jurisdiction over their territories since 1800s when Europeans began to settle in B.C. Clear cut logging their territories. 374 day trial Chief Justice McEachern's decision 1991 Supreme Court decision 1997
Extreme Giving by Rick Salutin
Goes into potlatch ceremony Interested in learning about it because he's disgruntled about capitalism so wants to see if there's a better way to connect economic relationships When potlatch was banned, they called it something else In order to continue it; culture went underground; fundamental part of political system
What do you gain from knowing Thomas Tweed 5 ways of understanding theories
He is trying to explain that hard science and soft science make different claims
Eroticism
He talks about death and orgasim as self because it is a total loss of self Sex is a kind of death because you are fully giving yourself to someon else and in a sense you are dying Many mystics use sexual analogies to explain dissolution of self or relationship to god You do desire a kind of death and kind of union with higher power Losing self and ego in the act of death and act of sex Also in terms of love to higher authority to god Ex. Julia of Norwich - clothing that melts us
Why do we study stories based off Campbell
Hero story represents our desire to merge with the universe Signifies our desire to merge with those transformative energies that create and sustain the cosmos He believes it tells our purpose He is a substantivist, he is assuming there is something spiritual He is also functionalist, he is explaining how these myths are working in these day to day lives
Critiques for Normative Approach
Hierarchy of religion according to your own tradition as primary in hierarchy Lack of consideration between social cultural context Lack of power dynamics that shape religion Language also shapes experience and permits it
Insights obtained by myth (my notes)
Historical - verifiable historical events Anthropological - culture; value and principles of society Metaphysical - what it means to be human in relationship to a larger reality or principle Cosmological - how we understand the universe Aetiological - explain how the universe was shaped and formed explain the cause of a custom or fact of physical universe Sociological - groups that people belong to or participate in Psychological - why we struggle as human beings
Insights obtained by myths (slides)
Historical: verifiable historical events reflected in mythical stories. Anthropological: culture - the value and principles of a society. Metaphysical: what it means to be human in relationship to a larger reality or principle. Cosmological: the universe as understood by the best science available at the time. Aetiological: explaining the origin or cause of a custom or fact of the physical universe. Sociological: groups that people belong to or participate in - values about group behaviour. Psychological: the struggles of individuals to become mature human beings and useful members of society.
Critiques of Hermeneutics
Implicit bias, lack of consideration for social/cultural context, lack of attention to power dynamics that shape power dynamic for religious experience, understanding the experience is mediated by language
Monomyth (Cambell)
In Campbell's view, despite their great variety, all hero stories follow the same pattern: the monomyth. The monomyth is "a magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation-initiation-return." "A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."
Where do we hear stories of testimony and confession?
In court Religious meaning from Christianity uses testimony and confession, which is now seen in court Become secularized Secular - nonreligious Assumed that our society - Canada and the US - is not ruled by kings or queens Democracy meant to be secular; multicultural society and rights to practice these religions Not always true; god invoked in courtroom when swearing in president These are secular because these rituals are drawing from a christian values Secular is ideal but not attainable Early on during colonization and missionization period, people would come and convert native american and collect their testimony and would write them down; to show the success of the mission Mass producing testimonies - Anglican missionary in canada Bc these testimonies have financial value; if you can demonstrate the amount of influence then you get more money Economy of testimony In truth and reconciliation commissions, there has been terrible acts of genocide etc. nation states have taken on testimony to rectify past for truth and reconciliation Germany after holocaust Africa for colonization Australia Canada history of residential schooling; extremely terrible and detrimental to inidgenous people; to gather people's stories and experiences Testify the terrible experiences they endured Mode of storytelling that is different; often there are elaborate ceremonies and to testify and perform your pain and share painful memories would not be a public display -- it would be ceremonially guarded.
"Religion's essence is neither thinking nor acting" Freidrich Schleiermacher "Religion's essence is ... intuition and feeling" (1799, 22). "[t]o have religion means to intuit the universe" (1799, 52).
It is "intuition and feeling" Religion tries to grab the infinite and it is the feeling we have for the infinite Feeling is primary; rest is trying to grapple with being infinite Beyond human action and thought, it is a feeling
According to Grimes defining "ritual" is like defining "jazz." Why?
It is like defining jazz - there are no set rules with jazz; music that goes everywhere and has different components Similar to ritual
How does Louis Bouyer trace etymology of the term mystacism
Louis Bouyer traces the etymology of the term "mysticism," claiming that it is derived from the Greek verb "muo," meaning "to close," or more specifically," to close the eyes and lips" Louis Bouyer traces the etymology of the term to greek verb muo which means to close the eyes and close the lips Usually when you would take an oath of secrecy Hidden secret mysterious knowledge
What is religious experience?
Martin - It is a "wide variety of phenomena" including "mystical states, altered states of consciousness, spirit possessions, etc." It's caused by a higher being. Intentionally seek them, sometimes come unknowingly Feeling of being compelled, recognition outside of ourselves, perspective gained through experience, spiritual possession, altered consciousness, not typical state of being
Bruce Lincoln on myth
Myth as "ideology in narrative form"
Modern Mysticism
No longer institutionally contained and not bound to specific religion Comparative project Scholars are thinking through what buddhist enlightenment means, various other religions and comparing practices that claim to hold secret special knowledge Psychology has played a central role in defining the modern approach to the study of mysticism We become central to it freud, young, william james Interested in what is happening within the mind They found similarities between those who were mentally ill and mystics Are they mad man or do they have special knowledge More about inner works of mind then the function of the institution It is the communion with God; or something that you let go about yourself loss of self
Is it possible to have direct and unmediated access to reality?
No solution or definitive answer Up to debate - You are not processing your biases therefore you cannot separate the two
Why is the normative approach not general
Not from the same culture, social group, languages, experience We are all differently conditioned through socially and culturally contexts, lack of attention to the fact that experiences are different based on cultural context, social location, education etc.
William James quote
On the one side of it lies institutional, on the other personal religion.... Worship and sacrifice, procedures for working on the dispositions of the deity, theology and ceremony and ecclesiastical organization, are the essentials of the institutional dispositions of man himself (1902, 28-29).
Oral vs. Written stories
Oral Personal -relationship Gestures Private and communal Text Consistent Mass produce Preserve Both Interpretation issues
Robert Segal as 3 main questions when studying myth
Origin - where did it originate Function - what's the need of myth? What does it fulfill Subject matter - what is the myth referring to?
History of Mysticism
Originally was referred to secret details of a ritual and its material function Different than modern understanding of mysticism Krapil then says that the term gets taken up by the church and assumed to Christianity Starts to be associated with the allegorical interpretation of biblical scripture Allegory - story about one thing when really it is about a story about another thing Hidden meaning; metaphor Originally was a way of reading texts and look for allegorical meaning behind the bible What scriptures reveal through christ Was believed that by revealing the meaning of scripture than you would be closer to God
Define Myth
Origins of the term: From the Greek mythos, meaning "speech" or "story" (delivered by word of mouth) and possibly revelatory. From a contemporary perspective, myth is often framed as a "purely fictitious narrative" (Oxford English Dictionary). Myths as conviction/credo Myth as "a story about something significant" (Segal).
Kripal talks about perennialism versus contextualism
Perennialism - always going to be mystics; common core to mystical experience that will always recycle itself across all cultures and times; essentialist continuing like Creg Martin when he characterizes the normative approach Core experience always there and present Contextualism - every person is going to have a different experience depending on culture No common core that is being assumed Experiences are products of reality that people are living in No pure mystical experiences All are mediated
Hui-neng and the Experience of Enlightenment (Jason Bloom)
Poor peasant working the fields and as they work they here the diamond sutra behind enchanted and instantly enlightenment No religious upbringing - how do you make sense of these experiences that are so instantaneous and cultivated Still social and cultural context
Myths explain what different classifications
Primordial chaos Emergence of first gods through chaos Creation through process Explain production of Earth, animals, humans, gender, social structure Explain why there is evil or death in the world Opportunities of renewal; flood ice age etc.
E.B Tylor
Principle of psychic unity - all human's have same mental capacity, which means that all human beings possess the same capacity to reasont and thus such an assumption allows Tylor to enter the minds of diff cultures throughout the world and across time Principle of intellectual evolution - cultures are different because they are situated at different levels of intellectual evolution
What does Chamberlin mean by protocols and how do they relate to storytelling?
Protocols - what you would call the right way of doing something
Rites
Refers to set of actions widely recognized by members of a culture Differentiated from ordinary behavior; something specific about them; symbolically marked as more significant that doing homework Part of a larger whole, ritual system Actual practices Examples Bar Mitzvah Mass
Ritual
Refers to the general idea of which a rite, or a ritual is a specific instance Scholarly category Scholarly concept Refers to rites; but is within scholarly category, in a common language
Emile Durkheim
Religious beliefs and rituals are in the last analysis symbolic expressions of social realities Previous theorists claim religion is about intellect/belief which is source of practice but Durkheim argues that rituals give rise to belief. Beliefs change but practices remain constant Sacred ceremonies are the ties that bind society together
Normative Approach
Religious experience is based off feelings Numinous feeling - terrifying and ecstatic Intuition Assume religious experience is universal We are all capable of experiencing Consistent across cultures and time Religious experience is a priority and exists across cultural, generational Something essential about it
"A story— spiritual or otherwise— gains authority and credibility based on who tells it, who listens to it, where it is told, and what medium its teller uses" (38).
Reminds me of the US case for the native american tribe who claimed that it was their land because of stories but some didn't believe the stories could be used in court but eventually the US stated that they deemed their stories as credible
Grimes definition of ritual - 4 R's
Rites vs. ritual ritualizing vs. ritualizaiton
Grime's minimal definition of ritual
Ritual is embodied, condensed, and prescribed enactment
Ritualization
Ritualization is the repetitive bodily stylization that constitutes the baseline of quotidian human social interaction Offers metaphor of theatre to explain; theater is a performance--something that is separated from ordinary life, but the stuff of theater comes from ordinary experience Draw on personal experiences and history to create To create ritual you draw on ritual experiences or larger ritual etc. that is ritualization Domestic life in which rituals emerge
Grime's family resemblances or "Fuzzy set theory"
Rituals have similar features Traditionalizing - tradition, started a while ago continues today Elevating - doing this to be in tune with the sacred; special importance attributed to it; or to values Repeating - continuous Prescribing - way of doing them Stylizing - specific style to how to do it; marked in a special way Invoking power - sacred or political; minister marries you he invokes law Performing - many rituals performed in front of an audience; done individually at home by self too Attributing influence - Singularizing - There is more on his list but basically he lists out common attributes in order to define Benefits to defining like this is that you learn a lot about it but you loose clarity because there is conflicting views ex singularizing and repetitive action
hero's journey
Separation - retreat from external world to internal (unconscious) Call to adventure Refusal of the call Supernatural aid Cross the first threshold - empowered by supernatural help and leave ordinary life and enter the belly of the whale In the belly of the whale - aka unknown world Initiation (trials and victories) - hero has to prove his or her self and learn the secret of the gods or gain some type of knowledge Road of trials Meeting with the goddess - can be good or evil and challenges hero to see beyond his experience and see the bigger picture Women as temptress Atonement with the father - final reckoning w father-like figure Represents Freud's Oedipus complex Apotheosis the ultimate boon (elixir) - physical or knowledge Return - reintegration into society with hopes of teaching lesson he or she learned Refusal of the return Magic flight Rescue from without Crossing the return threshold Master of the 2 worlds Freedom to live = follow your bliss
3 parts of hero journey
Separation or departure Trials and victories Return
What does Grimes mean by the following statement: "Ritual is no different from a soccer game"?
Something you take up Soccer is a concept but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist
"Stories are schemes for ordering a world, offering a cosmology with characters and landmarks to help people find their way" (37).
Stories help to define our culture and how we live Shapes world views; stories are world building World affects stories and stories have power to influence the world
Us versus them "...how stories give meaning and value to the places we call home; how they bring us close to the world we live in by taking us into a world of words; how they hold us together and at the same time keep us apart."
Stories hold us together and at the same time keep us apart
2 most popular categories for defining religion
Substantivist and functionalism
Supralocative vs. Locative theories as identified by Tweed
Supra locative - god's eye view; scholar isn't located anywhere; claiming a sense of objectivity; viewing from nowhere and everywhere all at once Locative theory - situated and phenomenon they observe with historical political social context; first person
Ritual has a history to the way it has been used
Talal Asad - traces genealogy of the word ritual First usage of the word, used differently than today; first seen in Encyclopedia Britannica and was considered the term designated the book that directs the ceremonies of the church Book on how to act Now we see it as an action; not always religious; now a practice and symbolic
Genealogy of ritual
Talal Asad traces the genealogy of the word "ritual" In the first Encyclopedia Britannica, published in 1771, the term "ritual" designated the book that directs the ceremonies of the church. Books called "rituals" contained instructions for "rituals" and "ceremonies." By 1910, in the eleventh edition of the Britannica, "ritual" had quite a different meaning, and other religions, not only Christianity, now had rituals. In fact, "ritual" was no longer contained by religion at all. Ritual was now a practice— specifically, a symbolic one—rather than a script prescribing a practice.
Taxonomies of ritual
Taxonomy - way of classifying or ordering things according to various definitions Answers questions: what kind of rituals? Based on features Based on Hunter and Performance centered - formulaic but not entirely prescribed; audience; more inventive; more room for ritualizing (inventing rites) For grimes: these were not too helpful to understand and distinguish rituals
Rudolf Otto
The "holy" is a category of interpretation and valuation peculiar to the sphere of religion religion is rooted in a distinctive feeling or emotional intuition that he describes as the "numerous," meaning "spirit" or "divinity" Numinous experiences is foundational to all religion and is sui generis - that is, it must be defined on its own term and is irreducible to any other field of knowledge. Thus, religion is intrinsically independent and autonomous
William James
The centre of religion is personal religious experience: the feeling of a direct encounter with the "More." Rituals and beliefs are secondary to experience
Spiritual quest of the hero based on campbells view
The journey of the hero is not, in Campbell's view, a mere story. Rather it represents a spiritual reality: the hero is grappling with the place of all humans in the universe. "The hero is symbolical of that divine creative and redemptive image which is hidden within us all, only waiting to be known and rendered into life." Psychoanalytically, the hero quest signifies our desire to balance the unconscious with consciousness and discover our true "Self" (individuation). Spiritually, the hero quest signifies our desire to merge with those transformative energies that create and sustain the cosmos.
"The story of Radio Mind
The story settlers told allowed them to claim land and build a nation She discusses how the native stories shaped the man's understanding
"The medium is the message" - Marshall McLuhan
The way the story is told has a lot to do with what it's saying Deliberate choice in the way you tell your story
Critical theory
Theories are all construction in specific contexts; also looks at how power operates within those contexts
When does theorizing begin and end throughout the research process (stausberg and engler)
Theories are already ever present in what we do
Thomas Tweed
Theories are simultaneously proposals for a journey, representations of a journey and the journey itself. Theories are travels. They move too. They are journeys propelled by concepts and tropes that follow lines of argument and narration." He argues to be careful of the map and territory metaphor of religion Theory is purposeful wondering
What are some critiques of the normative approach represented by schleiermacher james and otto?
They are problematic and or incomplete They didn't recognize their own bias so they were bias to own religion Implicit bias toward your religion Difficult to generalize because it is so personal Lack of consideration that shapes these experiences Power dynamics at play Experiences don't come cheap so pay attention to them They argue that there is no way that experience can be separated from language or discourse Experience is always mediated by language Fundamentally different explanations based purely by what language they used
Themes of mysticism
Thinking dialectically and/or paradoxically. Eroticism Transgression Empowerment Psychical / special abilities
What are the two main types of theories defined by Stausberg and Engle
Top down - construct tehory and apply it to the phenomenon you're constrcuting (philosophy) Bottom up - collecting data observations and creating a theory based on these (anthropologist, bio ethnography)
Difference between universal/cross cultural and historical/contextual theories as explained by Stausberg and Engler
Universal/cross cultural - general claims about world; scholar is claiming that it is applicable to everyone across cultural; general explanation; applied universally History/contextual - build off own experiences more interested in studying the historical political influence of a particular area
How are Christian and Indigenous rituals of story telling practices similar and/or different?
Uses potlatch as an example Potlatch - lasts a few days, held at west coast, if chief changes after passing, marriages etc, coming together of different tribes of that nation Dancing, singing, feasting, person hosting gives away gifts Elders say oral histories Within community Similar christian and indegenous: Difference christian and indegenous Christian - print, protocol (testimony mass produced--indegenous converting), universal stories shared with everyone, Idegenous - oral, protocol (ceremonial guarded space, protocols and only told story if you are ready to receive it), community stories, stories only told during certain part of times (winter, spring etc) Protocols practices are different
Thomas King Quote Do the stories we tell reflect the world as it truly is, or did we simply start off with the wrong story? " "If we believe one story to be sacred, we must see the other as secular. "
Value to other cultural stories; there is knowledge found within them
Jeffrey Kripal
Very into mysticism and looked it in different cultures Mysticism as we know it today has evolved and changed from its original connotation; was not always a comparative category that could be thought about across cultures
Wayne Proudfoot
Wants to figure out what causes these experiences Experiences aren't unmediated
Analyze Thomas King quote "The truth about stories is that's all we are"
We become the stories that are told We affect the world with our stories Every story affects us; be cautious cause stories have power
The problem with Delgamuuk v. British Columbia
Western society likes to privilege written text over oral; Yet we have oral storytelling (lectures, I do for marriage) and native americans have the written as well (totem poles etc) Yet just because the two ideas are different than people cannot understand the other person's protocol
What does Leanne simpson mean by the term "caged knowledge?"
When knowledge is made into text it is translated from indegenous to english which may change its meaning and its intended audience
Speaking of defining ritual Grimes asserts "There are two language games, one in the field and one in the academy." What does he mean by this?
When you enter a field, it is more appropriate to use local terms, to communicate and have a better understanding by using their language Polite to use that language Learning new vocabulary When entering an academy, it is an issue of translation ability; thus, we need common words and language to discuss New vocabulary and translating and exchanging ideas Every culture has different ideas of what a ritual is Ritual is a concept not out there - catch all phrase for the things people engage in
What is mystics
a person, seek spiritual connection, try to make sense of experience and connect to the sacred ex. Tarot card readers, Jesus, Buddhist
What does Campbell think that stories represent
a spiritual reality; the hero is grappling with the place of all humans in the universe
William James, Experience, and Institutional Religion
american philosopher and psychologist, Personal versus institutional religion Personal is the primary because the personal is where you have that inner experience of--if we use Friedrich Schleiermacher term-- the infinite; Institutional religion facilitates human experience but it is at the core a personal Substantivist - feeling is optimum Experience happens at subconscious mind Something universal about it; everyone can experience it because of the same anatomy etc.
Can you separate perennialism and contextualism
can you separate interpretation from experience
Ritual Actions
check chart
Why was potlatch banned in canada
colonial leaders thought it was against christain values and capitalism
How does Kripal explain mystacisim
derived from the Greek verbal root mu-, which lies behind words as the English mutter, mum, mute, and mystery as well as the Sanskrit muni (the "silent one" or sage).
What was freud belief of mysticism
dissolution of the evil mind Subconscious ego dissolve and lose sense of self Lierating and terrifying to lose one's self
Enacted
enactment; Use enactment rather than action to emphasize that it is a special act; not just going about your day to day Purpose and intent
Substantivist
examines the substance or ineffable essence of religion. Common terms associated with substantive definitions are "supernatural" or "spiritual." spiritual aspects, assuming there was some kind of essence that we are all grasping to understand
Oedipus Complex (Joseph Campbell synthsized Jung and Frued)
idea that a young man is both terrified and loves his father but wants to replace his father to be the sole object of his mother's affection
What does contextualism and perennialism boil down to
interpretation and experience
Thury and Devinney on myth
myth can be defined as "a traditional narrative that is used as a designation of reality."
Ronald Grimes
one of the most important scholars in ritual studies
Joseph Campbell on stories
one of the most popular scholars of mythology; wrote the hero with a thousand faces; come fields of religion, symbology and psychologist; he argues that myth can act as a vehicle for inner liberation and myth is written about every human being's personal struggles; as human beings we engage in struggles to find our place in society and we long for our understanding of the universe;
Return
reintegration into society with hope of teaching lesson he/she learned. Consists of a) refusal of the return; b) the magic flight; c) rescue from without, d)crossing the return threshold, e) master of the two worlds; f) freedom to live = "follow your bliss."
Constructivist view of theory
rejects idea of universalism; suggests that we can only understand things in conext
Theory
relationships and dynamics between different meanings
Separation or departure
retreat from external world to the internal (unconscious). Consists of a) the call to adventure; b) refusal of the call; c) supernatural aid; d)crossing the first threshold; e) in the belly of the whale.
Jonathon Z. Smith defintion of religion
ritual is performing the way things ought to be in the world; doesn't leave room for invention but always inviting rights through process of ritualization
Condensed
shrunk down; packed in tightly; doesn't last forever, start and end point Elevated - more than everyday behavior
idealizing notion of theory
social scientific approach; not really set laws but ideal types; idealizaiton of human motives
Wayne Proudfoot and the causes of experience
specializes in philosophy of religion, devoted to figuring out what causes religious experiences Believes religious experiences are the experience of the divine Person undergoing experience defines causes as from a divine in origin In order for a person to have religious experience, they would have to understand that there is something divine and profane Profane is ordinary or not sacred Religion does not exist outside of language
Rudolf Otto and the Holy
substantivist, journal lutheran philosopher Coined the term - numenist which describes a feeling We cannot have true knowledge of numenist and it can't be reduced to a language and existed before human cognition Can be aroused but existed before human cognition
Monomyth
that is structuring all these stories; the pattern the stories follow
Trials and victories
the hero tries to prove his/her and learn the secret of the gods. Consists of a) the road of trial; b)the meeting with the goddess; c) woman as temptress; d) atonement with the father; e) apotheosis, the ultimate boon (elixir).
Mystycism was understood as what
the loss of self
Tweed belief on theories
theories are in motion offering partial views of shifting terrain The terrain is always changing and the map is not territory
Deductive view
theories are systems of universal laws (scientific theorizing) we can figure out through experimentation and observation like gravity
Law oriented view
there are law like regulators not exact but highly probable
Prescribed
there is a way of doing things
What is Grimes trying to show by sharing these different definitions
things left out of these definitions; they are imperfect, work with it; figure out what it inhibits etc. and tweak so it fits what you believe.
What is ritual
tricky to define and distinguish it from other festivities Sense that ritual makes things right Depends on their own definition of it
How did Joseph Campbell develop of theory
underlying structure found across all cultures; by studying these stories we can learn about our own stages of struggle in our own lives
Friedrich Schleiermacher and the Intuition of the Infinite
wants to bring Christianity and enlightenment (apologist like); about intuition
Robert segal believes that what unites myth
what unites the study of myth is the questions we ask
Embodied
your body is engaged; senses activated
