Unit 4

Monotheistic

Believing that there is only one high god and that all other supernatural beings are subordinate to, or are alternative manifestations of, this supreme Being.

Animism

A belief in a dual existence for all things a physical, visible body, and a psychic, invisible soul.

animism

A belief in a powerful, mature, protective "mother nature" as a spirit being inherent in all objects, plants, and animals is an example of this kind of belief. (Hint: this was a common belief in Native American cultures.)

Religion

Any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to supernatural power, whether that power rests in forces, gods, spirits, ghosts, or demons.

animatism

"Mana" in Polynesian cultures of the South Pacific fits the description of this type of supernatural belief. (Hint: for the Polynesians, "mana" was a force inherent in all objects, plants, and animals (including people) to different degrees. Some things or people were thought to have more of it than others and were, therefore, potentially dangerous.)

animatism

"The force" in the Star Wars movies fits the description of this type of supernatural belief. It is a supernatural force that is neither good nor evil, but it is powerful and dangerous if misused.

How witchcraft can be used as a means of social control in a society that strongly believes in its practice and power.

Deviant behavior often results in an individual being labeled as a witch. Since witches are feared and often ostracized or even killed when discovered, the mere threat of being accused of witchcraft can be sufficient to force people into modal behavior.

minor supernatural being

Leprechauns, elves, and pixies in European folk traditions are this kind of supernatural being.

Fundamentalism

Literal interpretation of a scared scripture.

Polytheistic

Recognizing many gods, none of whom is believed to be superordinate.

Kinds of social needs typically satisfied by religions.

Religions help bring about social homogeneity by reinforcing group norms. They can provide a basis for common purpose and values that can help maintain social solidarity. They can help establish social control by defining what is right and wrong behavior and providing precedents for proper behavior in common situations.

Kinds of psychological needs typically satisfied by religions.

Religions help us confront and explain death, relieve fears and anxieties about the unknown, ease stress during life crises, and lift the burden of decision making in difficult situations by telling us what is right and wrong.

animatism

The general term for a belief in a supernatural power not part of supernatural beings. For those who hold this belief, the power is usually impersonal, unseen, and potentially everywhere. It is neither good nor evil, but it is powerful and dangerous if misused.

animism

The general term for a belief that natural objects are animated by spirits. This belief can take diverse forms. Things in nature may all have within them different spirits each rock, tree, and cloud may have its own unique spirit. In contrast, all things in nature may be thought of as having the same spirit. In both forms of this belief, the spirits are thought of as having identifiable personalities and other characteristics such as gender.

divination

The general term for a magical procedure by which the cause of a particular event or the future is determined.

hallucinogen (or hallucinogenic drug)

The general term for a mind altering drug that can cause profound hallucinations or an altered state of awareness.

minor supernatural being

The general term for a supernatural being who is not a spirit, god, human, or other natural being. These beings usually have a human-like appearance and/or personality but can do things that are beyond the abilities of humans. They often have a "trickster" role they fool people, do outlandish things, and disappear.

religion

The general term for a system of beliefs usually involving the worship of supernatural forces or beings.

witchcraft

The general term for actions involving magic or supernatural powers usually undertaken for the purpose of doing harm. (Hint: this is a limited anthropological definition that does not describe the activities of modern Western European and North American Wicca. The latter are members of an organized religion.)

sympathetic magic

The general term for magic based on the principle that "like produces like." For instance, whatever happens to an image of someone will also happen to them. (Hint: this is also referred to as "imitative" magic.)

contagious magic

The general term for magic that is based on the principle that things or persons once in contact can afterward influence each other. In other words, there is a permanent relationship between an individual and any part of his or her body.

ancestral spirit

The general term for souls or ghost of an ancestor. These spirits are often seen as retaining an active interest and even membership in their family and society.

magic

The general term for the use of ritual formulas to compel or influence supernatural beings or powers to act in certain ways for good or evil purposes.

bewitching

The general term for using magical acts and/or the assistance of supernatural beings to cause something to occur.

god or goddess

The general term of a powerful supernatural being with an individual identity and recognizable attributes. These beings have individual identities and recognizable attributes. They are more powerful than spirits and other lesser supernatural beings they can effectively alter all of nature and human fortunes. As a result, they are commonly worshipped and requests are made of them to help in times of need. (Hint: another term for such a being is a deity.)

secular religion

The general term used in the tutorial for a political ideology or movement such as extreme nationalism that has rituals, revered objects, and beliefs that provided meaning and order for large numbers of people.

shaman

The kind of religious leader who is essentially a religious entrepreneur acting for human clients. He/she intervenes on behalf of a human client to influence supernatural beings to perform some act such as curing an illness or discovering the cause of an unexpected death. This kind of religious leader essentially acts as a middleman in this.

priest

The kind of religious leader who tells people what to do to appeal to the supernatural being(s) instead of telling the supernatural beings what to do. This leader has knowledge but does not have supernatural power.

priests

The kind of religious leaders who personally do not have supernatural powers at their command, but they are authorized by their religious organization to perform religious rituals designed to influence the supernatural world and to guide the believers in their religious practices.

It is seen as being a consequence of witchcraft or the actions of supernatural beings and forces.

The way mental illness is usually explained in societies which accept that magic and witchcraft are real.

What shamans commonly report that they do when they go into a trance.

They are taking a journey in which they must pass through difficult situations in order to reach their own spirit helpers. Those friendly spirits then aid the shaman in curing an illness, bewitching someone, or in some other supernatural way.

religious rituals

They make people "feel good" or exalted by doing them and this, in turn, reinforces the basic tenets of religion.

Spirits

Unnamed supernatural beings of nonhuman Origin who are beneath the gods in prestige and often closer to the people; may be helpful, mischievous, or evil.

Common techniques used by shamans to achieve a trance state.

Fasting, self-torture, sensory deprivation, breathing exercises and meditation, prolonged repetitive ritual dancing and/or drumming, and hallucinogenic drugs

Techniques commonly used by shamans and others to enter an altered state of consciousness.

Fasting, self-torture, sensory deprivation, breathing exercises and meditation, prolonged repetitive ritual dancing and/or drumming, and hallucinogenic drugs

Priests

Generally fulltime specialists, with very high status, who are thought to be able to relate to superior or high gods beyond the ordinary persons access or control.

Divination

Getting the supernatural to provide guidance.

large

scale societies-The kinds of societies in which priests are most common. (Hint: think in terms of small-scale and large-scale societies.)

small

scale societies-The kinds of societies in which shamans are most common. (Hint: think in terms of small-scale and large-scale societies.)

Native America, especially in small

scale, egalitarian societies in the Amazon Basin and Mesoamerica-The area of the world where shamanistic use of mind altering drugs has been especially widespread.

polytheism

A belief in more than one god. Hinduism is usually considered to be this kind of religion.

ancestral spirits

A belief in these supernatural beings is consistent with the widespread idea that humans have at least two parts a physical body and some kind of non-physical spirit. The spirit portion is generally believed to be freed from the body by death and continues to exist as a supernatural being.

monotheism

A belief that there is only one god. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are usually considered to be this kind of religion.

otiose deity

A kind of a god who is usually almost ignored in favor of lesser gods who take an interest in the everyday affairs of humans. (Hint: this kind of god is often seen as the creator of all things but he/she is now little concerned with things on earth.)

shaman

A kind of religious leader who is not part of an organized religion and is in direct contact with the spirit world, usually through a trance state. Spirit helpers are at his or her command to carry out curing, divining, and bewitching.

priest or priestess

A kind of religious leader who is part of an organized religion. They are the keepers of the sacred law and tradition. Different religions have different terms for these individuals they may be known as rabbis, ministers, mullahs, Imams, or other terms. They are found mostly in large-scale societies.

spirit

A kind of supernatural being who has less power than a god or goddess. It may be a dead ancestor or a being that inhabits a natural object. A belief in these beings is the central tenet of animism.

Taboo

A prohibition that, if violated, is believed to bring supernatural punishment.

Shaman

A religious intermediary, usually part time, whose primary function is to cure people through sacred songs, pantomime, and other means; sometimes called witch doctor by Westerners.

Mana

A supernatural, impersonal force that inhabits certain objects or people and is believed to confer success and/or strength.

minor supernatural being

In Western North American Indian cultures, coyote was often thought of as this kind of supernatural being. (Hint: these beings often played a "trickster" role in stories they fooled people, did outlandish things, and disappeared.)

prophet

Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons), was this kind of religious leader. (Hint: he had divine revelations that led him to create the L.D.S. religious movement in the 1830's and early 1840's. Think in terms of priests, shamans, and prophets.)

shaman

People in the Philippines and in some American Philippine communities who perform "spirit surgery" are this kind of religious leader. (Hint: Think in terms of priests, shamans, and prophets.)

Supernatural

Powers believed to be not human or not subject to the laws of nature.

The usual attitude of priesthoods towards prophets.

Priests generally consider prophets to be disruptive trouble-makers because priests are the keepers of religious traditions while prophets demand that those traditions be abandoned or radically changed.

Rituals

Repetitive set of behaviors that occur in essentially the same patterns every time they occur. Religious rituals involve the supernatural in some way.

How a shaman usually acquires his/her knowledge and power.

Shamans most often acquire it individually, usually in physical and/or mental isolation from other humans. Spirits are revealed and he/she learns how to control them. Older shamans help in learning how to use the knowledge and power.

rituals

Stylized and usually repetitive acts that take place at a set time and location. They almost always involve the use of symbolic objects, words, and actions.

Gods

Supernatural beings of nonhuman origin who are named personalities; often anthropomorphic.

Ancestor spirits

Supernatural beings who are the ghosts of dead relatives.

Ghosts

Supernatural beings who were once human; the souls of dead people.

entering a trance state to find out the answers from their spirit helpers

The method commonly used by shamans to divine the future.

autopsying chickens and examining the condition of their livers

The method used by ancient Romans to divine the future.

Magic

The performance of certain rituals that are believed to compel the supernatural powers to act in particular ways.

Witchcraft

The practice of attempting to harm people by supernatural means, but through emotions and thought alone, not through the use of tangible objects.

sympathetic magic

The principle of magic involved in the use of voodoo dolls in the folk tradition of Haiti.

contagious magic

The principle of magic involved when people must take special precautions with their hair, fingernails, teeth, clothes, and feces because someone could use these things to perform magic which would cause the person they came from to be affected.

By being removed from the ordinary world, the sacred acts are enhanced for the believers the separation makes the rituals more effective.

The reason that religious rituals are usually performed in special places and under special conditions, such as in a dedicated temple or at a sacred spot.

Believers are not dissuaded by pointing out that there is no evidence that any witchcraft was used against them because it can be practiced in secret.

The reason that the existence of witchcraft cannot be easily refuted with arguments based on scientific facts.

China and elsewhere in East Asia

The region of the world where ancestral spirits are usually thought of as still being active family members. They are treated warmly with respect and honor so that they will want to help their living descendants.

Europe and European derived cultures

The region of the world where the dead and their spirits have been seen historically as dangerous they haunt the living and often do unpleasant, frightening, and unpredictable things.

plants

The source of most mind altering drugs used for religious purposes by shamans.

otiose (as in otiose deity)

The term for a supreme god who established the order of the universe and is now remote from earthly concerns. (Hint: the term is Greek for "at rest".)

prophet

The term for an individual who receives divine revelation concerning a restructuring of religious practices and usually of society as well. This type of religious leader calls for dramatic change in society saying that it is the will of the supernatural being(s).

Sorcery

The use of certain materials to invoke supernatural powers to harm people.