Cohen Religion Test 1

How is a benge used by the Zande people?

-uses poison that is a red powder from a forest creeper mixed with water to make a paste -liquid squeezed out of paste into the beaks of small chickens that swallow it by a man who has observed some tabus -behavior of the chickens-death/survival/other reactions like spasms decide the answers to the questions asked by a 2nd man present -creeper grows in places other than Zandeland and takes a long journey to get

Where is it thought that astrology was started?

Babylonia

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Southeast Asia

Balinese, Hmong, Javanese Wet and dry rice agriculture, water buffalo; bamboo houses; Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of European

Baques, Viking Mixed agriculture and animal husbandry; urbanization and industrialization; mainly Christian

What are the settlement patterns of horticulturalists?

Basically sedentary, may move after several years

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Southwest Asia

Bedouin Cereal irrigation ariculture, plow, herding; Islam

What does BC stand for and what has it been changed to?

Before Christ BCE=before the common era

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Guinea Coast

Beng, Bushongo, Dogon, Fon, Kpelle, Yoruba Hoe agriculture, root crops and maize; large dynastic kingdoms, city and towns, market centers, judicial system, craft guilds, artistic development

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Indonesia-Philippine

Berawan, Dyaks, Ifugao, Tana Toraja Irrigation and terracing, wet rice agriculture, water buffalo; large multifamily dwellings on piles, betel chewing, elaborate textiles, blow guns; Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, animism

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Mediterranean

Berbers Agriculture and sheep herding; marginal Near Eastern culture; towns and cities; Islam

What was Bronislaw Malinowski?

Born into nobility in Poland in 1884. Studied mathematics and physical sciences

Who was Mama Lola?

A Haitian immigrant living in NYC

What was happening with Fore people?

About 200 people were dying each year, mainly women and children

What does supernatural refer to?

Above the natural. Supernatural entities and actions transcend the normal world of cause and effect as we know it. Defy the basic laws of nature

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of East Horn

Abyssinans, Somali Agriculture and cattle herding; Coptic Christianity

What was concluded in Primitive Culture?

All religions had a belief in spiritual beings. "Civilized" peoples included beliefs in gods and souls, those of "primitive" peoples focused on the belief in spirits and ghosts

How do pastoralists get food?

Animal husbandry

What did Edward B. Tylor define religion as?

Animism

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Southwest

Apache, Hopi, Navaho, Akimel O'odham, Tewa Yaqui, Zuni Intensive cultivation of beans, maize, and squash; pueblos consisting of great multifamily terraced apartments, single-family dwellings with more nomadic groups; highly developed pottery and loom weaving; village as largest political unit

What is special about anthropomorphic?

Appears to be common to all religious ststems-concepts of supernatural anthropomorphic causal agents within their environment.

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Plains

Arapaho, blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, Lakota, Ojibwa Hunting of bison, some horticulture; tipi dwellings; transport by dog, later horse; hide utensils; large bands, competitive military and social societies, warfare important

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Andean

Araucanin, Inca Intensive irrigation agriculture; paved roads, monumental architecture, highly developed ceramics, weaving, and metallurgy; large cities, divine ruler over large empires

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Circum-caribbean

Arawak, Carib Intensive farming, hunting and fishing; pole and thatch houses, arranged in streets and around plazas surrounded by palisade; hammocks, poisoned arrows, loom weaving of domesticated cotton, highly developed ceramics, gold and copper worked; large villages, social classes, chiefs, extreme development of warfare.

Why do we study very small religions?

Are there human universals?

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Melanesia

Asmat, Buka, Dani, Fore, Gururumba, Trobriand islanders Yams and taro horticulture, fishing; elaborate ceremonial houses, high development of wood carving, canoes, bow and arrows; isolated hamlets under local chief, region specialization in economic production, trading voyages; chronic petty warfare

What is cultural relativism?

Attempting to describe and understand people's customs and ideas but do not judge them. The goal is to study what people believe, not whether or not what they believe is true

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Congo

Azande, Kongo, Mangbetu, Pygmies Yam and banana cultivation; double-court kingdoms, markets, native courts; iron and brass work; Pygmies: hunting and gathering, trade with agriculturalists

What are examples of intensive agriculturalists?

Aztec, Korean, Amish

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Mesoamerica

Aztex, Huichol, Maya Intensive agriculture; state societies with developed technology including monumental stone architecture, stone sculpture, system of writing, woven textiles, metallurgy; fully developed dynastic empires, social classes

What do we use instead of "AD" for time now and why?

CE-current era referred to Christianity and to respect others not in Christianity, kept the numbering system because it was already widely accepted

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of California

Cahuilla, Chumash, Pomo Acorn collecting, fishing, hunting of small game; simple brush dwellings; semi-subterranean lodges; basketry; multiplicity of small contrasting tribes, semi-permanent villages

What is the evolutionary approach?

Centered on the questions of when and how religion began. 1800s when the focus was on the concepts of science, logic, and monotheism Emphasized empiricism, or observing and measuring

What did Radcliffe-Brown believe must happen for a society to survive?

Certain feelings need to be encouraged in people's minds. Anything of great social value is seen as possessing supernatural power, the greater the value, the more powerful it is

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Southeast

Cherokee, Natchez Similar to eastern woodland with mesoamerican influence

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of East Asian civilizations

Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Okinawan Intensive agriculture including wet rice and animal husbandry; ancient civilizations; urban centers and industrialization; several religious systems including Shinto and Buddhism

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Northern subarctic

Chipewyan, Winnebago Hunting caribou, fishing; conical skin tents, bark or skin canoes, snowshoes, toboggans; highly nomadic bands with chiefs

Who popularized the metaphor that culture is a text to be read and which anthropologists can read the meaning? What is this called?

Clifford Geertz Interpretive approach

What are some critiques of the functional approach?

Committing the error of reification (treating something abstract as if it were concrete and alive) Being tautological (a circular argument) because it argues that we know that something must be functional because it exists; it exists because it is functional

What is the most important quote from Chief Seattle about the web of life?

"Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."

What are the tokabitam in the Trobriand Islands?

"man with knowledge" have the highest level of knowledge about a specific skill

What does Ouija mean and why was it invented?

"yes or no" invented during the Civil War so people could talk to their dead relatives without paying for such a lengthy job from mediums

What are the main takeaways from the Tying Grant Eligibility to Religious Freedom article?(this is a long 1!)

-the state governments give schools the right to exclude a group from funding if they discriminate membership based on their beliefs -the federal government is trying to make the schools allow each group to make it's own decision and not allow a school to discriminate on a group because of a disagreement with their beliefs -this puts schools at a choice between losing federal funding and being open to lawsuits if this rule goes into effect -1 point made is that nonreligious groups don't change their identity when they don't choose who is allowed in their group or not, while religious groups(ex: Jewish groups) can lose their identity if they allow everyone without having any selection or confirming what beliefs the individual has

What were the two kinds of ordeals used in trials in Europe in the 9th and 13th centuries?

-handling a hot object for a certain amount of time and checking the burns for signs of guilt -tying up and throwing an excused into a river and if they float, they're guilty and if they don't, they're innocent because the water accepted them -actually used rarely, the guilty would usually confess first, and if a priest thought they were innocent the stakes would be lowered so they could survive the ordeal

What is Chief Seattle's speech about overall?

-he is accepting the offer from America for buying their land -hoping that the young men of his tribe won't try to get revenge because it will cause so many lives to be lost -he is pointing out that their God is not our God and also wondering where their God has been -his people still love the land and find meaning in it after death and hold burial grounds as sacred -everything in the land is sacred!!

Why does magical behavior happen relative to the human mind?

-how the human brain considers cause and effect -ex: ritual for it to rain and then it rains->either coincidence(our brains are wired to see patterns even when they don't belong) or the ritual caused it

What did Emile Durkheim believe about magic?

-magic was distinguished from religion but focused on the social context -religion: rituals involve the whole community/magic: often centered on the needs and desires of the individuals -"in all of history we do not find a single religion without a church...there is no church of magic"

What are some forms of divination?

-magical: manipulating the supernatural world to give a specific result(rain, winner of the Super Bowl, etc) -contact with supernatural beings for information or talking to the deceased -some are based on the idea that the world is all interconnected, ex: movement of the sun/moon is connected with your life

What are the qualities of science, from an anthropological perspective?

-methodology for coming to an understanding of our world through objective observations, experimentation, and the development of hypotheses and theories -limited because they only deal with our vision -needs a natural explanation consistent with the laws of nature

What are some ways medicines can be used in Azande magic?

-plant material can be burned and made into a paste with oil that is put into incisions or drunk -may make wood into a whistle that is kept around his waist and blows it in the morning to protect against misfortune -more important magic are performed privately to keep it secret from an enemy or to keep people from knowing they own a particular magic

What is the ritual like in Azande magic?

-simple -manipulating the medicine and saying a non-formal spell -power doesn't reside in the spell->the individual addresses the medicine and just tells it what they want to be done -informal but has to have clear instructions -observation of a number of tabus-vary, but common ones are abstention from sex and avoiding certain food

What are the major differences between Chief Seattle's speech and the Hollywood version?

-simpler language in the Hollywood version -removed the laments to his God and comparison to the Christian God

What are some examples of body actions that are considered presentiments to some?

-sneezing, twitching, hiccupping -if you sneeze before breakfast, you will receive a letter that day -if you sneeze 6 times, you'll go on a journey

What do the Fore of New Guinea see as the cause of kuru?

-sorcery -sorcerer steals food remnants, hair, nail clippings, or excrement from the victim, makes a bundle with leaves and some sorcerer's stones and places the bundle in cold muddy ground -he then beats the bundle with a stick and recites the spell "I break the bones of your arms, I break the bones of your hands, I break the bones of your legs, and finally I make you die" -an example of contagious magic

What did James Frazer believe about magic?

-that magic is a pseudoscience based on direct action -evolutionary thinker, thought magic was an early stage and would be replaced by religion(some also thought religion would be replaced by science) -religion is different from magic because it is based on persuasion of supernatural beings rather than manipulation of forces

What is the most important religious site in ancient Greece and why?

-the Temple of Apollo and Delphi, dates back to 1400BCE -built around a sacred spring -considered to be the center of the world -this oracle warned Oedipus that he would kill his father and marry his mother

What is a reason that certain plants are used in Azande magic as medicines?

-the doctrine of signatures(looks like something, so it's used for that purpose, ex: fruit with a ~milky sap used for increasing milk production)

What is the most common way of dealing with kuru in Fore divination?

-the victim's husband, brothers, and husband's age mates place some of the victim's hair in a bamboo tube and a dead possum in another bamboo tube -they then strike the two together and put the one with the animal in a fire while saying the name of the sorcerer -if the liver remains uncooked, the sorcerer is guilty and is subjected to more tests

What is the post modern movement?

Denies the possibility of acquiring, or even the existence of "true" knowledge about the world. All knowledge is seen as being a human "construction" that we must try to "deconstruct" Emphasizes the limitations of science, that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. There are multiple viewpoints and truths, and the important of being aware of our own viewpoints and biases

What is sacred?

Denotes an attitude wherein the subject is entitled to reverence and respect

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Eastern Sudan

Dinka, Nuer Cattle herders and scattered agriculturalists; Islam and animism

What is something unique to western culture?

Divided into very distinct cultural domains, such as economics, politics, technology, and religion and they don't overlap

What religion does the Shiva nataraj come from and what are some things it represents?

Hindu circle represents reincarnation bc no beginning or end fire/4 arms(4 directions)/standing on dwarf-authority over everything fire around the circle-creation and destruction drum in hand-making noise when things are created and destroyed

Who is credited with discovering the positions of the equinoxes and when? Why is it important?

Hipparchus in 130 BCE laid the foundation for the astrology we are familiar with today

What is Evans-Pritchard is best known for?

His with the Azande of southern Sudan and then study the Nuer Azande had witchcraft-which he believed that witchcraft beliefs provided explaination for events and helped to uphold moral standard

Who have used a more functional definition of religion?

Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkhein, and Clifford Geertz

What is modernity?

Knowledge based on the ideals of rationality, objectivity, and reason. Science was seen as the means for discovery in the Renaissance era

What was the Fore disease called?

Kuru

What kind of communities do anthropologists now study?

Larger more complex societies

What does AD mean in reference to time?

Latin for the year of our Lord-based on the Christian Lord

What is an essential definition?

Looks at what is the essential nature of religion. It emphasizes the fact that religion is the domain of the extraordinary. A religion is a system of beliefs and behaviors that deals with the relationship between humans and the sacred supernatural

What are foragers community variables?

Low population density, small community size

What are community variables between pastoralists?

Low population density; small to medium community size

What has the poster modern movement done to ethnographers?

Made them more self-conscious and more aware of their own positions and biases. Every person sees the world through the lens of his or her own culture. We can't remove the lens, but we can become more aware of it

What are specializations of intensive agriculturalists?

Many full-time specialists

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Polynesian

Maori, Samoan, Tikopia Cultivation, fishing; large thatched dwellings, tapa cloth, kava, tattooing, sculpture in wood and stone, outrigger canoes with sails; hereditary social classes and divine chiefs; mana, tabu

What was the inspiration of the interpretive approach?

Max Weber and his concept of verstehen (understanding the other's point of view)

What are community variables within Horticulturalists?

Moderate population density, medium community size

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Central Asian Steppe

Mongols Horse domesticated for transportation, milk, hides; Islam

What do most neuro-scientists believe about religious experiences?

More complex, involving changes in many different regions of the brain

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Australia

Murngin, Yir Yoront Hunting and gathering economy; simple windbreaks, spears and spear-throwers, bark containers; independent bands, highly elaborate kin organization; totemism

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of India

Nayar, Toda Plow agriculture, wheat and barley; caste system

Are there social stratification for foragers?

No

Can you have a true understanding of others with an ethnocentric interpretation?

No

Did the Fore believe the doctors?

No because they could not eat it and it had a long incubation period

What are specializations of foragers?

No full-time specialists, some part-time

What did Malinowski write in 1926?

No sooner had I begun to read this great work than I became immersed in it and enslaved by it

What are the settlement patterns of pastoralists?

Nomadic or semi-nomadic

What are the settlement patterns of foragers?

Nomadic or seminomadic

How are small-scale societies are similar?

Not based on the lives of particular prophets or founders, tend to be limited to one or a few societies, and their adherents might number only a few hundred or a few thousand

What are examples of pastoralists?

Nuer, Maasai

Why can't anthropologists be completely objective?

Observation, recording, and analysis involve processing data in their mind. One's own cultural background, education, training, and other factors.

What did Karl Marx say about religion (quote)?

Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions

What is the value of postmodernism for anthropology?

Reinforce the idea of multiple ways of seeing the world; there is no one right way to think or to do things

What does small scale mean?

Relatively small communities, villages, and bands that practice foraging, herding, or technologically simple horticulture

Why is it difficult to define religion?

The definition can't be too narrow or too vague. So many have been made that they only apply to some cultures and ethnocentric

Define sorery

The evil of magic

What is the Theory of Mind?

The idea that people now, or think they know, what is going on in other people's minds It is what makes us human

What are the Ninian smart 6 dimensions of religion?

The institutional dimension (organization and leadership) The narrative dimension (myths, creation stories, worldview) The ritual dimension (rites of passage and other important ritual activities) The social dimension (religion being a group activity that binds people together) The ethical dimension (customs, moral rules) The experiential dimension (religion involving experiences of a sacred reality that is beyond ordinary experience)

How is culture seen?

The way people dress, how they greet one another, how they go about their chores, and how they worship their gods

What does an analytic definition focus on?

The way religion manifests itself or is expressed in a culture.

What does Edgerton say about cannibalism and sacrifice?

There was very little ritual preparation and they were dealt with in much of the same way as a side of beef. Human flesh was considered a delicacy and greatly desired, to the point it was the main reason for war. "the splendors of aztec culture cannot be denied, but they were achieved at great cost by the many largely for the benefit of the ruling few"

What are the advantages of an etic perspective?

They can see patterns that someone on the inside might not be able to, can apply a consistent form of analysis to many different societies that are being studied. Permits anthropologists to make comparisons between societies and perhaps to discover some universal principles about human behavior.

What are some of the problems with functional definitions?

They could apply equally well to beliefs and behaviors that aren't religious in nature. It is reductionist, reducing religion to a few feelings and behaviors that are not in and of themselves religious

Why was it just women and children?

They were of lower social status so they ate the brain

What is anthropomorphic?

Things that are not human but have humanlife characteristics and behave in humanlike ways

What is participant observation?

To live within the community and to participate to a degree in the lives of the people under study, while at the same time making objective observations.

What is the goal of anthropology?

To study the broad range of human beliefs and behaviors, to discover what it means to be human. Accomplished by examining religious and other cultural phenomena in a wide variety of cultures of different sizes and structures To make the strange familiar and the familiar strange

What does Kuru mean?

To tremble with fear

What is ethnocentrism?

To use our own society as the basis for interpreting and judging other societies

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Desert

Tuareg Livestock herding (horse and camel), and tent shelters; intensive fruit and cereal cultivation, camels, sheep, goat herding, stone and plaster dwellings; Islam

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Siberian

Tungus, Tuva, Yakut Fishing, hunting, reindeer domestication; conical skin dwellings; tailored skin clothing

How many stages are there in the interpretive approach?

Two 1. An analysis of the systems of meaning that are embodied within religious symbols 2. Relating these systems to social structures and psychological processes

What is scapulamancy?

a scapula or shoulder blade from an animal skeleton is dried, sometimes a question is written on it, placed in a fire, and a specialist reads the cracks and burn marks

Where does the quote "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no one is entitled to their own facts" come from?

a senator from New York names Danial Moynihan

What is an omen?

a sign or signal that can be derived from the observation of living or dead animals

What do the Fore of New Guinea see as the cause of nankali aka pleurisy(a lung condition)?

a sorcerer makes bone needles out of the bones of pigs, cassowary, or possums and then blows smoke on the bone needles to make them fly into the victim's body

What is an oracle?

a specific device that is used for divination and can be inspirational or noninspirational ex: Magic 8 Ball

What does a Wiccan magic ritual usually consist of?

a stated goal, manipulation of specific objects, and observation of special conditions(place and time), the core of the ritual("real magic") is movement of energy that happens within the practitioner after being built up and released at the right time

What are some examples of deliberate noninspirational divination?

aleuromancy astrology dowsing flipping a coin graphology haruspication magic 8 ball ordeals ouija board palmistry phrenology scapulamancy tarot cards tasseography

Who studied the religious systems of the Azande and when? Where are they located?

E. E. Evans-Pritchard in the 1920s and 1930s southern Sudan, Congo area(was a British colony at the time)

Who defined culture?

Edward Taylor in 1871

Who wrote Primitive Culture and when?

Edward Tylor, 1871

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Egypt

Egyptians, Nubians Flood-irrigated agriculture (wheat and barley)l early civilization

What are the 5 approaches that anthropologists have used to study religion?

Evolutionary, Marxist, functional, interpretive, and psychosocial

How do intensive agriculturalists get food?

Farming with advance technology

How do horticulturalists get food?

Farming with simple hand tools

What are specializations of Horticuluralists?

Few full-time specialists, some part-time

What are specializations of Pastoralists?

Few full-time specialists, some part-time

How do foragers get food?

Food collectors: gathering, hunting, fishing

What do traditional anthropologists speak of?

Four-fields of anthropology

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Western Sudan

Fulani, Hausa Agriculture and cattle herding; urban centers, dynastic rule and empires; Islam and animism

Why did the Fore practice cannibalism?

Funeral rituals that their kin had to eat them

Who are the Fore?

Group of 14,000 horticulturalists livin in highlands of New Guinea

What are examples of horticulturalists?

Gururumba, Yanomamo, Azande

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Northwest Coast

Haida, Kwakwaka'wakw, Tlingit Salmon and deep sea-fishing, hunting and collecting; large rectangular plank dwellings with gabled roofs, large canoes, elaborate development of decorative art; permanent villages, chiefs, elaborate system of rank

Why did Tylor fail to discover the variability among the world's religious systems?

He did not go into the field to become immersed in the complexity of a particular culture. He relied on reports from other who described often in simplistic and biased ways the people they encounter

What does Brown admit in her book?

Her own experiences doing participant observation research and how she became a Vodou priestess herself

What is an example of every story being an interpretation?

Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick about a literal whale sinking a ship and now we read into the story way more always 3 sides to a story

What are community variables of Intensive Agriculturalists?

High population density. large community size

What is a Neo-Pagan religion?

perceived revival of pre-Christian religious practices

What are the four-fields of anthropology?

physical, archaeology, linguistic, cultural

What are some possible goals of Wiccan magic?

practical and meant to help with relationships, health, protection, money, employment, etc can be used when all else fails and with other efforts ex: magic to get a job while also sending out resumes

What is a "medicine" in Azande magic(aka Zande magic)?

an object in which spiritual power resides, ritual needed to channel the magic present in the object(usually plant material) may be consumed in the ritual or kept intact for use

What is a spell in Trobriand Island culture?

an oral text that is transmitted without change the slightest deviation will invalidate the magic recited in the original language it comes from

What is cosmogony and what are some examples?

an understanding of how things came to be ex: Creation story, how Clemson came to be, Big Bang

What is sorcery?

antisocial magic used to interfere with the economic activities of others and bring about illness

What is our working definition of Religion?

any person's reliance upon a pivotal value in which they find essential wholeness as a person in community

What are some examples of fortuitous noninspirational divination?

apantomancy omens ornithomancy

What is homeopathic magic?

assuming there is a causal relationship between things that appear to be similar can be physical or behavioral

What is astrology?

based on the belief that all of the stars and planets(including the sun and moon) influence the destiny of people

What are some examples of what things can mean in dreams?

bats flying during the day-calm bats flying during the night-problem bull-tough competition riding a horse-sign of happiness black horse-grief monkeys-surrounded by deceit

What is henotheism?

belief in multiple Gods but only worshiping the one

What is the most important Zande oracle?

benge when consulted or sanctioned by a chief, can be used in legal proceedings

How do people of the Fore consult healers?

can belong to non-Fore groups and are called "dream men"-enter altered states of consciousness by inhaling tobacco and other plants quickly to go into a trance and identify a sorcerer

How was Kuru transmitted?

cannibalism

Why is magic dangerous?

causes a problem because people try to do something and then it isn't what they wanted but then they don't know how to fix it "all magic comes with a price" ex: Frankenstein

What are the aspects of divination?

closely related to magic, supernatural ways of gaining information about the unknown(future/faraway/cause of an illness)

What decides if a medicine is good or bad in Azande magic?

context-wanting to kill out of spite is bad and worked in secret in the dead of night because if they are caught they will be put to death/lethal magic that is legally sanctioned to kill witches and sorcerers

What are some of the categories of medicines in Azande magic?

control nature-increase rain, delay sunset horticulture and hunting-direct the flight of a spear, protect a hunter craftsmen magic-aid in their craft protection against witches and sorcerers success in love avenge murder, theft, and adultery curing diseases

What are some popular objects in Wiccan magic?

crystals, herbs, oils, candles, images, specific foods, symbolism of color, chanting and creative visualization closely connected to nature-may consider weather/time of day/lunar phase

What happened in some instances where magic appeared to work?

death magic-person basically dies from extreme fear and is seen as socially dead(the family withdraws support and stops providing food and water/begin funeral ritual before the actual death)

What is traditional herbal medicine often based on?

doctrine of signatures-the belief that signs telling of a plant's medical use are somehow embedded within the structure and nature of the plant itself and that God provided these signatures so people could have help while healing

What are some examples of what pregnant women are told among the Beng of the Ivory Coast in West Africa?

don't eat the bushbuck antelope or the child will be striped give herself enemas with slippery leaves so the child slides out easily her behaviors while pregnant will be mirrored in her child's personality

What do participating men do in the increase rite?

draw sacred designs on their bodies and place various objects on themselves behavior is symbolized in a dance that brings about a sympathetic behavior in the actual animal ex: acting out copulation and birth of a species

What kind of divination is possession?

either fortuitous or deliberate because you can pursue it or happen upon it

What did a team led by Jelle de Boer suggest that the Pythia at the oracle of Delphi inhaled in the temple?

ethylene coming from a fault in the ground below the temple

What does the Jewish calendar to adjust their time and why?

every 7/13 years->have a leap month added Passover=Last Supper and they want Easter and Passover to line up without the adjustment, Passover would keep happening earlier every year compared to the common calendar because of the difference in number of days in a year

What is a presentiment?

feelings that a person experiences that suggest something is about to happen-feeling of dread or impending disaster ex: a warrior might return to a village because of a presentiment and won't be seen as a coward, but as wise

What is the most common way to learn magic in the Trobriand Island culture?

from a family member

What is the increase rite?

from the Aborigines fertility rituals that function to facilitate the successful reproduction of the totem animals performed annually and seen as part of the animal's life cycle

Why do most anthropologists today consider magic to be a part of religion?

it is associated with supernatural mechanisms

Why are a lot of religions against using divination and magic?

it is taking the power from the divine(the main stream) and giving it to us(tributaries) ex: getting off the yellow brick road and being attacked by flying monkeys

What are the best known oracles of the Zande that were described by E. E. Evans-Pritchard?

iwa dakpa benge

What is the most often used oracle from the Zande and how is it used?

iwa-rubbing board oracle really easy to use and can be consulted quickly(for things like illness/journeys/relationships)

What are some examples of deliberate inspirational divination?

prophecy medium

What is tasseography?

reading tea leaves

What is palmistry?

reading the lines of the palm of the hand

What is ornithomancy?

reading the path and form of a flight of birds

What are some examples of things from a person that can be used in contagion magic?

really anything that is connected to someone hair nail cutting one of their belongings(like clothes) footprint name shadow reflection

What are superstitions?

relatively simple forms of magical thinking where simple behaviors bring simple results

Describe a Zande rubbing-board.

relatively small, made of wood with a flat "female" surface and a lid that goes on tope("male") becomes an oracle after it's rubbed with medicines and buried in the ground for a few days lid is moved back and forth-sticking is yes/smooth is no thought to have error because humans made it

What is magic as defined by anthropologists?

rituals by which a person can compel the supernatural to behave in certain ways, need the correct ritual to make it happen

What are some examples of the way diseases are thought to be cured with contagious magic?

transference of the illness onto something else and throwing it away warts-rubbing a penny on it and burying the penny whooping cough-tying a caterpillar around a sick child's neck and the sickness would disappear as the animal died

What do the Fore of New Guinea think is a way to prevent kuru?

trying to keep the sorcerer from getting what he needs-hiding hair clippings, parings, feces, and food scraps

What is dowsing?

using a forked stick to find water underground

What is divination defined as?

using a person or object to bring about something usually reserved for the divine ex: fortune telling(different than prophets because they are approved in the main stream of religion)

What is aleuromancy?

using flower in divination(ex: fortune cookies)

When does a Jewish new year happen compared to the common calendar?

usually in September except when the time is being adjusted(in October)

What is an example of a folk custom brought about by the principle of sympathy and who collected a lot of these examples?

walnuts are good for the brain because they look like a skull folklorist Wayland D. Hand

What is the major difference between how the West and the East keep time?

west-linear, to the right is the future and to the left is the past, has a beginning and an end east-time is circular with no end and no beginning

What is essential to the success of a garden in Trobriand culture?

work and magic very specific divide between the two

Can there be specialists licensed by the government to perform ideals?

yes, ex: among the Kpelle of Liberia-knife ordeal by running a hot knife over the body of the accused and if they are burned, they're guilty

How did the oracle at Delphi speak?

-Apollo spoke through a Pythia(a woman who would enter an altered state of consciousness) -a person wishing to consult the oracle would 1st sacrifice an animal and observe whether or not it was a good day -the Pythia would cleanse herself before consulting Apollo in a spring/drink water in another spring/chew on a laurel leaf -Pythia would sit on a tripod and would inhale a pneuma(sweet-smelling gas) from a chasm in the ground to go into the altered state of consciousness

What did Malinowski study and what did he notice about how they used magic?

-Trobriand Islands -magic is found when the danger is high and not found when something is more certain

What is an overall description of Wicca?

-great variation, but magic is often a central element of a ritual -see their magic knowledge and rituals as a continuation of 1000s of years of folk magic -also borrow from magic traditions of various cultures around the world

What is an example of garden ritual listed by Malinowski in Trobriand Island culture?

-before a field is cleared: painted men gather around a fasting magician in the morning and pick up their magically prepared axes and march to the garden, magician cuts a small sapling with his axe and recites a spell -the sapling is thrown into the forest because it stands for evil influences and the bush-pig that digs up gardens

What does necromancy refer to?

-can be used in different ways but usually means divination through contact with the dead or ancestors -ex: in ancient Greek society, they would take a body to a temple for examination and the signs left on the body were thought to be the dead communicating who killed them

What are the 5 keys to understanding any religious tradition?

1. cosmogony 2. cosmology 3. eschatology 4. every translation is an interpretation 5. "everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no one is entitled to their own facts"

What are the 5 characteristics of apocalyptic thought/worldview?

1. dualism 2. resurrection of the dead and a final judgement 3. the end is near 4. the appearance of an eschatological figure 5. apocalypse story

What are the 6 things that make a mystery religion?

1. secret initiation 2. sacred story 3. identification 4. symbolic death and resurrection 5. communication 6. eternal life

What are the 3 types of knowledge the Trobriand Islanders distinguish?

1. things in the everyday world, shared by all or a large group of adult members of a society, what children learn from parents-boys to garden and girls to weave mats 2. expert knowledge necessary for task specializations like sailing or woodcarving, known by a smaller group, knowledge of particular magical rituals 3. knowledge of the most complex and valued technological skills like canoe building, myths, songs, and dances, highest level, relatively few people

What year is it in Islam and what is it based on?

1441 when Mecca forced Muhammad out lunar calendar

When did the postmodern movement begin?

1980a

How many days are in a Jewish month? year?

28 days in a month 336 days in a year(12 months in a year)

What year is it in the Jewish calendar and what is it based on?

5780 lunar calendar year estimated from a monk that was in a cave and counted the generations of profits starting at Adam and Eve

What year did Muhammad leave Mecca by the common calendar?

622

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Khoisan

Ju/'hoansi San Hunting and gathers; nomadic bands, brush shelters

What are the characteristics of religion?

A belief in anthropomorphic supernatural beings, such as spirits and gods A focus on the sacred supernatural, where sacred refers to a feeling of reverence and awe The presence of supernatural power or energy that is found in supernatural beings as well as physical beings and objects The performance of ritual activities that involve the manipulation of sacred objects to communicate with supernatural beings and/or to influence or control events An articulation of a worldview and moral code through narratives and other means Provides for the creation and maintenance of social bonds and mechanisms of social control within a community provides explanations for the unknown and a sense of control for the individual

What is animism?

A belief in spirit beings

What is a culture area?

A geographical area in which societies tend to share many cultural traits. Due to facing similar challenges from the environment and coming up with similar solutions

What Clifford Geertz write?

A religion is 1-a system of symbols which acts to 2-establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by 3-formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and 4-clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that 5-the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic

What is collective conscious? Who came up with this?

A system of beliefs that act to contain natural selfishness of individuals, or symbols Emile Durkheim

What is an anthropological perspective?

A theoretical orientation, an approach that compares human societies throughout the world-contemporary and historical, industrial and tribal

What are the World's Great Religions?

Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of East African Cattle

Bunyoro, Maasai, Swazi, Zulu Cattle hearding, dairying, hoe agriculture; iron work, age grades, warfare, ancestor worship

Who uses the evolutionary approach?

Contemporary anthropologists because the history of human society has witnessed progressive changes through time. Scholars look for correlations between these changes and various aspects of a society

What is important to Edgerton for the criteria of maladpative?

Criteria are based on the survival of the society and its ability to function, not on an outsider's perception of morality

What is the largest area of anthropological study?

Cultural anthropology

What is one of the basic concepts necessary to anthropology?

Cultural relativism

What is culture?

Culture is that complex whole, which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society

Who wrote Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn

Karen McCarthy in 1978

What does Robert Edgerton say about cultural relativism?

I shall first define [maladaptation] as the failure of a population or its culture to survive because of the inadequacy or harmfulness of one or more of its beliefs or institutions. Second, maladaptation will be said to exists when enough members of a population are sufficiently dissatisfied with one or more of their social institutions or cultural beliefs that the viability of their society is threatened. Finally, it will be considered to be maladaptive when a population maintains beliefs or practices that so seriously impair the physical or mental health of its members that they cannot adequately meet their own needs or maintain their social and cultural system.

How did Malinowski look at religion?

In terms of their purpose in meeting basic human needs

Where do common traits that define a culture area tend to lie?

In the realm of subsistence activites and technology, a common response to the challenges from the environment

What happens to our brains during religious experiences?

Increased activity in front lobe in areas associated with focusing attention and concentration and decreased activity in the parietal lobe in area for sense and orientation in space and time

How did Melford Spiro define religion as?

Institution consisting of culturally patterned interacting with culturally postulated superhuman beings

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Arctic coast

Inuit, Yup'ik Hunting sea mammals and caribou and fishing, shelters made of snow clocks, semi-subterranean sod houses, summer tents made of skins; dog drawn sledges, tailored skin clothing; settlement in small family groups

What are some examples of linguistic anthropology?

Involving the recitation, and the religious beliefs of a people that are expressed in literature and myths

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Eastern Woodlands

Iroquois, Seneca Horticulture, hunting; multiple-family dwellings of bark; matrilineal clans, village chiefs

What did Marx believe about religion?

It did not reflect the true consciousness of people, but a false consciousness designed to divert people's attention from the miseries of their lives. Religion is a natural consequence of the human experience of distress

How is anthropology different from other social sciences?

It is an integrated study of humanity

What is one of critiques of the evolutionary approach?

It is ethnocentric

What were the symptoms of the Fore disease?

Jerking movements and shaking, which lasted 9 months and eventually caused them not to be able to drink or eat

What was the video God on Trial about?

Jewish people in the Holocaust wondering where God is

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Tropical Forest

Jivaro, Mehinaku, Pirahas, Yanomamo Slash-and-burn horticulture; villages often consist of 1 communal dwelling located on rivers; bark canoes and dugouts, clubs and shields, bows and arrows, blow guns, bark cloth, hammock, tobacco; village settlements under chiefs, warfare strongly developed with cannibalism present

What is the problem with an essentialist definition?

Often becomes too specific, focusing narrowly on spirit beings or risk being too vague if they only reference the supernatural

What is an operant definition?

One in which we define our terms so that they are observable and measurable and therefore can be studied

Who is E. E. Evans-Pritchard?

One of Malinowskki's first students and conducted several field expeditions to Central East, and North Africa until WWII. After the war he joined the Social Anthopology at Oxford University

What is an emic perspecive?

One that attempts to see the world through the eyes of the people being studied

What kind of definition is needed to define religion?

Operant definition

How are the great world religions similar?

Origins of these religions are based on the lives of a particular individual or founder, they spread into thousands of different societies, and their adherents numbers in the millions

What is an etic perspective?

Outsiders looking in

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Great Basin-Plateau

Paiute, Shoshoni Acorn collecting, fishing, hunting of small game; small brush windbreaks, elaborate basketry; band organization

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Micronesia

Palau, Truk Yams and taro horticulture, fishing, collection of breadfruit and coconut; expert navigation in sailing canoes; intertribal warfare

What are ethnographers?

People who study human societies and write ethnographies about them and cultural anthropologists

What are foragers?

People without any form of plant or animal domestication. Tend to live in small isolated groups that are found today primarily in areas that are difficult to farm.

What are most fundamental questions answered by?

People's religious beliefs and practices

What are horticulturalists?

Peoples who garden in the absence of fertilization, irrigation, or other advanced technologies

Who are agriculturalists?

Peoples who plow, ferilize, and irrgate their crops

What are Pastoralists?

Peoples whose primary livlihood comes from the herding of domesticated animals

What are the settlement patterns of intensive agriculturalists?

Permanent settlements

What is one of the themes of the Mama Lola book?

Persecution experienced by Haitians in the US and the difficulties they faced in practicing their religion

What are some popular things to discuss when asking if there are any basic human rights and universal standards of behavior?

Physical alterations of the genitalia or cannibalism

How do anthropologist study large complex societies?

Picking a specific companies, hospitals, neighborhoods, gangs, clubs, and churches

What book did Edward Tylor write?

Primitive Culture in 1871

What was Kuru caused by?

Prions

What did The Golden Bough cause Malinowski to do?

Research the Trobriand Islands for over 2 years. Gave the most detailed anthropological study that had been done up to that time by participating in the life of the society he was studying

What is divination ritual?

Reveal things that are difficult or impossible to discover by other means

What are examples of foragers?

San, Murngin, Shoshoni

What are symbols?

Shared understanding about the meaning of certain words, attributes, or objects. Usually arbitrary

What social consequences did kuru have?

Shortage of women meant that men couldn't find wives and had to perform many domestic chores normally reserved for women, including farming

Who used the psychosocial approach?

Sigmund Freud

Are there social stratification intensive agriculturalists?

Significant

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Marginal

Sitiono, Yahgan Hunting, fishing, and gathering; family as basic social unit

What are student anthropology are initially introduced to?

Small communities such as foraging bands, small horticultural villages, and groups of pastoral nomads

What is a bigger term for primitive?

Small scale

What kind of communities do anthropologists firstly study?

Small, remote communities. In a long-term studies

What other discipline that study humanity?

Sociology, psychology, history, and political science

Are there social stratification in horticulturalists?

Some

Are there social stratification in pastoralists?

Some

What is human behavior considered?

Some are innate, most is learned, handed down from one generation to the next

What was kuru believe to be caused according to the Fore?

Sorcery

What is holism?

Study human societies as systematic sums of their parts, as integrated whole study human societies as systematic sums of their parts, as integrated wholes

What does anthropology refers to?

Study of humanity

What is archaeology anthropology?

Study of people who are known only from their physical and cultural remains

How is culture learned by?

Symbols

Give the societies discussed in the text and features of Madagascar

Tanala Marginal Indonesian culture; wet rice irrigation agriculture

What did Bronislaw Malinowski read?

The Golden Bough by James Frazer

What is the core of animism?

The belief in spirit beings

What is Robert Marett's animatism?

The concept of a similar, more basic, and more ancient supernatural force. Grew out of human emotional reaction to the power of nature Mana of the Polynesia and Melanesia

What is a sorcerer?

The person who practices sorcery, would steal something that was once a part of or in contact with the victim and binding it together and reciting a spell

What happened in the latter half of the 19th century?

The rise of the concept of a general evolution of culture, Religion naturally evolved from the simple to the complex and that this evolution was a natural consequence of human nature

What is cultural anthropology?

The study of contemporary human societies. Including a people's social organization, economics and technology, political organization, marriage and family life, child-rearing practices, etc

What is physical anthropology?

The study of human biology and evolution. Interest in genetics, evolutionary theory, the biology and behavior of primates, and paleontology

What is linguistic anthropology?

The study of language, which is a unique feature to humans

What is the pyschosocial approach?

The study of religion that is concerned with the relationship between culture and personality and the connection between the society and the individual Using projection at the individual level to the cultural level

What did Geertz emphasized?

The task of anthropologists was not to discover laws or study origins and causes but instead to make sense of cultural systems by studying the meaning. Religion specifically is described as a cluster of symbols that together make up a whole and provides a charter for a culture's ideas, values, and way of life

Why are scientists similar to magicians?

they don't always know what will happen and have to be responsible with their power

What is ethnographic present?

We discuss these groups in the present tense as they were first described by ethnographers

What do functional definitions focus on?

What religion does either socially or psychologically

What is apantomancy?

a chance meeting with an animal, ex: a black cat crossing your path

What is an eschatological figure?

a figure that represents the end times when they appear

What is channeling?

a medium being possessed by a spirit that speaks through them

What is a mystic?

a more direct communication with the "other" can be too powerful-like a moth to a flame warned not to do this without knowing the main teachings very well

What is a medium?

a person who does an overt action to be deliberately possessed

What is an indigenous people defined as?

a person/group/tribe that has lived in a certain place for generations and have been isolated from other people can be native(from a specific place) without being indigenous because of having outside communication don't think in dualism-think monistically

What is an example of contagious magic in the US?

a rabbit's foot-survives on luck, not skill so it is thought the luck can rub off on whoever has the rabbit's foot the collection and high price of anything used by a celebrity

What are Shamans?

go between worlds freely have second site-gut feeling that something is going to happen some people are wired differently and more or less aware of what is going on

Was astrology originally conducted on an individual or group basis?

group, for the good of the community

What is graphology?

handwriting analysis

What is the fortuitous type of divination?

happen without any conscious effort on the part of the individual ex: sees birds or falls into a trance

What is eschatology and what are some examples?

how things come to an end ex: rapture, running out of resources, sun explodes

What is the identification in mystery religions used for?

identifying each other discreetly and identifying with past members/founders/ideals

What does "maya" mean in sanskrit?

illusion ex: we stress over things in our life as being the most important, when really it's just maya

What is the most familiar kind of homeopathic magic? Describe it.

image magic-the practice of making an image to represent a living person or animal, which can then be killed or injured by doing things to the image ex: drawing animals on the walls of caves, sticking a pin in a doll

What is a seance?

individuals get together and try to get messages from the dead with the help of a medium

What is the definition of inspirational divination?

involve some type of spiritual experience such as direct contact with a supernatural being through an altered state of consciousness(ex: possession)

What do Hindu people do to get out of their reincarnation cycle and what is it called?

they have to be enlightened that the cycle is an illusion/"be on top of ignorance" "moksha"=ceasing to exist

What was Saint Valentine the saint of?

lovers epileptics bee keepers

What are some reasons why people believe magic works?

magic appears to never fail -magic is often used to bring about events that will occur naturally -if it doesn't work, you didn't do it right -can be performed by two opposing sides and the stronger one will win -selective memory-only remembering when magic works/coincidences

What is the Law of Sympathy and who wrote it? What are the two parts?

magic depends on the apparent association or agreement between things Frazer, 1890 the Law of Similarity and the Law of Contagion

What are some Wiccan moral rules?

magic is to be used only for positive purposes respect life, respect the earth, and respect power too much to use it for evil

How did Annette Weiner differ from Malinowski's ideas?

magic may not be used in situations that aren't dangerous but there are still reasons to use magic other than protection-to have successful fishing trip/hunt/harvest

What is mechanical divination and what are some examples?

manipulation of objects ex: ouija board, magic 8 ball, tarot cards, throwing bones to read the pattern

What are some examples of dualism?

mind and body good and evil yin and yang fate and free will light and dark

What are noninspirational types of divination?

more magical ways of doing divination and include the reading of natural events as well as the manipulation of oracular devices

What are some examples of fortuitous inspirational divination?

necromancy oneiromancy possession presentiments

Is all magic directed and purposeful?

no, can be accidental like pressing the wrong button and getting a result instead of offending a diety

Are Zande magic rites usually formal and public?

no, private usually and not very formal-some are public like war magic

What is the difference between what indigenous people and what non-indigenous people view as holy/sacred?

non-indigenous: things/items, ex: Bill of Rights, family, education, etc indigenous: everything is special and held as holy because everything is connected, ex: environment/air/people/etc

What is the difference between an apocalyptic prophecy and other prophecies?

other prophecies are conditional(change your behavior or else) while an apocalypse is going to happen no matter what you do

What are ordeals?

painful and often life-threatening tests that a person who is suspected of guilt may have to go through, aka a trial by divination on the body ex: dipping a hand into hot oil, swallowing oil, having a red hot knife placed against their skin

What is the Law of Similarity?

things that are alike are the same gives rise to homeopathic/imitative magic

What is the Law of Contagion?

things that were once in contact continue to be connected after the connection is severed gives rise to contagious magic

When do superstitions mostly arise?

situations difficult to control and negative results are frequent ex: gambling, athletics

How is a dakpa used?

slightly more reliable than an iwa almost any man and sometimes women can use this find a termite mound and put 2 branches from 2 different trees into the mound, check the next day if one or both has been eaten by the termites

What is the deliberate type of divination?

someone sets out to do it ex: reading tarot cards, examining the liver of an animal

What is a Relic?

something from something/a piece of something ex: multiple churches having St. Valentine's skull-you can believe that it is important but may be hard to prove or authenticate

What is a reliquary?

something that holds a relic

When does a Jewish week start?

sundown on Friday

What is the definition of divination?

techniques for obtaining information about things unknown comes from the same root word as divinity-having to do with the supernatural

What did Edward Tylor believe about magic?

that it was logical, but based on faulty assumptions of two things having a causal relationship that are just similar didn't include magic with religion because no spirits were involved

Where do we get the fully developed zodiac and the attempt to chart and individual's destiny by looking at the position of the stars and planets?

the Greeks

What is an Axis Mundi and what are some examples?

the center of the world/portal between world and power certain places being more connected to a power ex: Mount Shasta for Native Americans, Northern Lights, Hawaii-near volcanoes, Gettysburg-presence of dead spirits, Jerusalem, Mecca

What is ethnography?

the descriptive study of human societies

Why can the initiation of a mystery religion be kept secret?

to be special to keep out of trouble

What is haruspication?

the examination of the entrails of sacrificed animals

What is one of the most important parts of Babylonian astrology?

the idea that the movements of the celestial bodies represented the will of the gods

What is oneiromancy?

the interpretation of dreams

How is magic transferred between non-relatives in the Trobriand culture?

the one who wants to learn will give a series of gifts to the owner of the magic advantageous for the owner to spread out the teaching to maximize the gifts and sometimes the owner dies before they are done-magic might not be effective because the transfer is incomplete magic can disappear when someone dies without sharing the skills magic can also be bought by travelers from some

Why is prophecy fortuitous?

the prophet receives information through a vision unexpectedly ex: Moses

How did Bronislaw Malinowski explain the difference between magic and religion?

the purpose of each: religion has a more general goal and magic has very specific goals

What is the main difference between modern Christianity in America and mystery religions?

the secrecy

What is phrenology?

the study of the shape and structure of the head

What is a dakpa?

the termite oracle

What is cosmology and what are some examples of what can cause differences in cosmology?

the view of the world and how they live, following the rules of the deity different because of things like geography, family, weather, etc

What worldview is Wiccan magic based on?

there is power in everything and can be awakened through rituals(music, dance, visualizations, etc) and set to a particular goal/power can also be moved from 1 person to another or between humans, places, and objects