Perspectives An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology Religion

RELIGION , Pasadena City College Learning Objectives Define religion and explain its significance in human cultures . Summarize theories developed by anthropologists to explain the importance of supernatural beliefs in human communities . Identify the four elements of religion ( cosmology , belief in the supernatural , rules of behavior , and rituals ) and explain how each element contributes to religious practices . Define rites of passage , rites of intensification , and rites of revitalization and explain the purpose of each type of ritual . Humans have always wondered about the meaning of the life , the nature of the universe , and the forces that shape our lives . While it is impossible to know for sure how the people who lived thousands of years ago answered these kinds of questions , there are some clues . Fifty thousand years ago , human communities buried the dead with stone tools , shells , animal bones , and other objects , a practice that suggests they were preparing the deceased for an afterlife , or a world beyond this one . Thirty thousand years ago , artists entered the cave in France and painted dramatic scenes of animals on the cave walls along with abstract symbols that suggest the images were part of a supernatural belief system , possibly one focused on ensuring safety or success in hunting ( Figure ) A few thousand years later , collections of small clay sculptures , known as Venus figurines , began appearing across . They seem to express ideas about fertility or motherhood and may have been Viewed as magical ( Figure ) 286

287 Figure An image from the cave painted about years ago . The paintings may have been part of religious ceremonies intended to ensure success in hunting . and and may have been associated with spiritual beliefs about motherhood or . Figure The Venus of figurine was made between and and may have been associated with spiritual beliefs about motherhood or .

288 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL DEFINING RELIGION Because ideas about the supernatural are part of every human culture , understanding these beliefs is important to anthropologists . However , studying supernatural beliefs is challenging for several reasons . The first difficulty arises from the challenge of defining the topic itself . The word religion , which is commonly used in the United States to refer to participation in a distinct form of faith such as , Islam , or Judaism , is not a universally recognized idea . Many cultures have no word for at all and many societies do not make a clear distinction between beliefs or practices that are religious , or spiritual and other habits that are an ordinary part of daily life . For instance , leaving an incense offering in a household shrine dedicated to the spirits of the ancestors may be viewed as a ple part of the daily routine rather than a religious practice . There are societies that believe in natural beings , but do not call them Some societies do not see a distinction between the natural and the supernatural observing , instead , that the spirits share the same physical world as humans . like heaven , hell , or even prayer do not exist in many societies . The divide between religion and related ideas like spirituality or even magic is also murky in some cultural . To study supernatural beliefs , anthropologists must cultivate a perspective of cultural relativism and strive to understand beliefs from an or insider perspective . Imposing the definitions or from one culture on another is likely to lead to misunderstandings . One example of this problem can be found in the early anthropological research of Sir James Frazer who attempted to compose the first comprehensive study of the worlds major magical and religious belief systems . Frazer was part of early generation of anthropologists whose work was based on reading and questionnaires mailed to missionaries and colonial officials rather than travel and . As a result , he had only minimal information about the beliefs he wrote about and he was quick to apply his own ions . In The Golden Bough ( 1890 ) he dismissed many of the spiritual beliefs he documented I look upon them not merely as false but as preposterous and His contemporary , Sir . was less dismissive of unfamiliar belief systems , but he defined religion minimally and , for some , in overly row terms as the belief in supernatural This definition excludes much of what people around the world actually As researchers gained more information about other cultures , their ideas about religion became more complex . The sociologist Emile recognized that religion was not simply a belief in supernatural beings , but a set of practices and social institutions that brought of a community together . Religion , he said , was a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things , that is to say , things set aside and and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church , all those who adhere to analysis of religion emphasized the significance of spiritual beliefs for relationships between people . Subsequent anthropological research in communities around the world has confirmed that rituals associated with beliefs in the supernatural play a significant role in structuring community life , providing rules or guidelines for behavior , and bonding members of a community to one another . Interestingly , religious beings , such as gods or spirits , also demonstrate social qualities . Most of the time , these beings are imagined in familiar terms as entities with personalities , desires , and agency , an ability to make decisions and take action . Supernatural beings , in other words , are not so different from In keeping with this idea , religion can be defined as the means by which human society and culture is extended to include the This definition is deliberately broad and can be used to encompass many different kinds of belief systems . Many religions involve ideas or rituals that could be described as magical and the relationship between religion and magic is complex . In his General Theory ( 1902 ) Marcel gested that religion and magic were two opposite poles on a spectrum of spiritual beliefs . Magic was at

289 one end of the spectrum it was private , secret , and individual . Religion was at the opposite end of the spectrum it was public and oriented toward bringing the community Although presented religion and magic as part of the same general way of thinking , many contemporary anthropologists are convinced that making a distinction between religion and magic is artificial and usually not particularly useful . With this caution in mind , magic can be defined as practices intended to bring supernatural forces under one personal control . Sorcerers are individuals who seek to use magic for their own purposes . It is important to remember that both magic and sorcery are labels that have historically been used by outsiders , including anthropologists , to describe spiritual beliefs with which they are unfamiliar . Words from the local language are almost always preferable for representing how people think about themselves . THEORIES OF RELIGION Sir James Frazer effort to interpret religious mythology was the first of many attempts to stand the reasons why cultures develop various kinds of spiritual beliefs . In the early twentieth century , many anthropologists applied a functional approach to this problem by focusing on the ways religion addressed human needs . 1931 ) who conducted research in the Islands located near New Guinea , believed that religious beliefs met psychological needs . He observed that religion is not born out of speculation or , still less out of illusion or sion , but rather , out of the real tragedies of human life , out of the conflict between human plans and At the time of research , the Islanders participated in an event called the kula ring , a tradition that required men to build canoes and sail on long and dangerous journeys between neighboring islands to exchange ritual items . noticed that before these dangerous trips several complex rituals had to be performed , but ordinary sailing for fishing trips required no special preparations . What was the difference ?

concluded that the longer trips were not only more dangerous , but also provoked more anxiety because the men felt they had less control over what might happen . On long voyages , there were many things that could go wrong , few of which could be planned for or avoided . He argued that religious rituals provided a way to reduce or control anxiety when these The use of rituals to reduce anxiety has been documented in many other settings . George ( 1971 ) documented forms of baseball magic among professional athletes . Baseball players , for instance , have rituals related to how they eat , dress , and even drive to the ballpark , rituals they believe contribute to good As a functionalist , believed that religion provided shared values and behavioral norms that created solidarity between people . The sociologist Emile also believed that religion played an important role in building connections between people by creating shared definitions of the sacred and profane . Sacred objects or ideas are set apart from the ordinary and treated with great respect or care while profane objects or ideas are ordinary and can be treated with disregard or tempt . Sacred things could include a God or gods , a natural phenomenon , an animal or many other things . Religion , concluded , was a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things , that is to say , things set apart and and practices that unite , into one single moral community called a Church , all those who adhere to 12 Once a person or a thing was as sacred , believed that celebrating it through ritual was a powerful way to unite communities around shared In addition , celebrating the sacred can create an intense experience referred to as collective effervescence , a passion or energy that arises

290 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY when groups of people share the same thoughts and emotions . The experience of collective magnifies the emotional impact of an event and can create a sense of awe or Following , many anthropologists , including Dame Mary Douglas , have found it useful to explore the ways in which definitions of sacred and profane structure religious beliefs . In her book Purity and Danger ( 1966 ) Douglas analyzed the way in which cultural ideas about things that were dirty or impure religious beliefs . The kosher dietary rules observed by Jews were one prominent example of the application of this kind of The philosopher and historian Karl Marx famously called religion the opium of the 16 He viewed religion as an ideology , a way of thinking that attempts to justify inequalities in power and tus . In his view , religion created an illusion of happiness that helped people cope with the economic difficulties of life under capitalism . As an institution , Marx believed that the Christian church helped to legitimize and support the political and economic inequality of the working class by encouraging nary people to orient themselves toward the afterlife , where they could expect to receive comfort and happiness . He argued that the obedience and conformity advocated by religious leaders as a means of reaching heaven also persuaded people not to fight for better economic or social conditions in their rent lives . Numerous examples of the use of religion to legitimize or justify power differences have been documented including the existence of divine rulers , who were believed to be ered by the Gods themselves , in ancient Egyptian and societies . A glimpse of the legitimizing role of religion is also seen in the practice of having elected officials take an oath of office using the Bible or another holy book . The psychologist Sigmund Freud believed that religion is the institution that prevents us from acting upon our deepest and most awful desires . One of his most famous examples is the Oedipal complex , the story of Oedipus who ( unknowingly ) had a sexual relationship with his mother and , once he ered this , ripped out his own eyes in a violent and gory death . One possible interpretation of this story is that there is an unconscious sexual desire among males for their mothers and among females their fathers . These desires can never be acknowledged , let alone acted on , because of the damage they would cause to In one of his most works , Totem and Taboo , Freud proposes that religious beliefs provide rules or restrictions that keep the worst instincts , like the Oedipal complex , suppressed . He developed the idea of totemic religions , belief systems based on the worship of a animal or object , and suggested that the purpose of these religions was to regulate interactions with socially significant and potentially disruptive objects and One interesting interpretation of religious beliefs that builds on the Work of , Marx , and Freud is Marvin Harris analysis of the Hindu prohibition against killing cows . In , the cow is honored and treated with respect because of its fertility , gentle nature , and association with some Hindu deities . In his book Cow , Pigs , Wars , and Witches ( 1974 ) Harris suggested that these religious ideas about the cow were actually based in an economic reality . In India , cows are more valuable alive as a source of milk or for doing work in the fields than they are dead as meat . For this reason , he argued , cows were defined as sacred and set apart from other kinds of animals that could be killed and eaten . The subsequent development of religious explanations for cows specialness reinforced and the special A symbolic approach to the study of religion developed in the century and presented new ways of analyzing supernatural beliefs . Clifford , one of the anthropologists responsible for creating the symbolic approach , defined religion as a system of symbols which acts to establish , persuasive , and 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 suggested that religious practices were a way to enact or

291 make visible important cultural ideas . The symbols used in any religion , such as a cross or even a cow , can be interpreted or read by anthropologists to discern important cultural values . At the same time , religious symbols reinforce values or aspirations in members of the religious community . The ian cross , which is associated with both death and resurrection , demonstrates ideas about sacrifice and putting the needs of others in the community first . The cross also symbolizes deeper ideas about the nature of life itself that suffering can have positive outcomes and that there is something beyond the current reality . A symbolic approach to religion treats religious beliefs as a kind of text or performance that can be interpreted by outsiders . Like the other theories described in this section , symbolic approaches sent some risk of misinterpretation . Religious beliefs involve complex combinations of personal and social values as well as embodied or visceral feelings that can not always be appreciated or even by outsiders . The persistently large gap between ( insider ) and ( outsider ) explanations for religious beliefs and practices makes the study of religion one of the most challenging topics in cultural anthropology . ELEMENTS OF RELIGION Despite the wide variety of supernatural beliefs found in cultures around the world , most belief do share some common elements . The first of these characteristic is cosmology , an explanation for the origin or history of the world . Religious provide big picture explanations for how human life was created and provide a perspective on the forces or powers at work in the World . A ond characteristic of religion is a belief in the supernatural , a realm beyond direct human experience . This belief could include a God or gods , but this is not a requirement . Quite a few religious beliefs , as discussed below , involve more abstract ideas about supernatural forces . Most religions also share a third characteristic rules governing behavior . These rules define proper conduct for individuals and for society as a whole and are oriented toward bringing individual actions into harmony with spiritual beliefs . A fourth element is ritual , practices or ceremonies that serve a religious purpose and are ally supervised by religious specialists . Rituals may be oriented toward the supernatural , such as rituals designed to please the gods , but at the same time they address the needs of individuals or the as a whole . Funeral rituals , for instance , may be designed to ensure the passage of a deceased person to the afterlife , but also simultaneously provide emotional comfort to those who are grieving and vide an outlet for the community to express care and support . Religious Religious are ways of explaining the origin of the universe and the principles or order that governs reality . In its simplest form , a cosmology can be an origin story , an explanation for the tory , present state , and possible futures of the world and the origins of the people , spirits , divinities , and forces that populate it . The ancient Greeks had an origin story that began with an act of creation from Chaos , the first thing to exist . The deities , representing darkness , and , representing night , were born from Chaos . gave birth to Aether ( light ) and Hemera ( day ) Hemera and took turns exiting the underworld , creating the phenomenon of day and night . Aether and Hemera next created ( Earth ) the mother of all life , who gave birth to the sky , the mountains , the sea , and eventually to a pantheon of gods . One of these gods , Prometheus , shaped humans out of mud and gave them the gift of fire . This origin story many significant cultural ideas . One of these is the depiction of a world organized into a hierarchy with gods at the top and humans obligated to honor them .

292 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL Traditional Navajo origin stories provide a different view of the organization of the universe . These stories suggested that the world is a set of fourteen stacked plates or Creation began at the lowest levels and gradually spread to the top . The lower levels contained animals like insects as well as and who lived in their own worlds with distinct and societies . At the top level , First Man and First Woman eventually emerged and began making preparations for other humans , creating a sweat lodge , traditional house ) and preparing sacred medicine bundles . During a special ceremony , the first human men and women were formed and they created those who Like the Greek origin story , the Navajo cosmology explains human and emphasizes the debt humans owe to their supernatural ancestors . The first two chapters of the Biblical Book of Genesis , which is the foundation for both Judaism and Christianity , describe the creation of the world and all living creatures . The exact words vary in translations , but describe a God responsible for creating the world and everything in it In the beginning God created the heavens and the The process began with the division of light from darkness , land from water , and heaven from earth . On the fifth day , God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves , with which the waters swarmed after their kind , and every winged bird after its kind and God saw that it was 22 On the sixth day , God created man in His own image , in the image of God He created him male and female He created 23 This differs from the others in describing an act of creation by a single deity , God , but shares with the Greek and Navajo versions a description of creation that emphasizes the relationship between people and their creator . Reading these also raises the question of how they should be interpreted . Are these origin stories regarded as literal truth in the cultures in which they originated ?

Or , are the stories metaphorical and symbolic ?

There is no simple answer to this question . Within any culture , individuals may disagree about the nature of their own religious traditions . Christians , for instance , differ in the extent to which they view the contents of the Bible as fact . Cultural relativism requires that avoid making judgments about whether any cultural idea , including religious beliefs , is correct or Instead , a more useful approach is to try to understand the multiple ways people interpret or make sense of their religious beliefs . In addition it is important to consider the function a religious has in the wider society . As observed , a myth or origin story is not an idle tale , but a active 24 Belief in the Supernatural Another characteristic shared by most religions is a concept of the supernatural , spirits , divinities , or forces not governed by natural laws . The supernatural can take many forms . Some supernatural entities are anthropomorphic , having human characteristics . Other supernatural forces are more generalized , seen in phenomena like the power of the wind . The amount of involvement that supernatural forces or entities have in the lives of humans varies . Abstract Forces Many cultures are organized around belief in an impersonal supernatural force , a type of religion known as animatism . The idea of mana is one example . The word itself comes from and may originally have meant powerful wind , lightning or Today , it still refers to power , but in a more general sense . Aram , a pastor from the Solomon Islands , has compared mana to turning on

293 a You sense something powerful but unseen , and power is made manifest in the 25 Traditionally , the ability to accumulate mana in certain locations , or in ones own body , was to become potent or Certain locations such as mountains or ancient sites ( mama ) have particularly strong mana . Likewise , individual behaviors , including sexual or violent acts , were viewed as ways to accumulate mana for oneself . Interestingly , the idea of mana has spread far beyond its original cultural context . In 1993 , Richard Garfield incorporated the idea in the card game Magic The Gathering . Players of the game , which has sold millions of copies since its introduction , use mana as a source of power to battle wizards and magical creatures . Mana is also a source of power in the immensely popular computer game World of These examples do show cultural appropriation , the act of copying an idea from another culture and in the process distorting its meaning . However , they also demonstrate how compelling animist ideas about abstract supernatural power are across cultures . Another example of animatism in popular culture is the Force depicted in the George Lucas Star Wars films . The Force is depicted as through everything and is used by Luke Skywalker as a source of potency and insight when he destroys the Death Star . Spirits A house in Thailand . The houses shelter for local that could trouble humans become displeased . The line between the natural and the supernatural can be blurry . Many people believe that humans have a supernatural or spiritual element that coexists within their natural bodies . In Christianity , this element is called the soul . In , it is the The , a group who live in the pines , believe that the soul has four parts a transcendent soul that stays in the spiritual realm even when a person is alive a that is attached to the body , but can move through dreams the breath , which is always attached to the body , and the , which is like a persons Many people believe that the spirit survives after an individual dies , sometimes remaining on Earth and sometimes departing for a supernatural realm . Spirits , or ghosts , who remain on Earth may

294 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY to play an active role in the lives of their families and communities . Some will be and others will be malevolent . Almost universally , spirits of the deceased are assumed to be needy and to make demands on the living . For this reason , many cultures have traditions for the veneration of the dead , rituals intended to honor the deceased , or to win their favor or cooperation . When treated properly , ancestor spirits can be messengers to gods , and can act on behalf of the living after receiving prayers or requests . If they are displeased , ancestor spirits can become aggravated and wreak havoc on the living through illness and suffering . To avoid these problems , offerings in the form of favorite foods , drinks , and gifts are made to appease the spirits . In China , as well as in many other countries , filial piety requires that the living continue to care for the ancestors . 30 In Madagascar , where bad luck and misfortune can be attributed to spirits of the dead who believe they have been neglected , a body may be repeatedly exhumed and shown respect by cleaning the If humans contain a supernatural spirit , essence , or soul , it is logical to think that entities may have their own sparks of the divine . Religions based on the idea that plants , animals , inanimate objects , and even natural phenomena like weather have a spiritual or supernatural element are called animism . The first anthropological description of animism came from Sir Edward Burnett , who believed it was the earliest type of religious practice to develop in human societies . 32 suggested that ordinary parts of the human experience , such as dreaming , formed the basis for spiritual beliefs . When people dream , they may perceive that they have traveled to another place , or may be able to with deceased members of their families . This sense of altered consciousness gives rise to ideas that the world is more than it seems . suggested that these experiences , combined with a pressing need to answer questions about the meaning of life , were the basis for all religious He also assumed that animist religions evolved into what he viewed as more sophisticated religious involving a God or gods . The first turn at the entrance to ' Prefecture , Japan . Today , views about the evolution of religion are considered misguided . No belief system is inherently more sophisticated than another . Several animist religions exist today and have millions of adherents . One of the most is , the traditional religion of japan . spirits known as kami that exist in plants , animals , rocks , places and sometimes people . Certain

295 locations have particularly strong connections to the kami , including mountains , forests , waterfalls , and shrines . shrines in Japan are marked by torii gates that mark the separation between ordinary reality and sacred space ( Figure ) Gods The most powerful spirits are gods , though in practice there is no universal definition of a god that would be recognized by all people . In general , gods are extremely powerful and not part of human , or animal . Despite their unnaturalness , many gods have personalities or qualities that are recognizable and relatable to humans . They are often anthropomorphic , imagined in human form , or zoomorphic , imagined in animal form . In some religions , gods interact directly with humans while in others they are more remote . Anthropologists categorize belief systems organized around a God or gods using the terms ism and polytheism . Monotheistic religions recognize a single supreme God . The largest monotheistic religions in the world today are Christianity , Islam , and Judaism . Together these religions have more than billion adherents Polytheistic religions include several gods . one of the worlds largest polytheistic religions with more than billion practitioners , has a pantheon of deities each with different capabilities and Rules of Behavior Religious beliefs are an important element of social control because these beliefs help to define acceptable behaviors as well as punishments , including supernatural consequences , for misbehavior . One example are the ideas expressed in the Ten Commandments , which are incorporated in the teachings of Christianity , Islam , and Judaism and prohibit behaviors such as theft , murder , dishonesty , and jealousy while also emphasizing the need for honor and respect between people . Behavior that violates the commandments brings both social disapproval from other members of the religious community and potential punishment from God . Buddhism , the worlds fourth largest religion , demonstrates the strong connection between spiritual beliefs and rules for everyday behavior . Buddhists follow the teachings of Buddha , who was an ordinary human who achieved wisdom through study and discipline . There is no God or gods in some forms of Buddhism . Instead , individuals who practice Buddhism use techniques like meditation to achieve the insight necessary to lead a meaningful life and ultimately , after many lifetimes , to achieve the goal of nirvana , release from suffering . Although Buddhism defies easy categorization into any anthropological category , there is an element of animatism represented by karma , a moral force in the universe . Individual actions have effects on ones karma . Kindness toward others , for instance , yields positive karma while acts that are disapproved in Buddhist teachings , such as killing an animal , create negative karma . The amount of positive karma a person in a lifetime is important because it will determine how the individual will be reborn . Reincarnation , the idea that a living being can begin another life in a new body after death , is a ture of several religions . In Buddhism , the form of a human reincarnation depends on the quality of the karma developed during life . Rebirth in a human form is considered good fortune because humans have the ability to control their own thoughts and behaviors . They can follow the Noble Eightfold Path , rules based on the teachings of Buddha that emphasize the need for discipline , restraint , humility , and kindness in every aspect of life . 36

296 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL Rituals and Religious Practitioners The most easily observed elements of any religious belief system are rituals . Victor Turner ( 1972 ) defined ritual as a stereotyped sequence of activities performed in a sequestered place , and designed to preternatural entities or forces on behalf of the actors goals and 37 Rituals have a concrete purpose or goal , such as a wedding ritual that results in a religiously sanctioned union between people , but rituals are also symbolic . The objects and activities involved in rituals stand in for or mean more than what they actually are . In a Wedding ceremony in the United States , the white color of the wedding dress is a traditional symbol of purity . A large amount of anthropological research has focused on identifying and interpreting religious in a wide variety of communities . Although the details of these practices differ in various cultural settings , it is possible to categorize them into types based on their goals . One type of ritual is a rite of passage , a ceremony designed to transition individuals between life A second type of ritual is a rite of intensification , actions designed to bring a community together , often following a period of Revitalization rituals , which also often follow periods of crisis in a community , are ambitious attempts to resolve serious problems , such as war , famine , or poverty through a spiritual or ural Rites of Passage In his original description of rites of passage , Arnold Van ( 1909 ) noted that these rituals were carried out in three distinct stages separation , and incorporation . During the first stage , individuals are removed from their current social identity and begin preparations to enter the next stage of life . The liminal period that follows is a time in which individuals often undergo tests , trials , or activities designed to prepare them for their new social roles . In the final stage of incorporation , return to the community with a new socially recognized status . 41 Rites of passage that transition children into a new status as adults are common around the World . In communities in South Africa , teenage boys were traditionally transitioned to manhood using a series of acts that moved them through each of the three ritual stages . In the separation stage , the boys leave their homes and are circumcised they can not express distress or signs of pain during the dure . Following the circumcision , they live in isolation while their wounds heal , a liminal phase during which they do not talk to anyone other than boys who are also undergoing the rite of passage . This stressful time helps to build bonds between the boys that will follow them through their lives as adult men . Before their journey home , the isolated living quarters are burned to the ground , symbolizing the loss of childhood . When the participants return to their community , the incorporation phase , they are recognized as men and allowed to learn the secret stories of the Rites of

297 Figure Land Diving on Island , Rites of intensification are also extremely common in communities worldwide . These rituals are used to bind members of the community together , to create a sense of or unity that encourages people to see themselves as members of community . One particularly dramatic example of this ritual is the land diving ceremony held each spring on the island of in in the South Pacific . Like many rituals , land diving has several goals . One of these is to help ensure a good harvest by impressing the spirits with a dramatic display of bravery . To accomplish this , men from the community construct wooden towers sixty to eighty feet high , tie ropes made from tree vines around their ankles , and jump toward the ground ( Figure ) Preparations for the land diving involve almost every member of the community . Men spend a month or more working together to build the tower and the vines . The women of the community prepare special costumes and dances for the occasion and everyone takes care of land divers who may be injured during the dive . Both the preparations for the land diving and the festivities that follow are a powerful rite of intensification . Interestingly , the ritual is simultaneously a rite of passage boys can be recognized as men by jumping from high portions of the tower witnessed by elders of the Rites of Revitalization All rites of revitalization originate in difficult or even catastrophic circumstances . One notable ple is a ritual that developed on the island of in the South Pacific . During World War 11 , many islands in the South Pacific were used by the military as temporary bases . was one of these locations and this formerly isolated community experienced an extremely rapid transformation as the military introduced modern conveniences such as electricity and automobiles . In an attempt to make sense of these developments , the islands residents developed a variety of theories about the son for these changes . One possible explanation was that the foreign materials had been given to the islanders by a powerful deity or ancestral spirit , an entity who eventually acquired the name john . The name may be based on a common name the islanders would have encountered while the military base was in operation john from When the war ended and the military departed , the residents of experienced a kind of trauma as the material goods they had enjoyed disappeared and the ohn ritual began . Each year on February fifteenth , many of the islands residents construct copies of airplanes , runways , or ers and march in military formation with replicas of military and American blue jeans . The is intended to attract john , and the material wealth he controls , back to the island . Although

298 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL the ritual has not yet had its intended transformative effect , the participants continue the ritual . When asked to explain his continued faith , one village elder explained You Christians have been waiting years for Jesus to return to Earth , and you haven given up 44 This john custom is sometimes called a cargo cult , a term used to describe rituals that seek to attract material prosperity . Although the john ritual is focused on commodities , or cargo , the term cargo cult is generally not preferred by anthropologists because it the complex motivations involved in the . The word cult also has connotations with fringe or dangerous beliefs and this association also distorts understanding of the practice . Religious Practitioners Since rituals can be extremely complicated and the outcome is of vital importance to the community , specialist practitioners are often charged with responsibility for supervising the details . In many tings , religious specialists have a high social status and are treated with great respect . Some may become relatively wealthy by charging for their services while others may be impoverished , sometimes as a rejection of the material world . There is no universal terminology for religious practitioners , but there are three important categories priests , prophets , and shamans . Priests , who may be of any gender , are religious practitioners . The position of priest emerges only in societies with substantial occupational specialization . Priests are the intermediaries between God ( or the gods ) and humans . Religious traditions vary in terms of the qualifications required for individuals entering the priesthood . In Christian traditions , it is common for priests to complete a program of formal higher education . Hindu priests , known as , must learn the sacred language Sanskrit and spend many years becoming proficient in Hindu ceremonies . They must also follow strict lifestyle restrictions such as a vegetarian diet . Traditionally , only men from the caste were to become , but this is changing . Today , people from other castes , as well as women , are joining the priesthood . One notable feature of societies that utilize spiritual practitioners is a separation between ordinary believers and the God or gods . As intermediaries , priests have substantial authority to set the rules associated with Worship practice and to control access to religious The term shaman has been used for hundreds of years to refer to a part time religious practitioner . Shamans carry out religious rituals when needed , but also participate in the normal work of the munity . A shaman religious practice depends on an ability to engage in direct communication with the spirits , gods , or supernatural realm . An important quality of a shaman is the ability to transcend normal reality in order to communicate with and perhaps even manipulate supernatural forces in an alternate world . This ability can be inherited or Transcending from the ordinary to the spiritual realm gives shamans the ability to do many things such as locate lost people or animals or heal the sick by identifying the spiritual cause of illness . Among the , who live in northern Russia , the role of the shaman is thought to be a special calling , one that may be especially appropriate for people whose personality traits seem abnormal in the context of the community . Young people who suffer from nervousness , anxiety , or moodiness , for example may feel a call to take up shamanistic There has been some research suggesting that shamanism may be a culturally accepted way to deal with conditions like If true , this might be because achieving an altered state of consciousness is essential for shamanic work . Entering an altered state , which can be achieved through dreams , hallucinogenic drugs , rhythmic music , exhaustion through dance , or other means , makes it possible for shamans to directly engage with the supernatural realm .

299 Shamans of the upper Amazon in South America have been using ayahuasca , a drink made from plants that have hallucinogenic effects , for centuries . The effects of ayahuasca start with the nervous system One under the control of the narcotic sees unroll before him quite a spectacle most lovely landscapes , monstrous animals , vipers which approach and wind down his body or are entwined like rolls of thick cable , at a few centimeters distance as well , one sees who are true friends and those who betray him or who have done him ill he observes the cause of the illness which he sustains , at the same time being with the most advantageous remedy he takes part in fantastic hunts the things which he most dearly loves or abhors acquire in these moments extraordinary vividness and color , and the scenes in which his life normally develop adopt the most beautiful and emotional Among the people of Peru , ayahuasca is thought to be the substance that allows the soul of a shaman to leave his body in order to retrieve a soul that has been lost or stolen . In many cultures , soul loss is the predominant explanation for illness . The believe that the soul is a separate entity from the body , one that is capable of leaving and returning at will . Shamans can also steal souls . The community shaman , under the of ayahuasca , is able to find and retrieve a soul , perhaps even killing the enemy as Anthropologist Scott ( 2000 ) has described similarities between the altered state of ness achieved by shamans and the mental states induced during a rave , a large dance party characterized by loud music with repetitive patterns . In a rave , bright lights , exhausting dance , and sometimes the use of hallucinogenic drugs , induce similar psychological effects to shamanic . argues that through the rave individuals are able to enter altered states of consciousness characterized by a and an ability to transcend the ordinary self . The at these events is often called a , an interesting allusion to the guiding role traditional shamans play in their A prophet is a person who claims to have direct communication with the supernatural realm and who can communicate divine messages to others . Many religious communities originated with prophecies , including Islam which is based on teachings revealed to the prophet Muhammad by God . In ity and Judaism , Moses is an example of a prophet who received direct revelations from God . Another example of a historically significant prophet is Joseph Smith who founded the Church of Latter Day Saints , after receiving a prophecy from an angel named who guided him to the location of a buried set of golden plates . The information from the golden plates became the basis for the Book of Mormon . The major distinction between a priest and the prophet is the source of their authority . A priest gets his or her authority from the scripture and occupational position in a formally organized religious . A prophet derives authority from his or her direct connection to the divine and ability to vince others of his or her legitimacy through charisma . The kind of insight and guidance prophets offer can be extremely compelling , particularly in times of social upheaval or suffering . One prophet who had enormous was David , the leader of the Branch , a schism of the Seventh Day Church . The Branch were , people who believe that major transformations of the world are imminent . David was extremely he was handsome and an eloquent speaker . He offered refuge and solace to people in need and in the process he preached about the coming of an apocalypse , which he believed would be caused by the intrusion of the United States government on the Branch lifestyle . was so influential that when the United States government did eventually try to enter the Branch compound in , Texas in 1993 to search for illegal weapons , members of the group resisted and exchanged gunfire with federal agents . Eventually , under circumstances that are still disputed , a fire erupted in the pound and people , including , were Ultimately , the government helped

300 PERSPECTIVES AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY to fulfill the apocalyptic vision of the group and David became a martyr . The Branch evolved into a new group , Branch , Lord our Righteousness , and today many await Religion is of central importance to the lives of people in the majority of the worlds cultures more than people worldwide identify with a religious However , it is also true that the number of people who say that they have no religious affiliation is growing . There are now about as many people in the world who consider themselves religiously unaffiliated as there are Roman This is an important reminder that religions , like culture itself , are highly dynamic and subject to constant changes in interpretation and allegiance . Anthropology offers a unique perspective for the study of religious beliefs , the way people think about the supernatural , and how the values and behaviors these beliefs inspire contribute to the lives of individuals and communities . No single set of theories or vocabulary can completely capture the richness of the religious diversity that exists in the world today , but cultural anthropology provides a toolkit for understanding the emotional , social , and spiritual contributions that religion makes to the human experience . Discussion Questions i . This chapter describes theories about religion developed by , Marx , and Freud . What are the strengths and weaknesses of each theory ?

Which theory would be the most useful if you were attempting to learn about the religious beliefs of another ture ?

Rites of passage and rites of intensification are an important part of many religious traditions , but these same rituals also exist in secular ( What are some examples of these rituals in your own community ?

What role do these rituals play in bringing people together ?

argued that a distinction between the sacred and the profane was a key characteristic of religion . Thinking about your own culture , what are some examples of ideas or objects that are considered sacred ?

What are the rules concerning how these objects or ideas should be treated ?

What are the penalties for people who do not follow these rules ?

GLOSSARY Animatism a religious system organized around a belief in an impersonal supernatural force . Animism a religious system organized around a belief that plants , animals , inanimate objects , or ural phenomena have a spiritual or supernatural element . Anthropomorphic an object or being that has human characteristics . Cargo cult a term sometimes used to describe rituals that seek to attract material prosperity . The term is generally not preferred by anthropologists . effervescence the passion or energy that arises when groups of people share the same thoughts and emotions . Cosmology an explanation for the origin or history of the world . Cultural appropriation the act of copying an idea from another culture and in the process distorting its meaning . Filial piety a tradition requiring that the young provide care for the elderly and in some cases ancestral spirits .

301 Magic practices intended to bring supernatural forces under one personal control . people who believe that major transformations of the world are imminent . Monotheistic religious systems that recognize a single supreme God . Polytheistic religious systems that recognize several gods . Priests religious practitioners . Profane objects or ideas are ordinary and can be treated with disregard or contempt . Prophet a person who claims to have direct communication with the supernatural realm and who can communicate divine messages to others . Reincarnation the idea that a living being can begin another life in a new body after death . Religion the extension of human society and culture to include the supernatural . Revitalization rituals attempts to resolve serious problems , such as war , famine or poverty through a spiritual or supernatural intervention . Rite of intensification actions designed to bring a community together , often following a period of crisis . Rite of passage a ceremony designed to transition individuals between life stages . Sacred objects or ideas are set apart from the ordinary and treated with great respect or care . Shaman a part time religious practitioner who carries out religious rituals when needed , but also in the normal work of the community . Sorcerer an individual who seeks to use magic for his or her own purposes . Supernatural describes entities or forces not governed by natural laws . Zoomorphic an object or being that has animal characteristics . ABOUT THE AUTHOR is an anthropologist with research in the fields of comparative religion and psychological anthropology . She received a Master of Arts from Columbia University in the City of New York in Anthropology and has since been researching and teaching . Currently , is an instructor at Pasadena City College teaching Cultural and Biological Anthropology . In her free time , enjoys traveling the world , visiting archaeological and cultural sites along the way . She and her husband are actively involved in animal rescuing , hoping to eventually found their own animal rescue for animals that are waiting to find homes . Notes . See jean , Cave Art ( London , 2010 ) and The Venus Figurines Textiles , Basketry , Gender , and Status in the Upper Paleolithic Current Anthropology 41 ( 2000 ) James Frazer , The Golden Bough ( New York Macmillan and Company , 1958 1890 ) Edward , Primitive Culture ( London John Murray , 1871 ) Emile , The Elementary Forms Life , Swain ( London George Allen and , 1965 1915 ) jack David , Introducing Anthropology of Religion ( New York , 2007 ) Ibid . Marcel , A General Theory ( London , 1972 1902 ) 24 . Culture ( New York MacMillan Publishing , 1931 )

302 AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY 10 . 11 . 12 . 13 . 14 . 15 . 16 . 17 . 18 . 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 . 27 . 28 29 . 30 . 31 . 32 . 33 . 34 . 35 . 36 . 37 . 38 . 39 . 40 . 41 . 42 . Rational Mastery by Man of his Surroundings , in Magic , Science , Religion ( New York Hill , 1955 ) George , Baseball Magic Transaction ( 1971 ) Emile , Elementary Forms Life ( New York The Free Press , 1912 ) Ibid . Kenneth Allan , Explorations in Classic Sociological Theory Seeing the Social World , Thousand Oaks , CA Pine Forge Press , 2005 ) Mary Douglas , Purity and Danger ( London , 1966 ) Karl Marx , Critique Philosophy ( Oxford Oxford University Press , 1970 1844 ) Charles , A Critical Dictionary ( London Puffin Press , 1995 ) Sigmund Freud , Totem and Taboo ( New York Norton Company , 1950 ) Marvin Harris , Cows , Pigs , Wars and Witches The Riddles of Culture ( New York Random House , 1974 ) Clifford , Religion as a Cultural System , in The Interpretation of Cultures Selected Essays , ed . Clifford , London Press , 1993 ) Sam Gill , Sacred Words A Study Religion and Prayer ( Greenwood Publishing , 1981 ) 52 . Magic , Science and Religion and Other Essays ( Greenwood Press , 1984 1926 ) 199 The quote comes from Aram , Press the button , mama ! Mana and Christianity on in the Solomon Islands ( paper presented at the Australia and New Zealand Association of Theological Schools Conference held in , 2013 ) His work is cited in Alex , The History of Mana How an Concept Became a Video Game Mechanic The Appendix no . 2014 ) Roger , Rethinking journal Research 40 no . 1984 ) Alex , The History of Mana . jack David , Introducing Anthropology . Thomas , The Violence and Law in a Philippine Society ( New York Holt , 1972 ) Charles , Filial Piety Practice and Discourse in Contemporary East Asia ( Stanford Stanford University Press , 2004 ) Madagascar Dance with the Dead , co , Edward , Primitive Culture . Edward , The Limits of Savage Religion journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 21 ( 1892 ) Pew Research Center , The Future of World Religions Population Growth Projections , April , 2015 The characterization of as polytheistic is contested . The deities in can be viewed as a of , the most significant supernatural force . Andrew , A Concise History ( New York Barnes and Noble Publishing , 2000 ) Victor Turner , Symbols in African Ritual Science 179 ( 1972 ) Arnold Van , The Rites of Passage ( Hove , UK Psychology Press , 1960 ) Eliot and Stevens Coon , Principles ( New York Henry Holt and , 1953 ) Anthony . Wallace , Revitalization Movements American Anthropologist 58 ( 1956 ) Victor Turner , Betwixt and Between The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage , The Proceedings of the New American Ethnological Society , 1964 . Casey , Rites of Passage to Present Africa , in Cultural Sociology of the Middle East , Asia , ea Africa An Encyclopedia ( Thousand Oaks Sage Publications , 2012 )

43 . 44 . 45 . 46 . 47 . 48 . 49 . 50 . 51 . 52 . 53 54 . 55 . 303 For more information see Marc , The Carnival of Custom Land Dives , Millenarian Parades and Other Spectacular in 80 no . 2010 ) Paul , They Trust , Smithsonian Magazine , Victor Turner , Religious Specialists , International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences , 13 ( Piers , Shamanism , Indigenous Religions A Companion , ed . Graham Harvey ( New York , 2000 ) The of Northeastern Asia American Anthropologist no . 1901 ) Rick , The Spirit Molecule ( South Paris , ME Park Street Press , 2000 ) Asi es la selva ( Lima , Peru de de la , 1988 ) Robert , The and the Spirit World Ethnology ( 1964 ) Scott , The Rave Spiritual Healing in Modern Western , Anthropological Quarterly 73 ( 2000 ) Kenneth . Newport , The Branch of The History and Beliefs ofan Apocalyptic Movement ( London Oxford University Press , 2006 ) john Burnett , Two Decades Later Some Branch Still Believe , National Public Radio . Pew Research Center , The Global Religious Landscape , December 18 , Ibid .