ANTH1008 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Arnold Van Gennep, Unthinkable, Syncretism
ANTH1008 Lecture Eight: Religion and Ritual
• Religion: belief and ritual concerned with supernatural being, powers and forces
(Kottak 2009:484). A set of beliefs in supernatural beings and forces directed at helping
people make sense of the world and solve important problems (Ferraro 2008:338).
Beliefs and actions related to supernatural beings and forces (miller 2007:340). The
belief in an engagement with the supernatural (Lassiter 2006:173). Some include just
beliefs (ideas), others include behaviour--similar to definitions of culture.
• Secular: not concerned with religion or religious matter; rather worldly than spiritual
• There are, of course, issues defining religion:
-Religion versus secular:
The notion of religion as a special domain is not just unfounded but in fact rather
ethnocentric (Needham in Eller 2009:240). In some societies, religion is difficult to
distinguish religious behaviour from economic, political, or kinship behaviour (Ferraro
2008:339). In Western societies it is sometimes difficult to distinguish religion from
social issues, e.g., abortion, same-sex marriage, evolution.
-religion versus 'supernatural'
Supernatural is phenomena we can't explain through reason or science (Ferraro
2008:339). 'Supernatural' may be misleading and not fitting for all cultures, e.g., spirits
can be seen as a part of the natural world (Bonvillian 2010:354). Is using science to
define this boundary ethnocentric? (For in the Western world we need scientific proof
to believe the supernatural is rea, for the most part. If it can't be explained with Western
science, then it must be supernatural)
• Magic: is a system of supernatural beliefs that involves the manipulation of
supernatural forces for the purpose of intervening in a wide range of human activities
and natural events (Ferraro 2008:341). Magic can also be a precursor to religion, as
suggested by James Frazer. Magic is a savage state where people failed to recognise
their own limitations. Religion evolves as people began to realise their own power to
affect the world was limited compared to that of gods. Religion is more 'realistic' than
magic, Frazer suggests, and science is more 'realistic' than religion, and would replace
religion (James Frazer 1854-1941), most people reject Frazer's view, however. Magical
religions are increasing, e.g., Neo-Paganism, Wicca. Many people turn to magic in their
everyday lives, e.g., sports (lucky undies), fishing, farming. Despite rejecting his
evolutionary views, many social scientists hang onto Frazer's definitions and
distinctions between imitative and contagious magic.
• Imitative (or sympathetic) magic: is based on the idea that the procedure performed
resembles the desired results, e.g., voodoo dolls (Ferraro 2008:341). The belief and
practice that objects which have something in common with each other (e.g., same
shape or texture) have some supernatural connection with each other. For example, to
make rain tip water on the ground, simulating rain (Eller 2009:252). Some aphrodisiacs
employ principles of sympathetic magic.
• Contagious magic: is based on the premise that thing once in contact with a person
continue to influence that person after separation (e.g., hair, teeth, nail clippings).
Development projects to improve sanitation have been unsuccessful because people are
fearful of defecating in a place where one's faeces may be collected by evildoers
(Ferraro 2008:241). The belief that objects that come into contact with each other have
supernatural connection to each other (Eller 2009:252) Magic that operates on the
principle that positive and negative qualities can be transferred through proximity or
contact (Bonvillian 2010:369). For example, act to store up some kind of spiritual
power in a wand, touch you with it, power will be transferred to you, e.g., Aborigines
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pointing the bone (Eller 2009:252) Positive or negative qualities can be transferred
through proximity or contact like an infection. Cab ne sanctifies or blessed by touching
something holy (Bonvillain 2010:369)
• Of course, there are similarities between religion and magic. They are often combined.
Both are systems of supernatural belief (i.e., non-rational, not susceptible to scientific
verification), both are practiced as ways of coping with anxieties, ambiguities and
frustrations.
•
• Early anthropologists focused on the origins and evolution of religion:
• Animism: Tylor (1871) assumed that our early ancestors needed to explain the
difference between the living and the dead and therefore developed the concept of the
soul. It's the belief in souls or doubles (Kottak 2009:484)
• Deities/gods: Tylor: the concept of the soul became personified, and human-like deities
were conceived. He suggested that first people have many gods (polytheism) and then
religion evolved to the belief in one god (monotheism)
• Animatism: Marrett (191) thought our early ancestors believed in powers that were
impersonal. A belief system in which the supernatural is conceived of as an impersonal
power (Miller 2007:344), e.g., mana is neither spirit nor deity in Polynesia (Kottak
2009:484)
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Document Summary
Anth1008 lecture eight: religion and ritual: religion: belief and ritual concerned with supernatural being, powers and forces (kottak 2009:484). A set of beliefs in supernatural beings and forces directed at helping people make sense of the world and solve important problems (ferraro 2008:338). Beliefs and actions related to supernatural beings and forces (miller 2007:340). The belief in an engagement with the supernatural (lassiter 2006:173). Some include just beliefs (ideas), others include behaviour--similar to definitions of culture: secular: not concerned with religion or religious matter; rather worldly than spiritual, there are, of course, issues defining religion: The notion of religion as a special domain is not just unfounded but in fact rather ethnocentric (needham in eller 2009:240). In some societies, religion is difficult to distinguish religious behaviour from economic, political, or kinship behaviour (ferraro. In western societies it is sometimes difficult to distinguish religion from social issues, e. g. , abortion, same-sex marriage, evolution.
