Reading...
Play button
Play button
Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
62 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
|
What is a religious specialist?
|
Someone who has as at least a part of their role, carrying out functions that are somehow tied to the religious system.
|
|
|
How to religious specialists mirror religions?
|
If the religion is heirarchical, so is the arrangement of specialists
|
|
|
Why do we need religious specialists?
|
-have special knowledge
-would take away from the divinity of the 'other side' if everyone could do it -interact with potentially dangerous sources -somebody to carry over the traditions -someone to interpret the traditions for the masses (sometimes) -seek council for problems or questions that are religious in nature |
|
|
What distinguishes a religious specialist?
|
Some sort of criteria or qualification that not everyone else shares
-may be as simple as a desire to do it, a sign that they're chosen by the spirits, particular kinship requirements, gender or age |
|
|
"Less complex" society
|
"Mechanical solidarity"? People do less different things. Little differentiation in roles that people play
|
|
|
"More complex" society
|
"Organic Solidarity"...more differentiation of roles, roles are more specialized, they are invested with varying status. It depends on everybody more to keep it going.
|
|
|
Full-time specialists are more likely in...
|
..."more complex" societies.
|
|
|
Part-time specialists are more likely in...
|
..."less complex" societies. In "more complex" societies, they tend to have lesser status
|
|
|
Full-time specialists
|
Their religion is their main activity because the rest of society can provide for them.
Institutionalized and typically heirarchical (the "priesthood") Oriented to the other world, perform duties on behalf of deities, culturally scripted. Communicate with other world through ritual instead of directly. |
|
|
Full-time specialists are oriented...
|
...to the "other world". They do things at the request of "things" in the other world, not at the request of the people in this world.
When you get married, God wants you to do that. Priests giving sermons to nobody. Communicating with the other world through ritual instead of directly. |
|
|
Part-time specialists
|
Typically support themselves through other means
Idiocyncratic, though within cultural norms, with greater variation allowed than full-time. Oriented toward society, act on behalf of people Training less formalized |
|
|
Part-time specialists are oriented...
|
...toward society, act on behalf of other people.
|
|
|
Part-time specialists' training
|
Less formalized, like an apprenticeship. Learn things from an individual, no institutionalized rules to structure what you do
|
|
|
Part-time specialists communicate HOW with the other world?
|
Directly! Can send a spirit aspect, go into the form of animals, bring spirits in this world, may be possessed by spirits. Tends to happen through "trance"
|
|
|
Trance
|
Achieved in many ways.
Most common: repetitive stimulus (chanting, drumming, etc.), exhaustion (vision quests), extreme pain (Lakota sun dance), sensory deprivation, drugs |
|
|
Shamans
|
Used in a very general way!
They "perform" |
|
|
Aguarana
|
Peoplels in Peru
Spirit dart people! Sorcerers do evil. They work in private, secretive way of making people ill. Shamans find spirit dart and suck it through their mouths. Ingest ayahuasca (a drug), see tiny points of light. Shamans pressured to find who the sorcerer is, and they kill him. |
|
|
Why do shamans use "trickery" if they really believe in the spirits?
|
Just because it looks like faking from the outside doesn't invalidate from the inside
The things we think are trickery are really what the spirit wants the shaman to do to get the ritual right. |
|
|
Shamans being schizophrenics?
|
Probably not. Trivializes something that is very culturally embedded and complex, suggests that they're not in touch with the "real world", very unpredictable, disease may be progressive
|
|
|
Part-time specialists
|
Typically support themselves through other means
Idiocyncratic, though within cultural norms, with greater variation allowed than full-time. Oriented toward society, act on behalf of people Training less formalized |
|
|
Part-time specialists are oriented...
|
...toward society, act on behalf of other people.
|
|
|
Part-time specialists' training
|
Less formalized, like an apprenticeship. Learn things from an individual, no institutionalized rules to structure what you do
|
|
|
Part-time specialists communicate HOW with the other world?
|
Directly! Can send a spirit aspect, go into the form of animals, bring spirits in this world, may be possessed by spirits. Tends to happen through "trance"
|
|
|
Trance
|
Achieved in many ways.
Most common: repetitive stimulus (chanting, drumming, etc.), exhaustion (vision quests), extreme pain (Lakota sun dance), sensory deprivation, drugs |
|
|
Shamans
|
Used in a very general way!
They "perform" |
|
|
Aguarana
|
Peoplels in Peru
Spirit dart people! Sorcerers do evil. They work in private, secretive way of making people ill. Shamans find spirit dart and suck it through their mouths. Ingest ayahuasca (a drug), see tiny points of light. Shamans pressured to find who the sorcerer is, and they kill him. |
|
|
Why do shamans use "trickery" if they really believe in the spirits?
|
Just because it looks like faking from the outside doesn't invalidate from the inside
The things we think are trickery are really what the spirit wants the shaman to do to get the ritual right. |
|
|
Shamans being schizophrenics?
|
Probably not. Trivializes something that is very culturally embedded and complex, suggests that they're not in touch with the "real world", very unpredictable, disease may be progressive
|
|
|
The important thing about myths
|
is that they have some sort of MEANING in society.
|
|
|
What do myths do?
|
They try to answer some of the important questions. Where do we come from? Why are men and women different? etc.
|
|
|
How are myths framed?
|
-they're stories!
-they're sacred. touch on important things. -usually ancient in some sense, discussing the past -they change over time, to reflect what people are thinking/talking about |
|
|
Lévi-Strauss
|
Responsible for archetypal notions of myths. Recurring characters and plots
|
|
|
The "trickser" figure
|
Semi-divine, likes to mess with humanity and cause trouble for entertainment.
|
|
|
What does analysis of myth show?
|
It shows what cultures consider important and how they address those issues!
|
|
|
What is a symbol?
|
Something that represents or stands for something else. There is an arbitrariness to them. Perceived connections between symbols and meanings.
THEY HAVE MEANING BECAUSE OF THE CULTURAL CONTEXT IN WHICH WE UNDERSTAND THEM |
|
|
Polysymy
|
Multiple meanings in a single symbol (pigs being dirty, greedy, fat....smart, and lucky)
|
|
|
Yellow ribbon symbol: The historical background
|
Pop song about a guy who's in prison -> Iranian hostage crisis of 1979 -> Gulf War and Iraq war -> symbol of troops in general
|
|
|
How the meanings of the yellow ribbon have shifted
|
Guy in prison hoping that the girl is waiting for him at home
People in America waiting for the homecoming of the hostages taken against their will, done their time Symbol of support for troops...not being held against will, but nobody likes to be shot at? Ultimately, all about supporting people! Went from actual ribbon around a tree to a picture of a ribbon, to words on the picture of a ribbon, to LOTS of ribbons representing different causes. |
|
|
The important thing about myths
|
is that they have some sort of MEANING in society.
|
|
|
What do myths do?
|
They try to answer some of the important questions. Where do we come from? Why are men and women different? etc.
|
|
|
How are myths framed?
|
-they're stories!
-they're sacred. touch on important things. -usually ancient in some sense, discussing the past -they change over time, to reflect what people are thinking/talking about |
|
|
Lévi-Strauss
|
Responsible for archetypal notions of myths. Recurring characters and plots
|
|
|
The "trickser" figure
|
Semi-divine, likes to mess with humanity and cause trouble for entertainment.
|
|
|
What does analysis of myth show?
|
It shows what cultures consider important and how they address those issues!
|
|
|
What is a symbol?
|
Something that represents or stands for something else. There is an arbitrariness to them. Perceived connections between symbols and meanings.
THEY HAVE MEANING BECAUSE OF THE CULTURAL CONTEXT IN WHICH WE UNDERSTAND THEM |
|
|
Polysymy
|
Multiple meanings in a single symbol (pigs being dirty, greedy, fat....smart, and lucky)
|
|
|
Yellow ribbon symbol: The historical background
|
Pop song about a guy who's in prison -> Iranian hostage crisis of 1979 -> Gulf War and Iraq war -> symbol of troops in general
|
|
|
How the meanings of the yellow ribbon have shifted
|
Guy in prison hoping that the girl is waiting for him at home
People in America waiting for the homecoming of the hostages taken against their will, done their time Symbol of support for troops...not being held against will, but nobody likes to be shot at? Ultimately, all about supporting people! Went from actual ribbon around a tree to a picture of a ribbon, to words on the picture of a ribbon, to LOTS of ribbons representing different causes. |
|
|
What is ritual?
|
A ceremony performed for a particular purpose in terms of beliefs. A procedure, a set of practices you do to achieve an end.
|
|
|
Elements of a ritual
|
1. There is no number 1...I just don't want to re-number.
2. Repetitive (uses same object, actions repeated, etc. repetitive in elements they all have and recognized culturally in community) 3. Formulaic (you'd feel uneasy if a certain aspect of the ritual wasn't completed) 4. Framed (they're bounded space separate from every day life. Elements that indicate a ritual is going on. Boundaries that define the ritual.) Symbolic 5. Goal-Oriented (accomplished to DO something, whether specific or not) |
|
|
Manifest function
|
The peoples' reasons for doing a ritual. "It's freakin' dry and we need rain"
|
|
|
Latent function
|
Rain dance brings people together when they're stressed, gives them an outlet, a way to think about how they feel about the situation, etc.
|
|
|
Transition ritual
|
Move people from one social role to another
|
|
|
Three stages of a transition ritual
|
1) Separation (physically separated from current role...physical mark, different clothes, physically moving them away, etc.)
2) Transition (centerpiece of the ritual, you're moved but haven't totally transformed yet. 'liminal state'. A sense of danger! 3) Reaggregation (formal introduction to society in your new role) |
|
|
Rituals of rebellion
|
Gluckman
Designed to socially sanction otherwise unacceptable behavior Women behaving like men (in the article), mischief night, etc. They exist to re-inforce social rules! It's very ritualized, and after the ritual, everybody's supposed to go back to normal! |
|
|
Farrer's Apache puberty ritual: What happens?
|
Girls selected at first menstruel cycles. Wise man, mtohers, godmothers are all involved. No specific timing associated with it. NOT all girls do it...perhaps only those with resources
|
|
|
Farrer's Apache puberty ritual: The Events
|
Anointment with LOTS of pollen. Strenuous dancing, all-night. Circuit running around a basket. Heavy costumes! Singing the history of the apache
|
|
|
Farrer's Apache puberty ritual: Function!
|
More of a recognition ritual than a transition
NO sense in which she becomes a woman AT the ritual. She becomes a woman at the moment she reaches menarche! |
|
|
What values of Apache culture are being celebrated with the puberty ritual?
|
-hard work, time, and effort
-community, sharing with the community -apache identity -endurance -some gender stuff going on -fertility -balance, symmetry -generosity |
|
|
the Wari'
|
Practiced mortuary cannibalism
Transition the dead into death to prepare them to be an ancestor that will be eaten Lots of emotional outpouring, trying not to treat the dead as food. Putting them into the ground is horrible and dirty and nasty, and why would you hurt your loved ones like that? |
|
|
the Berewan
|
Want decomp to happen as quickly as possible so the soul of the person can be released. They're nervous about zombies
|
|
|
Vampires in eastern Europe
|
Barbar
Reflection that something has gone wrong with death. Lots of people dying. You look for people you may expect to be vampires. Look for signs on the body. |
