Mary Crow God Religion Analysis

The religions of both Mary Crow Dog and Shuda Mazumdar represent many of Livingston’s concepts pertaining to religion. Both the Native American religion of Mary and the type of Hinduism that Shuda practices fit into Livingston’s working definition of religion, as both of the religions have “activities and beliefs” that are directed toward something “perceived to be of sacred value and transforming power (Livingston 8). In the case of Mary’s religion, some of the activities she participated in that were religious in nature included the consumption of peyote in order to receive visions, the smoking of the pipe, sitting in a vision pit, and partaking in the Sun Dance ceremony. The Sun Dance is an example of a religious ritual. The Sun Dance is a ritual in which participants dance and “pierce their flesh with skewers …show more content…
The vision pit is an example of sacred time and space, which is only sacred when it is being used. This temporary transformation from the profane to the sacred is called hierophany (Livingston 43). Another example of hierophany is the Sun Dance, as the event took place at an old fairground and only became sacred for the time of the Sun Dance. One of the few examples of sacred time that is permanent is after the Native Americans kill a buffalo, as they pray in thanks for all that it provides them. Similarly, Shuda prays before her meals and venerates the cow, as it provides her with sustenance. In Hinduism the sacred time and space is more permanent. One example of a permanent sacred space is the puja room, where Shuda performs her rituals to Shiva. The time during these rituals is also sacred time. Shuda’s wedding is an example of temporary sacred time and space, as after the wedding the grounds would return to being profane. In addition to these differences in sacred time and space, the religions differ in their understanding of the