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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are Myths?
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*stories whose truth seems self-evident because they reflexively integrate personal experiences with a wider set ofassumptions about the way the world works
*past and future events |
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How Do Myths Reflect and Shape Societies?
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* Myths are part of social contexts
*Myths justify present-day social arrangements *Myths are tools for overcoming logical contradictions |
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Worldviews
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Encompassing pictures of reality created by themembers of societies.
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religion
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*A type of worldview
*“Ideas and practices that postulate reality beyond that which is immediately available to the senses.” |
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What is Ritual?
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*Repetitive social practice composed of Sequences of symbolic activities *Formal behaviour performed in sacred places at set times |
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Sequences of symbolic activities:
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*Speech
*Singing *Dancing *Gestures *Manipulation of certain objects |
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Rites of Passage
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A ritual that serves to mark the movement and transformation of an individual from one social position to another.
* Formal (and informal) rituals *Mark transitions in life *Age grades and others *Liminality *Communitas |
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Liminality
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*The ambiguous transitional state in a rite of passage in which the person or persons undergoing the ritual are outside their ordinary social positions.
*temporary suspension and even reversal of ordinary social distinctions, behaviors, and expectations |
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Communitas
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unstructured or minimally structured community of equal individuals found frequently in rites of passage
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Rites of Passage: Three stages
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1. Separation - ex) Removal from village
2. Transition ex) Body modification, Instruction 3. Incorporation ex) Now a man |
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Why were the bodies and possessions of Polynesian chiefs considered taboo?
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Chiefs were imbued with a great amount ofmana.
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Animism
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the earliest form of religion, was a belief in spiritual beings
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Polytheism
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belief in multiple gods
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Monotheism
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belief in a single,all-powerful deity
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Trobriand Islanders
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*used magic
*magic was only insituations they could not control |
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Supernatural
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*domain of impersonal power
*People can control it under certain circumstances E.g. with magic |
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Witchcraft
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The performance of evil by human beings believed to possess an innate, nonhuman power to do evil, whether or not it is intentional or self-aware.
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Magic
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A set of beliefs and practices designed to control the visible or invisible world for specific purposes.
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Oracles
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Invisible forces to which people address questions and whose responses they believe to be truthful.
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Azande Witchcraft
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*Witchcraft carried in people grew stronger as they grew older
*inherited from parents, men & women *Used for evil, but maybe unknowingly *Priest consults oracles through ritual sacrifice *Oracles reveal witches *Witchcraft & ill behaviour is punished |
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mana
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sacred impersonal force that can reside in people, animals, plants, and objects
* Beliefs in mana-like forces widespread butspecifics vary * Polynesia: mana is attached to political offices |
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Shaman
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*Part-time religious figures
*Mediate between people and supernatural beings and forces *Sometimes different or ambiguous sex or gender role *Typically associated with foragers, tribes and communal religions |
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preist
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A religious practitioner skilled in the practice of religious rituals, which he or she carries out for the benefit of the group.
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Olympian religions
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*Polytheistic with powerful anthropomorphic gods
*Permanent priesthood *Pantheon of gods is hierarchical *Often associated with chiefdoms and archaic (non-industrial) states *They first appeared in ancient state societies |
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Monotheistic religions
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*All supernatural phenomena under the control of single eternal, omniscient,omnipotent, and omnipresent supreme being
*Have priesthoods *Typically associated with states, but spread through conversions |
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Religion as Social Control
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*Religious knowledge is not distributed evenly *Those who control such knowledge may use it as an instrument of power
* Affects action - good behaviour for rewards *Many prescribe code of ethics and morality *Leveling mechanism: custom or social action that operates to reduce status difference
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Syncretism
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The synthesis of old religious practices (or an old way of life) with new practices (or a new way of life) introduced from outside, often by force.
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taboo
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objects or people that cannot be touched
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