Cultural anthropology

Diversity of Communication The presentation from Jan representing the Canadian Refugee Association was very informative about the immense differences in cultural communication. Jan broadened the classes horizons with drills to physically implore the expectations of other cultures compared to our own. This knowledge is imperative in health psychology because if a health psychologist is wanting to assist someone of a different culture it is beneficial to form a good first impression, and culture…

In modern day terms a myth holds a negative connotation, however in the times of Ancient Greece myths told were largely believed. As with any other ancient culture the Greeks used mythology to explain the environment of which mankind lived, how the night changed from light to dark, the seasons and all other natural phenomena’s. Myths were also used to recount historical events so that people could connect with their ancestors, the wars they were in and the places they had been. Without…

Borrowed from the Romans, who called the days after the then known planets which were named originally after their gods, the Scandinavian did the same, and as a Germanic language, the English language inherited these. Sunday and Monday were named after the Sun and moon, Tuesday translates to Týr’s day (the god of war and law and justice), Wednesday means Odin’s day, Thursday is Thor’s day, and Friday represents either the goddess of marriage (who is married to Odin) Frigg or the goddess Freyja.…

Mythology is best known for creating symbolisms behind the circle and giving human-like qualities to god-like figures. The circle is a symbol with no beginning or ending. Such is true with mythologies that reference the circle and its symbolic meaning. In mythology, the circle can represent anything from the process of being born, breathing your last breath, and being reborn, to the never-ending process of the classical elements of the world; water, fire, earth, and air. These four elements of…

a primeval way through which every culture defines its character and offers a way to understand the world. Humans use myth to describe and understand “archetypal or universal significance” (Cupitt, 1997, p.5) and to establish their perception of cultural experiences. Different cultures have their own myths that systemise their human experience as “one of the functions of myth is to convert numinous indefiniteness into nominal definiteness and to make what is uncanny familiar and addressable”…

At the base of these rites lie myths which help us to understand the teaching aspect of religious rites. Myths provide background and insight into the meaning of rites and behind these rites lie the realities of past struggles and events and the myths recount these events. Without these myths to help support the rituals and rites, the people will eventually let it die out or lose its true essence over years and years of interpretation. These rites help transfer the religious tradition from one…

the region. The values that the culture has on my culture is that there is many dead ships, pirates, and other things like sea creature that many talk about today to try to scare others. Oral Tradition and Folklore Oral tradition is a community cultural and historical traditions passed down by word of mouth. Folklore is a story…

In David A. Lemmings book, The World of Myth, I learned more about the importance of the many gods and goddesses. Lemming explains the relationship between the stories of gods and humanity. He states that “their relationship is a human relationship, their family is a reflection of our families, their hierarchies mirror ours” (Pg. 87). Lemming believes that the deities are there to help us learn how to get over problems that we face in our own realities. He also believes that mythology give…

There is a very wide variety of aspects in the world of mythology. Similarities and differences are in abundance in the many stories consisting in mythology. Two of these myths are the Egyptian myth of Osiris, Isis and Horus and the Babylonian myth of The Emuna elish, containing numerous contrasting beliefs as well as ones that are alike. The Egyptians and Babylonians share similar qualities in the structure of specific myths. The main similarity between these two myths is the strong belief in…

Ethnography is defined as a scientific description of people and their culture. Fortis choice to title his ethnography, Kuna Arts and Shamanism, because a lot of the artifacts discussed in his ethnography for the Kuna people can be considered forms of art that are used for shaman practice. An example of art that the Kuna people practice is the nuchukana, which is also referred as nuchu. The nuchukana are can only be made by males as traditional sacred practice of the Kuna culture and these…