Spirituality, Religion, and the Supernatural

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Chapter 13

• Spirituality, Religion,and the Supernatural

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Worldview

• The collective body of ideas that members of a
  culture generally share concerning the ultimate
  shape and substance of their reality.

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Religion

• Organized belief in the supernatural.
• Fulfill numerous social and psychological needs.
• No known group of people anywhere on the face of
  the earth, at any time over the past 100,000
  years, have been without religion.

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What Are Religion and Spirituality?

• Religion is an organized system of ideas about
  spiritual reality, or the supernatural, along
  with associated beliefs and ceremonial practices.
• Spirituality, which also concerns the
  supernatural, involves less formalized spiritual
  beliefs and practices and is often individual
  rather than collective.

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Religion

• All cultures have religion
• Deals with supernatural on some level
• Some cultures do not have a specific word for
  religion, it is tied to everyday life
• Religion is tied to the natural world

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Religion and Symbols

• Religion has symbols
• Actions, words, ideas, objects that represent
  something else
• Symbols put together become a system of knowledge

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Myths

• Sacred stories with supernatural explanations
• A culture will see their myths as real
• Usually concerns ideology and worldview

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Rituals

• Anything you do in a repetitive nature
• Religion has rituals
• 2 types of rituals
• Calendric
• Crisis

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Supernatural

• The supernatural is around you all of the time,
  especially in non-industrialized societies
• In a lot of cultures, health, wealth and daily
  things are related to supernatural.

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Forms of Religion

• Animatism impersonal impersonal power that
  exists out there does not care about people
• Deitys Cares about people
• Different forms
• Anthropomorphic
• Zoomorphic
• Biomorphic
• Most cultures are polytheistic

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Dealing with Supernatural

• Religion per se system supernatural very
  removed and powerful
• Magic per se system deals with things on a
  small scale
• Uses recipes
• 2 ways to use magic
• Contagious obtain something from a person
• Imitative imitate desired effect

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Functions of Religion

• Explain things
• Establish order
• Justifies things
• Provides support
• Socializes people
• Vehicle for passage

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Theories of Religion

• Cognitive give sense of meaning and purpose to
  the world
• Psychological how people cope with stress
• Social Function Looks at socialization and
  cohesiveness. Promotes conformity.

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Non-industrial Cultures

• Supernatural intervenes all of the time
• Breaking a taboo
• Angered ancestor spirit
• Someone using magic

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Levels of Religion

• Individualistic individual has direct contact
  with supernatural
• Shamanistic Shaman(s) deals with supernatural
• Communal system a lot of part-time specialists
• Ancestor worship
• Totem worship

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Levels of Religion (cont)

• Ecclesiastical religious bureaucracy. Full-time
  religious specialists

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Examples of Religion

• Australian Aborigines and Dream Time
• Maori of New Zealand

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Major Religions of the World
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Anthropological Approach to Religion

• Religion is an organized system of ideas about
  the spiritual sphere, along with ceremonial
  practices by which people try to interpret and/or
  influence aspects of the universe otherwise
  beyond their control.
• Spirituality is also concerned with the sacred,
  as distinguished from material matters, but it is
  often individual rather than collective and does
  not require a distinctive format or traditional
  organization.

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Polytheism

• Belief in several gods and/or goddesses (as
  contrasted with monotheismbelief in one god or
  goddess).
• Pantheon
• The several gods and goddesses of a people.
• Animism
• A belief in spirit beings thought to animate
  nature.

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Judeo-Christian Theology

• The patriarchal nature of Euramerican society is
  expressed in its Judeo-Christian theology, in
  which a supreme male deity gives life to the
  first man, as depicted here on the ceiling of the
  Sistine Chapel in Rome. Only later is the first
  woman created from the first man.

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Sacred Places

• Pilgrims at Mount Kailash in Tibet. Rising 22,000
  feet, this mountain has been held sacred for
  thousands of years by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains,
  and followers of Bön.
• Year after year pilgrims follow the ancient
  tradition of circling the mountain on foot, a
  holy ritual they believe will remove sin and
  bring good fortune.

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Rites of Passage

• Arnold Van Gennep rites of passage into the
  following
• Rites of separation
• Rites of transition
• Rites of incorporation

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Rites of Passage

• Rites of separation
• In rites of passage, the ritual removal of the
  individual from society.
• Rites of transition
• In rites of passage, isolation of the individual
  following separation and prior to incorporation
  into society.

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Rites of Passage

• Rites of incorporation
• In rites of passage, reincorporation of the
  individual into society in his or her new status.
• Rites of intensification
• Religious rituals enacted during a groups real
  or potential crisis.

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Rites of Intensification

• Rituals to mark occasions of crisis in the life
  of the group.
• Functions
• Unite people.
• Allay fear of the crisis.
• Prompt collective action.

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Witchcraft

• An explanation of events based on the belief that
  certain individuals possess an innate psychic
  power capable of causing harm, including sickness
  and death.
• Divination
• A magical procedure for determining the cause of
  a particular event, such as illness, or
  foretelling the future.

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Functions of Witchcraft

• Effective way for people to explain away personal
  misfortune without having to shoulder any of the
  blame themselves.
• Provides an outlet for feelings of hostility and
  frustration without disturbing the norms of the
  larger group.

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Revitalization Movements

• Social movements, often of a religious nature,
  with the purpose of totally reforming a society.

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Sufism

• A Sufi sema (prayer dance) in Istanbul, Turkey.
  Sufism, a mystical Muslim movement that emerged
  in the late 10th century, borrowing ideas from
  Buddhism, Christianity, and Neoplatonism,
  emphasizes the surrender of individual ego and
  attachment to worldly things in order to be
  receptive to Gods grace.

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Cargo Cult

• Spiritual movements in Melanesia in reaction to
  disruptive contact with Western capitalism
  promising resurrection of deceased relatives,
  destruction or enslavement of white foreigners,
  and the magical coming of utopian riches.