Religion and the Supernatural

1. Religion and the Supernatural Lesson 12: Anthropological Perspectives on Religion

2. Religion • Refers to any belief in the supernatural • Beings, powers, or forces not subject to the laws of nature • Must be accepted on the basis of faith • Reflects worldview of a group • Reinforces social norms • Provides a moral code • Ex. – the Ten Commandments

3. Why Religion? • Humans want answers to perplexing questions • Together people attempt to explain the unexplainable • Continuity of existence beyond death • We know of our own mortality • Religion offers answers to questions about what happens to us after death

4. Social and Psychological Support • Religion offers very real psychological support • Ex. – The Church confessional • Religion can give individuals confidence in situations when they are likely to be unsuccessful • Ex. – Baseball players • Ritual, Taboo, and Fetishes

5. Cognitive Framework • Clifford Geertz • Religion reassures people that the world is orderly and is not chaotic • Stuart Guthrie • We personify ourselves in the supernatural and give these phenomena humanlike qualities • We also do this to both living animals and non-living objects

6. The History of Religion • Difficult to pinpoint the origins of religion • We can see early evidence in the form of art • Some anthropologists have suggested that religion was an attempt to explain: • Death and dreaming • We are composed of two parts – body and soul • The soul is what animates us • When we sleep our soul goes to distant places • We remember this as dreams • When we die our soul leaves us for good

7. Animism • The belief that souls animate everything • Not just humans, but also animals and non-living things • Can help in answering the question of why? • Spirits can be blamed for hindrances and credited for successes

8. Afterlife • Became logical to think that the soul went somewhere after it left the body • Could become a supernatural being • Deities – Gods or Goddesses • Ancestor spirits • People began to appeal to these deceased spirits to help control life’s uncertainties

9. Other Supernatural Beings • Demons • Negative, evil beings • Ex. – The Devil • Tricksters • Annoying, practical jokers • Ex. - Kokopelli (right) • Ghosts • Soul becomes trapped

10. Magic • Techniques used to manipulate the supernatural to act in particular ways • Can be for good or for evil • Two types of magicians • Witches • Not like Hollywood portrayals • Almost always a man • Need only their thoughts • Sorcerers • Imitative magic – a voodoo doll • Contagious magic – power comes from contact

11. Mana • An impersonal supernatural forces that one can possess • Objects or animals can also have mana • Is credited for success • Very similar to the concept of “luck”

12. Ritual and Ceremony • Rituals are repetitive acts that are often symbolic and occur in specific places • All religions use some sore of ritual • Ritual revolves around the supernatural • Ritual sometimes involves doing things to the body • Sometimes involves food • Some are rites of passage • Liminality – a trnasitional state of being between status

13. Religious Specialists • Priests • Any full-time religious specialists • Undergo extensive training in a formal sense • Seen as the link between natural and supernatural • Ex. – priests, minister, rabbis • Shaman • Part-time religious specialists who double as healers • Have the ability to directly communicate with the supernatural

14. Exam Review Questions • What is the difference between churches, sects and cults? • What do we call religious groups that advocate strict, literal interpretations of sacred texts? • What are the two types of religious specialists? • What types of supernatural forces/entities exist among human groups? • What is a rite of passage? Can you provide some examples of these? • What do we call symbolic social practices often associate with religion?