Religion

Religion is Notoriuosly difficult to define. But we have no difficulty in deciding whether something is Religious or not Or do we

A Luba diviner and her client, performing a divination ritual, jointly hold a friction oracle known as a kakishi on a woven mat on the ground between them.. (John Pemberton)

Albrecht Durer 1504

The Major Features of Religion Texts A means of explanation Stress/Anxiety Relief Body of myth Rituals Magic and witchcraft supernatural Beings and powers Specially skilled individuals Belief in the supernatural Symbolic Moral code Sacred vs. profane Emotional Experience Group membership/identity System A philosophy What makes these religious?

w Religion can be defined as any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to supernatural power, whether that power be forces, gods, spirits, ghosts, or demons. w What is considered the supernatural varies from one society to the next. w Many societies don’t have a separate word for religion--it is so integrated into politics, or cultural identity Defining Religion

Explanations for the Universality of Religion PsychologicalSociological IntellectualEmotional Interpretative Functional

w primitive man was a rationalist and a scientific philosopher w the notion of spirits was not the outcome of irrational thinking w preliterate religious beliefs and practices were not “ridiculous” or a “rubbish heap of miscellaneous folly” w they were essentially consistent and logical, based on rational thinking and empirical knowledge. Intellectual approach E. B. Tylor

Animism w the idea that the world and everything in it is filled with souls or spirits. w These spirits can be communicated with. w Spirits “feel” and therefore, can be harmed, flattered, offended and can also hurt or help.

Psychological Approach  Reduces anxiety  provides comfort  Gives meaning to life – Yes there is life after death  a means for dealing with crises death and illness, famine, flood, failure  helps people cope with reality.  Tells them how to behave  Removes burden of responsibility  Participation in religious ceremonies provides reassurance security, and even ecstasy, closeness etc

Sociological Approach  religion stems from society and societal needs and provides for them  religions validate the social: they posit controlling forces in the universe that sustain the moral and social order of a people  sanction human conduct by providing notions of right and wrong  setting precedents for acceptable behaviour, group norms  provides moral sanctions for individual conduct  education function through ritual used to learn oral traditions  eg. puberty rites provide information about tribal lore.

 Sees religion as a set of symbols and stresses the meaning of those symbols, as referents and creators of meaningful life.  "a religion is a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic." “Clifford Geertz”  Claude Levi-Strauss structuralism -- Analysis of symbolic forms of mythic  Through the work of Douglas and Victor Turner, as well as performance theory, a new emphasis on ritual was established.  Concerned with the act Interpretative

Coping with Uncertainty Magic, divination, oracles, and witchcraft

MAGIC

w Nature is understood to be controlled by forces which can be manipulated w Magic is a way of controlling the natural elements. w Magicians attempt to control the elements for the benefit of their society or for the detriment of their enemies.

Contagious Magic

Sympathetic Magic

Standing Bison, Altamira (Spain) c. 15,000-10,000 B.C Cave art used for rituals of this sort?

What is divination? " the practice of foreseeing future events or acquiring hidden knowledge through supernatural means" Examples?

Omens Ordeals Oracles

An Azande diviner uses a friction oracle (iwa), holding his foot against the lower part to keep the instrument in place and rubbing the upper part against it.

‘the inherent power to harm other persons by supernatural means’ Evans-Pritchard Witchcraft

Sabrina Bewitched

Charmed Worst witch ever Practical Magic

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

shell currency is used to purchase the services of sorcerers © Dorothy and David Counts

Bathing in the Ganges Rituals

“a ritual is a stereotyped sequence of activities involving gestures, words, or objects, performed in a sequestered place and designed to influence preternatural [magical] entities or forces on behalf of the actor’s goals or interests” Victor Turner

w rites and ceremonies w Sometimes ritual reenact myths and stories. w sometimes involve particular kind of attire, or a specific location. w They could be the reliving of an important event. w a patterned form of behavior, generally communal and consisting of prescribed actions and words Rituals Carnival

1.They are by definition religious –involve magic, the supernatural 2.They are highly formalized or structured patterns of behaviour 3.rituals are belief in action 4.Out of the ordinary actions i.e. sacred 5.usually performed in a sequestered place 6.They have a goal or aim 7.They serve a function for the people concerned 8.They serve to provide a sense of solidarity 9.symbolic 10.multivocalic Ten characteristics of rituals

Types of Rituals concerned with the natural world seasonal should guarantee success and wealth raindance Rites of transition or passage, life cycle concerned with the social world changes in the individual’s status, role or position Critical or life-crisis rites Curing and magic Concerned with the individual Ritual For Group Welfare 1. Mass 2. Communion 3. Feast Days Calendrical rites

w Contact the Ultimate Reality w Communicate with the Ultimate Reality w Communicate to others (public vs. private) w Help to develop relationship with the Ultimate Reality w Effect human transformation Role and Function of Rituals

w “(E)veryday religious activity and practice are significant because their primary purpose often to place individuals, families, and groups in ‘right relationships’ with gods, ancestors, other human beings, and nature.” w Rituals are ways in which these relationships can be insured. Rituals

Solomon Grundy, Born on Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Worse on Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday: This is the end Of Solomon Grundy Solomon Grundy What is a rite of passage?

Rites of passage are the mileposts or landmarks that guide travelers through the life cycle.

Quinceanera

Arnold van Gennep ( ) The Rites of Passage (1908) 1.separation 2.transition 3.incorporation

Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services Young boys from Numbulwar with small spears; they will try to hit the men, who will then have to dance for them at their circumcision ceremony.

Young initiates are carried to their elders on the ceremonial ground and will stay with them during the all-night "Mandiwala" dance before their circumcision. Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services

Initiates during their ceremony in Borroloola; they are looking at a long line of dancers that will dance closely around them and take them to the ceremony ground. Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services

A boy is painted with red ochre for his "Mandiwala" initiation ceremony. He wears a belt of human hair that was put on him at the start of his initiation. Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services

Boys are painted up for their "Mandiwala" initiation cermony, where the whole night the men will dance for them; their circumcision takes place early in the morning. Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services

" Daru" initiates in Borroloola. They are carrying small bark boomerangs with which they try to hit men who should later dance for them in their "Mandiwala" ceremony. Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services

Young initiates during a "Djapi" circumcision ceremony in Numbulwar, south eastern Arnhem Land, in which the boys are painted with their clan totemic designs. Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services

An initiate during a southern Arnhem Land circumcision ceremony; the boy is decorated with white clay and strings of feathers. Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services

A man's dance during an initiation ceremony in the early morning in Beswick, in the southern part of Arnhem Land. Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services