The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion The Roots of Religiosity

So Just What Could We Learn About Religiosity By Studying Animals?

What Should We Look At? Three components of “culture” Material Behavioral Ideational Animal correlates? Animal artifacts (nests, food remains, etc.) Ritualized behaviors Animal cognition and emotion

Fixed Action Pattern Intention Movement (or other releaser”) elicits appropriate response(s) leads to specific outcome FAPs vary among species, but are shared among all of the members of a species

Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) Mating Behavior

The “Behavioral Releaser”

Elements of Ritualized Animal Behaviors Isopraxism – performing the same behaviors as others Repetition – performing the same behavior over and over Reenactment – performing a previously learned behavior at a later time Deception – behaving in a manner that leads others to the wrong conclusion Tropism – automatically reacting to a specific stimulus with a specific behavior

Ritualized Animal Behaviors A complex sequence of animal displays that helps to coordinate social life

Imprinting Goslings imprinted on Konrad Lorenz (1903 – 1989) Greylag goose (Anser anser) goslings imprinting on their mother

Evolutionary Relationships The more closely related two animals are, the more similarities they will show

Chimpanzee Homologues Our closest living relative (?) 98-99% genetically identical “model” for early hominin evolution? A young chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

Religious Behaviors Among Humans

“How does one recognize a religion? Why does one say that certain behavior is religious? The answer lies in the fundamental pattern, or structure, which the layman and the ethnographer alike recognize when they look at a society and which, whenever it is found, is called ‘religious,’ despite the manifold diversity of its forms.” Anthony F.C. Wallace Religion: An Anthropological View 1966, page 52

13 categories of religious behavior 1.prayer 2.music 3.physiological exercises 4.exhortation 5.reciting the code 6.simulation 7.mana 8.taboo 9.feasts 10.sacrifice 11.congregation 12.inspiration 13.symbolism … the “smallest religious things” of a society

prayer (addressing the supernatural) methods are typical to a particular culture –conventional posture –standardized gestures –stereotyped speech emotional tone varies can be directed to a variety of supernatural entities

music (drumming, singing, playing instruments) music often serves as the vehicle of prayer helps to emphasize the distinction between the sacred and the profane can differ from non- religious styles of music

physiological exercises (manipulation of the psychological state) four major methods 1.drugs 2.sensory deprivation 3.mortification of the flesh –pain –sleeplessness –fatigue 4.deprivation –food –water –air

exhortation (addressing another human being) one person addresses another as a representative of divinity “laity”“clergy” God(s)

reciting the code (mythology, morality, and other aspects of the belief system) expresses core beliefs may contain statements about –pantheon –cosmology –myths –injunctions often stereotypical

simulation (imitating things) based on the “law of sympathy” between similar objects –divination scapulamancy tea leaves –ordeals –“scapegoat” –voodoo doll

mana (touching things) involves the passage of “power” from a donor to a receiver –laying on of hands –relics –churinga

taboo (not touching things) avoidance of specific persons and objects because of differences in power or purity may regulate access to –food –sexual partners –caste members –chiefs

feasts (eating and drinking) the “sacred meal” involves consumption of materials that contain a supernatural power or force which will be of benefit if consumed under the proper conditions –Eucharist (Communion) –totem feast

sacrifice (immolation, offerings, fees) give up something of value to achieve a particular purpose –grave goods –animal/human sacrifice –“first fruits” ceremonies –tithing

congregation (processions, meetings, and convocations) social aspect of religious behavior promotes communitas rites of intensification

inspiration (extraordinary experiences due to divine power) revelation conversion possession mystical ecstasy

symbolism (manufacture and use of symbolic objects) represent the deities and/or values, events, relationships, etc. with deities compressed statements of religious principles and beliefs often believed to be imbued with mana

13 categories of religious behavior 1.prayer 2.music 3.physiological exercises 4.exhortation 5.reciting the code 6.simulation 7.mana 8.taboo 9.feasts 10.sacrifice 11.congregation 12.inspiration 13.symbolism … the “smallest religious things” of a society

rituals composed of varying numbers and sequences of the 13 categories of religious behavior