1. Religion and Healing I
April 13, 2005

2. Religion
Set of beliefs, customs, symbols and rituals that deal with the supernatural and its relationship to humans
Human universal
All are syncretic

3. Conceptualizations of God
Monotheism (God, Allah, Yaweh, Ra)
Polytheism (Hinduism)
Communal, Shamanistic
Pantheistic (Greeks, Zeus et al)
Animistic (Shinto; Native American)

4. How does religion function in society?
Political Power
Governance/Adjudication
Social organization/cohesion
Rights of Passage
Community Events
Gender
Identity

5. Witchcraft, Magic, Sorcery
Magic: action, often ritualized, that calls on the supernatural to achieve a goal
Witchcraft: using magic to cause harm
Sorcery: use of magic objects to cause harm
Witchdoctor: uses power to undo spells and restore order

6. That is like so random
Random-ness is a product of enlightenment thinking-reason
“Without a governing design, method, or purpose; unsystematic”
Witchcraft is a common way to explain the unexplainable

7. Proximate & Ultimate Causality
Azande Granary
Proximate: termites damaged supports, gravity caused it to fall (scientific explanation)
Ultimate: witchcraft (why then? Why there?)

8. How does witchcraft function?
Expresses social tensions
Social control mechanism
Contrasts modernist discourse, i.e. randomness (randomness is also a statement of faith)
Functional explanation doesn’t tell us about belief

9. Traditional Social Science
Focus on symbolic, structural and social features of religion
“Explain away” issues of belief
Reason creates “hierarchy of truth”
Creates a difference between belief and knowledge

10. “Radical Objectivity”
Recognize that disbelief is itself a form of belief
Randomness is a statement of faith
Science is a worldview, analogous to religion
Seek to understand, but not judge

11. Vernacular Religion
Not theory, doctrine or dogma, but religion as it is lived and experienced
Guiding Questions:
What is the source of power?
How is it accessed?

12. Direct Engagement No distance/mediation between self and supernatural
Testimony
Extend conversion to everyday life
Speaking in tongues
Charismatic, evangelical protestants

13. Sacramental Engagement
Individuals or artifacts mediate between mortals and the divine; accessing God through a mediator
Catholicism (Priests, sacraments)
Fire talkers

14. Magical Engagement Manipulate words and objects to alter fate
Fate can be affected by human action
Root work
Vodou

15. Ritual
“Social Cement” experience fortified by collective, symbolic representations
Collective representations are sacred because they are the basis of group life
Rituals symbolically separate the sacred from the profane