10. Supernaturalism

Question 1

Magic?

Answer 1

The use of powers to contact and control supernatural forces or beings

Question 2

Rituals?

Answer 2

A symbolic practice that is ordered and regularly repeated

Question 3

Taboos?

Answer 3

Prohibition of a practice

Question 4

Fetishes?

Answer 4

Char; object of devotion thought to have magical powers

Question 5

How do people use supernatural beliefs to exert agency and build connections

Answer 5

Supernatural beliefs give a sense of control in situations where they feel powerless

The structures around supernatural beliefs connect people with others in the community

Question 6

REligion?

Answer 6

A set of beliefs or behaviors that pertain to supernatural forces or beings, which transcends the observable world

Question 7

Supernaturalism?

Answer 7

Belief in aspects of life outside of a scientific understanding that we cannot measure or test

Question 8

Four components of religious belief systems?

Answer 8

A shared interest in the supernatural
Use rituals
Guided by myths
Are symbolic

Question 9

Myths?

Answer 9

A sacred story that explains the origins of the world or people in it
Guide values and behavior

Question 10

Emic?

Answer 10

Insiders view: the perspective of the subject

Question 11

Etic?

Answer 11

Outsiders view: an objective explanation

Question 12

The earliest evidence of religion?

Answer 12

ON burial cities, preparing or assisting the person for the afterlife.

Question 13

The intellectual function of religion?

Answer 13

Provides explanations for aspects of life which we have no logical answer for

Question 14

The emotional function of religion?

Answer 14

Cope with anxiety-producing events out of our control

Ritual practices allow people to feel involved in achieving a positive outcome

Question 15

Example of how differences in religion can lead to disgust and fear?

Answer 15

Islamophobia
Inaccurate link between radicals and the peaceful majority
Social sanctions excluding people based on ethnic prejudice

Question 16

Ideology?

Answer 16

A system of beliefs that guides and justifies the actions of an individual or group

Question 17

In what five ways can a belief system provide support?

Answer 17

1. Creating community
2. Instilling values
3. Renewing faith
4. Providing reasons for life events
5. Solving problems

Question 18

1. Creating community?

Answer 18

Rituals, services, a commonality among members

Rites of passage

Question 19

2. Instilling values?

Answer 19

Religious texts, or oral tales, moral behavior guidelines for correct actions

Question 20

3. Renewing faith?

Answer 20

Rituals can elevate mode or bring a state of happiness or transcendence

CAn also use the threat of danger to renew faith in the belief system

Question 21

4. Providing reasons for life events?

Answer 21

CErtain events or why bad things happen to good people + reasons for behavior ->food taboos

Finding comfort in “everything happens for a reason”

Question 22

5. Solving problems?

Answer 22

Prayer is one of the most common ways humans seek assistance and solution to an immediate problem. Praying for rain, health etc.

Question 23

Divination?

Answer 23

The art of reading the future

Question 24

Supernatural beings?

Answer 24

Personified or embodied being that exists beyond the observable world, such as sprits or demons

Question 25

Supernatural forces?

Answer 25

Disembodied powers that exists beyond the observable world, such as good or bad luck

Question 26

Syncretism/syncretic?

Answer 26

A synthesis of two or more religious belief systems

Question 27

Deities?

Answer 27

Distant and powerful supernatural beings | Gods and goddesses

Question 28

In what type o society is deities mostly found and why?

Answer 28

Societies with a hierarchical social organization Since a societies belief system reflects its social organization Same with gender roles, patriarchy -> god

Question 29

Monotheism? Example gender roles pastoral society?

Answer 29

Worshipping one god or goddess The subordinate role of women in pastoral societies is reflected in the few leadership roles for women in these religions

Question 30

Polytheistic?

Answer 30

A religious belief system workshopping multiple gods and goddesses

Question 31

Pantheon?

Answer 31

A set of gods and goddesses in a religious belief system, controlling different aspects of the world

Question 32

Ancestral spirits?

Answer 32

Comes from the idea that humans are made of two parts, body and soul, which separate upon death

Question 33

Ancestor veneration?

Answer 33

Worship of one's ancestor reinforces the social values regarding family and kinship

Question 34

Spirits of nature?

Answer 34

Unobservable beings and forces that inhabit the natural world Animism Animatism

Question 35

People's view in places where spirits and humans coexist?

Answer 35

A more equal relationship | People may not experience spirits to be supernatural, but simply a part of the natural world

Question 36

Animism?

Answer 36

Spirits beings inhabit natural object example talking to the car like a person or thinking that a butterfly is someone's sprit who passed away

Question 37

Animatism?

Answer 37

The belief that spiritual forces inhabit natural objects | Example, charms, such or a curse

Question 38

Talisman?

Answer 38

An object thought to bring protection or luck to the owner, especially to ward off illness or evil

Question 39

Imitative magic? + example

Answer 39

Using something of a similar nature to direct or capture powerful forces Example, the bazaar worn to protect the owner from the "evil eye", looking like an eye

Question 40

Priest/priestess?

Answer 40

A full-time religious practitioner Often find in stratified societies, with a major gap in peer distribution

Question 41

Shamans?

Answer 41

Part-time religious practitioner who specialise in communications with spirits, ancestors, or deities Found in more egalitarian societies

Question 42

Trance?

Answer 42

An altered state of consciousness in which a person asks conscious control of their speech or actions

Question 43

Neurodiversity?

Answer 43

Describes people with neurological differences, ADHD, autism, dyslexia etc.

Question 44

Example of change subjected to belief systems by internal or external pressure?

Answer 44

Conquest & colonialism People exert their agency by resisting (religious revitalisation movement), merge the two systems (syncretism) or invent a new tradition

Question 45

Religious revitalisation movement?

Answer 45

A process by which an oppressed group seeks supernatural aid throughout the creation of new ritual behaviour

Question 46

Ghost Dance?

Answer 46

A religious revitalisation movement started Amon the Northern Paiute that used a five day circle dance to seek help from the supernatural realm

Question 47

Cargo cults?

Answer 47

A religious revitalisation movement in Melanesia that used rituals to seek help and material wealth

Question 48

How is religion embedded in wider cultural practises

Answer 48

IT's an expressive system, art, body modifications (scarred tattoos)