ANTH 1000 - Ch. 24

Question 1

worldview

Answer 1

the collective body of ideas that members of a culture generally share concerning the ultimate shape and substance of their reality

Question 2

religion

Answer 2

an organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural, along with associated ceremonial practices by which people try to interpret and/or influence aspects of the universe otherwise beyond their control

Question 3

spirituality

Answer 3

concern with the sacred, as distinguished from material matters. In contrast to religion, it is often individual rather than collective and does not require a distinctive format or traditional organization

Question 4

polytheism

Answer 4

belief in several gods and/or goddesses (as contrasted with monotheism - belief in one god or goddess)

Question 5

pantheon

Answer 5

the several gods and goddesses of a people

Question 6

animism

Answer 6

a belief that nature is animated (enlived or energized) by distinct personalized spirit beings separable from bodies

Question 7

animatism

Answer 7

a belief that nature is enlivened or energized by an impersonal spiritual power or supernatural potency.

Question 8

priest or priestess

Answer 8

a full-time religious specialist formally recognized for his or her role i nguiding the religious practices of others and for contacting and influencing supernatural powers

Question 9

shaman

Answer 9

a person who enters an altered state of consciousness - at will - to contact and utilize and ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help others.

Question 10

taboo

Answer 10

a prohibition, which, if not observed, leads to a penalty inflicted by magic, spiritual force, or religion

Question 11

rite of passage

Answer 11

a ritual the marks an important stage in an individual’s life cycle, such as birth, marriage, and death

Question 12

separation

Answer 12

in a rite of passage, the ritual removal of the individual from a society

Question 13

transition

Answer 13

in a rite of passage, isolation of the individual following separation and prior to incorporation into society

Question 14

incorporation

Answer 14

in a rite of passage, reincorporation of the individual into society in his or her new status

Question 15

rite of intensification

Answer 15

a ritual that takes place during a crisis in the life of the group and serves to bind individuals together

Question 16

imitative magic

Answer 16

magic based on the principle that like produces like, sometimes called sympathetic magic

Question 17

contagious magic

Answer 17

magic based on the principle that things or persons once in contact can influence each other after the contact is broken

Question 18

witchcraft

Answer 18

an explanation of events based on the belief that certain individuals possess an innate psychic power capable of causing harm, including sickness and death

Question 19

divination

Answer 19

a magical procedure or spiritual ritual designed to find out what is not knowable by ordinary means, such as foretelling the future by interpreting omens

Question 20

revitalization movement

Answer 20

a movement for radical cultural reform in response to widespread social disruption and collective feelings of great stress and despair

Question 21

cargo cult

Answer 21

a spiritual movement (especially noted in Melanesia) in reaction to disruptive contact with Western capitalism, promising resurrection of deceased relatives, destruction or enslavement of white foreigners, and the magical arrival of utopian riches