Exam 1 ?s

Question 1

How would a psychologist, sociologist, or an anthropologist explain religion?

Answer 1

Psych- scapegoat, child rearing, explains unknown
Socio- reflects social hierarchy, teaches/enforces norms
Anthro- both psych and socio and it could be real

Question 2

What are the different poles of reference of a ritual symbol according to Turner?

Answer 2

Oretic (sensory) and normative (ideological)

Question 3

What is Mary Lee Daugherty’s major argument for why members of small, independent Holiness-type churches in West Virginia handle snakes?

Answer 3

• Ultimate act of faith

- reflects danger of the environment they live in

Question 4

What are the distinctions that McCarthy Brown makes between rural and urban voodoo?

Answer 4

Rural- “man of the house” acts as priest, on ancestral land and can access ancestors better, family affair
Urban- institutionalized (temples), fictive kin, may be more syncretized with Catholicism

Question 5

What is the “work of the left hand”?

Answer 5

Work that an individual does specifically to cause harm, deals with zombies, buys power

Question 6

In what two ways has Catholicism influenced the traditional religion of Haiti?

Answer 6

Loa and saints, pilgrimages

Question 7

To what does Brown attribute the derogatory reference to voodoo as a system of sorcery and magic?

Answer 7

Racism and the successful Haitian slave revolt

Question 8

What are the four stages of secondary burial for the Berawan?

Answer 8

Immediate rites after death, moving the body to a storage area (longhouse or graveyard) for decomposition, bringing the corpse back and celebration of the person, move to final resting place

Question 9

What two reasons does Metcalf provide to explain why American mortuary practices so shock the Berawan?

Answer 9

We trap the spirit in an in-between state rather than let them go to the afterlife during decomposition and we have a bunch of bodies that could be resurrected

Question 10

What are three differences between fictional and folkloric vampires?

Answer 10

Fictional- pale, turned through a bite, drinks blood
Folklore- ruddy and healthy looking, humans drink blood to ward against vampires, vampires were those with vices/unusual features

Question 11

How does the process of decomposition relate to stories of vampires?

Answer 11

Bloating during decomposition leads to pressure on the lungs which then causes blood from the blood to ravel to the mouth (looks like they drank blood) and moving the body can cause air to displace, creating a sound that makes it seem like the body is alive

Question 12

Is Barber’s explanation functional, psychological, or anthropological?

Answer 12

All three
Functional- reinforces social norms
Psych- provides scapegoat and explains bad things that happen
Anthro- could be real

Question 13

What is the descent system of the Huichol? Residence patterns?

Answer 13

Patrilineal and patrilocal

Question 14

How is primogeniture important for Huichol society?

Answer 14

Causes first born son to inherit the responsibility for the family, rituals, and rancho and the rancho gets renamed after the new head of the family. He also has to manage oratorios

Question 15

How does the Huichol cargo system differ from the traditional model?

Answer 15

Traditional- wealthy, rise up ranks for social power

Huichol- members foretold in dream, usually poor man enters because poverty=honesty

Question 16

What are the four sociopolitical units for the Huichol?

Answer 16

Nuclear family- parents and children
Rancho- extended family and the land they maintain
Rancheria- group of ranchos that all have a common ancestor
Communidades- Mexican government

Question 17

Who are Tatewari, Tauaupa, and Kauyumari?

Answer 17

Tatewari- grandfather fire, (first) mara’akame of the gods, guiding figure
Tauaupa- father fire, distant, dangerous, sends pestilence as warning/punishment, established five brazil trees
Kauyumari- elder brother deertail, trickster, liminal figure, bridges between gods and man, leads group to peyote

Question 18

What is a multivocal symbol- peyote, deer, and corn?

Answer 18

Peyote- male, 5 leaves=5 directions, peyote hunt to find it in order to travel to Wirikuta, allows users to see afterlife and heals, used to bring family together after hunt
Maize- female, 5 colors, maize wife that ground herself, sprinkling blood over field to ensure crops grow, mothers of society
Deer- male, elder brother deertail and his connection to the peyote hunt, 5 spurs on horns, elder brother, footprints are where the peyote grows

Question 19

Give two examples of syncretism for Huichol society.

Answer 19

Crossing and the five directions, communion with peyote

Question 20

Discuss the peyote ritual as a rite of passage; give two examples for each phase of the ritual.

Answer 20

Separation: new clothes for the ritual, tying of knots into one rope to bond group, forego salt/sex/sleep
Transition: become ancestor deities, danger of scorpions and snakes+interference from witches or fire going out, eating the peyote and going to Wirikuta
Reincorporation: Untying knots on the rope, sharing peyote with those who couldn’t go on the hunt

Question 21

What is “where our mothers dwell”?

Answer 21

Water holes close to Wirikuta that hold sacred water

Question 22

Discuss the mara’akame as a liminal figure.

Answer 22

Bridge between gods and man, ritual process to become mara’akame puts him in place to possibly become sorcerer, has five souls and his soul could be reincarnated in another mara’akame

Question 23

Discuss the mara’akame as a shaman.

Answer 23

Heals members of the community and protects against spiritual attacks from witches, call to faith (Ramon got bitten by a snake and had to survive in order to start journey to become mara’akame)

Question 24

Discuss how gender categories are represented throughout peyote ritual.

Answer 24

Become ancestor deity of same gender, men hunt the peyote, women associated with maize and water, mother earth
men associated with strength and fire