10/17/13Religion and Witchcraft1. Religion: a cultural universal centered on the supernatural2. Why is religion a cultural universal?a. Making sense of the senseless or arbitraryb. Fulfills social (and not merely individual) purposes/needsi. Myths of originii. Serves a political function3. Witchcraft: Why talk about it?a. Typically seen as long hair flying on broomsb. Burned at the steak in Europec. Accused for having sex or making a deal with the devild. Crucial part of religious beliefs in many societiese. Illustrates some social “functions” of religionf. Illustrates how religions beliefs intertwined with rest of cultureg. People’s attempt to compel supernatural forces/beings to act in certain ways4. What to know about witchcraft?a. Law of Similarity - basis of imitative magic (sticking pins in voodoo dolls and feel-ing the actual pain)b. Law of Contagion - once in contact with that person or things, they can effect youc. Religious practice where some can harness supernatural powers by others and evil to afflict harm among othersd. Common across culturally by providing explanations of unpredictable events that might seem random or senseless but turn to witchcraft in times of uncertaintyi. Pitchers, fishers, love, military, farminge. Ambiguousf. Mental life of beliefs and practicesg. e.g termites, wife gets unresponsive to husband...(everyday actions)h. Provides explanation to WHY events happen, not HOW they happeni. Example: a person crossing the street and getting hit by a busj. Social Affair/matter are usually unfortunate events that have strangers involvedi. Socially connectedii. Getting hit by a bus1. Why you got hit?a. Not paying attentions, bus driver not paying attention2. What do you need to do to prevent that from happening again?10/17/13a. Make amendments to heal social relationship with the guy texting the bus driver distracting him3. Ultimate cause of the why is the individual, not the actual cause of the acci-dent4. Again gets hit by a busa. if you believe in witchcraft, they believe it is a different personk. Implications (broad)i. Witchcraft functions as a mechanism of social controlii. Insures the boyfriend doesn’t harm or behave bad towards youiii. Make sure that people behave the way they behave1. if you don’t behave, many would get hit by that bus5. Ancestors and Sacred Spacea. Shaman - a religious specialist who has a direct relationship with supernaturals goes into a trance)b. Priests - religious specialists gaining abilities through formal trainingc. Prophet - convey revelations through visionsd. Witches - psychic powers to affect people through emotions and thoughts that carry more weight to cause harme. Diviner - discover the wishes of supernatural through techniques (palm readers)6. Rituals - repetitive behavior focused on the supernaturala. Types of ritualsi. Periodic - marks a seasonal period (planting or an event like Buddha’s Dayii. Life-cycle - mark points of departure in certain stages of life (separation, transi-tion(liminality), and reintegration) - from childhood to real worldiii. Non-periodic - irregular at unpredictable times (drought, illness, death, mar-riage...)b. Inversion - roles are temporarily inverted (ex. Carnival - celebrate the period be-fore Lent, ending on Mardi Gras)c. Pilgrimaged. Sacrifice7. Religion in Comparative Perspectivea. Varieties of Religious Beliefsi. Expression through Myth or Doctrine1. Myth: stories of supernatural forces (ex. Greeks) that teach morality2. Doctrine: direct statements about religious beliefs that are larger scaled than “folks from myths”10/17/13ii. Animatism: a belief system in which the supernatural is conceived of as an im-personal power (ex. mana)1. Manifests itself in objects and people and associated with personal statusiii. Zoomorphic: supernaturals in the shape of animals (ex. Classical Greece and Rome)iv. Anthropomorphic: supernaturals in the shape of humans (have emotions)8. Types of Religionsa. Hinduism - In India; Karma!; the four Vedasb. Buddhism - India, Asia and China; rose as a protest against Hinduism; Koranc. Judaism - Five Books of Moses, Toràhd. Christianity - Started in the Mediterranean; largest world religion; Biblee. Islam - Muhammad; Allah. Five Pillars of Islam; 2nd largest religionf. Ras Tafari - Afro-Caribbean religion from Jamaica (Rastafarians)9. Revitalization movements - bring positive change through reestablishing a reli-giona. Cargo Cults: emphasized the acquisition of Western trade goods in local