Intro to World Religions Midterm Study Guide Catherine Bornscheuer Typical Indigenous African Cosmology how to relate to elements beyond physical world tripartide 3 layers Top layer deity high god Middle layer lesser deities Bottom humans Supreme deity apart from human rules over life death creator Nuer Tribe in Sudan supreme deity Kwoth Nhial used to be close to humans lived in sky used rope to come down to earth a lesser deity went down and fell in love with human and wouldn t leave Kwoth severed rope and is now distant from humans lesser deities are different versions of Kwoth Nhial and are called kwoths Yoruba Tribe in Nigeria supreme deity Olodumare responsible for creation but did not create himself delegated creation to lesser gods called Orishas all with different personalities Oshun female god of fertility vindictive Ogun male god of war and machinery conflict and iron work Eshu trickster deity Ashe spiritual power orishas have ashe but do not have unlimited ashe grows as humans worship them orishas interact with humans via spirit possession women are more susceptible Other spirit possessions include wearing masks and acting in a way a deity would receive words of advice and solutions during this time Rites of Passage ritual performance 1 separated from the familiar 2 liminality between life stages 3 reintegration Sacrifice ritual performance spilling of blood goats chickens to nourish the gods and to ask for assistance from the gods Witchcraft used to explain bad luck and the evil and suffering in the world witches were thought to be souls outside of their bodies that would attack other beings performed ritual healings shamans spiritual doctors can be either all men or all women Role of slave trade made religious syncretism between Christianity and the African traditions including vodou served as a way to cope African Indigenous Traditions and Western Scholarship caused a crisis of confidence doubting their religions some decide they should convert because their gods aren t working convert to Christianity some convert to oppressors convert to Islam some wanted to sustain their traditions and build back up the community Origin Species written by Darwin evolutionary model of world religions completely conflicted with religion scholars try to apply it to world religions ranked from most primitive religions to most evolved protestant Christianity ranked highest and Africans ranked last racist shows the origin of religion like a window into the past this model is assuming that religions are static Evolutionary Model of World Religions Xhosa Cattle Killing Movement Nongqawuse had a vision where her ancestors told her that the military defeats her people had at the hands of Europeans were their punishment for practicing witchcraft demanded that the people destroy the rest of the cattle so the Europeans would disappear this led to a devastating famine 1 Catherine Bornscheuer African Diaspora slave societies developed new syncretic religions that combined African especially Yoruba and Native American traditions with elements of Christianity Slave Christianity official exercised by plantation owners slaves had no choice used Christianity as a way to oppress slaves invisible practiced outside knowledge of slave owners African traditions brought into Christianity traditions Vodou blending of French Catholicism with African traditions Bondye supreme being for responsible for origin of life Lwa focus of ceremonies offerings possessions three nations Rada 1st nation kind hearted tricksters ex Papa Legba associated with crossroads of life and death Gede 2nd nation associated with death ex Baron Samedi feared escort to underworld Petwo 3rd nation most powerful and volatile vindictive ex Elizi Dantor motherhood beauty protective mother figure Misconceptions of Vodou part of the reason behind the negative stereotypes attached to vodou was the terror that slave owners throughout the Americas felt on learning that Haitian rebels had used ritual means to organize and strengthen their resolve Syncretism blending of religious ideas Myth of the Noble Savage stereotype dehumanizes NAs by describing them not like us seen as a justification to mistreat NAs even if portrayed positively Other Challenges when studying Native Americans oral culture no firsthand documents or personal documents commonly known facts are from European point of view 90 of NA communities died off after Euro conquest Holistic Culture known for animism animals plants inanimate objects have souls sacredity in things earth bound Manitou best described as an abstract spiritual force who is all around us and can be tapped into Roger Williams author of The Algonquin Bible translated parts of New Testament into Algonquin language mostly worked with Narrangansett and Algonquin tribes Kinship Culture tribal kinship based on relationships rather than geography even euros can be integrated through marriage can regard certain animals as part of their community speak to animals like friends or enemies connect themselves to their spirit Indigenous Culture cosmogonic myth creation myth starts with idea that everything began as water god or animal dives into water to get the dirt and create the land water diver myth land has spiritual power cardinal directions are important no linear progression cyclical calendar marked by seasons Mary Jemison euro woman kidnapped by Seneca tribe recorded her life wrote about 5 feasts of the Seneca that nark planting harvesting seasons etc Oral Ritual Culture spoken word is sacred takes on Manitou ex sweathouse ritual Sweathouse ritual small dome like a sauna to cleanse body of toxins to cleanly access spirits funeral rituals showed diversity within tribes Early European Perceptions of the Americas thought God had destined for them to fine the new world God s providence God s plan Euros wanted to create a perfect world utopia because of God s plan motivations gold goods 2 Catherine Bornscheuer Early European Perceptions of Native Americans Euros superiority complex better weapons writing politically religiously euros denied NA religion altogether source of morality is from religion according to Europeans how idea of savages came about dehumanizing Requiremiento requirements on how to treats NAs NA s did not understand because of language barrier and gave Spanish the excuse to enslave rape and kill NAs Bartolome de Las Casas wrote A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies which depicted conquistador
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