Religious SpecialistsAll human societies include individuals All human societies include individuals

who guide and supplement the religious who guide and supplement the religious practices of others. practices of others.

Such individuals are seen to be highly skilled at contacting and influencing supernatural beings and manipulating supernatural forces.

They may have undergone special training and may display certain distinctive personality traits that make them particularly well suited to perform these tasks.

Priests and PriestessesA priest priest or priestess priestess will have the role of guiding

religious practices and influencing the the supernatural.supernatural.

He or she is the socially initiated, ceremonially inducted member of a religious organization.

Buddhist monks in Luang Pra Bong (Laos)

Shamans• Skilled at contacting and

manipulating supernatural beings and powers through altered states of consciousness.

• Provides a focal point of attention for society and can help maintain social control

• Benefits for the shaman are prestige, wealth, and an outlet for artistic self-expression.

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A Shaman of the Sami people (Noaidi) with his drum. Woodcut, 1767.

“Shaman” OriginsTungus language of Central SiberiaCentral Siberia. Originally denoting a religious specialist who heals the sick, divines the future and secures success in the hunt with help of spirits and a drumSami today

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A Shaman of the Sami people (Noaidi) with his drum. Woodcut, 1767.

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Korean ShamanismKorean Shamanism

– Today, most are women. Called upon to guide the dead to the underworld, to cure illness, for divination and to ensure good fortune.

– Shamans are chosen by spirits who are attracted to those whose maǔm or soul has been hurt by some sort of illness. The individual will become possessed until she accepts the call of the spirits and becomes a Shaman.

– Shamans in Korean society are sometimes seen as social deviants, so this may be a role not willingly taken.

– Korean Shaman initiation

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Religious Rituals

Involves religious paraphernalia/symbols like prayers, offerings, sacred literature recitations, etc.

If MythsMyths provide the basis for a society’s morals and values. RitualsRituals are the vehicle with which these values are imparted to the group.

Rituals: Rite of Passage Purpose is to change the status of an individual within a

community and to imprint this new status to collective memory.

Review:StatusStatus: refers to social position (i.e.

brother, mother, husband, Instructor, student, policeman) not to rank

RankRank: Hierarchical placement of an individual within society (i.e. Employee, Supervisor, Middle Manager, Vice President, President, CEO)

Rituals: Rite of Passage Purpose is to change the status of an individual within a

community and to imprint this new status to collective memory.

Rite of Passage stages:SeparationSeparation: an individual is separated from

previous statusTransitionTransition: undergoes rituals (can involve

initiation and/or pain ceremonies) Often a time of mystery and metamorphosis. An

individual is in a state of Liminality: ambiguous social marginality occurring

in this transition phase.IncorporationIncorporation: Individual reenters society w/

new status

Rituals: Rites of Intensification(also called Social Rights of Intensification)

Rituals to mark occasions of crisis in the life of the group.

Functions:Unite people.Allay fear of the crisis.Prompt collective action.

Rituals: Rites of Intensification

Ex: “Ghost Dance”Associated with the Massacre at

Wounded Knee in 1890 where 153 Lakota Sioux were killed during its performance. Started by Jack Wilson (Wovoka), a Paiute Native American who received a message from God that if this dance was performed, impending doom from the “Manifest Destiny” of settlers could be avoided, and harmony and peace would prevail.

Magic

• The belief that supernatural powers can be compelled to act in certain ways for good or evil purposes by recourse to certain specified formulas.

• Many societies have magical rituals to ensure good crops, the replenishment of game, the fertility of domestic animals, and the avoidance or healing of illness in humans.

MagicImitativeImitative magic

Magic based on the principle that like produces like. Sometimes called sympathetic magic.

Ex: Red Cloverhead & sap of the Bloodroot used to treat problems of the blood.

Ex: Ancient Egypt & Rome: Bes Jars

MagicContagiousContagious magic

Magic based on the principle that things once in contact can influence one another after separation.

Ex: The Fore, Sorcery & Kuru. Food remnants, hair, nail clippings, excrement of victim mixed with leaves/stones bundle placed into the cold, muddy ground, symbolizing deep chill of Kuru. Bundle beaten with a stick, symbolizing breaking/weakening of bones.

DivinationDivinationA magical procedure for determining the cause

of a particular event, such as illness, or foretelling the future.

Ex: Magic 8 ball, Ouija board, Tarot, etc…