What concept allows for recognition of religion

as a cultural universal?
 The foundation for the comparative study of
religion is the recognition that everywhere
people recognize supernatural forces that
exert some degree of control over the natural
world and thus our lives.
Efforts to define, explain and control these
forces is what we recognize as religion.
 Religion extends into all spheres of our lives.
Religion answers unanswerable questions and
explains the unexplainable (e.g. why do bad
things happen to good people).
 Durkheim established the modern,
comparative perspective on religion.
Religion is a social institution a creation of society
and a recreation of society.
Through religion people sanctify and worship their
way of life, their culture.
 Religion deals with unquestionable truths.
Science deals with theories about nature and is
always open to questioning.
There is no place for miracles in science.
 Sophy - A system of
thought. Sophists were
pre-Socratic thinkers and
teachers:
Logos Debatable
knowledge.
Mythos Sacred truth.
 Germ theory of disease vs. witchcraft.
Nature of the cosmos (earth is not at center).

Science is not objective. Rather,

science is grounded in empiricism.
Religion commonly addresses things
that are not observable (other realms,
deities, etc).
 Evolution vs. creationism.
 Outside the realm of mythos, we have no basis
to consider one religion as superior to and
other.
The concept of reality is relative.
Through comparative study of religion we
come to appreciate similarities between
religions more than differences.

People who recognize a

particular expression of the
supernatural do not believe,
they know.

Buddha Christ
Ghosts, demons, angles, witches, gods, saints, etc. These are cultural
categories. We have to learn about them they are taught to us.

Examples of archetypes and folk expressions.

culture hero saint, martyr

demons Satan, thokolosi
gods - God
Saint James Roman Catholic School

Satan

Thokolosi
 Personified
Impersonal
 Have no consciousness and can not respond to us
in any way.
Because they have no consciousness we can only
manipulate them through symbols that
represent them:
Such symbolic projections of power are called
magic.
HINT:
 We will return to impersonal supernatural
powers when we get to magic.
 Are conscious and we can have a social
relationship with them.

They hear our prayers

They witness our rituals
They receive our sacrifices

Ganesh - master of intellect

and wisdom (Hinduism)
 Pantheism -
Devine principles are everywhere

Polytheism
Multiple gods

Monotheism
Supremacy of one god

Animism
Spirits animate natural world

Animatism
Impersonal forces govern the natural world.
 The further into the supernatural realm a being is
conceived to be, the less interaction it has with
people.
Beings who dwell in the natural world have more
interaction with people.
 Almighty, Supreme Being
or Principle

V D S
E I R
R M O
T E
I N T gods
C S S
A I E
L O Culture Heroes
N C
N
A

Ghosts, Spirits, Tricksters Forces, Witches

Interaction Culture Interaction
HORIZONTAL DIMENSION
Model developed by Phillips Stevens, Jr., Ph.D.
SUNY Buffalo
 Almighty Often otiose (literally, at leisure or rest)
These are often creators who withdrew and left lesser
gods to manage human affairs.
gods: Often have most interaction with people.
Culture heroes did something great and are
remembered. May become gods if their message was
important or their deed great.
Ancestors Remembered, but may eventually be
forgotten unless they did something great and become
culture heroes and perhaps eventually gods.
 This is the natural world where humans
reside.
Supernatural beings that reside in the natural
world interact with humans, or have the
potential to.
Beings found here include ghosts, witches,
spirits and tricksters.
Forces are commonly found here, but these are
impersonal (will cover them in section on
magic and sorcery).
 Priests are functionaries who are ordained into an office based on
their competence in performing ritual. Charisma is embodied in
the office they occupy.
Shamans cultivate relationships with specific spirit beings and
use those relations for the benefit of society. Their charisma lies in
their ability to interact with spirit allies.
 Raymond Prince, Shamans and endorphins:
Hypotheses for a synthesis. American
Anthropologist, 1982.
Endorphin release can lead to:

Fight or flight or Ecstasy

Hopi rainmaker Kachinas enter
the plaza at Shonghopavi.
 An explanation of the cosmos (all that is out
there) and an expression of peoples relation to
the supernatural.
Includes reference to what people must do to
maintain and profit from a relationship with
the supernatural.
 Rituals are based on repetitive behavior.

Rituals have been perfected. If exact procedures are not

followed something may go wrong and desired
outcomes may not be achieved.

Exact repetition preserves bodies of mythology in

preliterate cultures.
 Bar mitzvah, Bat mitzvah and Confirmation child
becomes an adult with ritual rights or responsibilities.
Communion Becoming one with the Christhood.
Confession Admission of sins and absolution.
Critical ritual.

Calendric ritual.
 Frequently occur at times of life crisis.
Divination Obtaining divine guidance in important
matters.
Scapulamancy among Nascapi of Labrador.
 Sangoma in Lesotho, 1992
 Mark changes in the life status of an individual and
those close to him or her.

Tied to the life-cycle: Birth Childhood Puberty Marriage

Retirement - Death
 Reaffirm and perpetuate the cycle of life.
Eka Dasa Rudra in Bali occurs once every century.
 Globally, rituals tend to cluster on dividing
points.
Symbolism is remarkably similar from one
culture to another.
Rituals seem to be addressing environmental
concerns associated with the seasons.
Ritual events are reversed in the southern
hemisphere as are the seasons, but the
symbolism still matches.
 Vernal Equinox March 21-23

Winter Solstice Dec. 21-23

Autumnal Equinox Sept. 21-23

Summer Solstice June 21-23

 Symbolic is new beginnings
 Right of Reversal
 Rituals tend to be symbolic of fasting, rebirth
and resurection.
Northern hemisphere agricultural cycle
begins
Easter celebrates fertility
Eggs
Flowers
Resurection
Bunneys
Maypole

Lent - Fasting
Lent and Mardi Gras
 Rituals tend toward maintaining balance with
nature.
Symbolism revolvers around abundance, first
fruits and giving thanks.
Thanksgiving

Halloween (Samhain)

Day of Dead