Glossary

fieldwork	direct observation of people in the settings in which they actually live
cultural anthropology	the subdivision of the field that specializes in the study of human ways of life
participant observation	the form of fieldwork that uses a process of participating with and observing subjects in their natural setting
culture	a learned system of beliefs, feelings, and rules for living that is shared by a group of people
cross-cultural comparison	the use of statistical comparisons drawn from a broad range of different cultures to test specific hypotheses about relationships among different parts of culture or between a part of culture and the natural environment
cultural relativism	the idea that the meanings of any custom are best understood in the cultural context to which they belong
supernatural	pertaining to beings and powers that are believed to lie beyond the realm of natural things
animism	the belief in spiritual beings
soul	a spirit that animates the human body
ghosts	disembodied human souls that linger and do harm to living humans
ancestral spirits	the souls of deceased persons who continue their helpful involvement in the day-to-day earthly affairs of their descendants
gods	spirit beings who exercise greater than human power over forces in the world
ancestor worship	the practice of placating souls of deceased ancestors who can be influenced to give aid to their descendants
animatism	the belief in an impersonal spiritual force
mana	supernatural force or power
taboos	religious rules that forbid acts because they bring people in contact with mana
ethnocentrism	the attitude that one's own culture is superior to other cultures and that its concepts can therefore be used as the natural standard for interpreting and evaluating what goes on in other societies
sacred	the realm of things that differ from the profane, or ordinary, everyday, work-a-day world, and are set apart and forbidden because of the special feelings they inspire
profane	the realm of ordinary, everyday, work-a-day world experience
totem	a symbolic representation of the kind of spirit believed to be shared by members of the same totemic clan
magic	religious ritual performed with the intent of compelling the supernatural
ultimate concern	whatever people take seriously without any reservation and which therefore is the source of the meaning of life for them; a set of symbolic forms and acts which relate man to the ultimate condition of his existence
rituals	stereotyped sequences of behaviors that are associated with particular emotions and which are rationalized, that is made meaningful, by the supernatural beliefs of the performers
communitas	feelings of unity and equality that is achieved during religious rituals
multivocalic	the quality of having more than one equally appropriate meaning
naturalistic thinking	thinking that distinguishes carefully between the human experience of internal objects and events and the experience of external phenomena and that explains internal phenomena in terms of biological processes and external phenomena in terms of other external phenomena
supernaturalistic thinking	thinking that confuses the locus of an experience by treating internal phenomena as extensions or results of external ones or external objects and events as extensions of the human ego
anthropomorphism	thinking that perceives human qualities in the nonhuman world
myths	a religion's sacred stories about supernatural beings and powers and their roles in creating the universe and living things
mythology	the collective body of a religion's myths
theogonic myths	accounts of the origins of the gods or supernatural beings
culture myths	accounts of the exploits of heroes, demigods, and other supernatural beings in a time past when the human way of life was being implanted
nature myths	accounts of the origin of the phenomena of nature
etiological myths	accounts of the origins of religious rites and social customs
cosmogony	the part of a religious ideology that consists of stories that describe the origin of the gods, nature and the universe, and human beings.
pantheon	the supernatural powers and beings of any cosmogony
Supreme Being	a supernatural entity who is believed to have greater power than all other supernatural beings combined
high gods	supernatural entities who are not regarded as supreme themselves, but who each exercise great power over some major force within the universe
cosmology	beliefs about the nature of and principles by which the universe is believed to operate
legends	stories that are usually set somewhat after the time of myth and that describe the adventures of early human heroes who embody the virtues by which people should live
values	feelings about what aught to be or not be, what is good or evil, desirable or undesirable
piety values	rules that govern the behavior of people toward the supernatural itself.
moral values	rules about good and bad behavior towards other human beings as religious obligations
rituals	stereotyped sequences of behaviors that are associated with particular emotions
rites of passage	rituals that celebrate status changes that members of a society normally undergo during the course of life
ceremony	a complex sequence of rituals
psychological functions	effects of customs on the psychological states of their individual participants
mazeway resynthesis	a psychological process in which an individual reorganize his or her system of values and his or her understanding of his or her own identity, the nature of human society, and the nature of the natural environment
catharsis	the sudden discharge of a distressful emotion
stress	the physiological changes by which the body begins to mobilize its energies to ward off disease or to cope with social or psychological problems
distress	psychological response of experiencing stress as subjectively unpleasant
anxiety	stress experienced as a generalized unpleasant physiological state
emotion	a combination of the (1) feeling associated with a particular pattern of stress and (2) thoughts about the nature of the situation in which the feeling occurs
eustress	the experience of stress as vitalizing rather than distressful
fear	the emotion experienced when we fail to behave powerfully enough to play our expected roles properly or when we are not be able to defend ourselves from harm
guilt	the emotion experienced when we recognize that we have used more power than we are entitled to and have done harm to someone else
shame	the emotion experienced when we demand more respect from others than we think we are deserving of
grief	the emotion experienced when we play our roles in a way that brings less honor than we believe those in the same kind of relationships normally receive, the longing for comfort from others that comes when they show us love, respect, and esteem.
anger	the emotion we feel when we are distressed about the outcomes of our interactions with others and perceive the problem as being the fault of the other person instead of ourselves
aesthetic distance	the state of mind in which a distressful emotion is experienced in this balanced, real-but-safe
underdistanced	adjective describing experiences that evoke emotions so powerfully that they overwhelm
overdistanced	adjective describing experiences that fail to evoke emotions at all
affectlessness	a state of experiencing no emotion at all during situations that evoke stress
trance states (altered states of consciousness)	a psychological state in which a person loses his usual sense of separateness from the world and engages in supernaturalistic thinking
spirit-possession trances	trances that are subjectively experienced as a giving up or losing personal control over ones actions while control is assumed by a spirit that has entered one's body
visionary (or spirit-travel) trances	trances that involve visionary experiences which may even seem like an "out of the body" experience in which the ego seems to leave the body and is able to move about the environment or even enter a usually unseen spiritual realm while the body remains behind
symbolism	the expression of meaning through the use of symbols
signs	objects or actions that have a natural meaning, a meaning based on the similarity between them and what they stand for, the consistent co-occurrence in nature of them and their the things they stand for, or a connection between the two that is determined by biology.
symbols	objects or events that stand for something else only because humans have established a consensus about what they mean.
key symbols	symbols that are regarded as very important by those in whose culture they are found, inspire strong positive or negative feelings, surrounded by rules such as taboos, found in many different contexts, and surrounded by cultural elaboration such as having many words to refer to them
summarizing symbols	key symbols that represent in what a system means to the participants generically
elaborating metaphors	key symbols that provide more detailed information about a complex system to make it more comprehensible
root metaphors	symbols that order conceptual experience by serving as points of reference for conceptual experience
key scenarios	symbolic portrayals of means-ends relationships and order action by symbolizing ways to appropriately act out those relationships
world view	beliefs about the nature of reality, what kinds of rules it follows, how it came to be the way it is, and what supernatural beings and powers were involved in its origins. Such beliefs form the
mythic story line	the sequence of events in a myth that comprise the tale that accounts for the orderliness of the universe and that validates the customs and values of the society to which it belongs
mythic symbols	objects or events in a myth or legend that each stand for or represent some important element of the supernatural realm, the order of nature, the human role within creation, or relationships between these.
structural meaning	meaning that is encoded into the way a story is organized.; the relationships among the mythic symbols of myths and legends, relationships that form the underlying structure of the story and that convey a message concerning the tensions or conflicts in a society's ideology
mythemes	the basic relationships that are predicated in myths, that constitute a myth's smallest units of meaning, and that are the building blocks of the myth's underlying structure.
oral literature	tales told by word of mouth for pleasure and edification
monotheism	the belief in a a high deity maintains order within the universe as a whole and who is supreme over all other supernatural beings
polytheism	a belief in many gods, none of whom are supreme
spirits	supernatural beings of whose power and influence is tied to a particular location or human group and whose power and influence is less than that of gods.
ancestral spirits	spirits believed to be those of deceased members of one's family who return to the family and continue to help the family achieve its goals
reincarnation	the idea that spirits may be reborn, usually into one's own group, after a period of existence in the spirit world
soul	a spirit that is believed to animate the human body
supernatural sanctions for violation of moral rules	supernatural punishments for violating moral rules or rewards for obeying them
primogeniture	the inheritance of property by the eldest child
matrifamilies	families in which mothers and their relatives have authority over the husband and his children
sorcery	the use of magical rituals to harm other human beings
witchcraft	the use of an innate, spiritual power to harm others.
evil eye	the belief that some individuals have the power, intentionally or unintentionally, to harm others whom they envy.
gods (deities)	supernatural beings who control major forces within the universe, such as storms, plant or animal fertility, or warfare
religious technology	objects that function as religious symbols rather than as objects of utilitarian use
expressive culture	the part of culture which is most involved with organizing and expressing feelings
projection	the treatment of internal images and ideas as if they were externally real
sensory symbols	those conventional signs whose meanings relate to physiological facts and processes such as mother's milk, blood, menstruation, birth, semen, genitalia, sexual intercourse, excreta, and death and that produce strong feelings in participants in ritual that use them
ideological symbols	those conventional signs used in rituals to express allegiance to society and its social values and morality, conformity to its customs and laws, and acceptance of the established relationships between the individuals and groups that make up society
numinous	pertaining to a feeling of the dependence of one=s own existence; the emotion of a creature; the feeling of being submerged and overwhelmed by its own nothingness in contrast to that which is supreme above all creatures
mysticism	a sense of timeless and spaceless union or oneness with the divine that is accompanied by profoundly positive feelings
functional equivalents	institutions or customs that have a similar effect on the stability of a society
functions	the effects that part of a culture has on the stability of a society and on how its customs are carried out
natural symbols	symbols that have the same meanings across cultural boundaries; objects or acts at least some of whose possible meanings are derived from their perceived attributes or normal human uses
trickster dieties	gods who acted on impulse rather than thoughtfully, who enjoyed playing jokes on others, and who often represent unconstrained or adolescent sexuality
ideology	the shared beliefs that define a social group and that are passed down from one generation to the next
language	is a distinctively human system of communication that governs the use of spoken symbols
writing	a system of symbols that are used to portray language in visual form
oral literature	the spoken traditions of a society
liturgies	rituals or ceremonies practiced as forms of public worship or devotion
literalism	the approach to understanding texts that assumes that they are best understood without taking the words as similes, analogies, and metaphors is called
figurativism (nonliteralism)	an interpretation that assumes that the words of the text may mean more than they seem to when taken at face value is an approach called
liturgical orders	more or less invariant sequences of rituals encoded by persons other than the performers
restricted code	a use of language that involves relying heavily on standard idioms and relies on the hearers' ability to intuit that which has not been said explicitly based on their shared background
ritual language	the highly standardized spoken words that are predictable and spoken in a more-or-less invariant way
elaborated code	a use of language in which many words are used to organize ideas and make ones thoughts explicit
linguistic taboos	those things with a religion that are not to be said, either because saying them will be punished by other members of the religious body or because they are believed to result in harmful spiritual consequences.
prayer	the use of language to influence supernatural beings and powers
songs	meaningful speech produced as a part of music
chants	the use of speech-like nonsense syllables rather than meaningful speech produced in musical form
exhortation	the addressing of members of a congregation by another who is acting in the role of representative of the supernatural
recitation of the code	communicating about the ideology of the group
glossolalia	the production of sound sequences that have no conventional meanings in speech-like acts
paradoxes	statements that are true if and only if they are false but false if and only if they are true
canon	those texts that have been formally recognized as the valid documents for establishing the doctrine and practice of a religion
problem of canon	the problem of identifying the works to include in a translation of scriptures
problem of textual basis	the particular version of the original text that is chosen as the one to be translated
Septuagint	a translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek that was made in the second and third centuries B.C.
Masoretic text	a version in Hebrew for which copies exist that date to the ninth century A.D.
problem of interpretation	the problem of how to determine the precise meaning of a word, a verse, or a passage of an ancient sacred text
problem of style	the problem of determining how modern or archaic, how colloquial or formal, or how literal or idiomatic the translation should be
literal (or formal equivalence) translations	renderings of a text from one language to another that emphasize the use of the words or phrases that are most equivalent to those of the original text.
idiomatic (or dynamic equivalence) translation	a rendering of a text from one language to another that sacrifice the use of equivalent words or phrases for the sake of expressing the meanings conveyed by complete sentences and paragraphs
linguistic relativity	the idea that the structure of a language influence influences its speakers' understanding of reality
religious ritual	behavior that is done in the same way on repeated occasions with care about accuracy of performance and that are believed to mobilize supernatural powers to accomplish human ends
life-crisis rites	rituals that ceremonialize the transitions of status that all members of a community normally pass through exemplify this facet of ritual symbolism
Ultimate Sacred Postulates	assertions that cannot be proved or disproved because they are claims that have no empirical referents in the world of ordinary experience
technological rituals	rituals which are intended to control various aspects of nature in ways that improve the human ability to function
divination	the use of ritual to obtain hidden knowledge
rituals of manipulation	rituals that are used to act directly nature directly
rites of intensification	rituals for increasing the availability of important natural resources or to control other forces of nature in ways that improve human life
protective rituals	rituals used with the intent of preventing harm to human beings
fetish	an object that embodies the power of a protective ritual
therapy rituals	rituals performed by people to improve health and bodily functioning
anti-therapy rituals	rituals intended to cause discomfort, illness, and even death to the person against whom they are directed
rituals of salvation	rituals which are intended to cause a temporary or permanent change in the participant's personality
spirit possession rituals	rituals in which the participant's personality is temporarily replaced by another that is attributed to a spirit that has taken control over the participant's behavior
ritual of becoming a shaman	a ritual in which the participant's personality undergoes a permanent change as part of a visionary experience in which he or she experiences a near-death-like experience of leaving the body and traveling in the spirit world where spirits or deities call the participant to become a shaman
rituals of mystical experience	rituals in which the participant seeks the ecstatic experience of oneness with the divine
rituals of expiation	rituals in which the participant engages in acts of penance or good works to atone for sins, taboo violations, or other failings
revitalization rituals	ceremonies that communicate new systems of beliefs and values and reinforce the world view they represent in their participants
petitionary rituals	rituals are intended to request rather than compel the supernatural
Law of Sympathy	the magical idea that things act on each other at a distance through a secret sympathy
Law of Similarity	the magical principle that like produces like or that an effect resembles its cause
homeopathic (or imitative) magic	rituals that compel the supernatural by means of the Law of Similarity
Law of Contagion	the magical principle that things which have once been in contact with each other continue to act on each other at a distance after physical contact has been severed"
contagious magic	rituals that compel the supernatural by means of the Law of Contact or Contagion
worship	ritual performed to express adoration
rituals of social control	those rituals that are aimed at maintaining the stability of society and its culture
rituals of ideology	rituals of social control that communicate the symbolism of the group to its participants
normative communitas	communitas in which the experience of undifferentiated loyalty to others and equality of comradeship is incorporated into a lasting social system by its being organized into periodic ritual events.
liminal period	the phase of a ritual during which the feelings of the participants are characterized by communitas
rites of passage	rituals that define the changing statuses of individuals within their social groups as they pass through the various stages of life
pilgrimage	travel that is undertaken as a form of religious devotion
cult institution	a set of rituals all having the same general goal, all explicitly rationalized by a set of similar or related beliefs, and all supported by the same social group
individualistic cult institution	a set of rituals that are performed one person for his or her own purposes
shamanic cult institution	a set of rituals that involve at least two persons, the ritual practitioner and a client who is intended to benefit from the performance of the practitioner
communal cult institution	a set of rituals that members of the same religion participate in as group activities for the benefit of all involved in the ritual or even of the entire community of which they are a part
ecclesiastical cult institution	a set of rituals in which a religious specialist is charged with performing rituals for the benefit of an entire congregation
shaman	a part-time practitioner of religious rituals who serves individual clients
soul flight	sending the should out of the body to travel the spiritual plane, visit spirits, and obtain information for clients
soul loss	the belief that one's spirit has left one's body, causing the body to languish, sicken, and, perhaps, to die
spirit possession	the belief that a spirit has entered one's body and now controls its actions
object intrusion	the belief that explains illness by attributing it to the presence of a foreign body, a "disease object," in the patient's body
disease object	a supernaturally powerful object that causes illness when it enters or is magically projected into a victims body
sorcery	the use of magical rituals to harm others.
taboo violation	the belief that illness may result from a the breaking of a spiritual rule for which illness is the consequence
sorcerer	one who uses magical rituals for socially unapproved purposes
priests	religious specialists who mediate between the supernatural realm and humans by performing traditional rituals for congregations at scheduled times
prophets	the charismatic founders of new religions who base their teachings on the claim of personal revelation from the supernatural rather than from the study and interpretation of a preexisting theology
shamanic religions	religions in which only personal and shamanic rituals or ceremonies are performed
communal religions	religions in which the rituals of individuals and shamans may be supplemented by others that are performed by groups of individuals in their own behalf or for the welfare of the entire community
ecclesiastical religions	religions that have ecclesiastical, communal, shamanic, and individualistic cult institutions
sects	small ecclesiastical religions that are composed primarily of first-generation convert members and that espouse religious ideologies that they view as representing pristine truths that have been lost by other denominations within the same religious tradition
cults (new religious movements)	small ecclesiastical religions that are composed primarily of first-generation convert members and that espouse religious ideologies that are not derived from the major religious or cultural traditions of the society in which they develop
churches	large religious denominations that have religious ideologies that tend to support the customs and values of the societies in which they are found and that rely on highly trained, professional religious leaders to carry out their rituals
sovereign groups	the parts of a social organization that have original and independent jurisdiction over some sphere of life
theocracies	societies whose governments were based on the religious authority of their leaders
civil religion	the shared religious beliefs and values that cross-cut denominational boundaries in complex societies
state church	a religion that is sponsored and economically supported by the government of a nation state
gender symbolism	symbols and metaphors that reflect the social roles of men and women
gender stratification	unequal access to social power based on gender
women's cults	religious groups in which female shamans enter trances and become possessed by spirits to serve as mediums, diviners, and curers for their clients
totemism	the belief that humans are divided into different social groups based on their different spiritual affinities to various plant or animal species
adaptation	change towards becoming more adjusted to the environmental circumstances with which a people must cope
syncretism, (religious)	the mixing or blending of religious beliefs and practices that results from contact between different religious traditions
secularization	the process by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols
routinization of charisma	the process by which, as groups become larger, they tend to develop a hierarchy of managers and decision makers whose control is based on the authority of their office rather than personal charisma and whose authority becomes increasingly restricted to their own area of specialization
nativistic movements	attempts of native peoples to reassert parts of their traditional culture as a reaction against domination by foreign powers
cargo cults	Melanesian religious movements that claimed to have the secret of the cargo and offered rituals that would bring the cargo to their followers
millenarianism	the religious belief in a future "Golden Age" in which the evils of today's world no longer exist and that is often to be ushered in by the action of powerful supernatural forces
apocalypse	a cataclysmic end of the world, often in the near future, that will be brought about by divine intervention and that is often expected to be accompanied by major economic and political disasters and warfare between the righteous and the evil
revitalization process	the process by which new religious movements arise in response to major cultural stress
period of cultural stability	the normal state of a culture in which it change is a slow, step-by-step and recurring processes that can be understood as a kind of dynamic equilibrium.
period of increased individual stress	a time when forces such as prolonged warfare, epidemic disease, ecological disaster, or cultural contact with a more powerful alien society are responded to by members of society with various forms of individual deviance, including crime, illness, and various kinds of individual deviance
period of cultural distortion	a time when some members of society begin to band together into special interest groups to try to overcome the stresses in their lives by means of coordinated deviant behavior
period of revitalization	a time when an individual or group of individuals create a plan for building a new way of life, a utopia in which the problems around them will be done away with
revitalization prophet	an individual who create a vision of a new culture during something akin to a temporary psychotic break with reality
revelatory experience	the subjective experience of feeling that one has received an answer to one's prayers
fundamentalism, (religious)	a religious movement that (1) emphasizes beliefs regarded as the rock-solid, hard-binding, time-tested, scripture-based verities that give believers total assurance and total missions, (2) has a world-view that portrays its followers as being opposed by powerful or dangerous enemies, both supernatural and human, and (3) engages in political activism aimed at recruiting others to their "fundamentals", fighting back against the enemies the perceive as being opposed to their beliefs and values, and creating a society that is guided by their religious beliefs and values
authoritarianism	advocating the importance of obedience to authority
dogmatism	the statement of opinions and interpretations the authoritative texts as if they were established fact rather than judgements that might be subject to error
adversarial world view	of fundamentalist religions is one in which history is perceived as guided by a conflict between the forces of good and evil
fundamentalist political activism	a tendency to be involved in secular politics in order to challenge the evils perceived in society rather than withdrawing from the larger society to avoid those evils
relative deprivation (or status discrepancy)	the perception of a discrepancy between their expectations of success and their actual achievements, a great deal of dissatisfaction can result.
existential questions	questions about why humans exist, the meaning and purpose of life and death, and the role of values in human life