Key Terms

animism	Belief in souls or doubles.



cargo cults	Postcolonial, acculturative religious movements, common in Melanesia, that attempt to explain European domination and wealth and to achieve similar success magically by mimicking European behavior.



communal religions	In Wallace's typology, these religions have, in addition to shamanic cults, communal cults in which people organize community rituals such as harvest ceremonies and rites of passage.



communitas	Intense community spirit, a feeling of great social solidarity, equality, and togetherness; characteristic of people experiencing liminality together.



leveling mechanisms	Customs and social actions that operate to reduce differences in wealth and thus to bring standouts in line with community norms.



liminality	The critically important marginal or in-between phase of a rite of passage.



magic	Use of supernatural techniques to accomplish specific aims.



mana	Sacred impersonal force in Melanesian and Polynesian religions.



mana	Sacred impersonal force in Melanesian and Polynesian religions.



monotheism	Worship of an eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent supreme being.



Olympian religions	In Wallace's typology, develop with state organization; have full-time religious specialists-professional priesthoods.



polytheism	Belief in several deities who control aspects of nature.



religion	Belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces.



revitalization movements	Movements that occur in times of change, in which religious leaders emerge and undertake to alter or revitalize a society.



rites of passage	Culturally defined activities associated with the transition from one place or stage of life to another.



ritual	Behavior that is formal, stylized, repetitive, and stereotyped, performed earnestly as a social act; rituals are held at set times and places and have liturgical orders.



shaman	A part-time religious practitioner who mediates between ordinary people and supernatural beings and forces.



syncretisms	Cultural blends, or mixtures, including religious blends, that emerge from acculturation, particularly under colonialism, such as African, Native American, and Roman Catholic saints and deities in Caribbean vodun, or "voodoo," cults; the exchange of cultural features when cultures come into continuous firsthand contact. taboo-Set apart as sacred and off-limits to ordinary people; prohibition backed by supernatural sanctions.



syncretisms	Cultural blends, or mixtures, including religious blends, that emerge from acculturation, particularly under colonialism, such as African, Native American, and Roman Catholic saints and deities in Caribbean vodun, or "voodoo," cults; the exchange of cultural features when cultures come into continuous firsthand contact.



taboo	Set apart as sacred and off-limits to ordinary people; prohibition backed by supernatural sanctions.

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