 |  Magic, Witchcraft and Religion: An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural, 6/e Arthur Lehmann,
California State University -- Chico
Pamela Moro,
Willamette University
James Myers,
California State University -- Chico
Shamans, Priests, and Prophets
Chapter Outline
Introduction
Religious Specialists
-typology?
-"priest thinkers"
-connections with social structure
Early Anthropology of Religion
-animism
-magic versus religion
-function
Definition and Categorization
-problematic
-needed for cross-cultural comparison
-insight into societal structure
Realm of the Religious
-definitional problem
-Western approach/assumptions
-anthropological concept of the "religious"
Investigating Religious Specialists
-insight into other elements of culture
-making distinctions
-articles included on specialists
Article: Religious Specialists by Victor Turner
Religious Specialists
-definition
-multivocality of religion
Priest and Prophet
-Weber's contrast
-"charisma"
Priest and Shaman
-commonly contrasted by anthropologists
-divine stroke versus inherited
-correlation to structural complexity
-shaman and medium
Religious Functionaries
-institutional
-inspirational
Sociocultural Correlates
-priest
-shaman
-prophet
-"mechanical" and "organic" solidarity
Divination and Religious Specialists
-definition
-analysis of past "untoward" events
-overlapping practices
-examples
Diviner and Doctor
-often specialized roles
-psychosomatic/sociologic factors in illness
-soul/life force under attack
-"diagnostician" and the "therapist"
Modes of Religious Specialization
-factors of scale and complexity
-simple societies
-complex societies
--example: Catholic Church
-medium-scale societies
Religious and Political Specialization
-often connected
-example: Bakabilo among the Bemba
-reducing societal conflict
Article: Priests by C. Von Furer-Haimendorf
Priests
-functions
-variation
-differentiation
-overlap
-economic development factors
Priest and Magician
-different claims to priesthood
-Hill Reddis tribe of southern India
Married to Spirit
-priest/magician overlap
-proving the ability to communicate
--trance
--tutelary deities
-Saora tribe of Orissa in India
The Master of Ecstasy
-origins of 'shaman'
-supreme religious experience
-separation
-induced states and mental disposition
-training
-Ifuago tribe of the Philippines
A Sense of Awe
-power and precariousness
-taboo
-costume
-female priestesses
-occupational patterns
-restrictions on sex
Article: The Shaman: A Siberian Spiritualist by William Howells
Shamans
-status and ability
-geographic/cultural range
-medium and diviner
-witch-like
-absolute faith from practitioner and public
Duties
-ride herd on the souls of the departed
-ascertain the position of other spirits in relation to people
-varying degrees of occupational specialization
-not a magician; not a priest
-brave negotiator
Background
-reindeer herders and fishers of northeast Asia
-groups on the Western shore of the Bering Sea
-bleak environment
-cosmology/ worldview: three realms of nature
-traveling between realms
Familiar Spirits
-associated animal souls
-emekht, yekyua
Shamanic Appearance
-dressing the part
--cap, mask, coat with tails, metal plates
--highly decorated
The Practice
-a typical séance/ calling the spirits
--expert showmanship
--autohypnosis
-shaman traveling to the spirits
-Mongolian "purification" ritual
Outsider Perspective
-extremely exciting melodrama
-ventriloquism, prestidigitation
-end justifying the means
-intelligent and earnest practitioners helping people
Recruitment
-hereditary or chosen by spirits
-usually avoided if possible
-assimilation of male and female
-psychological type/ "artistic temperament"
-socially useful exhibitionist release
-diviners of South Africa
An Adapted Cultural Practice
-"Arctic hysteria" tendencies
--Eskimo wildness
--startled Siberians
-driving off the cultural hysteria
-somewhat incompatible with tightly organized religion
-examples
A Real Emotional Exercise
-psychological and social benefits
-fewer drawbacks than witchcraft
-artistic and dramatic release of tension
Article: Dark Side of the Shaman by Michael Fobes Brown
"New Age" Thought
-Santa Fe
-alternative healing methods/ non-Western tribal traditions
-interest in shamanism
Shamanism
-anthropological definition
-romantic appeal and approach
-the practice in context
Aguarana People of Peru
-history and environment
-Yankush the iwishín
-the sorcerer and the practice of sorcery
-shaman/sorcerer connection
-feared and believed tradition
Ambiguity
-power source
-private/public realm
-potentially indistinct boundaries
-ambiguity and ambivalence: a healing session
-a prestigious burden
Violent Undercurrents
-don't cancel out the benefits of shamanism
--shamans integrate many types of 'medication'
-sustain a belief in sorcery with a "negative current"
-anthropological perspective on the function of the practice
Unsettling New Age Embracement
-little to no appreciation of the cultural context
-tribal lore supermarket
-pushing aside stark truths
-shamanism as a powerful whole
Article: Reflections After Waco: Millennialists and the State by Michael Barkun
What Happened at Waco
-three questions
-failure to take into account beliefs
-approached as psychopathic and delusional
Branch Davidian Belief System
-three implications of the belief system
-Koresh as authoritative interpreter
-millenarian rejection dynamic
The Federal Reaction
-unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation
-attempt to assimilate into hijacker model
-led astray by the "cult concept"
Cascading Misunderstandings
-led to violence
-assumptions about the effect of the use of force
-the "script" and the struggle: a prophecy come true
-premise of cost/benefit model and "increased pressure"
Charismatic Leadership
-transcends law and custom
-major factor in federal frustration
-the limits
-complex relation/situational matter
-inadvertently validated
What Ought to Have Been Done?
-given retrospect
-patience and restraint
-an informed approach
Communal Groups and Government Forces
-other examples
-Weaver affair as a microcosm
-new form and the previous models
-future of the phenomenon?
Posttribulationist Millennarians
-beliefs
-survivalist lifestyle
-Christian Identity Movement
-defensive withdrawal from society
-probable future clashes
The Future of Millennial Groups?
-the turn of the millennium
-government policy and approach?
-understanding groups vs. categorizing "cults"
-order and free exercise of religion: issues with 'insight'
-questions that need to be addressed
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2005 McGraw-Hill Higher Education