| animism | Belief in souls or doubles.
|
 |
|
|
| cargo cults | Postcolonial, acculturative, religious movements common in Melanesia that attempt to explain Euopean 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 mechanism | 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.
|
|
|
|
| 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 | Beliefs and rituals 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.
|
|
|
|
| shaman | A part-time religious practitioner who mediates between ordinary people and supernatural beings and forces.
|
|
|
|
| taboo | Prohibition backed by supernatural sanctions.
|