Religion
A Luba diviner
and her client,
performing a
divination ritual,
jointly hold a
friction oracle
known as a
kakishi on a
woven mat on
the ground
between them..
(John Pemberton)
Genesis Ch 3 v 6-7
“And they were both naked,
the man and his wife, and
were not ashamed.
And when the woman saw
that the tree was good for
food…. she took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with
her; and he did eat.
And the eyes of them both
were opened, and they knew
that they were naked; and
they sewed fig leaves
together, and made
themselves aprons”
Albrecht Durer 1504
Coronation of
Queen Elizabeth
II Westminster
Abbey
2 June 1953.
Shoshone “Water baby”
 The water babies (pa:unha) or
children of the water live in creeks
and lakes and are about 1 – 1 ½
half feet tall.
 They sound like babies crying and
are known for stealing babies if left
unattended near the water.
 Sometimes they will attract the
mother with their cry. If the mother
tries to stop the water baby from
crying by letting it nurse, the water
baby will attach itself to her breast
Petroglyph Dinwoody area Wyoming
and suck the blood from her body
(The wavy lines are an indication until she dies
of a being that is under water)
What makes these religious?
The Major Features of Religion
• Belief in the supernatural
• Texts
• supernatural Beings and
powers
• Body of myth
• Symbolic
• Stress/Anxiety Relief
• Moral code
• Rituals
• Sacred vs. profane
• Magic and witchcraft
• Emotional Experience
• Specially skilled individuals
• Group membership/identity
• System
•A philosophy
• A means of explanation
Defining Religion
“a set of beliefs, in
supernatural beings and
forces directed at helping
people make sense of the
world and solve important
problems.” (Ferraro 2008)
What is considered the
supernatural varies from
one society to the next.
Many societies don’t have
a separate word for
religion--it is so
integrated into politics,
kinship, economics and
cultural tradition.
When a Kikuyu elder
sacrifices a goat he calls
upon the ancestors to
help bring rain. The meat
is later shared with kin.
Is fulfils religious,
economic, and kinship
functions
Defining Religion
A system of beliefs and practices usually involving the
worship of supernatural forces or beings
The Problems with “the Supernatural”
1. The problem of Ethnocentrism
•
What we consider as supernatural others may not
2. The Problem of dichotomy
•
Other societies do not make a supernatural/natural
distinction
3. The Problem of Identifying the Supernatural
•
E.g. the water babies / vampires
Explanations for the Cultural Universality of Religion
Functional
Psychological
Intellectual
Interpretative
Sociological
Emotional
Intellectual approach
 “primitive man” was a rationalist and
E. B. Tylor
1832-1917
a scientific philosopher
 the notion of spirits was not the
outcome of irrational thinking
 preliterate religious beliefs and
practices were not “ridiculous” or a
“rubbish heap of miscellaneous folly”
 they were essentially consistent and
logical, based on rational thinking and
empirical knowledge.
 Tylor’s minimal definition of religion
“belief in spiritual beings” = animism
 from the Latin word anima meaning
breath or soul.
“ancient savage “philosophers” - impressed by two groups of
biological problems:
1. “what is it that makes the
difference between a
living body and a dead
one and what causes
sleep, trance, disease,
death?”
2. “what are these human
shapes which appear in
dreams and visions?”
a spirit or soul, derived
from the experience of
human souls or spirits in
`dreams and waking
hallucinations' is thought to
`animate' lifeless objects
such as sticks or stones,
trees, mountains, rivers, etc.
Animism

the idea that the world and everything in it is filled with souls
or spirits.
These
spirits can be communicated with.
Spirits “feel” and therefore, can be harmed, flattered,
offended and can also hurt or help.

Psychological Approach
 Gives meaning to life – Yes there is life after death
 a means for dealing with crises, death and illness,
famine, flood, failure
Reduces anxiety
 provides comfort
 helps people cope with reality.
 Tells them how to behave
 Removes burden of responsibility
A man sleeps on an ancestral
skull to ward off evil spirits in
Asmat area of Irian Jaya,
Indonesia
 Participation in religious ceremonies provides
reassurance security, and even ecstasy, closeness etc
Sociological Approach
 religion stems from society and provides for societal
needs
 religions validate the social: they posit controlling
forces in the universe that sustain the moral and social
order
 provide notions of right and wrong acceptable
behaviour, group norms
 provides moral sanctions for individual conduct
 education function through ritual used to learn oral
traditions
eg. puberty rites provide information about tribal
lore.
Social Functions of Religion
1. Social Control
2. Conflict Resolution
3. Group solidarity
Interpretative
Sees religion as a set of symbols and stresses the meaning of those
symbols, as referents and creators of meaningful life.
"a religion is a system of symbols
which acts to establish powerful,
pervasive and long-lasting moods and
motivations by formulating conceptions
of a general order of existence and
clothing these conceptions with such an
aura of factuality that the moods and
motivations seem uniquely realistic."
“Clifford Geertz”
Concerned with interpretation of rituals
Coping with Uncertainty
Magic, divination, oracles, & witchcraft
MAGIC

Nature is understood to be controlled by forces which
can be manipulated
 Magic is a way of controlling the natural elements.
 Magicians attempt to control the elements for the benefit
of their society or for the detriment of their enemies.
Rain Dance by
Tom Philllips
Contagious Magic
Sympathetic or Imitative Magic
Cave art used for rituals of this sort?
Standing Bison, Altamira
(Spain) c. 15,000-10,000 B.C.E
Jarome
Iginla
Playoff Beard
Miikka Kiprusoff
Stephane Yelle
Louis Van Zelst
(c.1896-1915)
Philadelphia Athletics
hunchback mascot and bat boy
(1910-1914)
“better rub my hump for a hit”
Athletics won World Series in
1910, 1911, 1913 (top of league
1914)
Credited for the wins as much
as the coach
1915 Athletics finished dead last
National Post
What is divination?
" the practice of foreseeing future events or acquiring
hidden knowledge through supernatural means"
The Piacenza Liver
bronze model of sheep liver with Etruscan
writing used for divination (hepatomancy)
Modern Examples?
Ordeals
Omens
Oracles
An Azande diviner
uses a friction
oracle (iwa), holding
his foot against the
lower part to keep
the instrument in
place and rubbing
the upper part
against it.
Rubbing Board oracles (iwa)
Men always carry an iwa with them for consultation on
questions ranging from whether or not to take a journey to
identification of the witch who has made him suddenly and
violently sick.
The small table-like portion is thought of as the female
part. The rubber is considered male.
Any man may use an iwa so
long as he observes the
appropriate taboos, such as
abstaining from sexual relations
for two days and not eating
certain foods,
He must also follow prescribed
procedures which include burning
the surface of the wood with a
red-hot spear, preparing and
anointing the object with a
mixture of boiled root juices and
oil over which he has prayed:
A diviner operating the rubbing-board oracle.
Witchcraft Among the Azande
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the purpose of divination among the Azande?
What is Witchcraft and what do witches do
Who are the Witches
What do witches epitomize?
5. Who do you accuse of being a witch?
6. what’s the first thing you do if you’re accused of being a witch
7. Why did the oracle “work” in the case of the adultery?
8. Who is the real victim in witchcraft accusations?
9. How do you prevent being accused of witchcraft
10. How are accusations of witchcraft a form of social control
11. How does consultation of oracles assist the Azande to cope with
social and cognitive uncertainty?
12. How have Christian beliefs and values been incorporated in
the Azande system?
Witchcraft
‘the inherent power to harm other persons by supernatural means’
Evans-Pritchard
The
image
of the
Witch
When shall we three meet again? In
thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When the hurly-burly's done. When the
battle's lost and won.
That will be ere the set of sun...
Fair is foul, and foul is fair
Hover through the fog and filthy air." Macbeth, Act I, Scene I
Witches represent a reversal of normal behaviour
Christian
Witch
White predominant color
Black dominant (Black Mass)
Chastity
Orgie
Heterosexual norm
Homosexual norm
Holy Communion
Cannibalism
Daytime Mass
Night time Mass
Prayers said normally
Prayers said backward
Worship God
Worship devil
authority divinely ordained
Authority from the devil (Eve)
Where does this concept come from
A witch
The Malleus Maleficarum (The Witch Hammer)
Heinrich Kramer and James
Sprenger
first published in 1486
> 20 editions next 200 years
Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal
Bull in 1484. It’s inclusion made it
appear that the whole book
enjoyed papal sanction
Swearing allegiance to the Devil, by
trampling the Cross... And kissing his behind
“He must not be too quick to
subject a witch to examination, but
must pay attention to certain signs
which will follow.
And he must not be too quick for
this reason: unless God, through a
holy Angel, compels the devil
to withhold his help from the witch,
she will be so insensible to the pains
of torture that she will sooner be
torn limb from limb than confess
any of the truth.”
-- Kramer and Sprenger, the
Malleus Maleficarum
One 'foolproof' way to establish
whether a suspect was a witch was
ducking.
With right thumb bound to left toe,
the accused was plunged into a
convenient pond.
If she floated it proved she was a
witch. Having rejected the baptismal
water the water was now rejecting
her.
She could then be hanged as a
witch
If the victim drowned they were
innocent. Given the position of the
prisoner, it was more likely they
would float
In England, torture was not
allowed against witches
because witches were not
believed to be conspirators.
Torture by sleeplessness,
(Tormentum insomniae) was
allowable perhaps because it
did not seem to be a real
torture.
Matthew Hopkins, known as
“The Witch-Finder
General”. Was paid by local
authorities to find witches.
Between 1645-1646, Hopkins
he was responsible for the
Matthew Hopkins, England's Witch-Finder condemnations and executions
General, explains how to identify witches
of some 230 alleged witches,
and their familiars
Some statistics:
Between c.1450 and c.1650,
about 60,000 to 100,000 people
were executed by legal
authorities for witchcraft in
Europe.
75%-90% of those accused
were female.
The majority of those accused
were over the age of 50.
When torture was used to
extract confessions, 95% of
suspects were convicted.
When torture was not used,
only 50% were convicted.
Who were the witches?
“What else is a woman …but a foe to friendship, an
inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, a natural
temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic danger, a
delectable detriment, and an evil of nature painted
with fair colors [she is, furthermore ]by her nature
quicker to waiver in her faith which is the root of
witchcraft.”
“Whether the belief that there are such beings as
witches is so essential a part of the Catholic faith that
obstinately to maintain the opposite opinion
manifestly savours of heresy.”
Kramer and Sprenger, the Malleus Maleficarum
June –July 2001,
“800 villagers in Congo's northeast
provinces were killed for being
witches.
Alleged witches were
unceremoniously hacked apart by
machete-wielding vigilantes, sparing
neither neighbor, nor friend.
The victims were first "smelled out"
by tribal healers as witches, before
they were beaten into incriminatory
confessions about others allegedly
engaged in the black arts.
After the unsuspecting parties were
identified, the executions started in
earnest throughout the rural areas.
Hundreds of Congolese fled to the
relative safety of Uganda, many
bearing machete wounds on legs,
arms, and torsos.”
Witchunt
Witchunt2
Afonso Garcia, 6, was exiled from
his relatives’ household in July
2007 after being accused of being a
witch. His family paid 20,000
Angolan Kwanzas, almost $300, to
cure him of witchcraft but still
rejected him, saying he was not
cured. N.Y. times Nov 2007
In August, 2007, a father in Luanda, Zaire injected battery acid into his 12year-old son’s stomach because he feared the boy was a witch
Sabrina
Worst witch ever
Bewitched
Charmed
Practical Magic
Ritual
Ritual Bathing in the Ganges on the ghats of Varanasi
(formerly Banaras)
Hindu pilgrims, standing waist high in the water, pray to cleanse
their souls as they face the rising sun to ensure a good rebirth
When people bathe in the holy Ganges, they scoop
the water and pour it into the river as an offering.
“a ritual is a stereotyped sequence of
activities involving gestures, words, or
objects, performed in a sequestered place
and designed to influence preternatural
[magical] entities or forces on behalf of
the actor’s goals or interests”
Victor Turner
•
•
•
•
Rituals
Sometimes ritual reenact myths and stories.
sometimes involve particular kind of attire, or a specific location.
They could be the reliving of an important event.
a patterned form of behavior, generally communal and consisting
of prescribed actions and words
• usually deeply meaningful
The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj is
the largest annual pilgrimage in the world
involving nearly 2 million people
It is an obligation every able-bodied Muslim
who can afford it must do at least once in
their life.
It demonstrates Muslim solidarity and their
submission to God.
And is associated with the life of
Muhammad, and involves a series of rituals
including walking 7 times counter-clockwise
about the Kaaba, the cubical building towards
which all Muslims pray.
Ten characteristics of rituals
1. They are by definition religious –involve magic, the supernatural
2. They are highly formalized or structured patterns of behaviour
3. rituals are belief in action
4. Out of the ordinary actions i.e. sacred
5. usually performed in a sequestered place
6. They have a goal or aim
7. They serve a function for the people concerned
8. They serve to provide a sense of solidarity
9. symbolic
10. multivocalic
Types of Rituals
•Calendrical rites
•concerned with the natural world
•seasonal
•should guarantee success and wealth
•raindance
•Rites of transition or passage, life cycle
•concerned with the social world
•changes in the individual’s status, role or position
•Critical or life-crisis rites
•Curing and magic
•Concerned with the individual
•Ritual For Group Welfare
1. Mass
2. Communion
3. Feast Days
What is a rite of passage?
Solomon Grundy
Born on Monday
Worse on Friday
Christened on
Tuesday
Died on Saturday
Married on
Wednesday
Buried on Sunday
Took ill on Thursday
This is the end
Of Solomon Grundy
Rites of passage are the
mileposts or landmarks
that guide travelers
through the life cycle.
Quinceanera
Throughout our
lives there are periods
when not much seems
to happen
Then there are times
when our lives
undergo dramatic
change
After which nothing
is quite the same as it
was before.
These transitions are
often marked by
rituals
The Rites of Passage (1908)
1. separation - Preliminal
–
–
–
purification rites
rituals symbolize cutting or
separating eg. removal of hair
seclusion
2. Transition - liminal
–
–
–
–
person symbolically placed
“outside” society
observes certain taboos or
restrictions
normal rules of the society
suspended
rite may be seen as a symbolic
death, leading to a rebirth
3. incorporation - postliminal
Arnold van Gennep
(1873 - 1957)
–
–
–
–
Symbolically reborn
completes transition to a new status
lifting of restrictions
wear new clothes and insignia
Australian Aborigine Initiation Rites
Initiation ceremonies for young boys culminate in circumcision.
The ceremonies are held at a special ceremonial grounds.
The final rituals are only open to men.
Young initiates are carried to their elders on the ceremonial ground and will stay
with them during the all-night "Mandiwala" dance before their circumcision.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services
Boys are painted up for their
"Mandiwala" initiation
ceremony Their circumcision
takes place early in the
morning.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services
Initiates during their ceremony in Borroloola; they
are looking at a long line of dancers that will dance
closely around them at the ceremony ground.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services
the initiates act as though they were dead
about an hour before sunset, the instructors take
their charges to an appointed place for a
“surprise”
Several men emerge from the bush swinging
their bull roarers
Young boys from
Numbulwar with small
spears; they will try to hit
the men, who will then have
to dance for them at their
circumcision ceremony.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services
"Daru" initiates in Borroloola. They are carrying small
bark boomerangs with which they try to hit men
Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services
When the neophytes wake,
they are Invested with a
'belt of manhood' and
their instruction begins
A boy is painted with red
ochre for his "Mandiwala"
initiation ceremony. He wears
a belt of human hair.
Photo by Ludo Kuipers © OzOutback Internet Services
Making fire with fire stick
ancestral beliefs about a great Being, who lived on the earth, and
who taught the men how to make implements revealed to the novices
The Power of Myth Joseph Campbell, p. 81, Doubleday, New York, 1988
Photo Andreas Lommel 1938
Initiation scars
What is do these rituals do?
• What are some of the powerful messages
that these rituals send to the boys (and girls)
and to their communities?
• How do they use spiritual power to change
to state of human beings?
Liminal period
 Initiate separated from normal life and secluded is in an
ambiguous condition
 Initiate has nothing – no status, property, rank or kinship
position - sacred poverty state
 initiates may be seen as sexless or bisexual, or considered
unclean or polluting
 treated as an embryo or a newborn infant, or thought of as
“dead” (by and to his parents and community)
 a suspension of normative obligations
 stress on servility to absolute authority of the ritual elders
 secret, esoteric knowledge – the sacra
= the “crux of liminality”
Communitas
unstructured and egalitarian bonds between people
Typical of the Liminal stage of a rite of passage
A communal bond that results from social leveling and
shared experience of liminality
Among neophytes there is often complete equality
comradeship transcends distinctions of rank, age,
kinship position
Communitas transgresses or dissolves norms that govern
institutionalized relationships
Communitas emerges where structure is not
Communitas has an aspect of potentiality
Religious Specialists
institutional functionaries vs. Inspirational functionaries
institutional
functionaries
Inspirational
functionaries
power inherited
or derived from
the body of
codified and
standardized –
from society
authority comes from his service in
a sacred tradition
efforts are individual and
occasional
must have competence in
conducting ritual -
deals with spirits and lesser
deities
Symbols of a rite are sensorial
perceptible to a congregation and
have a permanence in that they are
culturally transmissible
The priest is an actor in a culturally
scripted drama
Authority from
supernatural
powers come from
divine stroke and
personal ability
tends to dominate in foodgathering societies
most frequently performs a
curing rite
The shamanistic complex
Source of power comes from
Belief in magic which has
three aspects
1. The sorcerers belief in the
effectiveness of his
techniques
2. The patient’s or victim’s
belief in the sorcerer’s
power
A shaman of the SitkaQwan Indians (Alaska),
wearing a ritual mask, is 3. The faith and expectations
doing a healing.
of the group,
Revitalization Movements
The Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance
Buffalo Chase George Catlin c. 1845
The Last buffalo hunt took place in the fall of 1883
Across the Continent: "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way"
Frances F. Palmer, 1868
The traditional way of life had disappeared
Wovoka (= Jack Wilson)
c. 1858–1932
Paiute Prophet
A wickiup January 1889
central precept of the Ghost
Dance involved the reuniting of
the living and the dead
accompanied by a glorious
return of traditional Indian
culture
Like many millenarian visions,
Wovoka's prophecies stressed
the link between righteous
behavior and imminent
salvation.
Wovoka charged his followers
to "not hurt anybody or do harm
to anyone. You must not fight.
Do right always... Do not refuse
to work for the whites and do
not make any trouble with them”
Arapaho Ghost Dance
Salvation was not to be passively awaited but welcomed by a regime
of ritual dancing and upright moral conduct.
Artwork based on photographs of James Mooney.
Ghost Dance Shirt
Sitting Bull
Wounded Knee
Increasing popularity and militancy of
the Lakota Ghost Dancer’s dance in the
fall of 1890 made U. S. authorities and
settlers nervous and practice is banned
shaman Sitting Bull encouraged his
people to continue the dance in defiance
of the ban. Killed Dec 15 1890 in a battle
with US forces
U. S. authorities ordered the arrest of
another Lakota chief, Big Foot; he and a
band of some 350 Lakota surrendered on
December 28, 1890, establishing a camp
at Wounded Knee Creek
The following day a single shot,
Big Foot
according to a reporter on the scene,
was fired from the soldiers
Wounded Knee
Massacre South Dakota
Dec 29th 1890
Frederick Remington
Over 300 Lakota and
25 cavalry were killed
Revitalization Movements
 political-religious movement
 promising deliverance from deprivation,
 the elimination of foreign domination
 new interpretation of the human condition
 common in societies undergoing severe stress
deliberate and organized attempts by some members
of a society to construct a more satisfying culture by
rapid acceptance of a pattern of multiple innovations
Revitalization movements (Wallace)
Characteristic structure
I Steady State
II Period of increased Individual Stress
III Period of Cultural Distortion
IV Period of Revitalization
1. Mazeway Reformulation
2. Communication
3. Organization
4. Adaptation
5. Cultural Transformation
6. Routinization
V New Steady State
Cargo Cults
 cargo – pidgin English, for trade goods
 religious movements that have as their most characteristic
feature ~ the belief in a future Golden Age of prosperity and
power conceptualized as the delivery and distribution of a
cargo of consumer goods.
Messianic: i.e. often
concerned with a utopian
future brought about by the
intervention of a Messiah.
 syncretism between
indigenous and colonial
religious symbols and
doctrines
Most common in New Guinea and the islands of Melanesia after WWII
National Library of Australia.
Some recruiters or blackbirders with the crew of their boat.
The rifles the crew are holding are to protect them when they
go to find labourers to work in Queensland or Fiji.
Although known since
the 19th century most
arose since WWII
A time of plenty had
arrived
Coast Guard landing
craft and barges deliver
supplies in late-1942.
plane traffic flying over the islands carrying great loads
of goods in the cargo bays of the airplanes
Scenes from Gualtiero
Jacopetti’s cult
“shockumentary”
Mondo Cane, filmed in
New Guinea in 1959
Cargo cults generally
contain some ritual in
imitation of the
mysterious European
customs
Model airplanes used in
cargo cults
This airstrip consists of a
cleared mountain top
overlooking the “real” airport at
Port Moresby.
The ritualists hope one night to
entice a cargo plane to land at
their airstrip, and thus help
usher in the millennium
Planes come from paradise
sent by their ancestors. The
crafty white man (pirates)
however, manages to get his
hands on them by attracting
them into a big trap of an
airport.
You build your plane too, and
wait with faith. Sooner of later,
your ancestors will discover the
white man's trap and will
guide the planes onto your
landing strip.
Then you will be rich and
happy.
Field of Dreams 1989
"If we build it, they will come."
JOHN FRUM MOVEMENT
At the heart of the
movement is a mythic
messianic figure
called Jon Frum
A spirit messiah who
had come to change
the people back to
their traditional ways
before corruption
from the British
missionaries and
empower the people
by giving them cargo
wealth
John Frum Effigy
Remind you
of anyone?
Yasur Volcano Tanna
John Frum is believed to live in the
crater of the Yasur volcano with an
army of 20,000 men.
Flag Raising ceremony - Re-enactment of US Military
occupation from World War Two - still forms the ceremonial
centerpiece to John Frum Day (February 15th)
Red Crosses (from period of
war hospitals) worshipped
John Frum “army”, in jeans and bare torsos with 'USA' painted
on their chests and backs in day-glo pink magic marker, carry
four-foot lengths of bamboo at the "shoulder arms" position, the
tops cut to a bayonet point and colored red to evoke fire
John Frum Movement Flag
Lanternari
Williams
Childish,
irrational
wishful
thinking
Cargo Cult
Interpretations
Covert form of
revolutionary
consciousness.
Protonationalism
Worsley, Jarvie.
Viewed in terms
of situational
analysis. A
rational form of
action
Berndt, Wallace
kaleidoscope of
elements,
recombined to build
new picture of
reality
Lindstrom
Postmodern view
Tannese oblige
tourists by
providing what
they want
Revitalization Movements
 NATIVISTIC: rejection of alien values, customs and people
E.g. Ghost Dance
 REVIVALISTIC: Revival of customs and values of previous
generations return to (presumed) ancient ways
E.g. Neoshamanism in Siberia
 VITALISTIC: emphasis on importing alien elements (e.g. Singer
sewing machines, Gordon’s gin)
E.g. Cargo cults (Vailala Madness, Jon Frum cult)
 MILLENARIAN: apocalyptic transformation of the world,
involving overturning of present social system, predicted to occur in
near future Rooted in JudeoChristian messianism
E.g. Christian doctrine revealed in the Book of Revelations,
Christ's return and his rule on earth for a thousand years
MESSIANIC: spiritual savior will appear, or is already present, to
transform the world through his personalized power
Wicca: What is it?
Witchcraft also called Wicca or the Craft
w a neo-pagan, nature-centered religion
w It worships a Goddess and usually a God
w uses magic as a tool of personal and global
transformation.
wThe fastest growing
religion in the USA
and Canada?
w
2001 census 21,080 members
281% from 1991.
The pentagram within a circle; a
symbol of faith used by many Wiccans
Gerald Gardner
1884-1964
High Magic's Aid 1949 a
fictional account of witches
1951 England repealed the
witchcraft laws
Witchcraft Today 1954 a
non-fictional account of
modern witchcraft
The Meaning of Witchcraft
1959 A history of Wicca in
Northern Europe.
These books formed the
basis of modern Wicca
Woodstock
1969
LadyBear...Child
of Mother Earth
Central law of
Wicca: An It Harm
None, Do What Ye
Will" I.e. as long as
you don't do
anything that will
hurt anyone
(including yourself)
it is allowed.
Second rule:
Everything you put
out comes back to
you Three fold.
Good or bad, good
spells or bad spells
Sabbats








Samhain
(Halloween)
Yule
(Winter Soltice)
Candlemas (Feb 2)
Ostara
(Spring Equinox)
Beltane (May day)
Midsummer
(Summer Soltice)
Lammas (July 31)
Mabon
(Autumn Equinox)
Rituals & Beliefs
•
•
•
•
Most rituals take place in a
circular formation
Symbolizes boundary between
outside world and the world of
the goddesses
Earth religion: primary beliefs
revolve around environment
Rituals also honor birth, death
and reincarnation. Beliefs
expressed through music,
dancing and/or meditation as a
way for members to experience
their own power and
connectedness.
Spirit - symbolizes
spiritual love
Air - the mind
Water - the cycle of
life
Earth - the Mother
element
Fire - passion
The pentagram – five pointed star
pentacle--pentagram inscribed in a circle
Wicca Enters the
Mainstream
Do dominant religions discourage deviation from their belief system
in the form of a realistic depiction of witches and witchcraft?
Why has Wicca been so successful in attracting people?
Internet
Media
Frustration with consumer culture and rejection of materialism
Lack of dogma
Hypocrisy in the church
Young people seeking new spiritual experiences
Empowerment for women (lesbians and gays welcome)
Concern for the earth
Religion & Nationalism
What did World Trade
Centre symbolize
to Americans
to Terrorists
Was the attack
political or
religious?
Religious Nationalism
Reactions to
September 11
Religious Nationalism
"If you raise an
objection to some
unlawful religious
practice in a public
place, the people who
complain are not only
labeled anti-religious,
but anti-American.”
ACLU
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (CNN) -Alabama's judicial ethics panel removed
Chief Justice Roy Moore from office
Thursday (Nov 13 2003) for defying a
federal judge's order to remove a Ten
Commandments monument from the state
Supreme Court building.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson
ruled the granite carving was an
unconstitutional endorsement of religion.
“God has chosen this time and this place
so we can save our country and save our
courts for our children," Moore said.
Only one in five Americans approved of
the federal court order to remove the
monument, according to an August 2004
poll from CNN-USA Today-Gallup.
Religion, Nationalism, Capitalism Combined:
The American Way
Has the American Flag
become a religious symbol for
Americans?
Ethnic Religious
Nationalism
Rev. Ian Paisley
Ideological Religious Nationalism
The elected president and
legislature are constitutionally
subject to the supervision of
two offices reserved for Shiah
clerics: the Supreme Leader of
Iran (Rahbar) and the Guardian
Council, which even decide
who may run for office.
Queen Elizabeth II 'defender of the
faith'. The House of Lords has
Bishops of the Church of England
serving. Technically the UK is a
Christian Theocracy.
Is the war on
terror a religious
war?
brynraz
Christ has now become a Martyr for
the illegal immigration cause.