Myth defined…
• Religious, sacred, stories that provide basis
for beliefs/practices
• Origins of humanity, creation of the
universe, nature of death/illness
• Lay the founding for values/morals
• Can be passed down verbally or in writing
• Myths help to shape a culture’s
worldview…
Worldview
The collective body of ideas that members of a culture generally share concerning the
ultimate shape and substance of their reality
• Myths help to shape a culture’s worldview,
the way they look at reality.
– Ex: Judeo-Christian vs. Navaho worldview
• Question: What do these myths say about each
religion’s worldview?
What Functions Do Religion and
Spirituality Serve?
• All religions serve a number of important
functions:
– They reduce anxiety by explaining the
unknown and offer comfort in times of crisis.
– They provide notions of right and wrong,
setting precedents for acceptable behavior.
– Through ritual, religion may be used to
enhance the learning of oral traditions.
Questions…
• How many of you would consider yourselves religious?
Agnostic? Atheist? What do these words mean?
• No known group of people anywhere on the face of the
earth, at any time over the past 100,000 years, have been
without religion.
– Why?
Major Religions of the World
Supernatural Beings
• Supernatural: “above the natural”
– Not obeying the laws of nature as we know them.
– Many times the supernatural is explained by science,
further blurring the line between religion and science.
• Supernatural beings:
– Major deities (gods and goddesses we mentioned
before)
– Ancestral spirits
– Other sorts of spirit beings(?)
Polytheism
• Belief in several gods and/or goddesses (as
contrasted with monotheism–belief in one god
or goddess).
• Pantheon
– The several gods and goddesses of a people.
• Animism
– A belief in spirit beings thought to animate nature.
(Side question: Monotheism would mean what?)
Sacred Places
• Sacred: Entitled to reverence and respect
– Shrines
• A shrine is an object or building that contains sacred objects or is
associated with a venerated person or deity
– Ex:: Fairy Circle
– Ex: Aten temple, Akhenaten (King Tut’s dad)
– Ex: Synagogue, Mosque, Church
Animism
• A belief in spirit beings, other than ancestors, who are
believed to animate all of nature.
• These spirit beings are closer to humans than gods and
goddesses and are concerned with human activities.
– Ex: Kami (traditional Japanese Shinto beliefs)
• Animism is typical of peoples who see themselves as a part
of nature rather than superior to it.
Animatism is a belief that the world is animated by
impersonal supernatural powers. (I.e. “The Force”)
Question
•
Which of the following is an example of animism?
A. a lucky baseball bat
B. the goddess Athena in Greek mythology
C. the god Zeus
D. an ancestral spirit
E. the malevolent spirit inside your baseball who
jumps erratically through the air just as you think
you're about to hit a home run
Answer: E
•
The malevolent spirit inside your baseball who jumps
erratically through the air just as you think you're about
to hit a home run is an example of animism.