RELIGION
OVERVIEW
 estimates
place the number around 4200. Of
this number

a dozen have been classified as “major world
religions.”
•Baha’I (7 million adherents)
•Buddhism (360 million)
•Christianity (2 billion)
•Confucianism (6 million)
•Hinduism (900 million)
•Islam (1.3 billion)
•Jainism (4 million)
•Judaism (14 million)
•Shinto (4 million)
•Sikhism (23 million)
•Daoism (2.7 million)
•Zoroastrianism (150,000)
a system of beliefs usually involving the
worship of supernatural forces or beings
 provide a sense of order what might
otherwise be seen as a useless or chaotic
existence


relieve our fears and anxieties about the unknown
 provide
understanding and meaning for
inexplicable or tragic events


help us confront and explain death
times of crisis
 play
an important role in social control by
defining what is right and wrong behavior

therefore, lifts some of the burden of decision
making from our shoulders
RITUALS
stylized and usually repetitive
acts that take place at a set
time and location
 almost always involve the use
of symbolic objects, words, and
actions

IRAQ: Sufi rituals in Kurdistan
FIVE BELIEFS OF SUPERNATURAL BEINGS AND
FORCES

Animatism
 belief in a supernatural power NOT part of
supernatural beings
 usually impersonal, unseen, and potentially
everywhere
 something like electricity or "the force" in the
Star Wars movies

Polynesian cultures- known as "mana"
a force that is inherent in all objects, plants, and animals
(including people) to different degrees
 some things or people have more of it than others and are,
therefore, potentially dangerous
 for instance, a chief may have so much of it that he must be
carried around all of the time for if he were to walk on the
ground, sufficient residual amounts of his mana might
remain in his footprints to harm ordinary people if they later
stepped on them
 volcanoes and some other places were thought to have
concentrated mana and were, therefore, very dangerous

 Animism

belief that natural objects are animated by
spirits
each rock, tree, and cloud may have its own
unique spirit
 or, all things in nature may be thought of as
having the same spirit (many Native American
cultures)


must be concerned about them and will try
to avoid displeasing them
 Ancestral


souls or ghosts of ancestors
humans have at least two parts--a physical
body and some kind of non-physical spirit or
soul


Spirits
spirit portion is generally believed to be freed from
the body by death and continues to exist in some
form
examples…
Chinese- set a place at feast tables for their ancestors
as if they were still living
 Europeans- spirits have been seen historically as
dangerous and therefore buried their in cemeteries
 ?- bury or store the remains of dead family members
in or around the home to keep them close
 Yanomamö- mortuary cannibalism is intended to allow
the dead to remain part of their living family

 Gods
and Goddesses (deities)
powerful supernatural beings with
individual identities
 monotheism - belief that there is only one
god (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam)
 polytheism - belief in more than one god
(Hinduism)
gods are typically ranked relative to each
other in terms of their powers and their
interests
the supreme god is often an otiose deity
does NOT take an interest in the everyday
affairs of humans now (lesser gods do this)

 Minor



Supernatural Beings
beings that have some supernatural
capabilities
do not pray to them for help
often have a "trickster" role
 Ireland - in the past believed that elves
steal boy children
 Indians of Western North America- coyote
would disarm powerful people with his
words and then magically steal what they
valued most when their guard was down
 India- a mouse
 Africa- a spider
RELIGIOUS LEADERS
 Priest
(rabbis, ministers,
mullahs, Imams)
leader who is part of an
organized religion
 authorized to perform
religious rituals designed to
influence the supernatural
world and to guide the
believers in their religious
practices

Hindu priest leading a ritual at a shrine
Catholic monks on a
pilgrimage
(members of a "priesthood")
 Shaman
normally not in an “organized” religion
 in direct contact with the spirit world, usually
through a trancing
altered state of consciousness
take a journey to pass through difficult
situations in order to reach spirit helpers
methods to achieve a trance state

fasting
 self-torture (flagellation)
 sensory deprivation (prolonged isolation from normal human
contact)
 breathing exercises and meditation
 prolonged, repetitive, ritual dancing and/or drumming
 hallucinogenic drugs


considered to be the easiest and the fastest method of contacting the supernatural
Early 20th century Crow Indian
on the Great Plains of North
America using self-torture in
order to receive a vision from
the supernatural world. Skewers
of bone are inserted through the
chest skin and tied with leather
thongs to a "sun pole." He
will dance around it until the
skewers tear free.
Turkish Dervishes using
prolonged, repetitive, ritual
dancing to enter an altered
state of awareness.
Accompanied by music,
they slowly dance around
in a large circle while
constantly spinning. The
Dervishes are a mystic
Sufi sect of Islam
COMMON HALLUCINOGENS USED BY
SHAMANS AROUND THE WORLD
Caution: these substances should be avoided due to their dangerously toxic nature.
(Primary source: Harner, Michael J. 1973. Hallucinogens and Shamanism.)
Geographic Region
Where Used
Siberia
Southwestern North
America
Central America
South America (Amazon
Basin)
Western Europe
Plants Used
Hallucinogenic
Drugs in Plants
Comment
Amanita muscaria
("fly-agaric"--eaten raw)
muscarine
muscimol
hallucinations reportedly
make surrounding objects
appear very large or very
small
Datura metaloides
(made into a tea)
atropine
hyoscyamine
scopolamine
causes nausea and
dream-like mental state
Peyote
(cactus bud is eaten raw)
mushrooms
(eaten raw)
Banisteriopsis sp.
(common names: yagé,
yajé, caapi, ayahuasca,
"vine of death") combined
with other plants in a tea
or blown into the nostrils
with a tube
Mandrake, Henbane,
and Belladonna
(combined into a salve
that was rubbed onto the
forehead, armpits, and
genital area)
mescaline
some contain
psilocybin
harmine
harmaline
d-tetrahydroharmine
atropine
hyoscyamine
scopolamine
used as a sacrament in
the Native American Church
causes dream-like mental
state
powerful hallucinogen-similar
in effects to L.S.D.,
mescaline,
and psilocybin
reportedly caused sleep and
visions of "flying"; it was
common until the late
Middle
Ages when the Catholic
Church
labeled it witchcraft and put
a
stop to its use
tells the supernatural beings what to do
 American Philippine communities



perform "spirit surgery"
Evangelical Christian

"faith healers“ have power to compel their
god to cure people
 Prophet
receives divine revelation concerning a
restructuring of religion or even society
 call for dramatic change
 a new religion is usually established

Mohamed and the beginning of Islam
 Joseph Smith's divine revelation led to the
creation of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons).
