Religious Systems
Cultural Anthropology
Kimberly Martin, Ph.D.
What is a Religious System?
DEFINITION
The rules and standards for understanding and
interacting with the supernatural world to deal with
things that are out of the control of humans.
There are four aspects of religious systems:
Supernatural Entities or Powers
Religious Practicioners
Myth
Ritual
What Kinds of Supernatural
Entities and Powers Are There?
There are eight types of supernatural entities or
powers:
A high god
Superior gods/Polytheism
Ancestor Spirits/Ghosts
Animism
Animatism/Mana
Magic
Sorcery/Witchcraft
Oracles
What is a High God?
DEFINITION
A high god is a single god who
controls all aspects of life.
What Are Superior
Gods/Polytheism?
DEFINITION
A set of gods, each of whom controls one
aspect of life.
What Are Ancestor Spirits?
DEFINITION
The ghosts of dead ancestors who
have supernatural powers that
influence everyday life.
What is Animism?
DEFINITION
The belief that all objects and living
things have spirits.
What Is Animatism/Mana?
DEFINITION
The belief that there is an impersonal
supernatural energy or force that
can be tapped into by people who
either possess or develop the ability
to harness it.
What Is Magic?
DEFINITION
The belief that the performance of a
ritual can, itself, affect the course of
everyday life. Distinguished from
prayer in that prayer is the
performance of a ritual to ask a god,
superior god, ancestor or animistic
spirit to use supernatural power. In
magic, the ritual, itself, has the
power.
What Sorcery?
DEFINITION
The use of magic to harm or kill
other people.
What Is Witchcraft?
DEFINITION
The conscious or unconscious
supernatural power which
some people are born with and
which is used to harm others
or disrupt daily life.
What Is an Oracle?
DEFINITION
An oracle is a person with the
supernatural ability to predict
the future.
What is a Religious
Practitioner?
DEFINITION
A religious practitioner is a person who
acts as an intermediary between people
and supernatural beings or powers.
There are two kinds of religious
practitioners:
 Shaman
 Priests
What Is a Shaman?
DEFINITION
A shaman is a part-time
practitioner who has learned
to interact with the
supernatural world through
a personal transformation
experience.
What Is a Priest?
DEFINITION
A priest is a full-time religious practitioner
who becomes a priest through long years
of studying the beliefs and practices of
the religion. A priest can be male or
female.
What Is Myth?
DEFINITION
A myth is a sacred/religious story.
In Anthropology, this term does NOT
mean “untrue.” Any religious story is
a myth, regardless of whether it
belongs to our religion or to another.
In this sense, the Bible is the Christian
myth. The Koran is the Islamic myth.
What Is Ritual?
DEFINITION
Ritual is a repetitive pattern of behavior that
is always repeated in a given set of
circumstances. Religions always have
sets of formal rituals that are used to
communicate with and appease the
supernatural world.