Anth, 11 Mar 2002

[adric]

exam II handed back: multiple guess + essay + bonus = grade

start in on Belief Systems



Functions of Belief Systems:

1. Answer big questions:
   
   
   
   • origins of men and beasts, world(s)
   
   
   • how to live
   
   
   • What happens when we die? Where does sickness come from?
   
   
   • Middle Ages Europe: authority [Catholic] Church
   
   
   • Modern Western society: and scientists
   
   
   • functions not isolated to any single institution
   
   
   
   



2. Define world view:
   
   
   
   • How people view other aspects of the natural world?
   
   
   • Christian: man is to dominate the other living things
   
   
   • Native Americans: man in partnership, cohabitant with other life
   
   
   • domination idea begins with domestication of crops and animals, alteration of land (damming rivers)
   
   
   • hunter-gatherers more likely to support equality of all living things
   
   



3. Provide means of dealing with the metaphysical:
   
   
   
   • metaphysical: existence beyond the physical world
   
   
   • heaven, soul, in west: supernatural, paranormal
   
   
   • westerners divide physical from metaphysical
   
   
   • many other cultures do not acknowledge a division
   
   
   • many cultures see a dual aspect to illness
   
   
   • epileptics and schizoprenics as shamans...
   
   
   • no taboo against mental illness in traditional societies
   
   
   
   



4. Provide means of exercising control:
   
   
   
   • rituals ( *shudder* parallelism to Reciprocality M0)
   
   
   • ..Mayan civilization deserted when rituals failed to end droughts over several years
   
   



5. Provide common set of values and promote social cohesion:
   
   
   
   • traditional cultures: rules come from family, kinship
   
   
   • Western: rules from Biblical tradition
   
   

How do these functions intertwine?

Link 3 (metaphysical) and 5 (values):
If the aunts and uncles don't get you, the gods will

Shamanism

• part time specialist (as opposed to full time specialists)


• compensated by family only for success


• intermediary with spirit world


• ritual generalist:
  
  
  
  • blessings for newborn
  
  
  • bless new house
  
  
  • rituals for success in war
  
  
  • tremendous knowledge of [local] botany, pharmacology
  
  
  
  


• trance:
  
  
  
  • self-torture
  
  
  • hypnotic rhythms: (rapid pattern demonstrated 7 beats/second)
  
  
  • enforced sleep deprevation
  
  
  • (slit drum and rattle)
  
  
  • some shamans use hallucinogens in ritual
  
  
  • descriptions of rituals performed under trance (piercing, hot coals, etc)
    
  • video: Amazonian (Yanomami? ) shaman
    
    
    
    • in the center of the village with all present
    
    
    • tree bark (1/350 plants used), hallucinegic seeds
    
    
    • use blowpipe, inhaled into nostrils
    
    
    • channels ..
    
    
    • drew out evil spirit from sick woman into himself
    
    
    • detected tracks of enemy shaman
    
    
    • channels rainbow daemon, delivers diagnosis
    
    
    • disease spirit is driven into shaman
    
    
    • hopefully his powers and assistants will help him through
    
    
  
  


• shamans are called: survivors of disease, dreamers


• use of spirit helpers


• may assume different forms

review Haiti, Baseball, body rituals, skip aborigines for now