ritual and belief. ritual (practice) and belief: geertz belief & practice - "a group's...
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Ritual and BeliefRitual and Belief
Ritual (Practice) and Belief: GeertzRitual (Practice) and Belief: Geertz
belief & practice - "a group's ethos is rendered intellectually reasonable by being shown to represent a way of life ... rendered emotionally convincing by being presented as an image of the actual state of affairs...”
What is What is BeliefBelief??
powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in people
conceptions of a general order of existence
auras of factuality
moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic
What is religion?
a set of beliefs and practices (ritual) aimed at ordering the relation of human beings to the supernaturalsupernatural - powers believed to be not human or not subject to the laws of nature– not all societies clear distinction
religion - belief and ritual concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces (Anthony Wallace)a basic congruence between a particular style of life and a specific metaphysic/cosmology (the nature of being & the universe as an orderly system)
Clifford Geertz on ReligionClifford Geertz on Religion
a religion is: "(1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in people by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic." (Geertz:90)
explaining religions
anthropological perspective on religion: religion exists in all societies
anthropology a place where all religions are equally accepted – and equally subjected to analysis
rejection that magic is somehow an inferior and prior belief system before religion
What is Magic? What is Magic?
The The “laws of sympathetic magic”“laws of sympathetic magic” (Sir James George Frazer 1890)(Sir James George Frazer 1890)Law of Law of contagioncontagion– Things that have once been in contact, but have Things that have once been in contact, but have
ceased to be so, continue to act on each other as if ceased to be so, continue to act on each other as if the contact still persisted the contact still persisted
Law of Law of similaritysimilarity– Like produces like, an effect resembles its cause Like produces like, an effect resembles its cause
““From the first of these principles the savage From the first of these principles the savage infers that he can produce any desired effect infers that he can produce any desired effect merely by imitating it; from the second he merely by imitating it; from the second he concludes that he can influence at pleasure and concludes that he can influence at pleasure and at any distance any person of whom, or any at any distance any person of whom, or any thing of which, he possesses a particle.” thing of which, he possesses a particle.”
religion and science
systems of information: science and technology
systems of meaning: religion and magic– religion = explanation– magic = manipulation/control
intervention to compel supernatural beings to do something
useful when the situation is unknown, uncontrollable, dangerous
baseball magic
What does religion do?
psychological explanations
psychological explanation -how ritual & belief satisfy cognitive & affective/emotional demands for a stable, comprehensible, and coercible world for the individual
provides an orderly model of the universe
explains the unknown
reduces anxiety and fear
enabling the individual to maintain an inner security in the face of natural contingency
social explanations
sets precedents for appropriate behavior
sanctions conduct
a form of social control
justifies perpetuates a social order
maintains social solidarity
educates believers in social knowledge
provides a sense of control and a source of solace – alleviation of grief
social role of witchcraft accusations
accusations provide a socially proscribed way to deal with these problems
allows for public hearing
entire complex of social relationships investigated
effects for the community of witchcraft accusations– evil outsider community solidarity– evil insider necessary societal realignment
religion and worldview
sacred symbols function to synthesize a people's ethos– the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral
nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group, institution
– a basic congruence between a particular style of life and a specific metaphysic/cosmology
encompassing pictures of reality based on a set of shared assumptions about how the world works
Religion and society
belief & ritual reinforce social ties between people
religion (ritual & spirituality) represents one form of collective consciousness
Durkheim: shared representations that form the basis for religion
Religion and social structureReligion and social structureGeertz: "the way in which the social structure of a group is strengthened & perpetuated through the ritualistic or mythic symbolization of the underlying social values upon which it rests."
Religion and social structureReligion and social structure
ancestor worship supports the jural authority of elders
initiation rites establish sexual identity & adult status
ritual groupings reflect political oppositions
myths provide charters for social institutions & rationalizations of social privilege
Ritual specialists
Priests and priestesses– Full-time religious experts
Shaman– Part-time religious experts
Other practitioners: witches, sorcerers, spirit mediums– complex societies have more than one type
Supernatural beings and powers
gods and goddesses– pantheon: a collection of such beings
animating spirits– souls– spirits of the dead
ancestor spirits
ghosts
nature spirits
– impersonal forcesmana
Ashanti PriestAshanti Priest
Balinese BalianBalinese Balian
Balinese GrandmotherBalinese Grandmother
Ritual
in western thought - ritual as a mark of all that separates rational modernity from cultures of tradition– the opposite of practical reason
ritual is a vital element in the processes that make and remake social facts and collective identities everywhere (Comaroff & Comaroff)
the symbolic behavior through which religion comes alive
ritual is repetitive, sequential, non-ordinary, and “powerful”
repetitive: innovation not tolerated
sequential: amen is at the end
non-ordinary: marked in time or space
“powerful”: power to change the world– by intervention of supernatural entities– transformation of the participant
Functions of ritual
Reinforce social bonds
Relieve social tension
Deal with life crises
Celebrate life cycle events
ritual is also a way a society remembers – through habit– through bodily practices
Types of ritual
Rites of Passage
Van Gennep and Victor Turner
rites include three stages– Separation– marginality or liminality
Communitas and anti-structure
– incorporation or re-aggregation
Other Types of Ritual
Rites of intensification – cyclical rituals that reinforce the solidarity of the group
ritual inversionDivination rituals– predict future & gain hidden info
Technological rituals– designed to control nature for the purpose of human
exploitation
Protective rites– aimed at coping with uncertainty of nature, seas, floods,
crop diseases
More TypesMore Types
therapy & anti-therapy rituals– designed to control human health; curative, witchcraft,
sorcery
ideological rituals– intended to control the behavior, mood, sentiments &
values of groups for the sake of community as a whole
salvation rituals– aimed at repairing self esteem & other forms of
impaired identity
Possession and salvation
individual's identity altered by the presence of an alien spirit
ritual encouragement to accept another identity
mystic experience or loss of personal identity by abandoning the old self & achieving salvation by identifying with a sacred being
Geertz's def.- religion maintains social order– but also instrument of change
religion & resistance
Religious revitalization movements & resistance– efforts to save a culture by infusing it with new
purpose and new life– invention of tradition