Sacred Realms Essays in Religion, Belief, and Society

by Warms, Richard; Garber, James; McGee, Jon

• ISBN13: 9780195175509
• ISBN10: 0195175506
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Sacred Realms is a comprehensive introduction to the anthropology of religion that presents and defines key concepts with fifty-five classic and current essays by leading specialists. The anthology has wide geographical scope and presents balanced accounts from anthropologists throughout the world. Divided into seventeen subject areas that cover major topics in faith, religion, and belief, Sacred Realms concludes with descriptions of five of the world's most influential religions. Features of Sacred Realms : * This anthology presents several of the classics of the literature on religion (such as Malinowski, Harris, Miner, Wallace, and Gmelch) while introducing current work in the field. The majority of essays included were originally published in the past fifteen years. * The book's six Parts are introduced by essays that concisely provide the critical concepts and key points students require. * Each essay is introduced by head notes that supply context and discuss the principal points that it makes. Each head note includes several questions for students to consider while they read the essay. * Many essays are by authors either native to or living in the societies they describe. * Essays are readable and cover a wide breadth of topics that are both interesting to students and fit well with subjects that professors commonly teach. * The world religions section (Part Six) is not found in any other anthropology of religion book. It presents highly readable, basic accounts of the largest and historically most important world religions in a balanced fashion.

Table of Contents

Preface	viii
Introduction: What Is Religion?	x
PART ONE Introducing Religion	1	(112)
1 The Origins of Religion	2	(19)
James McClenon
How Religion Began: Human Evolution and the Origin of Religion (2002)	3	(8)
Robert Bates Graber
Ritual, Consciousness, Belief: A Speculation on the Origin of Religion (1993)	11	(5)
Bronislaw Malinowski
Rational Mastery by Man of His Surroundings (1925)	16	(5)
2 Religion and Society	21	(35)
Graeme Langand Lars Ragvald
Spirit-Writing and the Development of Chinese Cults (1998)	23	(10)
Aihwa Ong
The Production of Possession: Spirits and the Multinational Corporation In Malaysia (1988)	33	(11)
Hikaru Suzuki
Japanese Death Rituals in Transit: From Household Ancestors to Beloved Antecedents (1998)	44	(12)
3 Religion and the Environment	56	(29)
J. Stephen Lansing
Balinese "Water Temples" and the Management of irrigation (1987)	58	(10)
Marvin Harris
Mother Cow (1974)	68	(6)
Sandra E. Greene
Sacred Terrain: Religion, Politics, and Place In the History of Anloga (1997)	74	(11)
4 Religion and Mythology	85	(28)
Karl Kroeber
Unaesthetic Imaginings: Native American Myth as Speech Genre (1996)	86	(7)
Jayant Bhalchandra Bapat
A Jatipurana (Clan-History Myth) of the Gurav Temple Priests of Maharashtra (1998)	93	(8)
Ithamar Gruenwald
God the "Stone/Rock": Myth, Idolatry, and Cultic Fetishism In Ancient Israel (1996)	101	(12)
PART TWO Ritual, Religion, and the Supernatural	113	(98)
5 Supernatural Beings and Powers	114	(26)
Mahipal Bhurya
Tribal Religion In India: A Case Study of the Bhils (1986)	116	(5)
Aubrey L. Parke
The Qawa Incident in 1968 and Other Cases of "Spirit Possession": Religious Syncretism in Fiji (1995)	121	(8)
Fernando Cervantes
The Devil and the Saints in the Conquest of Mexico (1994)	129	(4)
John Frow
Is Elvis a God? Cult, Culture, Questions of Method (1998)	133	(7)
6 Religious Specialists: Shamans, Prophets, and Priests	140	(36)
Laurel Kendall
Korean Shamans and the Spirits of Capitalism (1996)	142	(12)
Julie Cruikshank
Claiming Legitimacy: Prophecy Narratives from Northern Aboriginal Women (1994)	154	(11)
Peter Gose
Oracles, Divine Kingship, and Political Representation in the Inka State (1996)	165	(11)
7 Ritual and Ceremony	176	(35)
Victor W. Turner
Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage (1964)	177	(8)
Phillips Stevens, Jr.
Play and Liminality in Rites of From Elder to Ancestor in West Africa (1991)	185	(11)
Lori Leonard
Female Circumcision In Southern Chad: Origins, Meaning, and Current Practice (1996)	196	(7)
George Gmelch
Baseball Magic (2002)	203	(6)
Horace Miner
Body Ritual among the Nacirema (1956)	209	(2)
PART THREE Journeys of the Soul	211	(84)
8 Altered States	212	(45)
Wade Davis
Hallucinogenic Plants and Their Use in Traditional Societies (1985)	214	(3)
John R. Baker
The Old Woman and Her Gifts: Pharmacological Bases of the Chumash Use of Datura (1994)	217	(10)
J.D. Lewis-Williams
Cognitive and Optical Illusions in San Rock Art Research (1986)	227	(9)
Scott R. Hutson
The Rave: Spiritual Healing in Modern Western Subcultures (2000)	236	(12)
Elaine J. Lawless
"The Night I Got the Holy Ghost...": Holy Ghost Narratives and the Pentecostal Conversion Process (1988)	248	(9)
9 Death and Funerals	257	(38)
Richard T. Gill
Whatever Happened to the American Way of Death? (1996)	258	(5)
Beth A. Conklin
"Thus Are Our Bodies, Thus Was Our Custom": Mortuary Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society (1995)	263	(18)
Audrey Shalinsky and Anthony Glascock
Killing Infants and the Aged In Nonindustrial Societies: Removing the Liminal (1988)	281	(7)
Dong Sull Choi
Origins and Realities of Suttee in Hinduism (2002)	288	(7)
PART FOUR Sickness and Health	295	(66)
10 Healing	296	(37)
Wolf Roder
Magic, Medicine, and Metaphysics in Nigeria (1991)	298	(3)
Madelyn Krassner
Effective Features of Therapy from the Healer's Perspective: A Study of Curanderismo (1986)	301	(10)
Robert W. Putsch III
Ghost Illness: A Cross-Cultural Experience with the Expression of a Non-Western Tradition in Clinical Practice (1988)	311	(11)
Ineke M. Lazar
Culture-Bound Illnesses in a Samoan Migrant Community (1988)	322	(5)
Alean Al-Krenawi
Explanations of Mental Health Symptoms by the Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev (1999)	327	(6)
11 Bewitching	333	(28)
Ronald C. Johnson
Parallels between Recollections of Repressed Childhood Sex Abuse, Kidnappings by Space Aliens, and the 1692 Salem Witch Hunts (1994)	335	(6)
Joseph Jay Tobin and Joan Friedman
Spirits, Shamans, and Nightmare Death: Survivor Stress In a Hmong Refugee (1983)	341	(6)
Peter Wogan
Magical Literacy: Encountering a Witch's Book in Ecuador (1998)	347	(14)
PART FIVE New Religious Movements	361	(52)
12 New Religious Movements	362	(51)
Anthony F.C. Wallace
Revitalization Movements (1956)	364	(9)
Allen Scarboro and Philip Andrew Luck
The Goddess and Power: Witchcraft and Religion in America (1997)	373	(6)
Mark Juergensmeyer
Christian Violence in America (1998)	379	(7)
Raymond L.M. Lee
Taipucam in Malaysia: Ecstasy and Identity in a Tamil Hindu Festival (1989)	386	(10)
W. Paul Williamson and Howard R. Pollio
The Phenomenology of Religious Serpent Handling: A Rationale and Thematic Study of Extemporaneous Sermons (1999)	396	(8)
Simon Dein
Lubavitch: A Contemporary Messianic Movement (1997)	404	(9)
PART SIX World Religions	413	(55)
13 Hinduism	416	(10)
The Historical Development of Hinduism	416	(1)
The Sacred Literature of Hinduism	417	(3)
Varna: The Caste System	420	(1)
Varieties of Hindu Religious Practice	420	(3)
Veneration of Cattle	423	(1)
Festivals	423	(1)
Hinduism and the Modern World	424	(2)
14 Buddhism	426	(7)
The Life of Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C.E.)	426	(1)
Buddha's Teachings	427	(1)
The Development and Spread of Buddhism	428	(1)
Divisions of Buddhism	429	(2)
Relics, Pilgrimages, and Holy Days	431	(1)
Contemporary Buddhism	431	(2)
15 Judaism	433	(12)
Sacred Literature	433	(1)
Historical Background	434	(3)
Kabbalah and Hasidism	437	(1)
The Holocaust	438	(1)
Zionism	439	(1)
Contemporary Judaism: Sacred Practices	439	(1)
Religious Festivals	440	(1)
Dietary and Religious Practices	441	(1)
Divisions within Judaism	442	(1)
Jews in the Modern World	443	(2)
16 Christianity	445	(14)
Historical Background	445	(2)
The Early Christian Movement	447	(2)
Divisions In Early Christianity	449	(1)
Monasticism	450	(1)
Medieval Christianity: Division between Eastern and Western Churches	450	(1)
Reformation and Response	451	(3)
Sacred Literature	454	(1)
Christian Holidays	454	(1)
Christianity Today	455	(1)
New Denominations and Christian Fundamentalism in America	456	(3)
17 Islam	459	(9)
The Life of Muhammad	459	(1)
Islamic Expansion	460	(1)
Muslim Beliefs and Practices	461	(1)
Sunnah and the Hadiths	462	(2)
Shiite and Sunni in Islam	464	(1)
Other Variations: Black Muslims	465	(1)
Islam in the Last One Hundred Years	466	(2)
Index	468