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Anthropology
Rituals of the living + dead
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ritual definition | a structured sequence of symbolic actions (repeated practices) |
| 3 main types of human rituals | secular, political + religious |
| Myth vs. ritual | Myth: belief/worldview, eternal quality/recall to mind; Ritual: practice/enaction/historically situated/repeated in act |
| Theatre vs. ritual | T: entertainment orientated, performed for those attending, present, audience watches + apprectiates, crit encouraged; R: results orientated, performed for absent too, symbolic time; audience participates + believes, crit discouraged |
| Space + time in ritual | in ritual ppl demarcate a sacred space + ppl enter a sacred time |
| Multipartite meaning (in ritual) | not single actions but a sequence (phases, episodes, stages) |
| Common ritual traits (3) | formality (treated with respect) fixity (following protocols) + repitition |
| Multimedia meaning (in ritual) | not single form of expression but many, including language, dance, art, food, stillness etc. |
| Rites of passage | for times of transition; ex. birth, puberty, marriage, childbirth, roles in society, death |
| Tripartite structure of rites of passage | proposed by arnold van gennep; the 3 stages that move an individual from 1 social role/status to another (seperation, transformation + reaggregation) transformation is sacred |
| less then human (profrane) + greater then human feelings (sacred) | profane = control, expiramentation, categorization, analysis; sacred = fascination, awe, fear, surrender (middle = familiarity) |
| Orakaiva rite of passage example (papua new guina) | child as "prey" -> seperation = chased by adults masked as boars; transformation = symbolic death/initiation; re-incorperation = emerge, chansing masked boars + kill a pig -> new adults "hunters" cut up + distribute to others |
| Balinese rites of passage elements (4) | 13 rites of passage in a life, and the 4 elements in each rite are placation of evil spirits; purification with holy water; wafting of essence + prayer |
| Liminality definition | the condition pf being "in-between" social roles, in particular of being in transition (as during ritual) between one social role and another |
| Communitas definition | a state of mind + relationship associated with the liminal stage of rituals, whereby there is a sense of equality, community + camaraderie |
| Re-aggregation/incorperation definition | the final phase of of a rite of passage in which the individual or initiates return to society with a new status or simply renewed from the engagement with ritual |
| Marriage as a rite of passage example (western bridal view) | from daughter/single to married; seperation = handed off from father; transformation = at the alter (veiled) initiation/vows; re-incorperation = lifting of the veil; marriage sealed with a kiss + ring |
| Shamanistic initiation as a rite of passage example (among australian aborignes) | from normal indiv with signs to shaman; seperation = solitude in the wilderness (symbolic death) transformation = travel + practices of privation (sacifice of needs) re-incorperation = return to community with experiences (reborn) |
| Dualism of historical expierence in western vs. non-western | non western views events as cyclical (repeated over time, cycles) and western as linear |
| Joseph campbell on the hero mythology | theres a basic structure to heros thoughout all cultures of the world; a "monomyth structure" where hero leaves ordinary life, transforms thru trials and comes back home changed; ex. odysseus, buddha + jesus |
| 4 general types of rituals | rites of passage (from 1 status to another); rites of equilibration (maintain balance); rites of intensification (increase state); rites of commemoration |
| Rites of equilibration definition | to bring nature or social relations into balance; protective + healing rites; and to maintain normality of social functions or relations ex. vision quest in native american culture to go alone into wilderness to seek guidence from spirits |
| Rites of intensification definition | to "intensify" nature or social relations; fertility rites, strengthen bonds in times of need + to recieve a vision or spirit power |
| Rites of commemoration definition | held according to cycles (rhythems); calendar (cycles of various scales) memorial rites (1 year, 4 years etc after a death or event) |
| Pilgrimage definition | a ritual jouney to a sacred place; seperation from normal place; undertaking a transformative journey; re-incorperation back to the original community as expiernced person ex. the haji: islamic pilgrimage to mecca |
| Hierophany | expierence of the sacred |
| Victor Turner | |
| Mirea Eliade | |
| Sacrifice definition | “sacred” “do/make” in the damage/destruction of an object or living being for a supernatural or ceremonial purpose. Ususally this is in the manner of communication with non-human beings (also medium between sacred + profane) |
| Sacrifices performed when…. | royal death, new palace, initiation of war, conclusion of war, to feed the ancestors |
| Aztec toxcatl ritual | Captive would be dressed up as a god and treated grandly for a year, then on the final day a priest would cut out his heart at the temple and it would be offered to the sun |
| Scale of sacrifice | As society state increases sacrifices get more elaborate (first game < first crops < first crops elaborate < first animals/sons/humans) |
| Other contexts for human sacrifice | on part of others for a prominent leader (family or slaves) sati (when husband dies, the wife is also killed to be laid with him) |
| Evolutionary origins of sacrifice | eat/be eaten; thought to be the original situation of killing game/facing wolves + bears or other greater then human predators -> sacrifice part of kill to keep bulk; |
| Cultural logics of sacrificial acts | Transference, scapegoat + pharmakos |
| Transference definition | The unconscious redirection of the feelings a person has about someone to someone or something else (occurs thru sacrifice, scapegoat, end of sacrifice (sacred)) |
| Pharmakos definition | The expulsion from the community of one or 2 persons with the purpose of purifying the city |
| Catharsis definition | the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from strong or repressed emotions |
| Internal sacrifice definition (as offerings) | fasting, sleep deprivation, isolation, meditation |
| Closing ritual | |
| God definition | |
| Spirits definition | supernatural beings that are non-individualized |
| Soul definiton | the noncorporeal, spiritual component of an individual; the soul animates the living body, illness may be caused by the soul leaving the body |
| Ancient egyptian concept of multiple souls | heart, shadow, name, vital essence, survives death |
| Eschatology definition | the part of theology concerned with death, judgment + the final destiny of the soul + humankind |
| 2 types of eschatology | another place (land of the dead/heaven/hell); reincarnation (rebirth back into world, cycle of rebirth + with proper conduct passage to afterlife) |
| Ghost definition | a negative force that tends to remain in the vicinity of the community; they can bring illness/other misfortune so they must be dealt with |
| Mortuary rites types | one stage, 2 stage + |
| One stage rite | one funeral held, the deceased status changed instantly, gravesite the focus of the remembrance |
| Two stage rite | 2 funerals held, soon after death body place in charnel house/area to decay; second year(s) after to ensure proper course to afterlife; scattering of ashes at later time (common where ancestors are important) |
| Berwean eschatology | soul needs to go under a metamorphosis to enter the land of the dead, as body decays soul transforms into spirit form, |
| Hybrid exmaple rite or mortuary rite | one stage followed by commemorative ritual ex memorial days, anniversaries; collective rites for all dead (ex day of the dead) |
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every_august
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