Religion/ANTH 37300

Quiz #3
Nov. 13, 2014
Please know all of these terms:
The Funeral Rite of Passage: An American Neo-Pagan Example by Benjamin C. Wilreker
1. Death ritual - refers to the bedside events when a person dies attended in a hospital,
hospice, or home
EX: When Jack in the article went into renal failure all of his friends and family were there
to support him.
2. Liminality - refers to events between the death ritual and the funeral ritual
EX: Often times there are a few days in between the actual death and the funeral. This is
the In-between, or liminal time period.
3. Funeral ritual- refers to events in a funeral home or religious establishment leading up to
disposal of the remains. It incorporates the deceased into the afterlife and incorporating the
mourners into the world of the living
EX:Jack was in an open casket, and friends/family/religious figures sat around in a circle.
4. Burial ritual - refers to the ritual disposal of human remains
EX: Neo-Pagans usually cremate their dead
5. Funeral cycle - refers to the items above as a collective whole
EX: The whole event from the time that Jack was biologically dead to his cremation.
6. Biological death- when a human body ceases to function as an integrated unit
EX: When the body of Jack dies in the Neo-Paganism Article
7. Personal death- when the higher brain exhibits no coordinated electrical activity
EX: Jack was unable to control his body and could not talk.
8. Social death-When other people dont interact with an individual as if they were an agent
EX: Once the widow leaves the bedside of the biologically dead, they become socially dead
9. 4 central beliefs of American Neo-Paganism
1. The recognition of the existence of many gods
1. EX: Pagans recognize the validity of other peoples deities. The deity or
deities one praises can be personal or a shared common belief of ones
religious community.
2. The deification of the feminine and the natural world
1. EX: Diana
3. An orientation towards reconstruction using pre-Christian European beliefs
1. EX: British history and globalization have helped shape the American NeoPagan religion.
4. A belief in and practice of ritual magic
1. EX: Susan Slaybaughs ritual of the laying of stones
10. Social agent - An individual who has the ability to interact/communicate with others.
EX: Jack remained a social agent when he was bedridden during his departure because
he retained the ability to interact with others through beeps. It was important to them that
Jack retained his agency until the very end.
11. American Neo-Pagan phenomenon of death or departure (when does it happen?) Here, the individual is dying, but still alive. The individual is expanding to become a part of
this world (not travelling to another world), where the individual is not confined to the body.
EX: Jack was in his departure stage when he was bedridden at the hospital. He was still
considered a social agent. The Neo-Pagans did not view him as dying, but as expanding-being more than confined to his body in this world.

The Woman-as-witch stereotype in Early Modern England, Continental Europe and New
England by Ines Tadeu Freitas Goncalves
1. Woman-as-witch stereotype Is perceivable heterogeneous in continental Europe.
Ultimate representation of societys misogynistic fear of female deviance and evil. Example:
Powerful/financial independent woman
2. English popular witch people, mostly women, could manipulate the natural and
supernatural worlds by means of good and harmful magic deeds. Believed to have the
power to heal the sick and injured. Example:The frequent practice of midwifery and the
knowledge of ancient herbal medicine were features that characterized the with or cunning
woman.
3. Continental demonic witch Enemies of the state because associated with Satan.
Entered a formal pact with the Devil. Example: Practiced murder, cannibalism, sodomy etc
during the course of Satanic meetings and origies aka Sabbaths.
4. Colonial Puritan witch New World someone usually a woman who had covenanted
with the devil rather than with God, thus allowing the devil to use her shape to torment
others in his war against the godly. Puritans believed she required to pledge her soul to the
devil and recruit others in the service. Example: powerful/financial independent woman.
5. Maleficium - Wrong doing of harmful magic. Ex: crime of witchcraft
Susan Slaybaugh:
1. Childhood experiences with the paranormal - As a child Susan experienced
connections with animals and lucid dreaming or astral projection. She lost time when
dreamed and there was a specific time that she thought that she had already been to the
Science & Industry Museum because she had been there in a dream.
2. Healing modalities - Placing of the stones and Reiki or manipulation of peoples
energy.
3. The only thing that can ruin a stone - BLOOD
Sorcery, Witchcraft and Modernity by John R. Bowen
1. Witchcraft - The ideas and practices of unseen powers, usually manipulated by humans
that may cause illness, death, or just plain randomness in everyday life. Witchcraft is
considered to result from inherent mystical powers and is practiced by invisible means.
Witches may use enchantments and spells. Many witches do not cause harm to others, but
try to benefit people.
EX: Geertzs studied witchcraft among the Azande people. He paid attention to the social
logic of oracles, or how Azande would interpret the results of divination through the lens of
their knowledge of their society. Azande say that some among them have inherited a
substance that lives in them, called mangu.
2. Djambe (The defn and example kind of go together I think) - A force that lives in the
belly of some humans in the form of a small animal, like a mouse or a crab.
EX: The unseen power for the Maka people. The djambe concept lies at the heart of two
problems for the Maka. The djambe represents the dark side of kinship. Secondly, the
djambe brings out the ambivalence of power.
3. Sorcery - The ideas and practices of unseen powers, usually manipulated by humans
that may cause illness, death, or just plain randomness in everyday life. Also refers to a
range of healing practices. It is a means of manipulating reality. Sorcery can be learnt and
practiced by anyone.
EX: Knauft studied the Gebusi people in New Guinea, who once lived in a world of sorcery.
Sorcery was structured along the lines of direct reciprocity, for if a woman was the victim of

sorcery, then a female sorcerer had to be discovered and killed, which put an end to the
matter.
4. Ambivalence of spiritual power
The djambe brings out the ambivalence of power, the coexistence of opposing powers..
One can only have access to power through the use of djambe.
EX. Healers, who can counteract harm done by djambe, also gain their powers by way of
their own powerful djambe
5. Maka
The Maka people live in the southeastern part of Cameroon. They have a spoken unseen
power called djambe.They share a set of ideas about sorcery with their neighboring
countries (also share a basic political structure small kinship-based groups)
6. Oracles
A person or agency considered to interface wise counsel or prophetic prediction of
precognition of the future. Oracles form a hierarchy from the most common to the most
tightly controlled but the form of consultation is the same.
EX. The Azande people and their oracle, they would ask the oracle questions such as did
so-and-so cause my sons illness? to non-witchcraft matters. In the Azande people, the
chicken oracle is on top of the oracle hierarchy. The chicken oracle is a chicken that is fed
poison when someone asks it a question, directing the chicken to die (or live) if the answer
is yes.
7. Direct reciprocity
I give you something and you give me something equivalent in return. Implies closure
EX. marriage, relationships with spirits, material exchange. In the Gebusi society, with
marriage, if my village receives a woman (or man) from another group, we must make sure
that a woman (or man) from our group marries one of them.
8. Generalized reciprocity
Giving something to another group will eventually be reciprocated, but perhaps from a
different group, in a chain-like fashion. Implies an opening toward the outside.
EX. My group might take a spouse from one group, and give a spouse to another group
9. Source of structural changes in Salem which led to witchcraft accusations of 1692
Im not too sure about this one
The source of structural changes in Salem came from the sharp differences in economic
and social standings that were beginning to emerge, along with ideas of individualism.
These ideas were exacerbated by the opportunity afforded in the New World: the
abundance of land and the fragility of new institutions.
EX. no example really...