Self-Denial by Shamans Promotes Perceptions of Religious Credibility
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Mary Douglas: Purity and Danger
Purity and Danger This remarkable book, which is written in a very graceful, lucid and polemical style, is a symbolic interpretation of the rules of purity and pollution. Mary Douglas shows that to examine what is considered as unclean in any culture is to take a looking-glass approach to the ordered patterning which that culture strives to establish. Such an approach affords a universal understanding of the rules of purity which applies equally to secular and religious life and equally to primitive and modern societies. MARY DOUGLAS Purity and Danger AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONCEPTS OF POLLUTION AND TABOO LONDON AND NEW YORK First published in 1966 ARK Edition 1984 ARK PAPERBACKS is an imprint of Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001. © 1966 Mary Douglas 1966 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0-415-06608-5 (Print Edition) ISBN 0-203-12938-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-17578-6 (Glassbook Format) Contents Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 1. -
Biogeography of Mammals in SE Asia: Estimates of Rates of Colonization, Extinction and Speciation
Biological Journal oflhe Linnean Sociely (1986), 28, 127-165. With 8 figures Biogeography of mammals in SE Asia: estimates of rates of colonization, extinction and speciation LAWRENCE R. HEANEY Museum of <oology and Division of Biological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, U.S.A. Accepted for publication I4 February 1986 Four categories of islands in SE Asia may be identified on the basis of their histories of landbridge connections. Those islands on the shallow, continental Sunda Shelf were joined to the Asian mainland by a broad landbridge during the late Pleistocene; other islands were connected to the Sunda Shelf by a middle Pleistocene landbridge; some were parts of larger oceanic islands; and others remained as isolated oceanic islands. The limits of late Pleistocene islands, defined by the 120 ni bathymetric line, are highly concordant with the limits of faunal regions. Faunal variation among non-volant mammals is high between faunal regions and low within the faunal regions; endcmism of faunal regions characteristically exceeds 70%. Small and geologically young oceanic islands are depauperate; larger and older islands are more species-rich. The number of endemic species is correlated with island area; however, continental shelf islands less than 125000 km2 do not have endemic species, whereas isolated oceanic islands as small as 47 km2 often have endemic species. Geologirally old oceanic islands have many endemic species, whereas young oceanic islands have few endemic species. Colonization across sea channels that were 5-25 km wide during the Pleistocene has been low, with a rate of about 1-2/500000 years. -
Northumbria Research Link
Northumbria Research Link Citation: Duschinsky, Robbie (2014) Recognizing secular defilement: Douglas, Durkheim and housework. History and Anthropology, 25 (5). pp. 553-570. ISSN 0275-7206 Published by: Taylor & Francis URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2014.928618 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02757206.2014.928618> This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/17829/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html This document may differ from the final, published version of the research and has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies. To read and/or cite from the published version of the research, please visit the publisher’s website (a subscription may be required.) Recognising Secular Defilement: Douglas, Durkheim and Housework Abstract Mary Douglas is generally regarded as a faithful disciple of Durkheim. -
Checklist of the Mammals of Indonesia
CHECKLIST OF THE MAMMALS OF INDONESIA Scientific, English, Indonesia Name and Distribution Area Table in Indonesia Including CITES, IUCN and Indonesian Category for Conservation i ii CHECKLIST OF THE MAMMALS OF INDONESIA Scientific, English, Indonesia Name and Distribution Area Table in Indonesia Including CITES, IUCN and Indonesian Category for Conservation By Ibnu Maryanto Maharadatunkamsi Anang Setiawan Achmadi Sigit Wiantoro Eko Sulistyadi Masaaki Yoneda Agustinus Suyanto Jito Sugardjito RESEARCH CENTER FOR BIOLOGY INDONESIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES (LIPI) iii © 2019 RESEARCH CENTER FOR BIOLOGY, INDONESIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES (LIPI) Cataloging in Publication Data. CHECKLIST OF THE MAMMALS OF INDONESIA: Scientific, English, Indonesia Name and Distribution Area Table in Indonesia Including CITES, IUCN and Indonesian Category for Conservation/ Ibnu Maryanto, Maharadatunkamsi, Anang Setiawan Achmadi, Sigit Wiantoro, Eko Sulistyadi, Masaaki Yoneda, Agustinus Suyanto, & Jito Sugardjito. ix+ 66 pp; 21 x 29,7 cm ISBN: 978-979-579-108-9 1. Checklist of mammals 2. Indonesia Cover Desain : Eko Harsono Photo : I. Maryanto Third Edition : December 2019 Published by: RESEARCH CENTER FOR BIOLOGY, INDONESIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCES (LIPI). Jl Raya Jakarta-Bogor, Km 46, Cibinong, Bogor, Jawa Barat 16911 Telp: 021-87907604/87907636; Fax: 021-87907612 Email: [email protected] . iv PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION This book is a third edition of checklist of the Mammals of Indonesia. The new edition provides remarkable information in several ways compare to the first and second editions, the remarks column contain the abbreviation of the specific island distributions, synonym and specific location. Thus, in this edition we are also corrected the distribution of some species including some new additional species in accordance with the discovery of new species in Indonesia. -
When Groups of People Share the Same Thoughts and Emotions. the Experience of Collective Efferves- Cence Magnifies the Emotional
290 PERSPECTIVES: AN OPEN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY when groups of people share the same thoughts and emotions. The experience of collective efferves- cence magnifies the emotional impact of an event and can create a sense of awe or wonder.14 Following Durkheim, many anthropologists, including Dame Mary Douglas, have found it useful to explore the ways in which definitions of sacred and profane structure religious beliefs. In her book Purity and Danger (1966), Douglas analyzed the way in which cultural ideas about things that were “dirty” or “impure” influenced religious beliefs. The kosher dietary rules observed by Jews were one prominent example of the application of this kind of thinking.15 The philosopher and historian Karl Marx famously called religion “the opium of the people.”16 He viewed religion as an ideology, a way of thinking that attempts to justify inequalities in power and sta- tus. In his view, religion created an illusion of happiness that helped people cope with the economic difficulties of life under capitalism. As an institution, Marx believed that the Christian church helped to legitimize and support the political and economic inequality of the working class by encouraging ordi- nary people to orient themselves toward the afterlife, where they could expect to receive comfort and happiness. He argued that the obedience and conformity advocated by religious leaders as a means of reaching heaven also persuaded people not to fight for better economic or social conditions in their cur- rent lives. Numerous examples of the use of religion to legitimize or justify power differences have been documented cross-culturally including the existence of divine rulers, who were believed to be empow- ered by the Gods themselves, in ancient Egyptian and Incan societies. -
Between Purity and Danger: Fieldwork Approaches to Movement
Isidoros, Between purity and danger BETWEEN PURITY AND DANGER: FIELDWORK APPROACHES TO MOVEMENT, PROTECTION AND LEGITIMACY FOR A FEMALE ETHNOGRAPHER IN THE SAHARA DESERT KONSTANTINA ISIDOROS ‘What truly distinguishes anthropology […] is that it is not a study of at all, but a study with. Anthropologists work and study with people.’ (Ingold 2011: 238) Introduction Although Mary Douglas (2002 [1966]) led the anthropological study of ‘purity and danger’ to explore the meaning of dirt in different contexts, it is a revealing lens to apply to another taboo – the erotic subjectivity of researchers (Kulick and Willson 1995). Of relevance here is Douglas’ starting point: what is regarded as dirt in a given society is ‘matter out of place’. Most human beings have an interest in sex, and anthropology has long studied sex in both distant and home field sites.1 Yet the sexual life of researchers during fieldwork remains a consummate example of ‘matter out of place’, a matter complicated by idiosyncratic sexual sensibilities. I reflect upon this ambiguity as sexual absence – or rather, as asexual presence – compelled by the authoritative imperative for scientific ‘purity’ (integrity). In this scenario, sexual relations between researcher and researched are seen as dangerous, polluting anthropological data as ‘dirt’. This article explores a debate in a small body of scholarship concerning sex[ual danger] in the field. In it I argue that this ‘matter out of place’, instead of jeopardising the integrity of the research, has the potential to offer rich ethnographic insight, hence it should be written up rather than written out. I suggest that, to understand what types of sex[ual danger] the researcher may encounter in the field, an anthropological ‘sex education’ prior to fieldwork would be helpful to comprehend both one’s own and others’ cultural perceptions and practices of sex. -
Academic and Neo-Pagan Interpretations of Shamanism In
Academic and neo•pagan interpretations of shamanism in Buile Suibhne: a comparative approach1 Alexandra Bergholm University of Helsinki, Department of Comparative Religion, [email protected] Introduction n the introductory chapter to the book titled New Directions in Celtic Studies (1999), editors Amy Hale and Philip Payton expressed their concern about the general unwillingness within Celtic Studies to address the array of modern “Celticity” (Hale & Payton 1999, 1–2). I Although several scholars have already begun to acknowledge that ‘the constructed nature of contemporary Celtic identities’ in all its complexity is a topic worth studying, critics argue that the field is still dominantly focused on analysing medieval literature by outdated methods of comparative cultural analysis (Ibid, 2, 8, 10). While I personally do not embrace the claims that Celtic Studies as an academic discipline lacks methodological progress and critical discourse, I do agree with the view that modern expressions of “Celticity”, rather than being rejected at the outset as unauthentic or fabricated, deserve attention alongside with the more traditional topics of Celtic scholarship.2 In this article, I will elaborate on this outlook by bringing one aspect of modern Celtic spirituality3 • the Neo•Pagan reception of the 12th century tale Buile Suibhne (The Frenzy of Suibhne) • into comparison with scholarly discussions of the same text. Though it is arguable that the academic and Neo•Pagan approaches to early Irish material differ substantially in the aims of their inquiries, I would claim that in terms of literary interpretation, the scholarly and Neo•Pagan views of the tale’s main protagonist Suibhne as a shamanic figure share common ground in their underlying presuppositions concerning the nature of shamanism and the 1 The writing of this article has been funded by the Academy of Finland, project number 1211006. -
Dealing with Uncertainty: Shamans, Marginal Capitalism, and the Remaking of History in Postsocialist Mongolia
MANDUHAI BUYANDELGERIYN Harvard University Dealing with uncertainty: Shamans, marginal capitalism, and the remaking of history in postsocialist Mongolia ABSTRACT ore than 15 years have passed since the collapse of social- In this article, I explore the proliferation of ism in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and Mongolia.1 Most previously suppressed shamanic practices among people in these regions have been subjected to unexpected, ethnic Buryats in Mongolia after the collapse of contradictory, and often confusing transformations because socialism in 1990. Contrary to the Buryats’ of the “unmaking” (Humphrey 2002) of socialism and the si- expectation that shamanism would solve the Mmultaneous arrival of a market economy and implementation of neoliberal uncertainties brought about by the market economy, economic reforms. Because the economic transformations have been the it has created additional spiritual uncertainties. As most visible and pertinent aspects of the transitions to postsocialism, a rich skeptical Buryats repeatedly propitiate their angry body of work has discussed the restructuring of property and privatization, origin spirits to alleviate the causes of their state institutions, and the rethinking of political categories (Berdahl 1999; misfortunes, they reconstruct their history, which Borneman1992,1998;BurawoyandVerdery1999;Caldwell2004;Humphrey was suppressed by state socialism. The Buryats make 2002; Verdery 1996). Scholars elsewhere have also noted that the feelings of their current calamities meaningful by placing them uncertainty, insecurity, and anxiety that result from the dangerous volatil- within the shifting history of their tragic past. The ity, disorder, and opaqueness of the market are being articulated through sense of uncertainty, fear, and disillusionment the medium of popular religion, shamanism, witchcraft, and spirit posses- experienced by the Buryats also characterizes daily sion (Comaroff and Comaroff 2000; Kendall 2003; Moore and Sanders 2001; life in places other than Mongolia. -
Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture Michelle Mitchell Florida International University, [email protected]
Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 11-14-2014 Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture Michelle Mitchell Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI14110747 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the New Religious Movements Commons Recommended Citation Mitchell, Michelle, "Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture" (2014). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1639. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1639 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN A HOSTILE RELIGIOUS CULTURE: CASE STUDY OF A GARDNERIAN WICCAN COMMUNITY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in RELIGIOUS STUDIES by Michelle Irene Mitchell 2014 To: Interim Dean Michael R. Heithaus College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Michelle Irene Mitchell, and entitled Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture: Case Study of a Gardnerian Wiccan Community, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Lesley Northup _______________________________________ Dennis Wiedman _______________________________________ Whitney A. Bauman, Major Professor Date of Defense: November 14, 2014 The thesis of Michelle Irene Mitchell is approved. -
The Problem of Magic and Monotheism in the Book of Leviticus
The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures ISSN 1203-1542 http://www.jhsonline.org and http://purl.org/jhs Articles in JHS are being indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, RAMBI, and BiBIL. Their abstracts appear in Religious and Theological Abstracts. The journal is archived by Library and Archives Canada and is accessible for consultation and research at the Electronic Collection site maintained by Library and Archives Canada (for a direct link, click here). VOLUME 8, ARTICLE 11 RÜDIGER SCHMITT, THE PROBLEM OF MAGIC AND MONOTHEISM IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS 1 2 JOURNAL OF HEBREW SCRIPTURES THE PROBLEM OF MAGIC AND MONOTHEISM IN THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS RÜDIGER SCHMITT, MÜNSTER UNIVERSITY 1. INTRODUCTION I have not known Dame Mary Douglas personally, but I have read and used her works on many occasions, both in the classroom and in my own studies—always with great benefits. Her views about the functions of witchcraft accusations1 were especially inspiring for me during the work on my book on magic in the Old Testament.2 In my contribution to this set of essays, I want to discuss some of the theses about magic and monotheism from her books In the Wilderness, Leviticus as Literature, and Jacob’s Tears, especially the basic assumption that magic and divination were outlawed in the priestly conception of the reformed religion of Israel.3 Many more questions that derive from her basic assumptions could be discussed here, but I try to focus on the topic of magic.4 The present article is divided in three main parts: In the first part I will deal briefly with the scholarly perception of magic in the Old Testament and how the views of Mary Douglas concerning magic fit into the general 1 M. -
Reading List in Theory and Method for Religious Studies 12.15.09 Asad
Reading List in Theory and Method for Religious Studies 12.15.09 Asad, Talal, Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and reasons of power in Christianity and Islam (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993). Bell, Catherine, Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). Berger, Peter L., The Sacred Canopy: Elements of sociological theory of religion, (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1969). Doniger, Wendy, The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998). Douglas, Mary, Purity and Danger: An analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo (London; New York: Routledge, 1994). Durkheim, Émile, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, trans. Carol Cosman (Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). Eliade, Mircea, Patterns in Comparative Religion, trans. Rosemary Sheed (Cleveland, World Pub. Co., 1966). Freud, Sigmund, The Future of an Illusion, trans. and ed. James Strachey (New York: Norton, 1961). Freud, Sigmund, Totem and Taboo: Some points of agreement between the mental lives of savages and neurotics, trans. James Strachey (London: Routledge, 2001). Geertz, Clifford, The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (New York: Basic Books, 1973). Hewitt, Marsha. Critical Theory of Religion: A Feminist Analysis (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1995). James, William, The Varieties of Religious Experience (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1985). Levy-Strauss, Claude. Tristes Tropiques Lincoln, Bruce, Theorizing Myth: Narrative, ideology, and scholarship (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999). Luckman, Thomas. The Invisible Religion (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1967). Malinowski, Bronislaw, Magic, Science, and Religion, and other essays (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1954). Marx, Karl and F. Engels, Marx and Engels on Religion (Moscow, Foreign Languages Pub. -
African Concepts of Energy and Their Manifestations Through Art
AFRICAN CONCEPTS OF ENERGY AND THEIR MANIFESTATIONS THROUGH ART A thesis submitted to the College of the Arts of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by Renée B. Waite August, 2016 Thesis written by Renée B. Waite B.A., Ohio University, 2012 M.A., Kent State University, 2016 Approved by ____________________________________________________ Fred Smith, Ph.D., Advisor ____________________________________________________ Michael Loderstedt, M.F.A., Interim Director, School of Art ____________________________________________________ John R. Crawford-Spinelli, D.Ed., Dean, College of the Arts TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………….. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS …………………………………… vi CHAPTERS I. Introduction ………………………………………………… 1 II. Terms and Art ……………………………………………... 4 III. Myths of Origin …………………………………………. 11 IV. Social Structure …………………………………………. 20 V. Divination Arts …………………………………………... 30 VI. Women as Vessels of Energy …………………………… 42 VII. Conclusion ……………………………………….…...... 56 VIII. Images ………………………………………………… 60 IX. Bibliography …………………………………………….. 84 X. Further Reading ………………………………………….. 86 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Porogun Quarter, Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria, 1992, Photograph by John Pemberton III http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/cosmos/models.html. ……………………………………… 60 Figure 2: Yoruba Ifa Divination Tapper (Iroke Ifa) Nigeria; Ivory. 12in, Baltimore Museum of Art http://www.artbma.org/. ……………………………………………… 61 Figure 3.; Yoruba Opon Ifa (Divination Tray), Nigerian; carved wood 3/4 x 12 7/8 x 16 in. Smith College Museum of Art, http://www.smith.edu/artmuseum/. ………………….. 62 Figure 4. Ifa Divination Vessel; Female Caryatid (Agere Ifa); Ivory, wood or coconut shell inlay. Nigeria, Guinea Coast The Metropolitan Museum of Art, http://www.metmuseum.org. ……………………… 63 Figure 5. Beaded Crown of a Yoruba King. Nigerian; L.15 (crown), L.15 (fringe) in.