Common elements of religious systems
Common elements of religious systems:
- COSMOLOGY
- Conception of the basic nature of man/woman and the universe
- MYTHOLOGY
- Beliefs about god/goddesses; attributes of the supernatural
- ANIMISM
- Conception of the soul(s); ideas and beliefs about spirits
Common elements of religious systems:
- ESCHATOLOGY
- Hierarchy of the supernatural
- SPIRITS AND GODS
- The pantheon of gods/goddesses; spirits of the dead
- LUCK AND CHANCE
- The conceptualization of “power”
- SACRED OBJECT AND PLACES
- Places of worship; religious paraphernalia
Common elements of religious systems:
- PROPITIATION
- Offerings and sacrifices
- PURIFICATION AND EXPIATION
- Ideas of “clean” and “unclean”; renewal of spiritual forces
- AVOIDANCE AND TABBOOS
- Activities, places, foods, etc. to be avoided
- REVELATION AND DIVINATION
- Knowledge of the pas/present; predictions of the future
Common elements of religious systems:
- RITUAL
- Celebrations, festivities, and other structured activities
- MAGIC
- Control of supernatural and human happenings
- INITIATED PRACTITIONERS
- Priests, priestesses, other specialized practitioners
Common elements of religious systems:
- ORGANIZED CEREMONIAL
- Structured ritual activities; religious calendar.
- RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
- The experiencing of the supernatural; spirit possession.
Two Explanations for the Experience of Religion…..
- Carl Gustav Jung (Psychiatrist) – Analytic Psychology
- Collective unconscious (mankind heredity)
- Archetypes – latent and manifest
- Claude Levi-Strauss – Cultural Anthropologist
- Underlying Mental Structures (language structure) in the explanation of myths
- Binary system for organizing the explanation of experience (no contrast – no information