ANTHROP 2R03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Psychoactive Drug, Knud Rasmussen, Libu
27 Mar 2019
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Religious specialists: individuals will culturally defined status as capable of mediating between humans and superior power(s) Power can be personal, like deities, saints, and ancestor spirits, or impersonal forces. Categories or types of religious specialists have been delineated by anthropologists and sociolo religion. They are good to think with and are not stati entities. Max weber was a 19thc/20thc german sociologist, philosopher, and political economist who ha ideas in the social scientific study of religion. He argued that there were contrasting roles of priest and prophet. Priests were part of organized, permanent religious institutions. Members of bureaucratic organizations specialized in religious functions. Associated with religion as a force for social stability. Prophets were religious leaders who have a "personal call" They receive revelation and have charisma, meaning they have extraordinary powers. They can go into altered, ecstatic states and do extraordinary things like heal, foret and see visions. Their charisma can intrude on the smooth functioning of religious institutions.
