AN101 Lecture Notes - Ometeotl, Animism, Pastoralism
Document Summary
Broadly, we can refer to this as the supernatural, but that doesn"t mean anthros think it is all the same thing. They are however, all based on unseen forces/spirits. Sometimes this is a component that requires us to be more vigilant with cultural relativity. 3 specific ways we look at these: 1. how such beliefs articulate with things like language, symbols, world view etc. 2. these forces and the individual, how do they provide comfort, inspire fear, etc. 3. ask what sort of social function they serve, to what extent do they work with or support social structure. At one time, and to some extent today, it was believed that magic and religion were early substitutes or best thing people had in place of science. Societies lacking science relied more heavily on supernatural beliefs and used things like supernatural rituals to try and control the world around them.
