SOC250Y1 Lecture : Aspects of Primial Religions
Document Summary
A synthesis: what can be inferred from prehistory (archaeology, linguistics, etc) And the ethnographic study of contemporary preliterate societies. We find (1) belief in supernatural powers/forces religions of gods and goddesses (2) belief in souls/ spirits ancestor cults- notion of deceased ancestors are still with us who still require care by the living. Both are systematized and expressed in myth (stories and accounts of gods) and. Ritual (where we try and win gods favour, appease them, bring in assistance) Societies without the state are typically organized by kinship: family lineages or. Dead ancestors part of kinship thus brought into the picture. So when there are disputes, the ancestor spirits have a lot of space to provide that function. Example: the hunting and gathering veddas of ceylon/ sri lanka. Shamans call upon and incarnate the yaku or ancestors; they speak through his guttural groans.
