Basic Elements of Religion

Sufi initiates—known as “Whirling Dervishes”—performing the Sema ceremony

Basic Elements of Religion

• Myths/Doctrines• Rituals• Religious Specialists

Myths/Doctrine• Myths/Doctrine

– Religious narratives/stories providing a framework for religious beliefs/practices

– Codify worldviews by providing: • understanding of how the world works• template for reality• understanding the origin of humans

Myths• Myths

– Usually oral tradition, often indirect messages• Can change through time• Recited or performed

– Common myths:• Origin/creation • Heroes• Apocalypse• Tricksters

Doctrine

• Direct statements about religious beliefs, formalized and written

• Associated with state-level religions– May be subject to analysis– May be more stable through time– Translations a source of change– Many have roots in oral traditions– Bible: many translations– Qur’an: no translations

• Literal meaning: “the recitation”

Rituals

Ritual: a patterned, recurring sequence of eventsSituational Ritual• Life-cycle rituals (Rites of Passage)

– E.g. birth, coming of age, marriage, death• Three phases:

– Separation, Transition, Reintegration

Rituals

Periodic Ritual• Pilgrimage

– E.g. the annual Hajj to Mecca– Many others: Christian, Hindu, Buddhism,

Judaism, etc.• Daily Prayers (Islam)

Religious Specialists• Degree of religious specialization linked

with degree of social complexity– Small-scale society: rituals performed by many

or all adults– Large-scale society: rituals performed by

specialists• Main types: Shaman vs. Priest• Other types: Prophet, Diviner, Religious

Healers, etc.

Shaman• Religious specialist with direct association with

supernaturals– Receives power directly from the spirit world

• communication through altered states of consciousness

– Most associated with non-state societies, part-time– “Called” to the profession

Priest

• Associated with states, full-time religious specialists

• Formal training, given authority by formal groups– May come from priestly lineage– Perform wider range of rituals– Rituals reinforce belief systems, ethical codes– Often associated with dedicated spaces

Diviners

• Answer questions or communicate with supernatural using rituals

• Ancient practice• Many forms:

– Astrology – Taromancy– Extispicy – Auspicy – Scapulamancy – Tasseography

Prophets

• Prophets– A living mouthpiece of the gods

• communicate the will of the gods• an intermediary between the community and

the gods• often have visions/dreams• charismatic• begin new religions