Religion: An Anthropological Perspective

296 Pages·2015·14.98 MB·English

by  H. Sidky

A M E R I C A N U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D I E S
Religion: An Anthropological Perspectiveprovides a critical view of religion focusing
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upon important but overlooked topics such as religion, cognition, and prehistory; d
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science, rationality, and religion; altered states of consciousness, entheogens and reli- y
gious experience; religion and the paranormal; magic and divination; religion and
ecology; fundamentalism; and religion and violence. In addition, this book offers
a unique and concise coverage of traditional topics of the anthropology of religion
such as shamanism and witchcraft (past and present), ritual, myth, religious sym-
bols, and revitalization movements. A vast range of findings from ethnography, eth-
nology, cultural anthropology, archaeology, prehistory, history, and cognitive science
are brought to bear on the subject. Written in clear jargon-free prose, this book pro-
vides an accessible and comprehensive yet critical view of the anthropology of reli-
gion both for graduate and undergraduate students and general audiences. Its scope
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and critical scientific orientation sets Religion: An Anthropological Perspectiveapart
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from all other treatments of the subject.
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H. SIDKY is Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at i
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Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio. His research interests include the anthropology n
of religion, ecological anthropology, anthropological theory/history of anthropological
thought, and scientific methods in anthropology. He has conducted ethnographic
field research in Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Nepal, Easter Island, central Aus-
tralia, and among the Tibetan exile community in northern India. Dr. Sidky is the
author of numerous books, including Haunted by the Archaic Shaman: Himalayan
Jhakris and the Discourse on Shamanism(2008), Perspectives on Culture: A Critical Intro-
duction to Theory in Cultural Anthropology(2004), Halfway to the Mountain: The Jirels
of Eastern Nepal (2004), A Critique of Postmodern Anthropology: In Defense of Disci-
plinary Origins and Traditions(2003), The Greek Kingdom of Bactria: From Alexander
to Eucratides the Great(2000), and Witchcraft, Lycanthropy, Drugs and Disease: An
Anthropological Study of the European Witch-Persecutions(Lang, 1997).
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www.peterlang.com S T U D I E S H. SIDKY
Religion
SERIES VII
THEOLOGY AND RELIGION

VOL. 348

This book is a volume in a Peter Lang monograph series.
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the highest quality standards for content and production.

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
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H. Sidky

Religion

An Anthropological Perspective

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sidky, H.
Religion: an anthropological perspective / H. Sidky.
pages cm. — (American University studies VII.
Theology and religion; vol. 348)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Anthropology of religion. I. Title.
GN470.S53 306.6—dc23 2014042557
ISBN 978-1-4331-2917-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4539-1486-1 (e-book)
ISSN 0740-0446

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

Cover image: Lord Shiva, Chamundi Temple,
Himachel Pradesh, India (Photo by H. Sidky)

© 2015 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
To Anthony R. Walker, my mentor and friend

Table of Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Chapter One: Anthropology and Religion 1
Chapter Two: Religion, Cognition, and Prehistory 16
Chapter Three: Shamanism 26
Chapter Four: Altered States of Consciousness and Religion 39
Chapter Five: Entheogens and Religious Experience 57
Chapter Six: Witchcraft: Evil in Human Form 71
Chapter Seven: Magic and Divination 89
Chapter Eight: Religion and the Paranormal 105
Chapter Nine: Religion: Organization and Evolutionary Patterns 123
Chapter Ten: Religion and Ecology 140
Chapter Eleven: Ritual: The Practical Dimension of Religion 159
Chapter Twelve: Myth: The Narrative Dimension of Religion 171
Chapter Thirteen: Symbols: The Representational Dimension of Religion 184
Chapter Fourteen: Revitalization Movements and the Origins of Religion 199
Chapter Fifteen: Fundamentalism 212
Chapter Sixteen: Religion and Violence 225
Bibliography 243
Index 269