Religion and Anthropology

363 Pages·2008·1.97 MB·English

by  Brian Morris

religionandanthropology
Thisimportantstudyprovidesacriticalintroductiontothesocialanthropologyofreli-
gion,focusingonmorerecentclassicalethnographies.Comprehensive,freeofscholastic
jargon,engaging,andcomparativeinapproach,itcoversallthemajorreligioustradi-
tionsthathavebeenstudiedconcretelybyanthropologists–Shamanism,Buddhism,
Islam,Hinduism,ChristianityanditsrelationtoAfricanandMelanesianreligions,and
contemporaryNeo-Paganism.Eschewingathematicapproachandtreatingreligionas
asocialinstitutionandnotsimplyasanideologyorsymbolicsystem,thebookfollows
thedualheritageofsocialanthropologyincombininganinterpretativeunderstanding
andsociologicalanalysis.Thebookwillappealtoallstudentsofanthropology,whether
established scholars or initiates to the discipline, as well as to students of the social
sciencesandreligiousstudies,andtoallthoseinterestedincomparativereligion.
Brian Morris is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Goldsmiths College, at the
UniversityofLondon.HismanypublicationsincludeChewaMedicalBotany(1996),
Animals and Ancestors (2000), Kropotkin: The Politics of Community (2004), Insects
andHumanLife(2004),andAnthropologicalStudiesofReligion:AnIntroductoryText
(Cambridge,1987).

Religion and Anthropology
A Critical Introduction
brian morris
UniversityofLondon
cambridge university press
Cambridge,NewYork,Melbourne,Madrid,CapeTown,Singapore,SãoPaulo
Cambridge University Press
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridgecb22ru,UK
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyCambridgeUniversityPress,NewYork
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521852418
©BrianMorris2006
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionof
relevantcollectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplace
withoutthewrittenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublishedinprintformat 2005
isbn-13 978-0-511-13532-3 eBook(EBL)
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isbn-13 978-0-521-85241-8 hardback
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forexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,anddoesnot
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T
oJamesWoodburn
Whoguidedmyfirst
stepsinSocialAnthropology
(cid:2)
AdvancePraise:
“Brian Morris’ Religion and Anthropology is at once remarkably comprehensive
andsituated.Hemanagestoincludemostofthereligiousendeavorsoftheworld
andofworldhistorywhilesituatingeachinsocialcontext,elucidatedbyanthro-
pologicalfieldwork.Theresultingvolumeisanexcellentresourceforthinkingand
teachingaboutreligioninaspecificallyanthropologicalperspective.Iplantoassign
thebookformyowncourseonthetopic.”
–JamesL.Peacock,UniversityofNorthCarolina,ChapelHill
“AsasequelandcomplementtoMorris’spreviousreaderontheoreticalapproaches
to religion, this book of impressive scholarship is an admirable success and a
thoroughlyenjoyableread.Thebookischaracterizedbyarefreshing,common-
sense approach to religion that is eminently accessible due to the consistent
avoidanceofunnecessaryjargon,psychobabbleorlyricalprose.Thesympathetic
and nonjudgmental ethnographic descriptions, the dynamism of the theoretical
polemic,theclearuseofEnglish,andtheeleganceofthenarrativestructuremade
this book difficult to put down. A rare experience when reading much modern
anthropologicalwriting.”
–JeromeLewis,LondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalScience
Contents
Preface pageix
Introduction 1
1 Shamanism 14
1.1 Prologue 14
1.2 WhatIsShamanism? 16
1.3 ShamanismandAlteredStatesofConsciousness 19
1.4 Spirit-PossessionandShamanism 22
1.5 SiberianandInnerAsianShamanism 25
1.6 InuitShamanism 29
1.7 Neo-Shamanism 34
1.8 ComparativeStudies 37
1.9 TheInterpretationofShamanism 40
2 BuddhismandSpirit-Cults 44
2.1 Prologue 44
2.2 TheBuddhistDharma 47
2.3 BuddhismandNatCultsinBurma 54
2.4 BuddhismandSpirit-CultsinThailand 58
2.5 ReligiousChangeinSriLanka 63
2.6 BuddhismandFolkReligioninTibet 68
2.7 BuddhismandtheState 74
3 IslamandPopularReligion 77
3.1 Prologue 77
3.2 TheIslamicTradition 79
3.3 ZarCultsinNorthernSomalia 82
3.4 ZarCultsintheSudan 88
3.5 TheSaintsandScholarsofIslam 96
3.6 TheHamadsha:ASufiBrotherhoodinMorocco 102
3.7 ReligionandPoliticsinMorocco 104
4 HinduismandNewReligiousMovements 112
4.1 Prologue 112
4.2 SanskriticHinduism 115
vii
viii CONTENTS
4.3 PopularHinduism 122
4.4 CultoftheGoddess 130
4.5 BhaktiCults 134
4.6 GurusandHinduNationalism 140
5 ChristianityandReligioninAfrica 146
5.1 TheChristianTradition 146
5.2 PrologueonAfricanReligion 148
5.3 TheWorldofKongoBelief 153
5.4 PropheticMovementsinLowerZaire 159
5.5 ReligiousChangeinZambia 164
5.6 ReligiousMovementsinZambia 168
5.7 TshidiBarolongCosmology 177
5.8 ZionistChurchesinSouthAfrica 182
6 African-AmericanReligions 188
6.1 Prologue 188
6.2 VodouinHaiti 191
6.3 VodouRituals 199
6.4 ReligionsofJamaica 206
6.5 TheRastafariMovement 212
6.6 RastafariBeliefsandPractices 217
6.7 ReligionsofBrazil 222
7 ReligionsinMelanesia 232
7.1 Prologue 232
7.2 KwaioReligion 236
7.3 ReligionandEcology 243
7.4 MillenarianMovementsinMelanesia 251
7.5 RoadBelongCargo 257
7.6 TheInterpretationofMillenarianMovements 262
8 NeopaganismandtheNewAgeMovement 271
8.1 Prologue 271
8.2 TheContemporaryNeopaganRevival 273
8.3 TheRootsofNeopaganWitchcraft 278
8.4 PaganPathways 284
8.5 TheWesternMysteryTradition 294
8.6 ContemporaryRitualMagic 298
8.7 NewAgeSpirituality 304
Conclusions 310
References 317
Index 345
Preface
I have been teaching a course on the Anthropology of Religion at Goldsmiths’
College,offandon,foralmostthirtyyears.MywritingofAnthropologicalStudies
of Religion was in fact motivated by a felt need for an introductory text on the
subject,eventhoughIknewthatsomeelitistOxbridgescholarsheldsuchtextsin
generaldisdain.Indeed,onewell-knownanthropologistseverelyrebukedmefor
even teaching anthropology as a subsidiary subject at Goldsmiths, insisting that
anthropologycouldbetaughtadequatelyonlyatapostgraduatelevel.Havingfailed
myeleven-plus,Ileftschoolattheageoffifteentoworkinanironfoundry,and,
failingtogetintoauniversitybecauseIlackedany‘A’levels,Ihavealwaysfound
suchelitistattitudesquitedeplorable.When,alongwithJaneHoyoftheUniversity
ofLondonExtra-MuralDepartment,IinitiatedaCertificateofAnthropology,sup-
portedbymycolleaguesatGoldsmiths’College,Ifoundgreatdifficultyinconvinc-
ingmyanthropologicalcolleaguesatotheruniversitiesthatthecertificatehadany
valueasanaccesscourse.Typically,morethanadecadelater,whenacademicshad
discovered that anthropology was being widely taught outside of universities, a
resourceguidewaspublished,DiscoveringAnthropology,thatcompletelyignored
theseearlierinitiatives.Itisworthnotingalsothat,becauseoftheseelitistattitudes,
anthropologyistheonlyuniversitydisciplinethatisnotapartoftheschoolcur-
riculum,eventhoughBritainisamulticulturalsociety!Unlikesomepretentious
academics,ensconcedinsomeeliteuniversity,Ihavealwaysfoundintroductory
textsextremelyusefulasteachingaids,inthesamewayastravelguidesareuseful
inexploringthelandscape,andtruescholars,likeErnstMayr(forexample),do
notfeelthatthewritingandtheuseofintroductorytextsisintheleastdemeaning.
Infact,someintroductorytextsoffermorecriticalinsightsintothesubjectmatter
thanmanyarticlesinacademicjournalswhereobscurantist,neo-Baroquejargon
isoftenacoverforsociologicalplatitudes.Ithusmakenoapologyforofferinga
sequelandanupdateofmyearliertext,andithasthesamepurpose,namely,tobe
ahelpfulguidetoanthropologicalstudiesofreligion–comprehensive,stimulating
Ihope,critical,sympathetic,andaboveall,readable,thatis,freeofobscurantist
jargon.Itwill,Itrust,appealtoallstudentsofanthropology,whetherestablished
scholarsorinitiatesonaccesscourses,aswellastothestudentsofthesocialsciences
generally,andtoallthoseinterestedincomparativereligion.
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