Take Home Quiz

There is no blog post due this week. Your take home quiz (20 pts) should discuss one of the following questions. A thorough response should be approximately 2 pages. You should hand this quiz in by next week.

Oh--You do not need to read the article in your reader about the Zuni origin story. You can, however, read it if you are interested.

1) Religious rituals are religion in action. Describe what in fact is accomplished by religious rituals?


2) What is a revitalization movement? Explain how and why do they come into existence?

I'm looking for detail in your responses. I encourage you to give examples for your responses, e.g. referencing and/or discussing the readings, class discussions, films, etc.

Also, for next week, Paul Tyler, an ethnomusicologist, is going to guest lecture. He's scheduled on the syllabus to speak on December 1st.

This is due by class time on Monday.

Magical Thinking

GOD IS IN THE TV

When I saw the question asking how magical thinking persists in contemporary North America I could not help but think of water stains on the side of buildings and Hispanic dinner plates. Move the beans. . .move the rice. . .IT IS MARIA!! I remember watching shows like ripley’s believe it or not on how people would see religious figures in the oddest places such as on a dinner plate or in the form of a potato they grew in the back yard.

There are also shows that bring crews into houses where spirits roam about, they show you the orbs in pictures and forms of white noise. They not only want to spook you but also prove that spirits live on whether they are nice spirits or troubled ones.

MURDER BY OUIJI BOARD?

Now I am not a superstitious person and I need to experience something first hand in order to be effected in anyway and that’s why in high school I paid no attention to the ridiculous tradition of the Ouiji Board. Communicate with the dead? I thought it was stupid. Apparently the group of us made contact with a male spirit, a nice one, living in my ex-girlfriends house. It was all fun and games until the spirit informed us that someone close to one of us would die in the next few months.

I forgot how this was derived by the board but that message was conveyed to us somehow. There were about 10 of us down there that night and I forgot all about it. Even a couple years had passed before I realized that my friends mother died suddenly about 3 or 4 months after that Ouiji Board night. It was an untimely death and has ruined the lives of my friend and the rest of his family, after recalling those events I will never mess with a Ouiji Board again.

Magic, Science and Religion

In reference to the reading by Malinowski I shall reflect on a statement that stuck out for me. There was a line that proposed the thought that was brought up on how those of a clan worship the God of the clan which means that the God of the clan can be nothing else but the clan itself. It was a bit confusing at first and I had to read it again but it reminds me of how I view God or any religion for that matter.

A religion, I believe for what the reading was attempting to inquire, is best utilized without a literal sense. Thus this God being the clan itself means that for those who worship the God, the clan will benefit from it. Now to my belief that God or any form of higher power from any religion is an energy or mindset that benefits the good in the world. Lack of this energy or mindset plummets individuals and promotes evils. Both understandings are quite similar. . .

Spiritual Ritual

The human psyche is centered on a system of wants and needs. When we are in our first minutes of life we cry for the milk of a mother’s breast. We cry when we want sleep, and we cry when we don’t feel good. It is an essential, inherent human nature—to want something. Through religion people satisfy a want, and—for many—a need. The religious rituals practiced are a means of salvation or enlightenment, whether we are Buddhist, Christian, or Hindu.
A ritual is a practice that acts as a device, a bridge between the mortal and immortal, the physical and the spiritual. Catholics use communion to unite the bodies of sinners with Christ and purify the body. For some it is a symbol. For others it is very real. Buddhists practice paths of enlightenment, not worshiping Buddha, but building their person through enlightenment. Their goal is to create something sacred in themselves through ritual.
Again, rituals are a connection, an activity that makes the spiritual ascertainable to those who practice them, satisfying their need for connection.

Ritual; The Need for Structure

The need for ritual in religion comes from the same place as religion itself. They provide control in a world of chaos. These rituals give us order, as well as, something to pass on to the next generation. Ritual are a sign of the level of commitment one has to their beliefs. They represent devotion and self discipline. One adhere to the rules and structure of rituals as a sign of faith. The rituals may seem ludicrous at times. but they are a test. A test to one level of seriousness about their faith. They are meant to weed out those who claim to believe from those who do believe. One must not see rituals as a burden or tedious, but as challenges and necessary if they are true believers.

Religion in Action

Ritual, in my experience, goes hand in hand with religion. Every religion I can think of practices some form of ritual. And as people form opinions about exotic cultures they tend to forget to see their own from an outside point of view.  The Catholic religion for example has many rituals. These actions can create a sense of community and likeness with strangers who share similar beliefs. Every religion that has a ritual most certainly has a meaning behind it, some meanings may be obscure to a nonparticipant. Some of the rituals I am familiar with include, communion, which is the paying of respect of Jesus Christ and drinking what is the symbol of his blood. This is reenacted according to how it was exactly preformed at the Last Supper. Another action that is accomplished by a ritual is Confession, again a ritual associated with christian religions. This is the process of telling someone such as a priest your sins. This act is supposed to "clear" you essentially from the sins you have committed by telling about your sins penance. There are many different rituals that Catholics act all of which accumulate to the their "proper" serving of God.

ghost in the science

Contemporary North America still exhibit magical thinking through their belief in horoscopes, ghosts, spirits,miracles and other superstitions. Magical thinking coincides with religion and science; without magical thinking there would be no science because there would be no unexplained events to try and disprove. I think many other cultures rely a lot more on magical thinking than North American culture because science isn't necessarily as dominant as religion and other beliefs. magical thinking, as well as religion, helps people make sense of the unknown but when science comes into the picture and starts explaining events or unknown things with logic, it tends to take away from the magical thinking. I'm not a religious person, but i do believe in ghosts and spirits and i have to admit I love reading my horoscope, although I don't really believe all of it is true, its still fun to play into it. magical thinking makes life more interesting and adds excitement; logic isn't always the best thing.I think the supernatural or ghosts and other things like horoscopes will continue in the future but eventually science will begin to erase other magical thinking and even religion.

Communion

Rituals give religion tradition and bound its followers together. Without the rituals there is an obscurity as what to follow. I see rituals as activities people involve themselves in occasionally in order to feel accomplished in their religion. The rituals, after being performed for centuries, seem to lose real value through monotonous repetition. People cannot always feel extremely in tune with communion every time they do it. But after they are done, they feel as though they have done their part. Communion is something that binds everyone together in the catholic faith and some protestant faiths as well. I remember when I went to church, I had to take a class in order to formally join the church and thus participate in communion. After I finished the class, I was excited to finally take part in communion. While I finally participated in communion, I felt truly connected to the other church members of all ages.  Before I was just a kid that had to stay seated because he was not yet a member. But now, I was a part of a much larger group of many different people, equally participating in the ritual. I felt very mature that day and accomplished after communion. All of the ritual was explained to me, but to this day I do not understand why we pretend to eat and drink Christ. This is probably very common though with other rituals in other religions. There might not be a sensible reason for everything, but as long as it is tradition and creates a community of followers the reason does not matter as much. 

Do this, do that.

Discussion about religious rituals can take year long discussions. They vary from religion to religion and each has its different purposes. When used by the Catholic faith, the rituals are used to draw the members of the church to Christ. Whether it is through communion or repeating prayers, they believe they will be in a better standing with Christ when the rituals are performed. By confession, Catholics believe they can admit their wrongdoings and be cleansed of their sins. In other faiths, rituals are used in the same way: each contribute in one way or another to being in better standing with who they believe is the "greater power". Whether it is within themselves or a being in the spiritual realm, some great action or sacrifice is used to show devotion.

The Importance of Religious Rituals:

For many people religious rituals are held, I believe, in order for people to display their affection and support for their religion in a physical way.  Catholics, for example, use communion as a physical demonstration of their devotion to their religion.  Religious rituals are also important for followers to feel connected and involved with their religion.  These rituals, and religion in general, gives people a sense of security and, often times, a meaning.  The shaman in the BBC article, for example, felt that by performing rituals to "send good vibes" to the presidential candidates was helping in their own way.  It gave them a sense of self-reliance and that they were in one way or another helping the outcome of the election.  Religion is important in this aspect.  It is important for people to feel secure and to have something to believe in.  It shouldn't matter how different beliefs are, what's important is the fact that religion gives many people something to be happy about.  Religious rituals help people to portray their religions and allow people to feel that they are physically making a difference in some way, whether that be by blessing the American presidential candidates, or by making themselves happy by being involved with something they feel very strongly about.

Magic, Science, and Religion

Science is a subject that relies on magic and religion because without the thoughts that religion and magic create, there wouldn't be any theories that could be conducted to determine the realities of the world.  The difference lies with the physical world and metaphysical world.  Religion deals with faith, which you cannot explain.  It's nontangible.  Science deals with actual facts about the world we live in.  You test your theories in the assumption that you will come to a conclusion, even when you sometimes don't find a conclusion, that is still an answer.  When the three are combined, many people think that its terrible or demoralizing.  When you consider the questions that scientists ask, where do they come from?  Looking at the world in a metaphysical state, we begin to think outside the box which gives us questions that scientists then take and perform tests and theories.  I still believe that its hard to explain magic or religion, but some cultures of the world rely heavily upon these in search of the notions that help them with survival.  It's not the distinction between these subjects that are confusing to most of us, but when you combine magic, religion, and science, our minds seem to block out any necessary relations that may take place.

Religion and Beliefs

I'm not a very religious person.  I was raised with religion in my family, but it never really drew me in.  I believe that religion is to give people a deeper meaning, which is great.  But what if your perfectly content with your life?  Why do you need a deeper meaning?  

People go through all these practices to feel a part of their religion.  This gives them peace of mind.  I do not feel a need to feel apart of one particular religion, but I do embrace all religious beliefs, and I am fascinated by certain aspects of each one.  I think it is interesting how simular these religions and their practices are, but feel separated from each other. 

I embrace religion, but I am not convinced of any that apply to me.  I look to look at all religions and apply them to the here and now.  I do find many practices sill, like communion, and so I choose not to formally practice these rituals, but rather just have and build my own faith that I can relate to.

stairway to heaven

Religion can be defined as a belief and faith in a higher, supernatural controlling force over our own mortal humanness. It is a communal practice of faith and worship that brings people together under the same notion of God(s). I think that people practice religious rituals because it reflects a sort of reassurance in people and provides morals for followers to abide by. Christians believe that Jesus has the power to forgive their sins and grant entrance into the kingdom of heaven if they ask for forgiveness. Christians use prayer as a means of requesting guidance and assistance in life as well as praying for forgiveness of their sins. By ritually praying, Christians consistently remind themselves that there is a higher power that will ultimately be responsible for their fate. Religion also establishes a set of morals that must be followed in order for there to be "good" in the world. Christians that ritually refer to the Bible and the Ten Commandments have an understanding of the morals of Christianity and believe that following those commandments will save them a place in heaven. This is another example of reassurance in religious rituals. The concept of heaven is very important to many religious people regardless of their religious faith. In high school, I was in an ethics class with a friend who's father had recently passed away. She commented that she had not considered herself a person of faith or religion until her trauma. She turned to Christianity because she felt it was necessary in order to cope with her loss. She felt that it offered her a sense of hope and reassurance that her father was resting peacefully and that one day they would be reunited again. It is not unusual for people to turn to religious rituals after a traumatic experience because it removes feelings of doubt and hopelessness and provides a feeling of optimism. Religious rituals are practiced in every day life because it produces reassurance and hopefulness in people.

Religious rituals are religion in action. Describe what in fact is accomplished by religious rituals?

What makes a religion more than just a set of beliefs are the traditions and activities that go along with these beliefs. After being raised Catholic and attending Catholic school for a while, I've had the chance to witness and take part in the cuhrch's practices. An example of a ritual for Catholics is receiving the Eucharist at every mass (the little peice of bread and sometimes wine which we are supposed to believe is actually a piece of Jesus). This ritual allows for the Catholic community to come together, pray, have time to reflect on themselves, and receive blessing from Jesus/God Himself. It is what the entire mass revolves around and is the most sacred time of the hour or so in which the people are congregated.
Another, less frequent, ritual performed by Catholics is going to mass on Ash Wednesday, the day after Mardi Gras, the day before the season of Lent begins. The ritual is to signify the beginning of what we choose to sacrifice/give up until Easter for God (whether someone gives up chocolate, caffeine, or personal time to do community service). People of the Catholic faith show up to mass on this Wednesday and the ashes of palms are marked in the shape of a cross on their forehead. This is a way to show pride for religion throughout the day, symbolize the personal cross to be carried throughout the next few months during the time Jesus had to, and to have that support with the community in preparation for Easter for the next few weeks.

It does sound odd to other people not accustomed to the rituals, as was pointed out in another post. I am used to it after being forced to practice for 18 years of my life, but I still find it strange to have faith that, when I go to church, I am eating Jesus...??? This also just shows how the bible and other religious books can be interpreted so many ways (ie: jihad=religious struggle; some take as actual fight, others as struggle within oneself), since Christians of different denominations all read Jesus' sharing of his bread/body at the last supper.

I think that religious rituals over all tend to accomplish a closeness within the religious community, and forms of practice, bringing their beliefs to life and making them tangible.

Fortune Cookie Magic

Contemporary North America exhibits all aspects of magical thinking (magic, science, and religion) in relative proportion. Science and religion are obviously more widely practiced and discussed by the average American because these are more pulicized aspects of our daily lives, but magic is ever present as well. Most people don't like to admit it, but how many of us read our horoscope in the newspaper or a magazine? I certainly get excited to read my fortune in a fortune cookie after my meal at a Chinese restaurant.

In my personal life, I do not follow religion, as many Americans do. I put most of my magical thinking into science. However, I say most and not all because magic does play a bigger role in my life than I previously thought. I believe in ghosts, and I believe that I have communicated with them in the past. I also love fortune cookies. Some may call me silly, but some of my fortunes in those little dry cookies have been really insightful. I recently got one that said I would be coming into money 3 months from that day. Interestingly enough, 3 months from that day I will be in Las Vegas. It may seem foolish to others, but I'm betting high that day.

Religion and its Strange Rituals

Some people view Roman Cathloics as weirdos. They're often viewed as extremely religious people, not as crazy as a Southern Baptist but they are up there. Some of the rituals such as "Confession" or "Holy Communion" or "Confirmation" are all seen as odd rituals.

But when you think about it, are the rituals of a Roman Catholic really that strange? I have been part of this religion for my entire life and I see no oddities in what is done. But look at other religions, Buddhism, Islam, aren't they odd too? Praising your god three-four times a day? Not eating cow? Doesn't that seem strange to you

When you're on the outside looking in, things look strange from afar. As a Catholic I have always thought that religions outside of mine were strange. I am accepting of all religions and I one day dream that the world can all live under the same religious tent and be at peace. But just because I am accepting does not mean that I think it is strange. I have Jewish friends and I also have friends that are Buddhists. They have explained to me their basic rituals and what they do during their ceremonies. The supposed catch is that performing what ever ceremonies you do is supposed to enlighten you. Give you a better understanding of why you're here and what the purpose is.

That is why religion has ceremonies, so that people can understand the meaning of their religion better.

More on Magic

For Monday, please discuss one of the following questions:

1) Bronislaw Malinowski, in his classic essay Magic, Science and Religion, claimed that each of these was a viable mode of cognition and that most societies exhibit all of them in variable proportions.

In what ways does magical thinking persist in contemporary North America?

In what ways does magical thinking persist in your lives at Columbia?

Is it likely to persist in the future?

2) Religious rituals are religion in action. Describe what in fact is accomplished by religious rituals?

3) You can discuss this BBC article in the context of your readings for the week.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7699066.stm

The Rally

I am not politcal. I avoided everything to do with the elections for over a year. People asked if I was voting, and I wasn't. I replied, "No, there is no reason. I don't like Obama and he's going to win." Then someone sat me down and talked to me. They said this election was one of the most historic in our country, and not participating would be passing up the chance of a lifetime.

I decided I wanted to be part of it, I wanted to participate. I read about the canidates. I traveled a state away and missed class to vote the day before election. My hometown was buzzing, everyone there even knew about the Obama rally. They were jealous, jealous! Jealous that I had the opportunity to go and they didn't. That changed my attitude about everything. Here were my friends, united in believing in one man--when all of them had such differing opinions on everything else.

I went to the Obama rally, a supporter. I have never been part of that large a crowd in my entire life. The sheer energy of the throng gave me goosebumps. The crowd was engaged, excited, and validated--over a presidential election! The experience taught me something i did not expect to find--our nation still cares, and we care deeply, about America's future.

However, the most important thing I took away from the event was Obama's speech. I had never watched him speak before. His speech was perfect, effective, and direct. The crowd made of thousands of people stood watching in silence, desperate to hold on to every word.

It felt like the nation stopped, united over something almost all of us have disagreed about for the last 8 years.

Magic, Science, and Religion

Some of Malinowski's examples of magical and scientific behaviors are: Magic coming from traditions and of a world of mysticism, "an occult" passed down through "mysterious initiations" and is often exclusive in some way. 

Science comes from experience, reason, trial and error, and is "a common good of the whole community." Understanding of science can be something as little as realizing regularity applied to fishing or food foraging, knowing where certain plants can grow, or being able to tell when it will rain. These are natural patterns that are learned through observation, which all communities do. 

A rational outlook to one's surroundings does not imply the absence of faith in magical rites. Malinowski explains this by saying that "every primitive community is in possession of a considerable store of knowledge, based on experience and fashioned by reason." The same cultures who worship multiple gods or practice "magic" have still learned to hunt, predict weather patterns, or farm based on observation and understanding their surroundings. Things like this could not "be carried out without the careful observation of natural process and a firm belief in its regularity," lack of reason and its powers.

Irrational?

Does a rational outlook to one’s surroundings imply the absence of
faith in magical rites?


Malinowski argues that the presence of magical rights does not imply a society is irrational. On page 29 the second paragraph explains how the Melanesians could acknowledge the effects caused by their farming techniques and what the intent of their magic was. The argument being that they knew what was going on.

I think this example could also be used to display how they were being irrational since they could see that it wasn't magic that was making their crops grow but their farming skills. In effect the magic was only a comfort their minds, not an effective way of growing crops. To be rational I think a person would want to spend their time doing things that have an effect on what they believe to be their end goal. Since magic doesn't have an effect on the end goal (growing food), it would be irrational to spend you time doing that in order to get your end goal.

But then again its all a matter of perspective. I don't think beliefs in magic or religion are entirely problematic for small scale societies, the same can't be said for industrialized/globalized societies.

Work Ethic or Magic?

By showing the difference between the Trobriand Islanders' ideas and understanding of work and ritual, Malinowski backs up his point that not only magical or mystical ideas, but also rational knowledge exists among savages.  He uses the example of gardening, which the Islanders' take very seriously, to illustrate their position on work and magic . Malinowski explains that although the Islanders view magic as an important part of gardening and some instances occur where their explanation is geared toward magic, they have an exceptional work ethic and in most situations accept that it was their own laziness or diligence that caused the outcome of the garden.  

The Trobriand Islanders understand that it takes hard work and meticulous physical and mental effort to maintain a garden and that natural forces have a lot to do with the turnout of a garden.  However, when "unaccountable and adverse influences" or exceptionally fortunate coincidences occur without the effort, this is attributed to magic.  

Work and ritual are kept separate among the Islanders.  Every ritual has a specific name, time, and place and while the gardens are often the holding place for these events, work is not to be done or mentioned during these ceremonies.  The Islanders do what they can to live with a perfect, equal combination of work and real work ethic and magic and ritual.  "What has been said about gardens can be paralleled from any one of the many other activities in which work and magic run side by side without ever mixing."

Faith and Rationalization

"Does a rational outlook to one’s surroundings imply the absence of faith in magical rites?"

Malinowski describes primitive man as utilizing both rationalization and faith in daily life. When discussing the growing of crops, he states that primitive man understands that magic alone cannot bring in the crop, but hard work and knowledge of the land and agricultural techniques. However, he also states that primitive man would never leave the success of the crop in the hands of man alone, but that magic is all that can control the inevitable variables.

This outlook does not imply the absence of faith, but that primitive man has realized that he is not self sufficent, and needs magic to protect what man cannot.

The domain of the "Sacred" and "Profane"

Malinowski contrasts the two subjects of the "sacred" and the "profane."Malinowski reveals that the domain of the "sacred" relies on religion, magical creeds, and rites.  As your human life begins, we are surrounded my a mixture of rites and beliefs.  Every aspect of life such as, pregnancy, birth, marriage, and death in one way or another are conceived with the notion's of rites and beliefs.  The two are distinguishable but we can't deny that they are completely necessary when events arise in nature.  

The domain of the "profane" is based on a type of behavior that involves arts, crafts, and economic pursuits.  Empirical knowledge and reasoning based on logic and observation gives us a sense of rationality.  We use the "profane" sense to acquire behavior that is useful and can be handled and forced by humans for adaptation.

In the end, the differences rest on human reasonings and functions, but the two can also coincide with one another.  For example, the Melanesians understand the implements for raising crops with their choice of soil, seeds, and their knowledge of correct timing.  But, they also understand that their success in agriculture depends highly on natural conditions that can't be helped.  Therefore, the savages have to rely on their own personal knowledge along with the mystical realism that aids in the final process.  Once the knowledge of controllable human force is used up, the next step is employed spiritually by unknown mysticism of magic.  

the science of magic religion

How does Malinowski distinguish between magic and science and between magic and religion?


Throughout the reading, Malinowski provided several key differences in how to distinguish between magic and science. Malinowski argues that sciences is “guided by reason and based on the conception of natural forces” where as magic is “made by tradition and springs from the idea of a certain mystic, impersonal power.” Malinowski believes that “savage” communities have the basic beginnings of sciences, but it is very underdeveloped. Many of the magic ceremonies preformed seem to mainly take place due to tradition instead of superstitions. For example the natives regard magic as an absolutely indispensable part of the welfare of their gardens, no one knew exactly what would happen to the gardens without the magic ritual, but they did know that their magic ritual could not protect the gardens from mother nature; but they continued to do the magic ritual anyways. Now the difference between magic and religion are simple; where magic is based on “man’s confidence that he can dominate nature directly”and is more of a social grouping of beliefs and practices, religion does not cling to anyone object or class of objects, and is not identical with Society.

yes we can

It was a chilly fall night, the leaves had changed to orange, red, and yellow and lay blanketed on the ground, but that didn’t stop over two million people from gathering in grant park to cheer on the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. By gathering outside together on Tuesday night, November 4th, these people were showing that they supported Barack Obama and they wanted him to be elected the next president of the United States. Everyone in the crowd could have been tucked safely in their homes, watching the poll results on their own televisions instead of gathering around various strategically placed, big screen TV’s in Grant Park. These screens controlled the crowd like a marionette. The poll results filtered in and at the moment right before a state’s poll was closed and the final vote count was flashed across the screen people would jump to their feet. Depending on the color that popped up on the screen you could hear an uproar of hoots, hollers, boos, and fuck yous. People predicted there would be riots on the streets if McCain was elected the next president; The crowd could have swallowed me whole, I was in the middle of a cultural revolution and my life depended on those big, glowing, florescent, high definition screens. Everyone in the crowd was excited, laughing and joking around, Obama seemed like a shoe-in. Although the time seemed to pass slowly, the crowd waited patiently in anticipation. People were smoking cigarettes, listening to music, taking pictures, talking, anything that would help take their minds off the dwindling seconds until the final poll was closed. The moment finally came, the crowd grew jittery and anxious, but Obama Wins and is elected the next President! Everyone’s shouting, hugging, kissing, singing, crying, clapping, screaming, dancing, chanting “O-BA-MA! O-BA-MA!” The group of students that surrounded me started rolling and pulling out victory cigarettes that they stuck behind their ears and waited to light until Obama gave his speech. It was around eleven at night, the temperature had dropped even lower by now but no one left, everyone wanted to hear Obama speak. Afterwards, as people left, they whispered under their breath, tonight history changed.

Extra Credit

For those of you who want some extra credit. I've decided that if you went to the rally, but didn't know about the extra credit assignment then you can post about what you observed at the rally on the blog and I'll give you 15 points towards your grade if you do a good job. For this, I'm not interested in hearing about your political stance, but about what you observed.

I believe that it was Edmund Leech, an important anthropologist who wrote "Political Systems of Highland Burma", who once dropped his notes in the river so he had to recall of them by memory. So I'm giving you the opportunity to recall the notes that you took in your mind.

So on the blog, you can post about your participant observation if you went to the rally in the South Loop.

If you want additional extra credit, then you can conduct a participant observation at the 55th Annual Powwow at the UIC Pavilion. I'll give you 25 points for this assignment too if you do a good job. Just give me your notes, and a typed up version of your notes for full credit. In the typed of version, try to make sense of your notes. Tell me if you noticed any patterns or uncovered any symbols, etc.

It's an inclusive event. It's probably about $10 to get in. There will be a lot of great food there....like Indian tacos, and fry bread, soups....mmmmmmm.

Here's the info:

http://www.aic-chicago.org/powwow.html

American Indian Center’s
55th Annual Powwow
November 14-16, 2008

AIC Powwow

UIC Pavilion ( University of Illinois, Chicago campus)
1150 W. Harrison Street
Chicago, IL

Relive the excitement of the 54th Annual AIC Powwow

Contact us: rhodge@uic.edu

Vendors: contact joep@aic-chicago.org

Host hotel: 99.00 per night, free parking (10 minutes from powwow)

Will accommodate large vehicles for vendors.

For more information: aic50@aic-chicago.org

Magic, Science and Religion Blog

For this blog, please either answer one or more of these questions or pose your own questions about the reading for this week (Malinowski's "Magic, Science, and Relgion").

How does Malinowski categorize the sacred and profane?

What do you think about his arguments? His definitions?

Narrate Malinowski’s examples of magical and scientific behaviors.

How does Malinowski distinguish between magic and science and between magic and religion?

What is signified by setting apart the sphere of work from the sphere of ritual among the ‘Trobriand Islanders?

Does a rational outlook to one’s surroundings imply the absence of
faith in magical rites?