Witchcraft

A detailed Summary of Witchcraft

Anthropologists have investigated and discussed religion and society for years. These two elements have been the focus of numerous ethnographies and articles written by a variety of anthropologists. Since Levy-Bruhl and Durkheims statements that religion and society are varied, numerous reports on various cultures throughout the world have shown the close relationship between religion and society. In many cases, religion acts as a social regulator for behavior toward your neighbors. Furthermore, belief in certain religions has been used to improve things such as working conditions. Religion has, in many cases throughout the world, served to guide people on social behavior as well as provide societies with a code of conduct. With the ever-increasing presence of capitalism, which is creating one big monoculture more and more every day, religion still maintains a very important relationship with societies. It helps to explain many of life's questions, as well as helping !

to define a person's position in life and provides them with guidance. While there have been numerous reports showing this important relationship, the most convincing examples can be found by observing the five elements of Leviticus, spirit possession, wit

Witchcraft is the third example, which provides an excellent representation of the relation of religion and society. Evans-Pritchard's article "Sufferers from Misfortune seek for Witches among their EnemiesaE? explains how the Azande tribe uses their belief in witchcraft to explain various calamities in life. For example, if a man falls ill, he will execute a variety of procedures that will help him to eliminate possible perpetrators of witchcraft. After he has figured out who it is, he or someone close to him will consult the person guilty of witchcraft and tell him that so and so is ill because of sorcery you have committed. It is important to note that the witchcraft occurs at night and comes from a person's belly, unbeknownst to him or her, and attacks the intended victim. Because no one is aware of the witchcraft they have committed, they will almost always apologize and say that it was not their intent to do any harm. For the Azande, their belief in witchcra!

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Finally, we turn to Victor Turner's article "Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de PassageaE? for the last example showing the relationship between religion and society. In his article, Turner describes rites of passage as incorporating not just "important times of birth, puberty, marriage, and deathaE? but any defining moment where a transition occurs in ones life. This transition is explained as the liminal stage where in indigenous tribes, one is removed from society or given masks to disguise them. Turner uses the example of the Omaha Indians to display how the passing through this liminal stage helps to define a man or woman in society. The Omaha religion says that a boy must go into the forest alone to fast and pray. This experience represents the transition from boy to man. If a boy has a dream that they "receive a woman's burdenstrap,aE? they will feel compelled to live and dress as a woman in society. It is quite

is explained to neophytes, in riddling songs and also directly, in terms of what each river signifies using the three colors red, white, and black. The explanations serve as lessons of "life values, ethical ideas, and social norms, to grossly physiological processes and phenomenaaE? all of which explain to the trainee, life's mysteries and lessons on social conduct. Both of these tribes display the integral relationship between religion and society. These religious rituals help to guide a person through transitional stages in their life and also aids in defining who they are in society.

Azande may create a high level of tension between people for fear of being a victim of witchcraft, it also helps to level social relations ensuring that everyone in the community is treated well since cooperation is so important in their society.

To further elaborate on the aspect of spirit possession, we can look at Aihwa Ong's article entitled "Spirits of Resistance.aE? This article took an in depth look at the free trade zone in Malaysia where young, unmarried female workers were employed in factories run by large multinational c

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2111
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

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