Religion

Religion is a supernaturalism that consists of a system of belief, thought and

action. It lies in the core of all primitive and civilized cultures. It acts as an
internal controlling force for the society and provides the people with
morality. A religion can neither be defined in terms of a particular faith, or in
terms of a particular god. In fact there are a variety of religions and religious
ideas.

The first and foremost necessity is to examine the nature of supernaturalism.

All religions essentially exhibit a mental attitude towards super nature, which
is manifested in beliefs andrituals. The belief is considered as the static part
of the religion while ritual is the dynamic part. Ritual comprises of of
different actions that aim to establish a connection between the performing
individual and the supernatural power. Belief, on the other hand has no direct
impact; it stands as a charter for the rituals and provides a rationale for the
same.

However, religious attitude are universal in all known cultures, primitive and
modern. They have been associated with the Homo sapiens.

Origin of religious belief

General philosophy of the people admits two kinds of ideas- nature and
superior to nature i.e. super nature. The concept of nature and super nature is
relative in a culture at a particular moment. With the growth of the
knowledge and some of the supernatural events may seem to be natural. In
fact, the difference between the nature and super nature lies in the attitude
and realization of people perceived by the help of sense organs.

Anthropologists have considered religion as a product of the evolutionary

development of human brain. The capacity of the brain in other animal is so
low that it does not permit them to think like man. They never perceive that
vastness of universe as they lack sensitive mind and emotional feelings.
Therefore, the first religious belief probably came into existence with the
original first man in early Paleolithic and since then the mystic thought ha
control much of human life until

Aristotle, Plato and other Greek philosophers built the foundation of modern
scientific outlook, anthropological and sociological enquiry in religion
extends as far back as nineteenth century.

There are different theories regarding the origin of religious believes. The
earliest one was forwarded by EB Tailor (1871), where he express the view
that religion had stemmed from the intellectual speculation about the events
like dreams, trances and death. His proposition was three fold ‘

1. Religion has been developed out of fear.

2. Though there are great diversity in the forms of religion in the world, the
core matter of all
religions are same.
3. All religion acknowledge supernatural power.

Herbert Spencer(1822-1903) thought that aros3e out of ancestral worship. Sir

James Frazer(1854-1941) held magic as a source for the development of
religion. Most of the scholars of that early period believed that religion
evolved by the interplay of the emotions like awe, fear and wonder under the
explorer of the nature. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) regarded religion as the
most primitive of the whole social phenomena. He found two distinct
compartments in supernatural field, which he designated as sacred part and
profane part. According to him the sacred part of the religion refers to gods
and deities and also the sacred performances and profane part refers to beliefs
and practices.

Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown have given functional explanation of

primitive religion. Malinowski found religion as associated intimately with
various kinds of emotional responses, so he described religion as an
adaptation, which dilutes all stress and strain of the individuals. To

Radcliffe Brown survival of a group was more important than that of an

individual. Therefore, he suggested social survival of a group was more
important than that of an individual. Therefore, he suggested social survival
by the aid of religion.
In non – literate society religion is the chief factor that binds the people
together. The bond of relatedness is so pervasive that it is manifested in
collective activity like law, morality, art, science, political forms etc.

CONCEPTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGION

Anthropologists tried to trace the evolution of religion from simple to
complex forms. Edward Burnett Tylor in his book ‘Primitive religion’ (1871)
showed this evolution from animism to monotheism, through polytheism.

Animism
Animism is the earliest concept towards the religion forwarded by Tylor
himself. It is a belief in the existence of spiritual beings. Spirits are the
ethereal embodiment without real flesh and blood.

Although they are non-material, but real enough for those who believes in it.
Primitive use different names to refer those spirits- ghost, goblin, genii, trolls,
fairy, witch, demon, devil, angel and even god. A spirit does not obey the
laws of nature and can transcend matter , time and space.

This makes the spirits wonderful and mysterious, and therefore, they have
been regarded as supernatural.

Animatism
It is an earliest form of religion consisted of the worship of various objects in
nature. An attitude of awe and reverence worked in the mind of the people
regarding the diversified natural objects and phenomena. Being perplexed,
they ascribed life to the lifeless things and correlated the unseen source of
power with god. Specialised form of animistic theory is called Manaism.
Mana
is a Melanesian term meaning power. According to professor Merett, the
primitive people through world believe in the existence of an impersonal non-
material supernatural power which belongs to all objects- Animate and
inanimate. The power of mana is sometimes referred as “Fetish”. A fetish is
an object like stone, shell necklace or a piece of carved stone , which is
believed to have power, capable of helping its possessor. The fetish is
therefore, adored, placated, insulted or illtreated according to its behavior
whether it fulfills or does not fulfill its possessors wish.

Components of primitive religion

All supernatural beings can be categorized into two broad groups:
(i) Those are of non-human origin i.e. the nature gods and spirits.
(ii) (ii) Those are of human origin i.e. the departed souls like ancestral spirits
and ghosts.

The supernatural beings of both the categories can induce good and evil for
men. They have been the causes behind many successes and failures.
Diseases, drought, storm, heavy rain, famine, epidemics are also created by
them.
Gods and Goddesses occupy an important position in primitive life. The
entire universe is departmentalized among gods. These gods and goddesses
are usually the self creators.

Nature of religious practices

Religion as a body of belief and practices show a wide variation in religious
ideas. The religious practices are also varied. These practices are nothing but
the techniques to communicate with the supernatural. But they are imperative
for the believers who act in accordance with their beliefs.

Such practices strengthen the social bonds in a primitive group and denote an
added authority towards the customs. The practices can be classified into two
sections: religious rite and rites of
passage.
(a) Religious rites
, Religious rites aim to appease a god by worship which can be performed
either privately in the home or publicly in the temple. The forms may be
different as prayers, offerings, vow celebration or sacrificial performances.
Prayer is the simplest of all religious rites where reverence is shown by
means of spoken words. It may be a request or a demand or just thanks..

(b) Rites of passage

Rites of passage are completely different from religious rites that comprise of
the worship of the nature gods and different spirits. These special rites are
significantly associate with the life cycle of the people in each and every
society. They mark the passing of one phase of life and the entry to another.
E.g., birth, puberty, marriage, initiation to priest-hood, death etc. They are
known in English by French equivalent rites-de-passage, and popularly
known as ‘life-crisis’ rituals

(c) Significance of religion

The rites and ceremonies create an atmosphere of benevolence and
fellowship. All motives for quarrel and disagreement get eliminated. People
are united together and the rejoicing activities energize them; the social
sentiments of an organized community are renewed. Religious experiences
create such an atmosphere and attitude that human beings are able to regulate
their own conduct. Everywhere people have evolved religious system in
which religious behavior aims to secure similar ends. It bears the testimony
to the unity of mankind.

It binds the inter-familial relations, and governs on the economic and political
structure of the society. It may include a variety of cults and specialized
religious personnel. People try to unload their acute mental pressure under
the banner of religion. They seek support and stamina from super-nature in
the way to struggle for existence.

MAGIC
Magic is practiced in many cultures, and utilizes ways of understanding,
experiencing and influencing the world in a manner akin to that of religion.
Hanegraaff argues that magic is in fact "...a largely polemical concept that
has been used by various religious interest groups either to describe their own
religious beliefs and practices or - more frequently - to discredit those of
others".

The belief in and the practice of magic has been present since the earliest
human cultures and continues to have an important religious and medicinal
role in many cultures today.

Magic is the concept by which supernatural forces can be approached. The

term “magic” has been derived from the French word “magi” which is used
to refer the secret deeds. Unlike religion, the rituals are performed here in
order to compel the supernatural power to act in particular ways. It never
involves praising or praying, rather it commands on super nature to serve
good or evil
purposes. Magic and religion are though the opposite approaches but they
seem have always existed together

The imitative magic is based on the principle of similarity, whereas the

contagious magic is based on the principle of contact. The first principles
derived from the assumption that, like objects and acts has an affinity with
each other. Contagious magic works in a different way. The non-literates are
often frightened to use the other’s clothing. This is not for hygiene-
consciousness, but for the anxiety of being harmed.

Clothes are considered as parts of person’s body who use them. So evil can
be done on them very easily and the user affected. This is also true for the
nail cuttings, hair trimmings, bodily excretions and some other extremely
personal belongings. Magicians are in the habit of collecting these things in
order to harm an enemy or undesirable person. Sometimes the name of the
person
used in contagious magic.

Magic may be good or bad according to the values of the society

concerned .the magic, which aim s at good ends, is called “white “magic,
where as “black “magic has an evil objective.

Both of them are found in all societies but the standards of judgment vary
from culture to culture. The counter the “black magic”, the charms, amulets
and spells are widely used. These are the protective devices against devils,
sprits and other malevolent forces. Wearing of small objects like charm on
talisman protects the believer from much danger. Sir Frazer equated magic
with modern
science he said that the cause- effect phenomenon of magic coincides with
experimentations observation of science. Frazer not only reduced his magical
principles into laws; he also distinguished a theoretical as well as a practical
aspect of magic. Practical magic consists of some positive and negative
devices include sorcery, witchcraft etc. while the negative devices contain a
number of taboos. However, sorcery and witchcraft both are the symptomatic
expressions of social tension and conflict.

Sorcery

Sorcery is a positive magic used for evil purposes. It involves the use of
certain materials, objects or medicines for invoking supernatural power to
harm people. The materials here are the parts of body on which specific
spells are used. It is purely a ‘black ‘magic. Sorcerers are the specialists for
sorcery. They are so cunning that sometimes instead of using the tangible
relics like hair or nails; they utilize man’s shadow or sleeping soul. Primitives
are often scared of society, as they know its unpleasant occurrences. In most
of the primitive societies, such an act is not socially approved and so treated
as crime against society.

Witchcraft
Witchcraft is a malevolent practice with the help of the spirits. Here ills are
carried out by means of thought and emotions alone; tangible objects are not
used at all. Therefore, when magic works upon the bewitched, the person
begins to suffer but the evidences of witchcraft are not left.
The lack of visible evidences makes an accusation harder to prove or
disprove. Among the Azande, witchcraft is a part of daily life. Anything that
is goes wrong-an ache or pain, poor crops, an accident, loss of cattle-
everything is attributed as the malevolent act of the personal enemy who has
used witchcraft against him. Witchcraft is thus a part and parcel of all
economic pursuit, domestic life and community life of the Azande.

Witch Doctor
The term Witch doctor is sometimes used as a synonym of Shaman and
specially refers to the Negroid Shamans of Africa and Melanesia. But
actually Witch doctor is a divine personality who exposes the witch. A man
either inherits the skill from his parent or learns it from someone else.

In some societies like American Indians, the witch doctors are known as
medicine man. When somebody suddenly falls ill, it is thought that the
person has been bewitched. Therefore, his friends and relatives try to cure
him with care, protection and herbal medicines. But when all the efforts go in
vain and the symptoms become alarming, there is no way other than to call a
witch doctor who knows the remedy of the illness. A witch doctor generally
looks awesome as he paints his face and body brightly with clay of different
colors. He burns mysterious perfumes around the patient, mutter strange
words; twists own body and ultimately cure the patient with his secret power.

He knows the medicines for counter-witchcraft. Sorcerer or Witch Use of

supernatural power over others through the assistance of spirits; witchcraft.
Sorcerer and witch both are the malevolent practitioners. So they enjoy very
low socio-economic states in all societies. A sorcerer and a witch may be of
any sex and usually they are the parttimers. Both of them are dreaded, as they
know the way to invoke the supernatural power for causing illness, injury and
death. Sorcerers often use different materials for their magic, so when
evidences of their malpractice is found, they are killed by the communal
vengeance. But in case of the witchcraft, for the absence of evidences,
genuine witches are not always marked out. It is believed that witches
possess certain evil substances within their body by which they do harm other
people. A magical performance is perhaps responsible for the recognizable
changes in the internal organs of the body, which can only be revealed by
post-mortem examination. In almost all- primitive societies there are either
witch doctors or medicine men or Shamans to act against the evils created by
the sorcerers and witches.

Medium
Mediums are the part- time religious practitioners and mostly females. They
are asked to heal the people while in trance. A medium falls into a hypnotic
condition and during that period she is controlled by some spiritual force,
external to herself. Different spirits are supposed to communicate with people
through the medium.

The process is often referred to as divination, which may be a channel of

connection with supernature to get his guidance. Divination often informs a
man the source of his misfortunes. The medium usually obtains the guidance
through oracle. Primitives believe that most of the misfortunes arise from the
practice of witchcraft.

Priest
Priests are usually the full- time male specialists who officiate at public
events. They enjoy a very high status in the community. Priesthood is a
manifestation of developed religion. But it can also found in the relatively
ordered primitive societies where cultures are rich and complex. people
respect them as they possess the power to reach the gods and goddesses. The
priests are also found to organize and maintain some permanent cults. A
priest may have mana, but this power lies with the office which he holds and
not with him directly as that of a shaman. Succession of the office is
hereditary. The priests have to work in a rigorous structured hierarchy, fixed
in a firm set of tradition. Agricultural or pastoral communities that exhibit
political integration beyond the community include either Sorcerer or Witch
doctor or Medium along with Priest and Shaman.