Primal Religions 2018

This course devotes a considerable amount of time to the discussion and deliberation of ritual practices, especially in regards to the meaning(s) behind them. Aboriginal peoples in the film we watched in class showed the cameramen sacred places where rituals were performed, along with the fire-burning ritual to clear out the grasslands during the season's end. In The Ritual Process, Turner describes   an African tribe's ritual of cleansing a woman who has done something wrong. My American Religion's class discussed the rituals of Native Americans earlier this semester, especially pertaining to the significance of songs, dance, and chanting within these practices. In modern times, many different religions and theologies prioritize rituals just as primal peoples did. In Judaism, the Sabbath is followed with specific dietary restrictions and meal preparation processes, along with certain prayers and rules following that should be followed for the entirety of the ritual (i.e. n...

http://earlyexperience.unsw.wikispaces.net/file/view/decasper1986.pdf Last class we reopened the topic of preconceptualization, which is openly defined as one's initial sensual responses before a more thorough understanding of the stimulus has developed. Dr. Redick's comedic story of his young daughter exclaiming "manga" at the sight and smell of peas describes that, even though she didn't know exactly what the peas were , she was still capable of expressing an emotional reaction: disgust (I'm with you there, Caroline). Our sensual and perceptual worlds are constantly being defined and redefined as scientists, psychologists, and philosophers alike contemplate what it truly means to exist in such a sensuous world. There are countless examples of humans attempting to make sense of these understandings, from ancient cave paintings in France to liturgical re-enactments of the Last Supper. These ritualistic practices take our sensory experiences and apply them to...

After discussing the ancient cave paintings in Lascaux last week, I was reminded of the quotes we deliberated over during the beginning of semester. One of these quotes was by Rollo May, when he stated that symbolic action bridges the gap "between outer existence (the world) and inner meaning; and it arose out of man's capacity to separate inner meaning and outer existence" (p. 22). From the outset of mankind's existence, it has been a critical part of life to distinguish between the profane and the perceptive, to connect our sensuous experiences with the esoteric inner worlds of our minds and souls. Humans have developed countless ways in which we are able to discern the outer world and understand it internally, from symbols to language itself. In fact, these two conceptualizations are inherently related, as the utilization of symbolic characters evolved into the derivative language forms of our early ancestors. What did these symbols look like? Our most archaic re...

Currently in my Leadership class, we are discussing the role of media as an influence in our perceptions of what it means to be a leader or to perform leadership. In  Closing the Leadership Gap,  Wilson explains that even the smallest, most subtle remarks can have a lasting impact on how we view all of society, which may seem ridiculous. Wilson states that "information through storytelling can have a sweeping effect, interrupting national and cultural patterns" (p. 132). She then goes on to describe how a TV series in South Africa which revolved around health issues managed to significantly decrease the rate of domestic abuse in the country. How can a simple television series have such an impressive role on the realities of society? What is the true power of storytelling? Wilson cites a very popular psychological study which was performed by Albert Bandura as Stanford University in the 1960s. Coined the BoBo Doll Experiment, Bandura found that young children are more likel...

Abram, David.  The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World . New York: Vintage Books, 1996. I really enjoyed Abram's historical summary of how oral language developed and transitioned into written word. He begins this account with the invention of the Hebrew alphabet, or "aleph-beth," which later served as a model for Greek linguistic advancement. However, as any geography lesson will tell you, the Greek nation was geographically broken and thus the cultural climate was highly sectarian (i.e. nation-states), so the concept of written language took awhile for people to accept. Additionally, the mystification of oral chants and stories could not be directly translated into written word, and many Greeks were rather disenchanted by this loss of oral magic. As Abram explains, "the sung stories, along with the numerous ceremonies to which they were linked, were in a sense the living encyclopedias of the culture - carrying and preserving ...

Last week we discussed the contradictory issue of Devils Tower in Wyoming, where a prominent Native American tribe is barred from legally closing the mountain from the public for annual ritual practices. Conversely, we compared this to the idea of people trying to climb Mt. Rushmore, and how this would be seen as disrespectful to an important symbol of our nation's 'civil religion.' What's interesting is, during this specific week, we were also learning about civil religion in my Religion and the American Identity class, particularly over whether or not civil religion can be considered a religion at all. To me, religion is based on the notion of transcendence. Most religions are based on the idea of higher powers, which are either beyond the realm of human existence (i.e the Christian God) or coexist within the human world (i.e. primal religions). However these deities are viewed, religion is centered around such a supreme or higher power. On the other hand, civil rel...

It's an interesting to have a spiritual experience without being a spiritual/religious person in general. I was raised Roman Catholic, went to Catholic school, attended church biweekly, the whole nine yards. By the start of my high school career, I felt that I had virtually outgrown my religious identity; I not longer associated with the rigid tenants of the Catholic faith and, as I began experimenting with the principles of science, I lost vision and trust in a supreme deity. I completely stopped considering myself 'Catholic' by the end of high school, and began college at Christopher Newport with a more logical, empirical state of mind. In spite of my divergence from the religiosity of my past, I still felt spiritual twinges which no psychology course has yet to explain. It's a feeling I get when I'm walking to class and the sky is so rich and blue it makes the rest of the Earth look dark in comparison. It's a feeling I get when I smell the fresh honeysuckle...