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Explain Animism

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1. Explain what "animism" is?
a. Animism, as described by the Englishman Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, was the earliest form of religion and was explained as the belief in spiritual beings. After founding the sub field of religious anthropology, Tylor believed that people established religion in order to comprehend events and conditions that could not be explained using daily experiences. Events, which Tylor believed, our ancestors were intrigued by; such as death and dreaming had a large influence in the establishment of animism.
When people dream and undergo trances, they see images that they may recall after awakening or exit their trance state. In our ancestors attempt to explain dreams and trances, they were led to believe that two entities …show more content…
Of the four types of religion that Wallace (1996) identified, the simplest form is the shamanic religious structure. Shamans are unlike priests, in that they are not considered full-time religious representatives, rather part-time religious officials who act as mediators between the common people of their society and the supernatural entities and forces they worship or believe in. Shamans have a primary focus on dealing with individual issues, and are known for going into trance states. Shamans often symbolically differentiate themselves from the common population by enforcing an ambiguous gender role or even abstaining from sexual intercourse, as is observed by nuns and priests of nation-states. According to Wallace’s observations, Shamanic religions were found to be associated most with foraging societies such as the Chukchee of Siberia (Kottak …show more content…
To determine whether a multicultural society can be thought of as a healthy plural society, the two terms must be first defined. A multicultural society is a rather simple term, which means a society that has evolved into a heterogeneous collection of cultures, which may have occurred through the combination of two or more ethnic groups into a uniform identity. Canada and the United States is an excellent example of a multicultural society. A plural society is defined by Frederik Barth as, a society integrating ethnic contrasts, the economic interdependence of those groups, and their environmental specializations. An example of a plural society is the example given in lesson 12 of the Gujars and Pathans who are considered an ancient plural

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