The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

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The AnthropologyofMagic, Witchcraft,andReligio
n

• Sacred Spaces

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What makes something Sacred?
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the sacredis defined

• in opposition to
• the profane

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The Profane

• The everyday
• The normal
• The here and now

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Abraham MaslowsHierarchy of Human Needs
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Peak Experiences

• Involve
• "feelings of limitless horizons opening up to the
  vision, the feeling of being simultaneously more
  powerful and also more helpless than one ever was
  before, the feeling of great ecstasy and wonder
  and awe, and the loss of placing in time and
  space
• (Maslow 1970, p. 164)

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Peak Experiences

• Altered sense of self
• Altered sense of time
• Wonder/awe
• Labile affect
• Loosening of associations
• Ego disintegration
• Everything is connected

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
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The Basic Structure of Sacred Space
profane
sacred
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The Main Temple of Angkor Wat
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rite of passage
sacred world
liminality(the threshold)
reintegration
separation
initial social status
subsequent social status
profane world
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The Hajj

• The largest annual pilgrimage on the planet
• Islamic calendar begins in (the Christian) year
  622
• Timing based on lunar calendar

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Route of the Hajj
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Stages of the Hajj