RE: The Anthropological view on Religion, The Supernatural and Magic : Part 1
Great introduction!
So, let's dissect this magnificent post of yours:
We all live with the knowledge of death, but even that inevitable reality remains, for many people, unbelievable.
Sore Kierkegaard states that this very knowledge together with the denial of it is one of the three factors that cause anxiety in humans (a concept you encounter in existential psychotherapy). It was interesting to me to read in your post that Malinowski postulated religion to be the solution humans found to find comfort in such times. It seems that the avoidance of pain and distress is indeed something we have inbuilt in us.
As always, there is always a particular section of your posts I am most drawn to. Here, it's the function of religion. As of late I have come across a lot of material about the studies of depression across the world. And there is a huge amount of evidence showing that communities that nurture religious beliefs are the ones in which people manage to recover from mild depression more often. As their religion offers them a means to overcome their fears, anxieties and sadness. As you pointed out.
... in perceptions of the supernatural and in the explanations given for phenomena such as diease, death, lightning, misfortune, affluence, and so forth.
And this is the negative side of such beliefs. For example, in cases of severe mental distress such as that caused by schizophrenia, when individuals clearly need medical help but are prevented to be looked after by doctors because of superstitious beliefs.
SUPERB work my dear @zest!
Looking forward to the next part of this series already. :)
Firstly thank you for choosing the topic:)
I am really really happy that you have enjoyed the first part and I hope to continue to meet your expectations :)
As we are both aware that this topic has so many different aspects that keeps us always trying to understand the whole view but I personally feel that we are far from it.
Regarding the aspect of depression, it is reassuring that people find comfort in the knowledge of a higher power and this seems to be the root of religion in a way because the early civilizations much felt devastated emotionally when diseases or natural disasters occurred and took away loved ones.
And you so rightly stated:
Thank you so my dear Abi:)
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That’s interesting, because in several ‘traditional’ cultures, those whom we in the modern West would diagnose as having mental health disorders such as schizophrenia are treated as gifted, taking the role of the shaman (or similar types of roles). They are trained to be in this role, which helps them function within their society.