Religion Anthtopology

Religion

It is a product of psychic reaction and adjustment of man to the supernatural world. Man could not explain why there exist the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, fire, water, air, other etc. Man also did not know what were the causes of storm and thunder, earthquake and volcano, drought and floods, life and death, etc. He most often questioned why man suffers from diseases. Similarly he was curious about many other natural phenomena. These made him think and believe that there were some supernatural powers in the background by the action of which these phenomena had come into being. Thus religious ideas and beliefs seemed to have arisen out of these situations. Man believed that of these supernatural powers, some were benevolent and some harmful. So he did some magico-religious performances in order to propitiate those powers. With these were associated some rituals which represent the various techniques that are applied as a means of controlling or influencing the supernatural world. These techniques were generally used by some specialists called shamans and priests who were known as religious practitioners. The shaman deals with spirits. He may have power either to cure or to do harm. The priest worships gods for the welfare of men and acts as an intermediary between gods and men. Thus the anthropologists study the varieties of rituals connected with different beliefs and practices found among different groups of people living in different parts of the world and how they are related to their day to day activities which make them survive peacefully.