Primal Religions 2020

Places are made significant to us due to what we associate with them and thus why we are drawn to certain places for different reasons. Ball writes, "Thus Basso is largely concerned with cultural practice-how places, names, and stories are used and imagined within instances of interaction between people and their private thoughts. The emphasis is on how human imagination and actions shape understandings of places and how such concepts are themselves products of cultural activity" (466). Like mentioned here, a lot of our understandings of places are based around our cultural beliefs and practices as well. For myself, being a christian, the church is a significant place in my life and has been shaped around the cultural practices of my faith and my family. Thus, I feel a connection to this space that goes beyond the worldly and I think that is something seek often through places; that connection to something "more".

Throughout the discussion posts on literacy and orality, many people have spoke on the way that it seems with literacy we have moved away from the natural world. But do you think some religions incorporate the natural world and elements more than others? For example, I was thinking about Wicca and how in ritual the altar contains the elements earth, air, fire, etc. and how they call on directions and elements. Does this being incorporated in their beliefs allow them to remain closer to the natural world? or at least have a greater appreciation for the earthly elements? Or like in Rastafarianism how they believe in vegetarianism. Could this belief allow them to be closer to an appreciation for animals and nature?

In today's literate world, do we still rely on the natural landscape to guide us, specifically spiritually and religiously? David Abram writes, "In the Homeric songs the natural landscape itself bears omens and signs that instruct human beings in their endeavors; the gods speak through the patterns of clouds, waves, and the flight of birds" (102-103). Like written here, I think the natural landscape can instruct humans today still, but I also do think a lot of religions have come to rely more on texts as their way to communicate to a higher being. Rather than hearing the gods speak through clouds, waves, etc. many people talk to gods through written prayers or biblical stories. I believe this is significant in seeing that our literate cultures have pulled us away, maybe not completely though, from nature to find spirituality elsewhere.

Before researching this topic I had not known much about cannibalism but the topic interest me. I wanted to know what made the people participate in an act such as this. After reading about the  Korowai in New Guinea, I learned about their ways and how they justify cannibalism. The Korowai don’t live by the human laws of their country they live by there own laws and customs. They also have a huge belief in tradition and tribe loyalty. Their ways are similar to the Australian National Geographic video we watched in class about the Australian people and how they have lived off of their land for thousands of years. The way they were able to do this is because they have taken care of the resources because they have made their land sacred and they diminish the resources to nothing this is similar to the Korowai people because they have lived off the land for there time in the jungle as well. The people of these lands are also able to leave their mark on the land as well so that future g...

Throughout this class, we have learned about various forms of traditions and customs that I was not aware of before. With that being said I think that it is not right for humans to consume other humans under any circumstances. I am a firm believer in letting people do their own thing and not bother them when it comes to religion but there’s is a point where you have to draw the line and say enough is enough. I understand that if there are traditions for certain religions and groups of people where cannibalism has been practiced, but there are other ways to honor God. It is not my place to tell them what they are doing is morally wrong but something should be put in place to attempt to put an end to this. There have been many times throughout history where things have been carried on because it was seen as “normal,” but then as time has gone on changes were put into effect to stop it. The rates of cannibalism have decreased as history has gone on which is a good sign because as the data...

The history of the practice of cannibalism shifts from a dietary use to a medical practice around the 12th century. Beginning at around the 12th-century people would use human body parts and organs for medical needs. The dead would have their bodies donated whether they wanted to or not. They were often stolen fro the Egyptian tombs or taken from the Irish burial sites. The stolen remains were put together to make medicine for all kinds of treatments, one of them being the common headache. These practices were not around for very long and became less of a preferred option at the end of the 16th century, but still stuck around until the late 18th century. When the Age of Discovery came around it brought many people together that were not aware of each other’s religious practices. When the colonists came to America they were greeted by the Native American tribes. They soon found out that the Native Americans practiced cannibalism as a form of ritual that was used to strengthen the tribe ...

The other category of cannibalism that is around is called mortuary cannibalism. This kind of cannibalism is “the consumption of the dead during their funeral rites.” This was practiced through the 20th century in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea and the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon. This type of cannibalism is not seen as morbid or displeasing to the people but instead, it shows love and affection towards the recently deceased and helps the people through the stages of grief.

There are also different types of cannibalism, one for religious practices and one for survival. Survival cannibalism is where people consume each other out of absolute necessity. We can see this in 1972 with the case of the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in the Andes mountains where 16 of the 45 passengers survived after 72 days. After they were rescued the passengers told stories of them having to eat the dead to be able to survive. With this form of cannibalism there is always the hypothetical question, “would you eat human flesh if it was a life or death situation?” For me, I do not think I could bring myself to eat another human even if it were a life or death situation. There are just so many things psychologically that are wrong with it. Not to mention the diseases that come along with consuming human flesh such as mad cow disease which attacks your brain and makes you crazy.

In the United States, there are actually no laws saying that cannibalism is illegal. But with that being said there are other laws in place that make it impossible for a person to legally get a human body for consumption. Let’s take murder as an example, it is a criminal charge even if the person gives consent for it to happen, and even if consent is given and the person kills themselves to be eaten the cannibal would still be charged for the abuse of a dead body in either criminal court or civil court, but this varies from state to state. After seeing this, it made me think about what makes a person want to get eaten and what is the history and meaning behind this taboo.

Cannibalism or anthropophagy is the action of consuming the human flesh and has been done by since humans have been inhabiting the earth. The name comes from its Spanish name Caríbales, or Caníbales for the Carib, which is a West Indies tribe that is known for its cannibalism practices. Cannibalism is a widespread tradition that is cited to go back into early human history. A lot of people think that cannibalism is not around anymore today but you can still find it taking place in at least nine different places across the world.

In the readings, The Spell of the Sensuous and Orality and Literacy brought to us by Abram and Ong helped us understand how primal religions worked and functioned. The movie Black Robe helps us visualize this even further. In the film the Jesuit Priest, Paul Laforgue plans to convert the indigenous people to Christianity. While trying to do this he has a hard time understanding the Indians not only because of the language barrier but also because the Indians are primal and do not have a written language so when Laforgue shows them that he can write they call him a demon. Even today when we are introduced to new things or different ways of doing things we are hesitant to try it because it is foreign to us. It can also be looked as a bad thing because the Indians are so used to not having this and then new people come into their lands and try to convert them and they can see it as a threat.

The alphabet, for uses of technology, has changed the culture and the interaction humans have with their surrounding environment for the better. As history has gone on, it is proven that technology has advanced human’s surroundings in multiple, outstanding ways. In Abram’s writing, it is apparent that the people from Plato’s time had some hesitation, however, almost all humans fear change. At the same time, Plato relied on writing and the alphabet to communicate his thoughts, and it is because of the written form of communication that Plato’s work can be used today.   There is no telling where written communication is going to end up in the future because each day, humans are evolving as the world is evolving around them. Improvements and changes are critical to growth in all populations. While there are pros to written communication, it must be noted that there are also cons. Some will argue that written communication has made humans lazy and retract from social interactions....

Ong says, “It is impossible to speak a word orally without any intonation. In a text, punctuation can signal tone minimally: a question mark or a comma…Actors spend hours determining how actually to utter the words in the text before them. A given passage might be delivered by one actor in a shout, by another in a whisper ”. This is so relevant, especially in today’s time with texting. When sending a text to someone, the written form of communication is used and sometimes that is forgotten. This can make others react unexpectedly to messages without the sender knowing or presuming that the message could be taken the wrong way. This happens because the person receiving the message does not know the tone of the words that are being sent. The use of emojis has helped in recent years but nothing compares to the use of oral or face to face communication.

When comparing what Abram and Ong have to say about oral and literate ways of living in the cosmos, they both talk about the effects of oral communication practices on human culture and the way human beings interact with the immediate surrounding world. Abram writes, “Thamus was approached directly by the god Thoth the divine inventor of geometry, mathematics, astronomy, and writing who offers writing as a gift to the king so that Thamus may offer it, in turn, to the Egyptian people. But Thamus, after considering both the beneficent and the baneful aspects of the god's inventions, concludes that his people will be much better off without writing, and so he refuses the gift” (Abram 113). This is an example in history where written communication was frowned upon. The king believed that the memories of the people would diminish as they would become reliant upon the newly written text.

In the Rollo May reading on The Significance of Symbols, he talks about how man is the only symbol-using organism. This is important because this is what sets us apart from the other creatures in this world. The ability of “man’s capacity to separate inner meaning and the outer existence” is what gives us the ways that we can learn and understand symbols and put them into action and be able to communicate with them. This reading covers multiple of the concepts that we have talked about in class, such as the sacred with the history that comes along with symbols and how they have evolved over time just like humans have in terms of intelligence. Paul Ricoeur goes over his definition of a myth in his writings of The Symbolism of Evil. His interpretation of a myth is “a traditional narration which relates to events that happened at the beginning of time and which has the purpose of providing grounds for the ritual actions of men of today...” in this definition Ricoeur helps us better under...

Tattoos play a significant role in the rituals and practices of oral cultures. I read an article, "Skin:Tattooed Amazons" by Adrienne Mayor which i found to be very interesting. Mayor writes, "The Scythian nomads "branded" figures on their shoulders, arms, chests, and thighs to "instill strength and courage" suggesting a magical function of tattoos" (104). Being someone who has tattoos I thought this to be an interesting concept. Do tattoos have a magical function? Can they give us strength and courage? In my opinion, yes. We often chose tattoos for a reason because they hold some sort of significance to our lives. For example, someone who has their decease grandmother's name tattooed on them may feel as if a part of her is still with them or merely looking at that tattoo gives them strength when faced with obstacles. So, yes tattoos often have this magical function to them.

One quote from Bruchko so far in my reading I thought was interesting was, "I thought of the word "faith" in Motilone, the word that meant to "tie into" God just as Motilone tied his hammock into the high rafters of his communal home" (Olson 5-6). Not only does this make you think about the translation through the languages, but also the idea of tying into not just any home, but a communal home. This could be taking literally, but also in community you are tying in so many things in order for the community to thrive, just as with faith God ties into our communities with his love.

The scene in the film I found to be particularly significant was when Black Robe gets lost in the woods.“How could anyone get lost here? The woods are for men. Did you forget to look at the trees, Black Robe?” (Black Robe 41:33) I felt like this scene really showed to what extent the Algonquin rely on the surrounding world and environment. Comparing this scene with how we travel today being a literate culture, we have maps and gps systems and we don't usually need to look at the trees for direction. This is where I see a significant loss of connection with nature.

When studying religion, especially the Abrahamic traditions, we notice almost immediately that the one monolithic God is greater than all of creation. This is because, for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, God is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and the creator of everything. If we go back and look at older traditions, such as mythology, we see less of this. In the Abrahamic traditions, God is unquestionably higher than man. However, if we look at Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, and plenty of other mythologies, we see the gods differently. Here, they have human qualities that make them imperfect. They get jealous, mad, sometimes even banished and punished by other gods. In some ways here, we could say that humans are not equal to say, but definitely more equal to the mythological gods than to the one Abrahamic God. If we go back even farther, to other traditions, we see certain humans exalted to god levels such as pharos, demigods, kings, war generals, etc. In that way, great humans...

Ritual is a staple in many cultures, and many of us perform rituals we don't even realize. Often, when we think of ritual, we think of actions associated with a certain religion, but this doesn't have to be the case. Ritual can be anything that is done somewhat regularly and that has value to a specific person or group of people. For example, a family that eats dinner together a certain number of times a week. This is valuable to that family to keep them close and help them grow. The same mindset can be applied to religious rituals, as they are very valuable to the cultures that perform them and can help them to understand there culture.

The documentary we watched in class about the primal tribe (I forget the name) showed some of the things we have discussed in readings and in class. One thing we discussed after watching the documentary that made me think of it was the discussion about the alphabet and how many primal languages are developed based on the land. The primal group from the documentary was extremely dependent on the land, and appreciated every individual aspect of it. Everything had a purpose, and no part of any animal they used ever went to waste.

Sometimes, we know a place is sacred just by seeing it. An example of this comes from the picture of the small creek and waterfall from Hawaii. It is almost completely untouched by humans, and even from seeing pictures of it without explanation, you can tell there is something meaningful about it. Any place can be sacred to someone, and some places are sacred to larger groups of people than others. Wars have been fought on many occasions over places that multiple groups consider to be sacred, such as the seemingly constant battles over Jerusalem throughout history.

In Abram's book The Spell of the Sensuous, Abram gives all the credit of his newfound respect for the spirits to his trip to the Indonesian wilderness. For him, this is a sort of pilgrimage in finding the spirits to connect with the way the people of oral traditions did. For example, during one of Abram's nights, he comes across a cave to stay in while a storm was raging outside. He sleeps on his back, observing spiders building a web whilst listening to pouring rain, thunder, and lightning. In this, he finds a strange calmness in the simplicity of it, being at tune with nature. Abrams calls this his first experience with the spirits that inhabited the land he was in. He says there is an intelligence that lies with the nonhuman nature in these parts, shattering the notion we have of thinking and feeling. In this, Abram seems to be saying that there is more to the Indonesian mountains than what meets the eye. One has to be able to look past our given senses to be able to see w...

Aldo Leopold was one of the founding figures in the field of ecology and forest management, and his landmark work, A Sand County Almanac , provides insight into the transformative ways of thinking which led to his success. This book essentially establishes that naturalism is an inherently phenomenological enterprise; it requires both intense mindfulness and first-hand, close descriptive perception of the natural world. "Our ability to perceive in nature begins, as in art, with the pretty. It expands through successive stages of the beautiful to values as yet uncaptured by language." Here Leopold describes the essence of a positive aesthetics, wherein all of nature will be seen as beautiful once we learn about its ecological importance. This phenomenological exercise is most put into practice in the essay "Thinking Like a Mountain,"which finds Leopold musing about the meaning of a wolf's howl. He describes the dangers of over hunting/extirpating wolf populations,...

I recently read Gary Snyder's Pulitzer Prize winning collection of poems and prose, Turtle Island , and found a lot of similarities between Snyder's writing and the concepts Abram discusses in his book. Woven throughout almost all of the entries is an underlying commitment to living a life on this earth which gives and takes equally in the process of survival, holding oneself responsible for actions taken, and understanding that each individual exists as part of a broad community of life beings sharing the same space. Snyder talks of intimate encounters with other humans and non-human beings, and in his descriptions we find connections. Like Abram, Snyder seeks to restructure the way modern culture approaches the natural world, emphasizing the wisdom and ingenuity of primal, oral cultures such as the Navajo or Anasazi. He closes his book with a series of essays, in which he advocates for a radical transformation of government to give voice to the non-human world. I highly recom...

When writing my senior seminar paper, I read a lot about Christian Theology. In this, came sin and the personal vices that are seen by the individual follower of Jesus Christ, such as pride, gluttony, anger, sloth, etc. For Christians, these are natural sins, coming from either original sin, or from humanity's innate brokenness. Either way, they are sins that separate us as individuals from God. These sins had to be atoned for, which is why Jesus Christ, the perfect man with no sin, had to die on the cross so he would take on all the sin of humanity. This got me pondering, what about primal religions? Now, obviously, people around primal religions would still see these vices, as they are simply human nature. Anyone can be prideful, not just a Christian, and according to C.S. Lewis, we see Pride in other people very easily. This leads me to believe that people of oral tradition would see these vices, such as pride, just as easily as we see them in others as well. Christians contri...

Reading Ong's book after Abram's felt a bit like switching from a graphic novel to the Wall Street Journal, BUT that is not to say that I didn't find Ong interesting or insightful. In fact, many of Ong's findings helped solidify my understanding of some of Abram's messages. I did find some interesting points of overlap that I think could be worthy of conversation. Particularly, Ong's section on writing as a technology. He first notes that because of the constraints of our historical position, writing has become "so deeply interiorized" in the way we perceive the world that it is "difficult to consider writing to be a technology" (81). However, he argues that writing facilitates the "reduction of dynamic sound to quiescent space, the separation of the word from the living present," and therefore should be classified as a technological tool. From there, he goes on to praise technologies as "not mere exterior aids but also interio...

Primal Religions 2020 Blogs Class Readings I - Orality and Literacy While Ong indeed held the title of my least favorite reading, as well as the driest introduction, it was the most impactful of the readings. The chapters on Navajo and Aborigine tales helped reshape my idea of sounded words. While, of course, I saw them as a method of communication, I did not understand words and especially connected sentences as vehicles that carry knowledge (please reference my God's Not Dead post for more information on this). The Psycho-Dynamics chapter was also among the single most engaging pieces presented in the class. II - Seasons of the Navajo I had a much different experience with this film outside of the class rather than during the initial viewing. You see, just before we were booted out of campus, I ended up going on a cross-country trip to help a friend of mine bring his car to his home just outside of Las Vegas. Along the way, we ended up passing through the Navajo reserva...

This chapter was absolutely jam-packed with fascinating insights and revelations, I mean I almost feel like a new person after reading these 40 pages, truly. Early on Abram notes that primal cultures can likely show modern people a great many things about how to live on the earth sustainably and harmoniously with Nature. Essentially he's rejecting an argument about humans being inherently designed to be in combat with Nature, by appealing to primal cultures which maintain a commitment to ecological sustenance despite lacking the scientific knowledge of modernity. From there, Abram jumps into a historical description of how alphabetic writing evolved from earlier modes of representational communication. I thought the way he outlined the progression from pictographs and rebuses, to the Semitic aleph-beth, to the Greek alphabet, was well organized and easy to keep up with, and interesting, too. The way Abram sets it up, you can literally track the ways in which advances in writing coi...

Abram's introductory chapter wholly caught me by surprise. At points I felt as if somehow I had written these words, he so vividly captured something I felt deeply in my being, but until now had had no words to describe. At other points I found myself lost in a magical world full of expressive, beautiful, cooperative beings forging harmony, only to be reminded by Abram that I'm actually lost on my own planet. Never before have I felt simultaneously lost and at home in my own body; Abram reveals a potential path to that liminal place, through communion and intense engagement with the non-human natural world. I found his closing remarks in the chapter to be especially impactful. He laments the human tendency to view Nature merely as a stock of resources to be used at our discretion; we commodify natural objects and then dominate them to the point of non-existence. Humans have consumed Nature into our selves and our cultures, but not in a healthy way such as Emerson or Thoreau m...

On page 121, Ong makes an interesting point about the difference between print and written words. While print is all about the placing of words onto the page, writing is moving from what he refers to as the sound world into the visual space. Print has a massive amount of control to it considering the letters and words themselves are all machine made. There is this huge amount of group process to print as many different editors, authors, and various other people get involved in the process of the typing. The idea of print encapsulating a space being a huge factor makes me think of how often times in poetry, empty space is used to convey certain things. Recently for another course I had to read some of Gary Snyder's poems and I could not help but notice that the poems with the smallest word counts had much more space between lines, creating a sense of breath between lines and a more massive experience. Print is about the dominating of the space, its no  longer just about sound and wo...

While researching for my term paper on shamanism, it was interesting seeing what a diverse spread of opinions there were on the topic, all speaking with the same air of authority. Many of the works praised the intelligence and the extreme dedication of the shaman while on the other end of the spectrum, just as many seemed to almost demonize them and refer to them as being anti-social and untrustworthy. There was this odd mix of people blaming the negative views on imperialism while others were justifying the imperial view. Its interesting to note what a dividing topic it seems to be for some, makes one wonder whether it is because a lack of research into the topic or the inherently mystical nature of the shaman adding to some people's confusion on their nature.

The Medium is the Sign Kelly Cooke Marcel Danesi’s ‘The Medium is the Sign: was McLuhan a semiotician’ describes the impact that the technology of writing had on society. Danesi states on page 115 that, “McLuhan was among the first to \realize that changes in media (like changes in signs) leads to changes in social structure and in knowledge systems. Pictography did not alter the basic oral nature of daily communication, nor did it alter the oral mode of transmitting knowledge of early societies. That occurred after the invention of alphabetic writing around 1000 BCE—an event that brought about the first true radical change in the world’s social structure.” Pictographs not altering the oral culture very much is aligned with the thoughts David Abrams had on pictographs in ‘The Spell of the Sensuous.’ Abrams believed that because pictographs drew from the natural environment in the tools used in and the images portrayed that it was similar to oral communication in it’s e...

While watching this movie for the first time recently, it became apparent how ritualistic and primal the tribes are within the movie, especially that of the War Boys. These War Boys are indoctrinated at a young age and all undergo changes to look similar, coating themselves in white powder and shaving every part of their exposed skin to be bare and white. They see cars as a source of power and worship their leader as an almost shamanistic figure who has the power to bring them to the good afterlife. Not only that, but they engage heavily in oral language tradition through their group chanting of the War Boys mantra as they all repeat back key phrases after one another until their leader appears. These men are ruthless and they engage in insane acts of combat in order to hopefully die in battle, spraying their mouth with spray paint before they make their final stand in battle for their leader in hopes of going to Valhalla.

After watching the two scenes, its interesting to note the drastically different energy between the two. In the Name of the Rose scene, it is first filled with excitement and energy as the pair find this store of knowledge but as it appears that the library has consumed them, it is full of dread will keeping much of the energy up. In contrast to this, the Darmok scene is slow as Patrick Stuart speaks slow and methodically in a soothing way. It feels almost that the contrast here is that the written world is excessively complex, expansive, and at times in trapping while the oral here is more warming, engaging, and relaxing as it seems in the clip that Stuart's companion is perhaps dying at the end of the clip. While the written word is full of great power and knowledge, the first clip shows how the idolization of it can be consuming and can ensnare you while the other clip shows how one can connect with another through a story that is passed down from generation to generation by wor...

Landscape and Culture in Northern Eurasia, Kelly Cooke Within ‘ Landscape and Culture in Northern Eurasia,’ written by Peter Jordan is a discussion of the value landscapes hold to smaller communities. This book references a central hill that plays a large part in the lives of those who live in the village. Jordan states, “ The prominent hill of Kamakran, located near the village, forms an important feature in the local landscape, and is thought by many to possess intentionality and other ‘special powers’ (see King 2002, 71).” The description of this hill and the note that it has special powers demonstrates its meaning. The author also explains that there is a pathway that passes through the hill’s location that leads villagers to lands for fishing, hunting, and gathering . This means that this sacred and powerful hill quite literally leads villagers to their salvation. They take this path to find sustenance and therefore life. This fact has given the landscape more meaning and has...

Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples Kelly Cooke Connecticut's indigenous peoples: what archaeology, history, and oral traditions teach us about their communities and cultures,’ written by Lucianna Lavin, Paul-Grant Costa, and edited by Rosemary Volpe discusses the connection between the land and oral cultures. One except from the book states, “It is the Indigenous peoples of the Americas who maintain the spiritual and cultural connections with this wonderful plant [maize], which is celebrated in ceremonies, blessings, and in oral traditions.” This celebration of the land by the Indigenous people shows their devotion and gratefulness towards the land. They treat the land as it is a person and in turn the land rewards them with a successful harvest of maize. I think that this example works to show how certain traditions can be drawn from the landscapes and serve to long affect the culture of the community.

Phenomenology of Prayer Kelly Cooke Within ‘The Phenomenology of Prayer’ is an essay entitled ‘Prayer as the Posture of the Decentered Self’ written by Merold Westphal. In this essay is an evaluation of what it takes to decenter one’s self and the effect that decentering has on prayer. Westphal writes, “While I would not have said that adoration and praise were humiliating to me, I could only recognize myself in Marcel’s description of the self that takes itself as center. Which brings me to my thesis: prayer is a deep, quite possibly the deepest decentering of the self, deep enough to begin dismantling or, if you like, deconstructing that burning preoccupation with myself.” I think that this explanation of decentering is very accurate. It can feel unnatural and somewhat disorienting. Westphal later notes that this uneasy feeling is due to the fact that we naturally exist at the center of our own worlds. This is one reason that oral cultures maintain deeper connections,...

I specifically want to discuss Van der Leeuw's words on the power of locality. Often, we view the universe as a sum of its parts, but Leeuw offers a different view. He states that every part has its value, and giving it value makes it a position instead of a part. Once we occupy a place, it becomes a position, and eventually a locality. Some people run from this, while others embrace it. I believe it is important to establish localities as places that are sacred to us. A locality is a powerful place where we feel safe and free, a place that gives us the power to do what we want.

Martin Ball's response to Keith Basso's Wisdom Sits in a Place discusses the sense of place that many people have. Ball disagreed with what Basso had to say in regards to Apache Culture. "Basso is attempting to provide a meta-explanation that could, potentially, be applied to any culture, situation, or context and is not necessarily limited to his presentation of Western Apache culture," (Ball, pg. 461). When assessing another culture, it is important to see it from their view, as opposed to taking a broad approach and trying to say something that everyone agrees with. This can be hard to do, because many people are very caught up in their own views.

Landscapes of the Sacred Kelly Cooke Within ‘Landscapes of the Scared,’ written by Belden C. Lane lies a discussion of sacred places. The defining factors of sacred place are explained through the axioms of sacred place. The axiom that I will be discussing in this journal is the fourth and final axiom. I feel that it is a relevant piece of the conversation regarding how oral cultures connect to the surrounding landscapes. Lane states on page 19 of ‘Landscapes of the Sacred’ that, “A final axiom suggests that the impulse of sacred place is both centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal . One is recurrently driven to a quest for centeredness — a focus on the particular place of divine encounter — and then at other times driven out from that center with an awareness that god is never confined to a single locale.” I believe that oral cultures are more capable of acknowledging this axiom in their daily lives. The relationship that these communities hold with the surrounding lan...

The alphabet is one of the most useful technologies ever given to us. However, it has taken away from some things. Both Abram and Ong discuss in their respective works that the alphabet takes emotion and passion out of things, which is true. An example of how this can occur is through texting, the primary way many of us communicate today. It is so easy to misinterpret emotions through texting and reading words on a screen, as opposed to what you can get from actually talking to someone. Even speaking over the phone takes emotion out of things, as facial expressions are vital for communication.

Abrams discusses several times in this book how Western civilization has lost touch with the magic of nature and spirit. We have become so caught up in our own world that we forget about the people that came before us, and more importantly, the land. The earth is a beautiful place, and we wouldn't have been able to get where we are now without its resources. Abrams points out the Westerners have a hard time understanding the function of magic in primal communities- "Countless anthropologists have managed to overlook the ecological dimension of the shaman's craft," (Abrams, pg. 8). What Abrams is saying is that many of us do not understand the function of magicians in primal society. They are seen as healers, but not in the way that we think of a healer. They are spiritual healers.

We discussed in class certain songs that depict people being lost and asking for help, with many religious/ritualistic connotations, such as Message in a Bottle . Since that, I have noticed a bit of a theme with the music that I listen to regularly. In many songs you can hear the artist describing feeling lost or alone, and being out of touch with the world. Especially today, it is very easy to lose sight of the simple things in life, such as faith, due to how much is going on in the world and how much pressure there is on us to succeed. Sometimes, we need to take a step back and look at the big picture, and appreciate the people and faith we have with us.

In the Black Robe  film, we got the chance to see many of the things we have read about throughout the semester acted out in film, which is arguably closest to the realest thing we could view if it done correctly, other than a documentary. One thing that stood out to me was at the end of the movie, when the Hurons finally agreed to be baptized, which ultimately led to their downfall and disappearance. It is important to stick to what you believe in, even when times are getting difficult and leaders are being lost. Unless you truly believe something is going to help you out of a situation, it is vital to stick to what was working.

During my research for my final paper, I found an extremely interesting article regarding cannibalism in the Korowai Tribe. They are one of the last known groups in the world to still practice cannibalism among humans, however the way they view it is in a way that I have never thought about. They believe when people are dying, they become possessed by a witch, at which point the host is no longer viewed as human by them. They believe they must get revenge on the witch by killing and eating it. I found this interesting as it provided new perspective on something I never would have thought of in that way. Here is the link if anyone is interested in reading.  https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/sleeping-with-cannibals-128958913/

In-class discussion: In class, we discussed music lyrics and what the meanings could be. Specifically, we looked at the song Message in a Bottle and tried to decipher what the lyrics could mean.  This discussion came from talk about cosmos and chaos being outside of the circle. We discussed how it could mean that they are trying to reach someone that is oriented because they are alone cast out to sea which could be considered chaos as they are out in the wilderness and have no control. Specifically, the individual that is written about is lonely looking for comfort as many of us when we feel lonely look for ways to reach out (castaway on an island using a message in a bottle to reach out). But when he talks about one hundred billion bottles washed up on shore he realized that many people feel the way he does, money, cut off, cast aways. He realized he is alone there are others who are also lost and uses the words "not alone at being alone." We talked about other songs but t...

Required reading 2: In Abram's book, The Spell of the Sensuous, he explains how there is an adolescent chosen to become the new shaman for their community. Before the adolescent can become the shaman, he must learn from the most knowledgeable current shaman. Abrams goes on to explain that the adolescent must first “learn his or her skills directly from the land itself- from a specific animal or plant, from a river or storm- during a prolonged sojourn out and beyond the boundaries of human society. Indeed, among many of the tribes, once indigenous to North America, a boy could gain the insight necessary to enter the society of grown men only by undertaking a solitary quest for vision-only by rendering himself vulnerable to the wild forces of the land and, if need be, crying to those forces for a vision” (Abrams 116).  This is considered important to oral cultures because in their culture the land and nature speak to them and by listening to the land and nature, they ...