1. Myth, Symbolism & Taboo Weeks 3 & 4- Chapter 2 Lehman & Myers
Leonard- The Study of Mythology
Douglas- Taboo
Daugherty- Serpent Handling as a Sacrament

2. Myth, Mythic Beliefs, Mythic Narratives & Mythology
Metaphorical method of knowing & affirming reality without empirical data
Mythic Beliefs
Mythic Narratives
Factual or non-factual accounts
Significant to the cultural tradition

3. The Study of Mythic Narratives
Myths are survivals of the irrational past
Mythic narratives are allegories
Mythic narratives are social charters
Mythic narratives are symbolic representations of the dominant values of society
Mythic narratives are rationalizations for rituals
Mythic narratives are expressions of unconscious/subconscious wishes
Mythic narratives are logical, mediating models
Mythic narratives are epic dramas of supernatural beings.

4. Folklore & Myth
Folklore: Tales, legends, proverbs, riddles, & myths important in the study of culture.
Myth- a statement of primeval reality among institutions, justifying the existing order & gives a retrospective pattern of moral values, of sociological discrimination & burdens, & magical belief.
Function: strengthen tradition.
Myths development
Set up oppositions
Set about to resolve these oppositions
Myth isn’t necessarily fiction… Joseph Campbell noted, these are the “stories” by which people live… that sustain cultures. Stories that answer important questions w/respect to origins, beliefs, values, mysteries, etc.
Stories that answer important questions w/respect to origins, beliefs, values, mysteries, etc.
Often, myths are sacred in nature (sacred stories) others are developed recently like the “Millennium bug” over 250 billion $ was spent worldwide to prepare for the Y2K problem.
Folklore myth are part of folklore ( stories based on oral traditions originally)…”customs, beliefs, short sayings, and narration shared by people who belong to a common social group.” A body of common knowledge, performed in certain social contexts according to certain methods of performance.”… “shared identity” like jokes, riddles, etc. (how many __does it take to change a lightbulb?)

5. Myth Important in the analysis of comparative religion
Parts of larger ideological systems
Creation stories
Divine/semi-divine animals and culture hero characters
Performance element
Example--Adam and Eve
Need not be scientifically or objectively true
Validity within cultural context

6. Approaching Myths Considered to be truthful accounts of the past
orally transmitted or textual accounts
Studied in the West since the Greeks
Platonic confusion of myth as fallacy
Anthropological emphasis on culture-specific meanings
Joseph Campbell
looking for universal themes in myth
modern study of myth
multidisciplinary

7. Symbolism
Symbol is something that represents something else (i.e. Human language ability).
C. Geertz
Religious system-cluster of sacred symbols possessing a power or force (mana) emanating from the spiritual world

8. Study of Symbolism Important to the study of religion Symbols Durkheim
less than clear definition
something that represents something else
enhancement of the importance of what is symbolized
Symbols
multivocalic nature
often considered to have mana, force, or power
provide people with an emotional and intellectual commitment
Durkheim
stand for revered values, reaffirm cultural value system

9. Taboos
Term (Tabu & Kapu) originated in the Pacific Islands, anthropologists associated it with images of “savage” Polynesians observing mystical prohibitions.
Every society has restrictions that limit behavior in one respect or another, usually associated with sex, food, rites of passage, sacred objects & people.
Most taboos are reinforced by the threat of punishment by supernatural forces.

10. Incest Taboo
Incest Taboo is the absolute forbiddance of sexual contact between certain close relatives.
Variations across cultures & time
Present in almost all societies

11. The Study of Mythology By S. Leonard & M. Mc Clure
What are Myths and Why Study Them?
Inquiry into meaning making
Open-ended living texts
Intertwined nature of the uses of myth in diverse cultures
Ways that myths can be seen to embody cultural attitudes, values & behaviors.
Apparent rewards of answers
Modern Anthropology
B. Malinowski
“real” in performance
The Rise of Psychology
Myth and the unconscious
Sigmund Freud & Carl Jung
Joseph Campbell: Literary & Cultural Clinic
Claude Levi-Strauss & Structuralism

12. Class Activity
Identify a myth in your or some other culture, analyze and describe it on an short essay.
Think of various taboos that exists in many societies, describe them and their functionality.
Draw and describe a symbol meaningful to you.

13. Taboo By Mary Douglas Taboo definitions
appears “irrational” to outside observer
19th century misconception of “false science”
breach of conduct has repercussions
theories of contagion

14. Taboo By Mary Douglas In the Eye of the Beholder
culturally defined conceptions of reality
“dirt” or “beauty”
contextualizing taboos within the larger system
modern approach as a problem of human learning
no objective view of the world

15. Taboo By Mary Douglas Learning The Seat of Mana
filtering, organizing, and classifying process
culturally constructed universe
unique worldviews of relatively isolated groups
the universe is a system of rules
Western differentiation and classifications
The Seat of Mana
taboos can express political ideas
gradings of power
Polynesian belief about the head

16. Taboo by Mary Douglas Fluidity Rules of the Game context of taboos
recognition of dynamism
classifying process is always active and changing
Rules of the Game
social life with no classifications?
social life is the process of building classification systems

17. Taboo by Mary Douglas Injecting Order Into Life
William Burrough’s “Naked Lunch”
taboo injects order drawn from social categories
dilemma of individual freedom

18. Article: Serpent Handling as Sacrament by Mary Lee Daugherty
Serpent Handlers of West Virginia
background
small, independent Holiness-type churches
“long conclusion” of the gospel Mark
physical, economic, and social environment
enabled by the power of the Holy Ghost
Modern changes
economic improvement
effects on expressions of faith?

19. Serpent Handling as Sacrament
ritual celebration of life, death, and resurrection
proof of Jesus’s power to protect and heal
serpent as a symbol of victory over death
dangerous (yet rarely fatal)
hypothesis about the future of serpent-handling
legality issues
Cultural Isolation
limited travel, media, etc.
primarily oral/Biblical traditions
life centered on church gatherings

20. Serpent Handling as Sacrament
The Approach to the Serpent
not evil serpent of the Genesis story
serpent as life over death
sacrament
respect for the snake
The Faith
willingness to die for beliefs
coping with and confronting real fears
seeking harmony with Nature
centered in small communities

21. Serpent Handling as Sacrament
Longing for Holiness
Power of the Holy Ghost and the courageous individual
The Person of the Holy Ghost
enables serpent-handling, speaking in tongues, preaching, curing diseases, etc.
lends a sense of power to lives
approachable and relatable figure of Jesus
Churches and Services
arena of empowerment
direct personal experience of God
Holiness churches
view of the secular world
based in very small communities

22. Serpent Handling as Sacrament
Symbolism of the Serpent
suggests ambiguity and transcendence
varying representations
Conclusion
a unique ritual in church history
new economic and social environment
ritual continues as a form of sacrament