Anthropology of Religion

The term witchcraft is used in a great number of ways, to refer to supernatural beliefs and practices that the user considers evil or dangerous. Some of its many meanings are confusing, and its use is frequently pejorative, and unless it is carefully defined by its user it can be quite misleading. But it is […]

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Witch doctor, also sometimes witchman, is an unfortunate term created by English speakers during colonial times in Africa to refer originally to healers using supernatural means, but it became a generic term for any sort of traditional healer anywhere, regardless of what methods were employed or what affliction was treated. It reflects a time when […]

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Anthony F. C. Wallace, born April 15, 1923, is a Canadian-born American anthropologist and historian best known for his work in community studies and ethnohistory, particularly social changes triggered by technological change. He received a PhD in 1950 from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where he taught from 1951 to 1988. Wallace’s book The […]

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Totemism is often described as a kinship system linking humans ancestrally to powerful symbols present in the natural world. Totemic systems are said to be built around totems, which are fundamental signs of “kinship” running between human societies or individuals and the surrounding world. The term “totem” comes from “ototeman” in Algonquian (the largest family […]

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