A goddess of agriculture is an example of a(n):
a. creator goddess
b. trickster goddess
c. attribute goddess
d. otiose goddess
The Huichol journey:
a. reenacts the journey of the Ancient Ones
b. involves each person assuming the identify of a god
c. includes the eating of peyote which enables the Huichol to see what the gods see
d. all of the above
After cremating their dead, the Yanomam grind the ashes and later add the ashes to a
banana stew to be consume
d. Most Americans might feel that drinking the ashes of the dead to be disgusting. On
the other hand, anthropology tells us that we should not judge the customs of others by
our own standards. This latter attitude towards other cultures is called:
a. holism
b. ethnocentrism
c. cultural relativism
d. participant observation
A prescriptive ritual that one that is:
a. performed because of the will or desire of a deity
b. associated with critical events in the life of an individual
c. involved with an altered state of consciousness
d. celebrated on a ritual calendar
An example of a secular (nonreligious) rite of passage would be a:
a. graduation ceremony
b. fraternity initiation
c. presidential inauguration
d. all of the above
In Japan, a distinction can be made between ancestors and those who died in more
recent memory. The latter are referred to as:
a. the departed
b. ghouls
c. kindred
d. the near gods
An agnostic:
a. has not made up his mind about the existence of the supernatural
b. believes that there is no supernatural
c. says that it is impossible to prove or disprove the existence of the supernatural
d. none of the above
A ghost can best be thought of as:
a. a dead person brought to life through magic
b. a soul that remains in the world of the living
c. an evil spirit or deity
d. none of the above
An early Christian symbol that predates the cross is the:
a. swastika
b. pentagram
c. fish
d. triangle within a circle
Geographical areas wherein are found societies that share a great many characteristics
are known as:
a. culture areas
b. ethnographic zones
c. ecological regions
d. societal areas
The term syncretism refers to:
a. the process whereby a culture accepts culture traits from a dominant culture
b. a condition whereby a dominated culture has changed so much because of outside
influences that it ceases to have its own distinct identity
d. a fusing of traits from two cultures to form something new and yet, permitting the
retention of the old by subsuming the old into a new form
c. what occurs when an idea moves from one culture to another and stimulates the
invention of a new trait
In the Navaho Creation Story, the Holy People appeared and explained that they wanted
to create people:
a. with the power of insects
b. with supernatural powers
c. who were giants
d. with hands and feet like the Holy People
The point of view that all knowledge is a human “construction,” that there are multiple
viewpoints and truths, and that we must be aware of our own viewpoints and biases, is
referred to as:
a. modernity
b. essentialism
c. postmodernism
d. Marxism
The purpose of Aztec human sacrifice was based on the worldview that:
a. only human flesh could adequately feed the royal family
b. to avoid the end of the life of the Sun, it had to fed blood
c. sacrificed humans buried in the fields would ensure a good harvest
d. all of the above
The oral text of a magical ritual is often known as a:
a. spell
b. recitation
c. charm
d. liturgy
Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible used the Salem trials as an allegory for:
a. illegal immigration
b. McCarthyism
c. the use of alcohol during Prohibition
d. the breakup for the traditional family
Robin Horton proposed that which of the following is a variable that explains variation
in the nature of gods in different societies?:
a. how often people in that society encounter other people and the world outside their
own community
b. the degree to which an individual’s status in the society is ascribed or achieved
c. the severity of childrearing practices in regards to feeding and toilet training
d. both a and b are true
An important goddess found in Hinduism is:
a. Isis
b. Kali
c. Ishtar
d. all of the above
Revitalization movements may be brought about by:
a. political and economic marginalization
b. malnutrition and high level of epidemic disease
c. perception that values of the community are being threatened
d. all of the above
A belief in souls is probably found in all societies. This belief is likely derived from the
experience of:
a. dreams
b. hallucinations
c. fainting
d. all of the above
Some neuroscientists conclude that the brain is capable of creating religious
experiences. Which of the following is evidence for this conclusion?
a. People suffering from temporal lobe epilepsy often report intense religious
experiences as part of their attacks.
b. People who report having intense religious experiences often report having had brain
trauma or brain injury in childhoo
d.
c. Brain scans of people in deep meditation show a decreased activity in the parietal
lobe of the brain, in an area responsible for giving us a sense of our orientation in space
and time.
d. All of the above.
The Law of Similarity states that:
a. magic depends on the apparent association between things
b. things that were once in contact continue to be connected
c. things that are alike are the same
d. none of the above
Inspirational fortuitous forms of divination include:
a. astrology
b. prophecy
c. omens
d. mediums (psychics)
Many revitalization movements developed within Christianity in the United States in
the early nineteenth century. An example of such a movement which developed into a
mainstream religion is the:
a. Methodist Church
b. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
c. Amish
d. Vodou
Which of the following is an oracle used by the Azande to discover the identity of
witches?
a. the rubbing board oracle
b. spirit possession by a medium
c. throwing of shells on a mat and reading the pattern formed
d. studying the internal organs of a sacrificed chicken
Examples of rites of passage in American society would not include a:
a. wedding ceremony
b. funeral
c. high school graduation
d. Easter sunrise service
An example of a UFO religion is:
a. Heaven’s Gate
b. Unification Church
c. Branch Davidians
d. Wicca
Differences in numbers of primary color terms in English and in Yoruba suggest that:
a. color terminology is determined by culture
b. the Yoruba language is more primitive than English
c. the Yoruba have a high frequency of color blindness
d. people in tropical areas see fewer colors
Among the Yanomam, hallucinogenic snuff is taken by shamans in order to:
a. divine the future
b. locate the location of animals
c. entice spirits into the body
d. feed the gods
Magic-like rituals are an important part of the behavior of athletes in athletic
competition. Certain ritual behaviors, such as wearing the same clothing or washing
one’s hands after a losing inning, are:
a. learned and passed down in particular baseball teams
b. adopted because the player associated certain activities with success
c. purchased from magical specialists
d. none of the above
A wedding is an example of a rite of passage. The celebration or party following the
religious or secular wedding ceremony is an example of that phase of a rite of passage
known as:
a. transition
b. separation
c. peripheralization
d. incorporation
Handsome Lake and Ngundeng were:
a. diviners
b. prophets
c. herbalists
d. priests
The story “Raven Steals the Light” is an example of a:
a. flood story
b. hero story
c. trickster story
d. war story
Atheism as a label one would use to describe one’s own belief in the non-existance of
God began in the sixteenth century.
The origins of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was that of a
revitalization movement.
The Mayan carvings from Yaxhiln show the ingestion of drugs to achieve a
hallucination of a serpent.
Northwest Coast, East African Cattle, and Melanesia are names of culture areas.
Priests are usually associated with some sacred space, such as a temple or shrine.
An outsider who applies his or her own cultural orientation to the analysis of another
culture is performing an emic analysis.
Among the Azande witchcraft is basically evil, but it is good when it is directed at
enemies.
An invention occurs where someone uses technology to bring about a deliberate
change.
The Hindu goddess Kali is often pictured as dark skinned and naked, standing on a
corpse dripping with blood.
An analytic definition focuses on the way that religion manifests itself or is expressed
in a culture.
Proponents of the psychoanalytic approach to the analysis of myth see such stories as
the Oedipus story as manifestations of the collective unconscious.
Gods and ghosts are examples of anthropomorphic supernatural beings.
All societies have clearly understood terms to label the domain of culture we call
religion.
The Holiness Churches use tobacco and alcohol as a sacrament to create contact with
the Holy Ghost.
Entoptic phenomena are images of anthropomorphic animals.
The Branch Davidians were more of a political than a religious group.
Generally speaking protective rituals tend to be performed in situations that are
dangerous and unpredictable.
In Roman Catholicism, souls travel to one of two places: Heaven or Hell.
The Witchcraze is a Neo-Pagan religion found in Europe and the United States.