Religious specialists who are usually responsible for the performance of prescribed,
periodic rituals are:
a. shamans
b. diviners
c. priests
d. healers
The concept of animatism refers to a belief:
a. in spirit beings
b. that it is impossible to prove the existence of a supernatural power
c. that humans are set off from the animal world
d. in an impersonal supernatural power
All of the following are true about mangu, the cause of witchcraft among the Azande,
except:
a. it is a physical substance found within the body of a witch
b. it can be manipulated by shamans in healing rituals
c. it can be seen when autopsies are performed
d. it is inherited from the parent of the same sex
Kuru, a disease found among the Fore, is caused by:
a. microscopic particles transmitted through cannibalism
b. a parasite transmitted through poorly-cooked pork
c. a hereditary factor passed on through the mother to her children
d. toxins introduced by Indonesian mining operations
An all-knowing deity is one who is:
a. omniscient
b. omnipotent
c. otiose
d. monotheistic
Displacement is a characteristic of symbols. This term refers to the fact that a symbol:
a. can be used to discuss things remote from the speaker in space and time
b. does not have any direct relationship to the thing it symbolizes
c. can be created at will
d. none of the above
Ideological rituals include:
a. hunting & gathering rites of intensification
b. therapy rituals
c. social rites of intensification
d. salvation rituals
The Navaho story Din Bahan is an example of a(n):
a. origin story
b. apocalyptic story
c. trickster myth
d. hero myth
The Zande poison oracle is an example of:
a. noninspirational deliberate divination
b. noninspirational fortuitous divination
c. inspirational deliberate divination
d. inspirational fortuitous divination
From the etic perspective, Western medicine sees kuru as an infectious disease. From
the emic perspective, the Fore believe that kuru is caused by the:
a. breaking of a tabu
b. displeasure of an ancestral spirit
c. transmission of a microorganism
d. activities of a sorcerer doing evil magic
Types of modifications of the human body seen in human societies include:
a. modifying the shape of the skull by wrapping the child’s skull with cord
b. piercing a part of the body, such as lips or earlobes, and stretching the separated part
c. cutting the foot and bending the foot back and binding it to create a very small foot
d. all of the above
Shamans:
a. may receive a call from the spirits through an altered state of consciousness to
become a shaman
b. may become a shaman because of recovering from a illness
c. are sometimes call “wounded healers” in that they are often driven to become
shamans because of illness, accident, spirit possession, and so forth
d. all of the above
In every society there are particular ways in which people perceive and interpret their
reality. This is what is meant by the concept of:
a. supernatural
b. worldview
c. culture
d. sacred
The pentagram has been used to symbolize:
a. the Church of Satan
b. Wicca
c. the witch’s foot
d. all of the above
Important features of magic are that magic:
a. creates hypotheses and theories
b. comes to testable conclusions
c. deals only with empirical observations
d. assumes a causal relationship between things that look similar
The Fore believe that kuru is caused by the:
a. breaking of a taboo
b. displeasure of an ancestral spirit
c. transmission of a microorganism
d. activities of a sorcerer doing evil magic
Dancing to heat up the energy known as n/um to enable healing characterized the:
a. Yanomam
b. Blessing Way
c. Sun Dance
d. San healing ritual
An example of a neo-pagan religious system is:
a. Wicca
b. Santeria
c. John Frum Cult
d. Branch Davidians
In some societies souls may be acquired during one’s lifetime, such as through a vision.
This is found among the:
a. Jivaro
b. Yanomam
c. Shoshoni
d. Beng
Kyta Baaly is a shaman from:
a. Korea
b. Shkha, Siberia
c. Okinawa
d. the American Southwest
A ritual brings about illness, accident or death is called a(n):
a. therapy ritual
b. anti-therapy ritual
c. antisocial ritual
d. devitalization ritual
An offering is:
a. an economic exchange designed to influence the supernatural
b. the destruction of something of value
c. the killing of an animal
d. all of the above
The story “Raven Steals the Light” tells us about the origin of the:
a. earth
b. sun and moon
c. people
d. salmon
Jewish food prohibitions are:
a. based solely on health and nutrition concerns
b. prescriptive and spelled out in the Torah
c. concerned only with the prohibition on eating pork
d. all of the above
The calendar that is used for secular purposes in the industrial world today is the:
a. Julian calendar
b. Gregorian calendar
c. Hebrew calendar
d. Islamic calendar
In contrast to the Gwari of West Africa, Nupe witches are always female. It appears to
be due to the fact that:
a. Nupe wives engage in activities that their husbands cannot control
b. political power is vested in female chiefs who rule through their husbands and
brothers
c. women sexuality and fertility is viewed as dangerous and powerful
d. the Nupe were influenced by Christian missionaries at the time of Witchcraze in
Europe
The greatest number of gods ever recorded in a single society was found among
Yoruba.
The monomyth is a narrative involving:
a. the creation
b. an explanation of illness and death
c. a culture hero
d. none of the above
Neurologist Oliver Sachs believes that the visions described by Hildegard of Bingen are
likely to be associated with:
a. fasting
b. use of hallucinogenic drugs
c. migraines
d. self-inflicted pain
A technique of body movements call tensegrity is associated with:
a. Neoshamanism
b. Akimel O”odham shamanism
c. Korean shamanism
d. Siberian shamanism
An ethnography is a:
a. comparative study of the social systems of many societies
b. study of the physical characteristics of a human population
c. analysis of a nonhuman primate species
d. descriptive study of a society or culture
Pain, caused by placing skewers through the skin, characterizes the Cheyenne Sun
Dance.
The power of a shaman lies in her ability to successfully memorize religious texts and
rituals.
Contagious magic is based on the premise that things that were once in contact always
maintain a connection.
There are two creation stories in Genesis. In one man and woman are created together;
in the other man was created first and woman was created later out of man’s rib.
Magic involves the manipulation of words and objects so as to compel a deity to bring
about the desired result.
A priest is more focused on individual problems such as a person’s illness than on
community-wide rituals.
The Fore believe that kuru is caused by sorcery based on homeopathic magic.
In Islam, God spoke to Mohammad in Arabic, and Arabic is used in ritual today.
The majority of Americans believe there is a Heaven.
In some cultures certain biologically-based experiences, such as migraines, are
interpreted as visions.
A symbol can be a physical thing, a sound, or a dance step.
Since the Navaho witch is a personification of evil, witchcraft serves to culturally
define immoral and antisocial behavior.
The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism state that life is imperfect and inevitable involves
suffering.
UFO religions, such as the Unification Church and the Branch Davidians, describe
extraterrestrial beings in much the same way that supernatural beings are described in
more traditional religions.
Vampires and zombies as depicted in American movies are very similar to actual
ethnographic examples.
The goal of many religious altered states of consciousness is to achieve a unitary state.
Among the Azande, the diagnosis of an illness is confirmed by a medium through spirit
possession.