There are also several different masks that are used by the Poro society. Specialized artisans create all Senufo art to help cut down the regional stylistic differences of the different villages. Senufo art is tightly interconnected with their religion and beliefs because they are used to worship their gods, ancestors, and bush spirits. The Kponyungo mask, or “funeral head mask” is a black wooden helmet mask thirteen inches long, and sixteen inches wide. Kponyungo derives from the word Kpoo and nyungo and is translated as “head of deceased one”.
The Asmat, like many other people, feel a need to understand the how things work, specifically the world. The film maker takes the viewer deep inside the Asmat world to show one how religion, magic, rituals and beliefs can help people cope with their fears. I will further explain how this tribe deals with chaos, the rituals and magic they do, and the consequences of foreign integration. Like the name of the film suggests, the Asmat live in South central New Guenea, which is basically a jungle surrounded by water, mud and trees. Legends and myths play a very important role in this community.
Most interpretation associate cave painting with magic and ritual surrounding the hunt. For example, because animals are sometimes depicted with spears in their bodies, the paintings might have been attempts to ensure success in hunting. Artist might have believed that by capturing the animal’s image in paint and predicting the kill, they could influence the hunt’s
The women and children also help with the hunts by chasing prey into large nets held by the awaiting men. (Salopek, 2005). Belief Systems of the Mbuti The next facet of the Mbuti’s lives that needs to be researched is their belief system. Do they worship one god or many? What kinds of rituals are performed during worship or when a member of the tribe dies?
The collection mainly comprises ceramics and carved stone sculptures, especially the ceramic cups known as keros; these were ritually smashed and buried after ceremonial use. After our stop at the museum we'll begin our tour of the Ruins of Tiwanaku. Although it may have been inhabited as early as 1500BC as a farming village, Tiwanaku became an urban center starting aorund 300AD and grew in power over the next centuries, becoming a city-state, prestigious pilgrimage site, and the administrative center of the Kingdom of Tiwanaku, whose dominion expanded throughout Bolivia and into Chile and Peru. Around 1000AD the city fell due to drought, and any remaining scattered populations were conquered and assimilated for a brief period into the Inca Empire somewhere in the late 15th century or early 16th century. Despite years of abuse at the hands of tomb raiders and misguided excavations, the site still stuns with its giant stone monoliths (the largest block in the site weighs approximately 131 tons!)
Wicca is believed by some to be a dark religion. People who do not understand the Wiccan faith have a tendency to assume Wiccan followers to be Satan worshipers. An excerpt from the Witches Rede reads: ‘The dark and the light in succession, the opposites each unto each, shown forth as a God and a Goddess, of this our ancestors teach.’ Wiccans believe in a God and a Goddess and the gifts of nature to worship them. Some Churches teach that Wiccans deal in black magic. This is a misconception as not all wiccans practice witchcraft.
The indigenous persons though lived sacred spiritual lives, as they practiced nature worship, ancestry worship as well as protective magic. The indigenous groups practiced polytheism which is the belief and worship of many gods. They had faith in a male sky god and a female earth goddess among many others, as well as their prior ancestors who would have passed away. Each of these idols were represented by a zemi (fig.4), w hich were made from materials such as wood, bone and shells. One of the rules Christopher Columbus had from Queen Isabella (fig.5) is that he must spread the Catholic faith wherever his ship may dock.
Summary: The Dust Bowl Migration The Dust Bowl was an ecological disaster in the Great Plains during the 1930’s. The Great Plains had suffered severe drought for several years which then led to the depletion of the soil used by farmers to harvest their major crops- wheat and cotton. This interesting phenomenon led to the massive migration of almost 3 million farmers and the intervention from the government. This mass migration became known in History as the Dust Bowl Migration. Since it occurred during the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl migration became significant due to the riskiness in relocation because of such high unemployment rates.
Each practitioner works with several private and public rituals, such as cleansing rituals and the reading of shells, all geared towards healing, much like Shamanism (Olmos 2011). Each ritual may also contain animal sacrifice, which is prevalent in Santeria (Olmos 2011). The Orishas play a very important role in the principles behind why the rituals are performed, and most rituals are done with the specific mindset to consult one or many of them to ask for advice, initiate a new member, or lend energy to be used to effect change in the physical world (Olmos 2011). Some ceremonies may take weeks to complete. For example, a proper initiation ceremony happens over the course of many rituals and ceremonies designed to test a person’s spiritual fitness and devotion (Olmos
Snakes are considered a destructive force, and illness or imbalance can result from injuries done to them. A “Lifeway” chant is prescribed for injuries received in an accident, and people having trouble with bears will ask for “Mountainway” chant. When the cause of the problem has been determined, the family will then hire a singer, or hataalii, who has been trained in healing methods passed down over centuries in the Navajo culture. “[The hataalii] is a center that receives power from all proper sources and distributes it to all worthy subscribers [believers],” says Reichard. Where as the diviner is believed to possess supernatural gifts, the hataalii’s influence stems from