Page 207 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

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spirits that were interfering with particular human hopes thinkers did to elaborate human knowledge took off from
and purposes became central to what may be called ani- animism, modifying and eventually abandoning it; and it
mistic religion. is not really surprising that all of us still sometimes fall
Surges of unusual excitement and extraordinary coop- back on animistic phrases and habits of thought in every-
erative efforts were also interpreted as examples of how day life.
a single spirit might enter into the community as a whole
William H. McNeill
or those persons who bore the brunt of common exer-
tion, whether they were defending their home territory See also Shamanism; Totemism
against an invading human band, stalking and killing a
dangerous animal, or initiating young people into their
adult roles by secret and solemn rituals.These and other Further Reading
occasions brought people together emotionally; and the Tylor, E. B. (1871). Primitive culture. New York: Harper.
Jensen, A. E. (1963). Myth and cult among primitive peoples. Chicago:
excitement that sustained commonality could be attrib- University of Chicago Press.
uted to a spirit shared, at least temporarily, by all. Lowie, R. H. (1970). Primitive religion. New York: Liveright.
Eliade, M. (1964). Shamanism: Archaic techniques of ecstasy. New York:
Details of how different peoples attempted to control
Bollingen Foundation.
their interaction with the spirit world differed endlessly
from place to place and must have altered across time
too, so that we ought not to assume that recent practices
accurately replicated ancient patterns even among Siber-
ian hunters. But it is worth recognizing that animism in Anthropology
all its innumerable local variations endured far longer
than successor religions have done. In fact, animism still he global scope and trans-epochal sweep of anthro-
pervades a great deal of common speech and thinking. Tpology bespeak close affinities with world history.
Athletes and businessmen often invoke “team spirit”; Yet, just what anthropology has to offer world history is
musicians and actors hope for an “inspired” performance. far from straightforward. In no small part, this is because
And we all admire a cheerful “spirit,” whenever we meet anthropology, even more than most disciplines, is a
such a person. sutured and unstable bundle of paradigmatic traditions,
For millennia, management of relations with the spirit famously involving studies of human biology and pri-
world in the light of animistic ideas and techniques sus- mate origins (in biological anthropology), a significant
tained human communities in good times and bad. It focus on the Neolithic era across the globe (in archaeol-
made whatever happened intelligible and within limits ogy), detailed studies of daily life, particularly in small-
curable as well. Every surprise and disappointment was scale societies (in sociocultural anthropology), and formal
believed to be the work of one or more spirits; and when analyses of language in all its known diversity (in lin-
matters were sufficiently critical, customary rituals could guistic anthropology).Work in these different quadrants
always be mobilized to find out exactly what kind of spir- has distinct, and in some cases antithetical, implications
its were interfering and what sort of appeasement or for world history.
change of human behavior might solve the problem.
A belief system that explained so much and served so Anthropology
many peoples across so many generations deserves seri- as a Discipline
ous respect. It was humankind’s earliest effort to work out Though no single starting point can be found for sus-
a worldview, uniting in an undifferentiated whole what tained inquiry into the questions asked by anthropology,
later separated into science and religion. Everything later anthropology coalesced as a discipline only in the final