Sacred Realms is a comprehensive introduction to the anthropology of religion that presents and defines key concepts with fifty-five classic and current essays by leading specialists. The anthology has wide geographical scope and presents balanced accounts from anthropologists throughout the world. Divided into seventeen subject areas that cover major topics in faith, religion, and belief, Sacred Realms concludes with descriptions of five of the world's most influential religions. Features of Sacred Realms: * This anthology presents several of the classics of the literature on religion (such as Malinowski, Harris, Miner, Wallace, and Gmelch) while introducing current work in the field. The majority of essays included were originally published in the past fifteen years. * The book's six Parts are introduced by essays that concisely provide the critical concepts and key points students require. * Each essay is introduced by head notes that supply context and discuss the principal points that it makes. Each head note includes several questions for students to consider while they read the essay. * Many essays are by authors either native to or living in the societies they describe. * Essays are readable and cover a wide breadth of topics that are both interesting to students and fit well with subjects that professors commonly teach. * The world religions section (Part Six) is not found in any other anthropology of religion book. It presents highly readable, basic accounts of the largest and historically most important world religions in a balanced fashion.

Preface Introduction: What Is Religion? PART ONE. INTRODUCING RELIGION 1. The Origins of Religion James McClenon, How Religion Began: Human Evolution and the Origin of Religion (2002) Robert Bates Graber, Ritual, Consciousness, Belief: A Speculation on the Origin of Religion (1993) Bronislaw Malinowski, Rational Mastery by Man of His Surroundings (1925) 2. Religion and Society Graeme Lang and Lars Ragvald, Spirit-Writing and the Development of Chinese Cults (1998) Aihwa Ong, The Production of Possession: Spirits and the Multinational Corporation in Malaysia (1988) Hikaru Suzuki, Japanes Death Rituals in Transit: From Household Ancestors to Beloved Antecedents (1998) 3. Religion and the Environment J. Stephen Lansing, Balinese "Water Temples" and the Management of Irrigation (1987) Marvin Harris, Mother Cow (1974) Sandra E. Greene, Sacred Terrain: Religion, Politics, and Place in the History of Anloga (1997) 4. Religion and Mythology Karl Kroeber, Unaesthetic Imaginings: Native American Myth as Speech Genre (1996) A Jayant Bhalchandra Bapat, A Jatipurana (Clan-History Myth) of the Gurav Temple Priests of Maharashtra (1998) Ithamar Gruenwald, God the "Stone/Rock": Myth, Idolatry, and Cultic Fetishism in Ancient Israel (1996) PART TWO. RITUAL, RELIGION, AND THE SUPERNATURAL 5. Supernatural Beings and Powers Mahipal Bhuriya, Tribal Religion in India: A Case Study of the Bhils (1986) Aubrey L. Parke, The Qawa Incident in 1968 and Other Cases of "Spirit Possession": Religious Syncretism in Fiji (1995) Fernando Cervantes, The Devil and the Saints in the Conquest of Mexico (1994) John Frow, Is Elvis a God? Cult, Culture, Questions of Method (1998) 6. Religious Specialists: Shamans, Prophets, and Priests Laurel Kendall, Korean Shamans and the Spirits of Capitalism (1996) Julie Cruikshank, Claiming Legitimacy: Prophecy Narratives from Northern Aboriginal Women (1994) Peter Gose, Oracles, Divine Kingship, and Political Representation in the Inka State (1996) 7. Ritual and Ceremony Victor W. Turner, Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage (1964) Phillips Stevens, Jr., Play and Liminality in Rites of Passage: From Elder to Ancestor in West Africa (1991) Lori Leonard, Female Circumcision in Southern Chad: Origins, Meaning, and Current Practice (1996) George Gmelch, Baseball Magic (2002) Horace Miner, Body Ritual among the Nacirema (1956) PART THREE. JOURNEYS OF THE SOUL 8. Altered States Wade Davis, Hallucinogenic Plants and Their Use in Traditional Societies (1985) John R. Baker, The Old Woman and Her Gifts: Pharmacological Bases of the Chumash Use of Datura (1994) J. D. Lewis-Williams, Cognitive and Optical Illusions in San Rock Art Research (1986) Scott R. Hutson, The Rave: Spiritual Healing in Modern Western Subcultures (2000) Elaine J. Lawless, "The Night I Got the Holy Ghost...": Holy Ghost Narratives and the Pentecostal Conversion Process (1988) 9. Death and Funerals Richard T. Gill, Whatever Happened to the American Way of Death? (1996) Beth A. Conklin, "Thus Are Our Bodies, Thus Was Our Custom": Mortuary Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society (1995) Audrey Shalinsky and Anthony Glascock, Killing Infants and the Aged in Nonindustrial Societies: Removing the Liminal (1988) Dong Sull Choi, Origins and Realities of Suttee in Hinduism (2002) PART FOUR. SICKNESS AND HEALTH 10. Healing Wolf Roder, Magic, Medicine, and Metaphysics in Nigeria (1991) Madelyn Krassner, Effective Features of Therapy from the Healer's Perspective: A Study of Curanderismo (1986) Robert W. Putsch III, Ghost Illness: A Cross-Cultural Experience with the Expression of a Non-Western Tradition in Clinical Practice (1988) Ineke M. Lazar, Culture-Bound Illnesses in a Samoan Migrant Community (1988) Alean Al-Krenawi, Explanations of Mental Health Symptoms by the Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev (1999) 11. Bewitching Ronald C. Johnson, Parallels between Recollections of Repressed Childhood Sex Abuse, Kidnappings by Space Aliens, and the 1692 Salem Witch Hunts (1994) Joseph Jay Tobin and Joan Friedman, Spirits, Shamans, and Nightmare Death: Survivor Stress in a Hmong Refugee (1983) Peter Wogan, Magical Literacy: Encountering a Witch's Book in Ecuador (1998) PART FIVE. NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS 12. New Religious Movements Anthony F. C. Wallace, Revitalization Movements (1956) Allen Scarboro and Philip Andrew Luck, The Goddess and Power: Witchcraft and Religion in America (1997) Mark Juergensmeyer, Christian Violence in America (1998) Raymond L.M. Lee, Taipucam in Malaysia: Ecstasy and Identity in a Tamil Hindu Festival (1989) W. Paul Williamson and Howard R. Pollio, The Phenomenology of Religious Serpent Handling: A Rationale and Thematic Study of Extemporaneous Sermons (1999) Simon Dein, Lubavitch: A Contemporary Messianic Movement (1997) PART SIX. WORLD RELIGIONS 13. Hinduism The Historical Development of Hinduism The Sacred Literature of Hinduism Varna: The Caste System Varieties of Hindu Religious Practice Veneration of Cattle Festivals Hinduism and the Modern World 14. Buddhism The Life of Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 B.C.E.) Buddha's Teachings The Development and Spread of Buddhism Divisions of Buddhism Relics, Pilgrimages, and Holy Days Contemporary Buddhism 15. Judaism Sacred Literature Historical Background Kabbalah and Hasidism The Holocaust Zionism Contemporary Judaism: Sacred Practices Religious Festivals Dietary and Religious Practices Divisions within Judaism Jews in the Modern World 16. Christianity Historical Background The Early Christian Movement Divisions in Early Christianity Monasticism Medieval Christianity: Division between Eastern and Western Churches Reformation and Response Sacred Literature Christian Holidays Christianity Today New Denominations and Christian Fundamentalism in America 17. Islam The Life of Muhammad Islamic Expansion Muslim Beliefs and Practices Sunnah and the Hadiths Shiite and Sunni in Islam Other Variations: Black Muslims Islam in the Last One Hundred Years Index

Richard Warms, James Garber, Jon McGeeProfessors of Anthropology, all three at Texas State University-San Marcos