Spirits And Other Lesser Supernatural Beings example essay topic

Initially, animatism and animism may seem to be the same thing. In fact both beliefs are often found in the same culture. The difference, however, is that the "power" of animatism does not have a personality -- it is an impersonal "it" rather than a "he" or "she" with human-like characteristics. Spirits are individual supernatural beings with their own recognizable traits. One special category of spirit found in the belief system of most cultures consists of the souls or ghosts of ancestors (ancestral spirits). A belief in ancestral spirits is consistent with the widespread belief that humans have at least two parts -- a physical body and some kind of non-physical spirit.

The spirit portion is generally believed to be freed from the body by death and continues to exist. In China and most of the rest of East Asia, ancestral spirits are thought of as still being active family members who is interested in a family's welfare. In European cultures, the spirits of the dead are usually not considered of so kindly. They have been seen historically as dangerous by Europeans. Ghosts or spirits are feared and avoided because of the danger inherent in encounters with them.

This belief that the dead more likely than not will be malevolent is one of the reasons that Europeans have traditionally buried their relatives in cemeteries, which are essentially cities of the dead physically separated from the living. Most religions maintain a belief in powerful supernatural beings with individual identities and recognizable attributes. These beings are usually thought of as gods or goddesses. Another term for them is deities. Like spirits, they have individual identities and recognizable attributes. However, gods and goddesses are more powerful than spirits and other lesser supernatural beings -- they can effectively alter all of nature and human fortunes.

As a result, they are commonly worshipped and requests are made of them to help in times of need. Religions differ in the number of gods that their followers believe exist. A belief that there is only one god is referred to as monotheism. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are examples of monotheistic religions.

In contrast, a belief in more than one god is known as polytheism. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion. When there are many gods in a religion, they are typically ranked relative to each other in terms of their powers and their interests. The supreme god is often an otiose deity. That is, he or she established the order of the universe and is now remote from earthly concerns ("otiose" is Greek for "at rest). As a result, otiose deities are usually almost ignored in favor of lesser gods who take an interest in the everyday affairs of humans.

There is unclear distinction between monotheism and polytheism. For instance, some scholars have argued that monotheism's, such as Catholicism, are actually de facto polytheism's for many of the faithful. From this perspective, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the saints are prayed to for guidance and help as if they were minor gods themselves. While the Christian God is considered all powerful, he is often not the one who is turned to by Catholics during life crises, perhaps, because he is essentially an otiose deity. Hinduism is also more complex than it may seem initially. In India and Bali, Hindus can be observed passionately worshipping hundreds of different gods.

This fits the classic description of a polytheistic religion. However, from the point of view that these many gods are only different manifestations of the supreme god, Shiva (or Vishnu or Krishna); Hinduism can also be interpreted as a monotheism. Minor supernatural beings are not spirits, gods, humans, or other natural beings. People do not pray to them for help.

Yet these beings have some supernatural capabilities. In European folk tradition, leprechauns, elves, and pixies were minor supernatural beings. They were human-like in appearance and personality but could do things that were beyond the abilities of humans. Minor supernatural beings often have a "trickster" role -- they fool people, do outlandish things, and disappear. For instance, some rural people in Ireland in the past believed that elves steal boy children, so mothers dressed their young sons like girls to avoid their being taken.

For the Indians of Western North America, coyote was believed to disarm powerful people with his words and then magically steal what they valued most.