3. Above the natural

Edward Tylor “belief in spiritual beings” ( 1873)
Supernatural/sacred are culture specific
 Gods,
etc.
spirits, ghosts, paranormal activities

4. 
Diversity of cultural meanings
 “Belief"
is difficult in the cross-cultural
perspective
 Americans: May believe in God,
channeling, spiritualism
 Zunii: This is not a concept that makes
sense
 Religion is the doing/ practice

5. By definition, science seeks naturalistic
explanations for physical phenomena. It does not
study the supernatural.”
By Edward J. Larson
 Malinowski suggested:

 based
on rational understanding and
Science: Instrumental (does things).

6. •
Religion:
Based on belief/faith, works through the
beseeching of the supernatural (prayer).

7. % OF BELIEVE
•God
•Heaven
•Hell
•Psychic and spiritual
healing
96%
93%
85%
54%
•Haunting houses
•Possession by the devil
•Ghosts o dead people
returning
50%
41%
38%

8. 



Hallucinations
Schizophrenia
Split personality
Anxiety

9. 

Conducted a study with 366 respondents in South
Africa, where biomedical and traditional healing
practices are both widely available.
Participants of all age groups agreed with biological
explanations for at least one event.

10. 


Yet supernatural explanations frequently supported
among children (ages 5 and up) and universally
among adults.
Among the adult participants, only 26 percent
believed the illness could be caused by either by any
supernatural force.
While 38 percent split biological and scientific
explanations into one theory.

11. “ If anything, in both industrialized
and developing countries,
supernatural explanations are
frequently endorsed more often
among adults than younger children”

12. 


Also called “Japan’s
forest of death”.
Consider as a suicide
forest by researchers
because of the way
bodies found.
Group of 5 American
students visited forest ,3
of them are still missing
and 2 were save.