How to analyze supernatural phenomena anthropologically

1. What is the nature of the power? Internal/external/transitional
2. What is the source of power?
3. How is it channeled?
4. How is it used? What area is it effective in?
5. Note how the power is activated/requested e.g invocations
6. What is its magical nature? E.g. Imitative/contagious/infectious

Magic

3 ways to categorize it

• Transitional - power only there for a while - possession, mediums, trances, altered states etc. 
• Internal - power coming from within the person that is always there - psychic, evil eye, prophecy, visions, witchcraft. 
• External - power through manipulating objects - spells, formulas, invocations, sorcery.

Types of magic

• Sympathetic - imitative ritual e.g. Rain dances, hunting rituals
• Contagious - power transferred through physical contact with objects in ritual e.g voodoo
• Infectious- power transferred through rituals that send results over distances e.g. Sending curses, Pointing the bone

The problem with magic

1. It's delusional

2. It's illusional

3. It's demonic based - promotes Satans' lies, inspires faith in false gods, represents levels of power in Satans' hierarchy. Example in scripture - divination being lies (1 kings 22)

Life cycle rituals

Life cycle rituals in all cultures 

• Birth ceremonies - acknowledge new member of society
• Initiation ceremonies - prepare people for new role and responsibilities in society e.g quests to prepare young warriors to see if they can endure pain, (Jesus visiting Jerusalem was probably part of his Bar Mitzvah)
• Marriage ceremony- defines sexual access and the transfer of reproductive potential, as well as the responsibility for care of that woman. There is no natural culture in the world where promiscuous sex is allowed with no rules, though there are some that allow polyandry (multiple brothers marrying one woman) etc. In PNG, you make a little payment to get to sleep with your bride, but you are only officially married once the first child has been born and they make the final payment. 
• Funerals - most complicated because the ceremony tries to give a fuller understanding about death - causes, attitudes towards death, beliefs of afterlife, relationship between living and dead, grieving, treatment of corpse, adjusting to living with the absence of the dead.

Be careful what you study

This semester I am taking a class called the "dynamics of religion". It covers all the experiences of the supernatural in different cultures and world views, including folk religions, witchcraft, ghosts etc.

Since starting it I have been woken twice by hearing a female voice in my room, a strange one in the morning , and in the afternoon a young friend calling my name, but both times no one was there. That same young friend was also staying with me, and she twice heard someone call her name but no one was there. 

My young friend did not know what I was studying till after she heard these voices. I don't know what it is, but talking to Thai people, it seems this is a common experience and they advise to not answer and to not turn your head. In fact at least every second person here in Thailand believes that they've seen a ghost and the amount of stories and evidence here is wild, huge especially compared to my western experience. 

So I was a little unnerved and I was home alone. I got into bed and opened my bible, finishing off my reading on the end of Jeremiah and the beginning of Lamentations. As I was reading, it struck me that I served a God who raised and destroyed empires, like the fall of Jerusalem. A God who could crush a pesky ghost like a gnat. And on that note, I fell soundly asleep.

Understanding world view

Charles Kraft's fundamental world view orientations
1. Everyone needs order and logic, classification and categorization of their world. That's why we name and see pictures in stars and name animals and plants into species etc. Western science focuses a lot on organizing the world. A tribal people might classify into domestic versus wild.
2. Everyone needs an identity and a way to relate to other people's identity. Like babies when they start to figure out that they are a separate person from mum. You need to work out what identity you fit into with the people you minister to, otherwise when you constantly break the mold you confuse them, for example, in Thailand I am an older sister to some and a younger sister to others but I still have a place in the family hierarchy.
3. Need to have a sense of cause and effect. Ty to find explanations for random or unknown phenomena. Like getting sick- some cultures may blame germs or mosquitoes, some cultures may blame spirits or an internal imbalance or energy etc. Or blame karma. So when people are convinced that they are sick from spiritual causes, if you deny it you have shut the door to minister to them further. Instead heal both the spirit and the body.
4. Everyone needs a time orientation. We need to work it where we are at in a sequence of events or time continuum. It's the year 2555 here in Thailand by the way.
5. Everyone needs to have a sense of where they are in space. Geographical and physical location.
6. Everyone needs relationships

Seven existential questions of any religion

I'm currently studying the dynamics of religion, looking at experiences all around the world. This was an interesting common theme to me- questions everyone asks. Then I write after my own opinion of what me faith says.

1. Is there life after death?
Yes
2. Is there supernatural healing for illness?
Yes, though sometimes He chooses not to.
3. Is there supernatural power for success?
Some people think there's set formula where money or ritual goes in and success comes out, but I think this is more accurate of the way it works
" Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:6-7
4. Is there supernatural power to protect me?
Yes, but sometimes He chooses not to, after all, even Jesus died.
5. What is the cause of and answer to evil?
The combination of Satan and humans, stemming from the original fall.
6. What is the meaning of life?
Love God, love people and try to leave something of lasting spiritual value before you go.
7. Is there purpose in suffering?
Sometimes it's training character or changing people for the better, sometimes it's just the result of living in a fallen world.

Social justice

Social justice is a really hot topic right now in pop culture. It's now cool to have fair trade items, eat organic, join Facebook groups for a cause, buy the rubber bracelet/badge/tshirt and maybe even occupy wall street etc. Living in Thailand where human trafficking and poverty are daily realities, I feel that it is good that people are being made more aware that there is a world that suffers. The key for us as Christians is to not just superficially band-aid it and instead realize two things:
1) There will be no lasting change without God. I have seen so much of the dependency created by aid handouts. You can feed people immediately and that is good, but the long term problems leading to their poverty and hunger are not going to go away until there is real heart change in individuals. There will always be victims until the hearts of predators are transformed. And when enough hearts are changed, then a whole culture can change to be more like the Kingdom of God on earth. And the only power big enough to effect this kind of change is the transforming love of Jesus Christ, doing His thing in peoples lives.
2) Sometimes when we look at the world's problems, we might get overwhelmed and want to throw up our hands and say 'it's too big, too difficult to fix' and retreat into the sanctuary of our comfortable daily life. We need to remember that it is God in control. We are not responsible for fixing the whole world, we are simply going to be held responsible for doing what God has asked of us. I like to think of it as a little garden plot in the world that he gives us to tend. My garden plot is here in Chiangmai, Thailand, although it has recently expanded to include Asia and that is a little unnerving, but he also gives the gardening tools. I would encourage you all to open your hearts to just ask God what garden plot he has set for you to tend, whether it be supporting or even going into missions overseas, helping out at the homeless shelter or even just reaching out to a lonely neighbour in your community.
I think this is how we effect real lasting change in the world, and we don't do it primarily because the world needs it (because you'll get burnt out if that's your main motivation), we do it because we serve a loving God and He is worth it.