Editing Anthropology of religion (section)

== Definition of religion ==

One major problem in the anthropology of religion is the definition of religion itself.{{sfn|Eller|2007|p=7}} At one time{{vague|date=April 2015}} anthropologists believed that certain religious practices and beliefs were more or less universal to all cultures at some point in their development, such as a belief in spirits or [[ghost]]s, the use of [[magic (religion)|magic]] as a means of controlling the [[supernatural]], the use of [[divination]] as a means of discovering occult knowledge, and the performance of [[ritual]]s such as [[prayer]] and [[sacrifice]] as a means of influencing the outcome of various events through a supernatural agency, sometimes taking the form of [[shamanism]] or [[ancestor worship]].{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} According to [[Clifford Geertz]], religion is
{{blockquote|"(1) a system of symbols which acts to (2) establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by (3) formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."{{sfn|Geertz|1966|p=4}}}}

Today, religious anthropologists debate, and reject, the cross-cultural validity of these categories (often viewing them as examples of European [[primitivism]]).{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}  Anthropologists have considered various criteria for defining religion &ndash; such as a belief in the supernatural or the reliance on ritual &ndash; but few claim that these criteria are universally valid.{{sfn|Eller|2007|p=7}}

[[Anthony F. C. Wallace]] proposes four categories of religion, each subsequent category subsuming the previous. These are, however, synthetic categories and do not necessarily encompass all religions.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rathman |first=Jessica |title=Anthony Francis Clarke Wallace |url=http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/uvwxyz/wallace_anthony.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030927142508/http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/uvwxyz/wallace_anthony.html |archive-date=27 September 2003 |access-date=22 November 2017}}</ref>

# Individualistic: most basic; simplest. Example: [[vision quest]].
# Shamanistic: part-time religious practitioner, uses religion to heal, to divine, usually on the behalf of a client. The [[Tillamook (tribe)|Tillamook]] have four categories of shaman. Examples of shamans: spiritualists, faith healers, palm readers. Religious authority acquired through one's own means.
# Communal: elaborate set of beliefs and practices; group of people arranged in clans by lineage, age group, or some religious societies; people take on roles based on knowledge, and ancestral worship.
# Ecclesiastical: dominant in agricultural societies and states; are centrally organized and hierarchical in structure, paralleling the organization of states. Typically deprecates competing individualistic and shamanistic cults.