Recent Manifestions of Belief in Embodied Spiritual Power in the Western World

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Embodied Essence: Anthropological, Historical, and Archaeological Perspectives on the Use of Body Parts and Bodily Substances in Religious Beliefs and Practices" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

When considering the claim that it has long been common for people to attribute spiritual power to certain body parts and bodily substances of humans and nonhuman animals and incorporate them into their religious beliefs and practises, there is a tendency for us, modern Westerners, to exoticize the phenomenon. We are liable to view it as something done by non-Western societies and ancient cultures rather than something we do. In the present paper, we hope to show that this is a mistaken framing. By highlighting both instances from the last few hundred years of Western history and contemporary examples, we will try to demonstrate that the belief that certain body parts and bodily substances of humans and nonhuman animals possess spiritual power has very much been part of the conceptual repertoire of the West in the modern period and still is for many Westerners. ‘Embodied spiritual power’ is neither an alien belief nor an extinct one. It is one of our civilization’s collection of ideas and it is still very much alive.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Embodied Essence: Anthropological, Historical, and Archaeological Perspectives on the Use of Body Parts and Bodily Substances in Religious Beliefs and Practices   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39563.0