Ancestor Worship in Religion

Religion is a variable that changes greatly among different societies, but with such a diverse area of study available, certain groups have chosen to delve deeper into the world of religion. More specifically, they examine the various viable modes of cognition to handle the unknown. There are two main categories that anthropologists are placed into- cultural or physical anthropology.

Physical anthropology deals with the study of human and nonhuman primate evolution and form. It also includes osteology, primatology, and ethology. Cultural anthropology is the study of human groups; it includes archeology, ethnography, ethnology, ethno history, oral history and linguistics. Specifically, within cultural anthropology there are certain sub-disciplines that help with the analysis of religion within a society. Ethnology is comparative culture studies while ethnography is the observation and description of cultures. These two are very important parts of studying religions, but another sub-discipline that can be of use is oral history, which is the study of information transmitted across generations by word of mouth.

Using the three sub-disciplines of anthropology, which include ethnography, ethnology, and oral history, anthropologists can compare and contrast religions varying from society to society. There are many religions that are practiced in North America because it is a place of great diversity. A way that ancestor worship, in particular, is practiced is by the religious observance of Ifa. A spiritual leader Phillip John Meimark comments on the importance of ancestor worship during Kwanzaa when he says, "ancestor worship is our connection to the past and our road map to a better future". Another example of spiritual worship is expressed during the Dia De Los Muertos which, translated, means the day of the dead. During the ceremonies, participants in the festivities remember their loved ones who have passed on. They offer foods, flowers, and many lit candles to draw the spirit back to the world of the living so that they may have a chance to connect with them once again. Memorial Day in America is a day devoted to remembering and commemorating fallen heroes of war.

Yet, ancestor worship in comparison to modern-day scientific beliefs differs greatly. Scientific evidence would suggest that the person, as a whole, ends with the body at the time of death. Another comparison that can be made is between the beliefs in ancestor worship to the belief in supernatural deities. Ancestor worship deals with the belief that ancestors are watching over the living and do make an impact in their lives on a day-to-day basis. On the other hand, the belief in supernatural deities involves the idea that there are otherworldly beings or forces that impact the lives of normal humans on a day-to-day basis.

I believe that ancestor worship will persist for quite sometime but as we, as a society become more advances technologically, we will move away from it more and more. Ancestor worship is more prevalent in societies that are more uncertain than our complex civilization, which tends to be quite stable. When people have to worry everyday about whether they can gather enough food to eat or whether the rain they desperately need for crops will come, it is more comforting to believe that their ancestors are watching out for them than to believe that they are on their own in the universe, fending for themselves. In our society in particular, I think that ancestor worship will die out faster than many other places in the world because we are such a technologically driven society, constantly making new discoveries and advances in science and increasing our knowledge of the universe.

Works Cited

Conrad, Kottack P. Cultural Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity. Ann Arbor: , 2004.