The Anthropology of Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft

Chapter 8: Souls, Ghosts, and Death 

Chapter Summary

Multiple Choice Questions 

The U.S. Civil War led to the widespread use of which funerary process?

Hauntings are associated with all of the following except:

Which popular U.S. holiday is associated with the Celtic celebration of Samheim, when the realms of the living and the dead were believed to be in closest contact?

Burial practices that are meant to protect the living from the dead are called:

In which culture do we see the use of effigies in funeral practices?

Sample Essay Questions

3 Essay Questions with Sample Answers 

  1. Question: Describe the different meanings of the soul in Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. 

    Answer: In all three faith traditions the soul is believed to survive the death of the individual. In Catholicism, the soul exists for one lifetime on earth and then needs to be purified after death because it must be in a state of perfection to reunite with God. Therefore, it enters Purgatory for a varying amount of time depending on the quality of moral life the individual has lived. In Hinduism the soul is also immortal but will progress through a process of reincarnation and karma, being reborn in various bodies until it is perfected and liberated from this cycle (called samsara). In Buddhism the soul is not considered immortal, even though it may be reincarnated based on one’s karma. Instead, in Buddhism the ultimate goal is to reach Nirvana, let go of the separate self, and be rejoined to the Whole. 
  1. Question: Compare and contrast vampires and zombies. 

    Answer: Both are examples of the dead returning to life and both have negative associations and. Contrasting them, vampires are believed to be someone who has recently died and who returns to kill others. People fear vampires. And a (Haitian) zombie is someone is soulless and believed to be enslaved to someone else. They pose little danger besides serving as a social control mechanism to others to not fall under the spell of others and to strengthen their ti-bonaj. 
  1. Question: What does the typical U.S. funeral today tell us about the way many non-Indigenous North Americans view death? 

    Answer: They tend to be removed from death and uncomfortable with it. They use processes and services that separate them from the body, such as funeral homes, caskets, and various types of embalming. Mourning in public is restrained.  

Case Studies 

In his 1986 classic, ESP, Hauntings, and Poltergeists: A Parapsychologist’s Handbook, Loyd Auerbach claims that ghostly activity cannot be recorded by modern technology. Since then, ghost hunters have employed infrared cameras, EMF field meters, EVP recorders, and other devices. Watch the short clips from the first season of Ghost Hunters and comment. Do you think that they captured ghostly activity? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umlMTX4FSbk – Ghost Hunters: Ghost caught on camera at the Burley Hospital. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrhCVKZ5nGo – Ghost Hunters: Haunted staircase creaks at night. 

Study Questions

  1. If permitted, visit a cemetery and observe the different types of burial—underground, vault, no tombstone. What are some common designs? Are there numerous burial vaults? Is there a potter’s field? Do the different types of burials signify social class differences? What types of symbols and mementos do you observe? 
  1. Have you ever encountered a ghost? Does your family have a ghost story? If so, describe the encounter. Do you consider the experience real or a hallucination?  
  1. Describe the customs associated with contemporary Halloween festivals. How have they changed from the past? What evidence do you find of “souls, ghosts, and death” in the celebration of this holiday? 
  1. Many Hollywood horror films depict images of ghosts, vampires, and zombies. Are these Hollywood images similar or different from how they appear in films from different cultural traditions? 
  1. Have you ever attended a funeral? If so, how was it like or unlike the traditional funeral described in this chapter? 
  1. Why do you think cultures, including our own, put so much emphasis on souls? 

Suggested Readings 

Auerbach, Loyd. Hauntings and Poltergeists. A Ghost Hunter’s Guide (Berkeley, CA: Ronin Publishing, 2004). A ghost hunter’s guide from one of the leading paranormal investigators in the U.S. 

Bannatyne, Leslie Pratt. Halloween. An American Holiday, and American Tradition (Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing Company, 2005). The history of Halloween from the earliest blending of traditions to contemporary Halloween. 

Guilley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits (New York: Checkmark Books, 2007). A paranormal investigator explores worldwide hauntings and phantasmal events to examine notions of the survival of bodily death. 

Harrington, Nicola. Living with the Dead: Ancestor Worship and Mortuary Ritual in Ancient Egypt (Studies in Funerary Archaeology)(Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2012). Based on archaeological and ethnographic data, the authors examine ancient Egyptian religious practices connecting the living and the dead. 

Janelli, Roger. Ancestor Worship and Korean Society (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1992). A study of ancestor worship and lineage organization in Korea. 

Kübler-Ross, Elizabeth. On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy, and their Own Families (New York: Scribner Reissue, 2014). The fifty year anniversary edition of Kübler-Ross’s classic that discusses the Five Stages of Grief.  

Scott, Beth and Michael Norman, Haunted Heartland. Ghost Stories from the American Midwest (Madison, WI: Stanton & Lee Publishers, 1985). A collection of ghost stories collected by the authors from interviews. 

Fiction 

Brooks, Max. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006). A fictional account of survivors of the zombie apocalypse that was made into a movie starring Brad Pitt. 

Suggested Websites  

https://usghostadventures.com/ – website allows viewers to book ghost tours in 60 US cities. 

https://ghostlyactivities.com/ – advice to novice ghost hunters and features podcasts about ghost hunters, recent sightings, and ghost-hunting equipment. 

https://zombieresearchsociety.com/ – informs readers about the historic, cultural, and scientific study of the living dead. George Romero was a board member until his death in 2017. 

https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/vampire-history – this History Channel website explores the folklore associated with vampires. 

https://www.eterneva.com/resources/death-rituals – death rituals, ceremonies, and burial practices around the world are discussed in this website. 

https://www.findingdulcinea.com/what-happens-to-your-soul-when-you-die/ – provides cross-cultural beliefs about the afterlife. 

Suggested Video 

Death Ritual in Ladakh (2013, Barrie Machin, 32 minutes). Examines burial and death rituals in Ladakh, India. 

The Last Rites of the Honourable Mr. Rai (2007, Jayasinjhi Jhala, 46 minutes). A film about cremation in the holy Hindu city, Varanesi, India. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umlMTX4FSbk – Ghost Hunters: Ghost caught on camera at the Burley Hospital. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrhCVKZ5nGo – Ghost Hunters: Haunted staircase creaks at night. 

Coco (2017, Pixar Animation). Film examines Mexican Day of the Dead and customs and beliefs surrounding death. 

Seven Years in Tibet (1997, Jean-Jacques Annaud). Based on Heinrich Harrer’s 1952 book about his experiences in Lhasa, Tibet meeting the reincarnated 14th Dalai Lama. 

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