Elia's Epilepsy In Hmong Culture

In chapter 3 of the “Sacred Quest” the book discusses “the ways in which the Sacred is manifested in the world of human experience” (39). In particular, the book discusses examples of sacred persons, objects, time, and space. The Sacred Quest states that there is a pattern in religions and breaks them up into 3 types of sacred appearance: prophetic, sacramental, and mystical. The first, prophetic, is associated most with Judaism and Islam, focusing on a person or prophet. The second is most apparent in Christianity, which emphasizes the presence of the sacred through aspects of material reality and stresses the role of priests.

They offer an explanation when presented with the death of a young adult, or when someone who seems to be of relatively good health becomes ill (Barker 2008:129). For example, the death of a young woman named Mona was blamed on sorcery in order to provide an explanation to the villagers since there were given no medical reason (Barker 2008:125). Barker concluded that although Christianity does not believe in sorcery, and both methods of understanding have different views, they can and do coexist in harmony within the Maisin people (Barker 2008:134). Hedican’s textbook “Social Anthropology” discusses the coexistence of Christianity and traditional beliefs among the Mi’Kmaq.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down opened my eyes to a new perspective of embracing cultural diversity as I compared the Hmong culture to my own. In today’s society, everyone has that sense of ethnocentrism. Most of society takes for granted how blessed they are. For example, my culture typically lives in nice neighborhoods and areas that are not primarily secluded. We take pride in the houses we build and the amenities in them, such as toilets and refrigerators.

There are many perceptions about the Devil’s Tower for many tribes and Native Americans. For the Lakota people the Devil’s Tower is a place of worship and sacred ground, is is the “center of life” for them. The name the use to call the Devil's tower is Mato Tipila, which literally means the “The Lodge of the Bear”. The legend is that the Devil’s Tower was created to save a group of boys fleeing from a bear. They also believe that if a man had a deteriorating heath, mind, and spiritually was to go in it, he would come out as rejuvenated and with “excellent health”.

What he thought was once a peaceful community where they learned about the Kabbalah and spent time with his family was now home to destruction, dust, and pure memories. This memoir has many important themes and

1. Walt certainly demonstrates the term culture bound in the movie. He was an angry neighbor that if anyone’s ball went into his yard, it was long gone. To me it felt like Walt’s views were fenced in his own house and weren’t going to change. Surprisingly, by the end of the movie, he opened up to his Hmong neighbors next door.

Ethnomedicine has been historically defined as any healthcare system not present in the West; now, ethnomedicine is defined as the any cultural beliefs which surround healing in a community. The Hmong—an ethnic group located within present day Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand—have a particular system of ethnomedicine which is described as personalistic. Within a personalistic system, an active agent is the underlying cause of a disease—or etiology. Humans can be the cause of the disease as well as a number of non-human and supernatural agents. When Lia Lee began seizing at three months of age, her parents understood that the active agent which caused her epilepsy was a door slamming which caused her soul to fly from her body, an illness called quag

Along with this concept went the idea that when disorder was present in one area, things would go wrong in other areas as well (Melani). In particular, the areas that this was thought to apply to were family, state, and nature (Melani). The Great

They perform rituals that allow man to avoid these characteristics in the course of the powerful influences of the ceremony. A shrine is dedicated to practice the rituals. An interesting point the author made was how the tribes base their rank. Rather than having more wealth they focus more on how many shrines are in ones house; the more shrine the more power. Wealth doesn’t bring serenity compared to how health does.

Anaya proved god was not the only way to resolve problems, a mixture of religion and culture is necessary for growth, and god is not the only entity protecting people throughout their lives. Anaya’s purpose of promoting syncretism was exceptionally described through Ultima’s cures juxtaposed with Catholicism in his novel. The juxtaposition found in Bless Me, Ultima is and enlightening creation, able to bring harmony between two different cultures without war: “wisdom and experience allow one to look beyond difference to behold unity,” (Kanoza, 1999). For this reason, Anaya’s novel had the influence to create a whole new genre; Chicano

Language plays an important role in one’s culture. Not only is it used for every day communication, it is also used to pass down stories in some cultures. In The Latehomecomer, the language difference between the Hmong and Americans causes problems for the Yang family. However, the Hmong language is very important to their people. They use it to pass down stories, which is an important part of their culture.

Throughout the Medusa’s Hair Obeyesekere notes the importance of a gradual incorporation of symbolism into the behaviors of female ascetics, which result in resolving their overbearing experiences and putting pressure on the religious involvement instead. Thus, his interpretation of this fusion consists of three analogous elements, the existence of correlation between symptom and an emotional context, the usage of symbol as a unique solution for an individual’s crisis and, ultimately, applying a religious form to the concluding role transformation. Symptom and its personal background First, the deep motivation hidden behind the painful experiences of an individual leads to the establishment of the behaviors and aberrations which are further resurfaced in a form of a symptom.

A sacred space is often distinguished from other spaces by its atmosphere and connection to the transcendent or otherworldly. Many features of the space, such as its architecture, lighting, and décor, create an aesthetic that is conducive to one’s experience of spirituality within the space. While sacred spaces are frequently defined by religious institutions as either temples, shrines, churches, or mosques, they are not necessarily limited to such conventional categories. For example, Native American tribes regarded caves or other natural wonders as sacred; some spaces do not have to fit strict religious molds to be venerated.

The role of the epilogist is to respond to the Qohelet’s teaching. The epilogist agrees with some of Qohelet’s teaching and also maintains healthy tensions of the contradictions as mentioned in the book. At the same time the epilogist directs readers to God with emphasis to fear God and keep his commandments. In the following I will first discuss the genre, structure, voices and ideologists in the books. Then I will move on to discuss the role of the epilogist based on above understandings.

Book Review- Mircea Eliade: The Sacred & The Profane -Mahika Banerji -S153DSC23 -M.A. Sociology 3rd semester Eliade begins his text by making a distinctive divide between the “sacred” and the “profane” and thus grants them a definition. The sacred in order to maintain its sanctity is a separate, abstract entity.