The Differential Evaluation of Religious Risk Rituals Involving Serpents in Two Cultures
While serpent symbolism is common in many religious traditions, few traditions have including the actual handling of serpents that can maim and kill in their rituals. Two exceptions are various Manasa sects common in India and the serpent handlers of Appalachia in America. We presented brief descrip...
| Published in: | Studia religiologica |
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| Authors: | ; ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Wydawn. Uniw. Jagiellońskiego
2013
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| In: |
Studia religiologica
Year: 2013, Volume: 46, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-15 |
| Further subjects: | B
Serpent Handling Sects of Appalachia
B Manasa Sect of Hinduism B Religious Risk Rituals B psychologia religii B Behavior Evaluation B percepcja B Perception B hinduistyczny kult bogini Manasa B psychology of religion B ewaluacja zachowania B rytuały religijne związane z ryzykiem B wspólnoty praktykujące poskramianie węży z regionu Appalachów |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | While serpent symbolism is common in many religious traditions, few traditions have including the actual handling of serpents that can maim and kill in their rituals. Two exceptions are various Manasa sects common in India and the serpent handlers of Appalachia in America. We presented brief descriptions of each of these traditions along with videos of the handling of serpents in each tradition under three degrees of risk, video with no serpents, video with serpents but no bites, video with serpents and bites. Under a fourth condition only for the Appalachian handlers, the video showed a handler dying from a bite. American, largely Christian participants rated assessed each condition for ritual quality and perceived legitimacy. As predicted, serpent handling in America was perceived as less legitimate than serpent handling in India. No differences were found between perceived legitimacy and level of risk except in the condition where a handler was seen dying from a bite. |
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| ISSN: | 2084-4077 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Studia religiologica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.4467/20844077SR.13.001.1222 |