Confusion prevails in the anthropological literature concerning the nature of spirit possession belief and its effects. In large, this is due to the difficulty in differentiating between culture‐specific categories of altered states of consciousness and reconciling these to analytical categories. Theories of spirit possession tend either toward description of the culture context without reference to outside theories, thus lacking comparability, or toward application of externally derived categories to the possession behavior, which often lack on‐the‐ground relevance. Since comparison is the aim (...) of anthropology, we need categories which enable us to accomplish that and still reflect cultural belief. I propose focusing on "ritual states of consciousness" rather than just altered states, which may or may not be spirit possession according to different criteria. This will enable us to retain the culturally relevant categorization while achieving a useful comparability among cultures. I test this idea by analyzing the Spiritual Baptists of St. Vincent and other Caribbean religions. (shrink)

The numerous perspectives offered on consciousness reflect a multifaceted phenomenon that results from a system of relations. An etymological approach identifies linguistic roots of the meanings of consciousness and illustrates their concern with self-referenced informational relationships of an organism with its environment, a "knowing system" formed in the epistemological relations between knower and known. Common elements of contemporary models suggest that consciousness involves interacting components of a system, including: attention-awareness; phenomenal experiences; self reference; action-behavior, including representations and learning; use of (...) information; interpretation of meaning; goal-directed behavior; and systems of social reference. It is suggested that manifestations of consciousness through the physical properties of the brain are universally represented in language. A preliminary systems model of consciousness is outlined with widespread lexical roots proposed as a culture-neutral framework for constructing theories of consciousness and identifying cognitive constructs which reveal the epistemological roots of consciousness within Indo-European traditions. (shrink)