Belief and the logic of Lisu spirits

Abstract

De Waal Malefijt writes that, religious systems have in common the embodiment of sacred (1968: 146). Culturally held cogni tions about the nature of the supernatural are basic to any religious system ..., she continues (146), perhaps equating belief with culturally held cognitions. Although the belief in impersonal supernatural powers not universal, the belief in personified supernatural powers is (149). In section of his book entitled 'Belief, Wallace (1966: 71) writes that beliefs make ritual meaningful. A belief system includes cosmology and values. A cosmology includes pantheon, myth, and substantive beliefs. A pantheon is, a list of the supernatural beings whom the members of the community believe to exist. He presents list of super natural beings in which the people of his natal community believe. He notes that only children believe in some of these: the Easter Rabbit, and Santa Glaus (72). While not everyone believed in all of the beings on