essay
Training for the priesthood among the Kogi of Colombia
Enculturation in Latin America : an anthology • Los Angeles • Published In 1976 • Pages: 265-288
By: Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This article is a description of the engrossing and rigorous training of Kogi native priests, an eighteen year trial in which a child of two or three years of age is taken from his home to live with a priest (mama) and his family in an isolated upland ceremonial center. For the first nine years the novitiate lives a nocturnal existence, not allowed to see daylight or even the light of a full moon. He learns by rote the priestly language, songs and dances. At puberty he returns to his natal home, but after a short stay returns for another nine-year period of instruction, which includes learning moral precepts through the exposition of tales and myths. The object of the early period of training is to alter the normal perception of time and space, thus enabling priests to manipulate the cycles of nature for society's benefit. The asceticism also serves to induce altered states of consciousness which is a necessary part of priestly divinatory practice. Socially, the training makes the priest an aloof and cold individual whose object is self-purification and the quest for more intimacy with the supernatural.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Personality traits
- Religious beliefs
- Religious practices
- Priesthood
- Socialization
- Educational theory and methods
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kogi
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1997
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Northwestern South America
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- not specified
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia
- NotesAdditional notes
- Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 288)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 76620078
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kagaba Indians