Book

Roster of the gods: an ethnography of the supernatural in a Thai village

Human Relations Area FilesNew Haven, Conn.Published In 1973 • Pages: 3, 44, 911 leaves

By: Textor, Robert B., Cornell University. Southeast Asia Program, Yale University. Southeast Asia Studies.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study attempts to describe naturalistically, and to analyze, the cognitive, structural, and functional aspects of one major sub-domain of the total domain of religio-magical belief and behavior in Bang Chan, a rural village in central Thailand. This sub-domain, which Textor terms the “amoral-manipulative system,” consists of 114 “supernatural objects,” i.e., spirits, ghosts, sacred objects, and various other culturally standardized entities that possess supernatural power to reward or punish an individual. Textor shows how villagers make choices among supernatural objects culturally available to them as they seek to achieve a particular reward or avoid a particular punishment.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Magical and mental therapy
Burial practices and funerals
Cult of the dead
Religious beliefs
Religious practices
Prophets and ascetics
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Central Thai
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Asia
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southeast Asia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnographer
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
David Sherwood ; 1984
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1952-1971
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1952-1971
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Bang Chan, Thailand
NotesAdditional notes
by Robert B. Textor
The household survey on which Textor bases certain
Includes bibliographical references (p. 829)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
82202960
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Thais