The Ohio Hopewell Episode: Paradigm Lost and Paradigm Gained

12. The Seip and Harness Great House CBLs

Name /uap04/22015_u12 04/28/04 01:52PM Plate # 0-Composite pg 269 # 1 ⫺1 0 ⫹1 269 Chapter 12 T H E S E I P A N D H A R N E S S G R E A T H O U S E C B L S The Ecclesiastic-Communal Cult Model is an ancillary of the Dual Autonomous Cult Model. It is designed to apply to two of the three Middle Woodland earthwork traditions, the Miami Fort and the Chillicothe Traditions. It claims that these were characterized generally as two separate networks of complex autonomous cults that, as postulated under the Autonomous Cult Model, emerged from the preexisting Adena system of simple autonomous cults. These complex organizations will be termed ecclesiastic-communal cults. As discussed earlier, the Mt. Horeb (Adena) may have maintained systems of simple autonomous senior and junior age-grade cults into the middle Middle Woodland in Kentucky, West Virginia, the Hocking Valley of southeastern Ohio, and possibly in east-central Indiana.1 However, this claim may have to be modified in the light of further research since it is possible, particularly with regard to east-central Indiana, that local expressions of the Mt. Horeb Tradition emerged as variant forms of ecclesiasticcommunal cults.2 a structural theory of religion Before laying out the Ecclesiastic-Communal Cult Model, it is necessary to summarize Wallace’s cultic view of religion since this will serve as the theoretical framework of this cult model. However, since Name /uap04/22015_u12 04/28/04 01:52PM Plate # 0-Composite pg 270 # 2 270 a n i m m a n e n t e c o l o g y ⫺1 0 ⫹1 his theory is generally applicable to monistic modular social systems, some significant modifications will need to be made. Wallace characterizes cults in terms of their social organization and suggests a fourfold typology: individualistic, shamanic, communal, and ecclesiastical.3 Individualistic and shamanic cult institutions are situation-dependent in organization. The individualistic cult is ephemeral, realized as an individual periodically and directly interacts ritually with her/his companion spirit(s). In Native American religious practices, either party can instigate this interaction.4 A powerful spirit can appear before a subject and become her/his companion spirit. Often this event occurs as part of a vision quest in which a young person undertakes a spiritual journey during which she/he invokes or is confronted by a spirit and they enter into a reciprocal relation involving mutual assistance and sacrifice. The shamanic cult is characterized by the special nature of the shaman. The shaman is usually treated in the literature as an individual who has one or more particularly powerful companion spirits. This does not mean that the power of the shaman is totally dependent on the spirits that she/he can call upon and/or invoke, since among the reasons these spirits have become the shaman’s companions is that she/ he has personal powers or charisma. In any case, a shamanic cult gathering is also usually situation-dependent, emerging when an individual or group requests a shaman to conduct a seance, usually in response to some critical situation, such as illness, poor hunting, and so on. The shaman is expected to achieve some direct resolution, such as curing the sick by driving out hostile spirits or improving the spiritual power of the hunters. With the resolution of the crisis situation, the shamanic seance and cultic posture would dissolve. In contrast to the above cases, the communal cult is much more situation-constitutive. However, in Wallace’s theory the communal cult does not have an independent or autonomous existence and, therefore, it does not have a fully realizable congregational structure. Rather, the congregation is embedded in a relatively autonomous communal organization , such as a lineage, clan, military sodality, and so on, and these are treated by Wallace as different aspects of an overarching mo- Name /uap04/22015_u12 04/28/04 01:52PM Plate # 0-Composite pg 271 # 3 s e i p a n d h a r n e s s g r e a t h o u s e c b l s 271 ⫺1 0 ⫹1 nistic social system. The communal group often works on a schedule and plans in advance to shift into its communal cultic posture. The concerns of the communal cult are linked to human and...