Glossary of Terms

11:07 PM Michael 0 Comments

"Art: artifact with a surplus of decoration/ornament. Artifact vs. ecofact?
Content (subject v. object): intrinsic meaning
Iconography: study of images; Iconology: study of what images mean.
Civilization: defined in different ways in the past by colonial powers and based on Social Darwinism with a focus on the written word (in western sense of writing) cities, centralized rule, division of labor creating a leisure class, etc. In other words, cultures that reflected the western idea of civilized. Defined by cultural evolution theories (Social Darwinism), which began with primitive/barbaric to civilized (19th-century western classification, categorization).

The interconnectedness of all (reflections of a shamanic worldview):
Consubstantiality: all in the universe share a common life force or energy, although some things or individuals have more than others. 
Cyclicality: based on experience of celestial and earthly activity, including seasons; agricultural, human, and animal cycles of birth, life and deaht, leading to regeneration; and other obvious cycles; life from death continuum.
Ancestors: key players in human society (recognition of at least two realities, human and extra-human, and their interaction). 
Balance and reciprocity: maintenance of harmony or equilibrium and exchange in the cosmos; also governs all social interaction."