Non-script

The highest, divine Myths of Creation
Australian Aboriginal beliefs
It was long thought that Aborigines had no religion. “Just
magick.” Superstitious beliefs.
But (1) there are organized beliefs.
But (2) if you view religion as the organization of socio-cultural
activity, in relation to something transcendent, then most of
what Aborigines do is religious.
But (3) if religion is to believe that the world is of transcendent
origin, then the Australian Aboriginal worldview is religious.
(Dreaming.)
Three Central Themes
The relation between…
Man — man.
Man — nature.
Man — the transcendent.

Fertility
The three themes diverge around fertility.
Of man.
Of nature.
Procreation and food.
These themes are explored through religious rites. Among the more
important are life-crisis rites.
Life-cycle rituals
Birth.
Puberty (social rebirth).
Death.

Australian High-Gods
Eliade, nos. 1
The time before this
Bunjil lived among the Kulin, in the time before this.
Benign.
Looked like an old man.
Dreaming (“The time before this”)
“Dream | Blooming 1” by Gavin Bobo (cc-by-sa)
http://flickr.com/photos/2493/525108189/

Dreaming
Not to be confused with nightly dreams.
The eternal dream-time. The spiritual reality.
Something fundamental; that which is truly real. (Cf. Gill!)
Incarnate from dreaming (through mother). [Eliade, nos. 78]
With the initiation rite access is regained. [Eliade, nos. 78]
Returns through the funeral rites. [Eliade, nos. 78]
Dreaming
Incarnate from dreaming (through mother). [Eliade, nos. 78]
With the initiation rite access is regained. [Eliade, nos. 78]
Returns through the funeral rites. [Eliade, nos. 78]
A totem is a link to dreaming.
Holy is, more or less, that which relates to dreaming.

Eliade, nos. 1
Bunjil taught them how the world works; how one should
behave.
Proper behaviour
Among other things: how to form families.
From diﬀerent tribes.
Ceremonies brings groups of tribes together.
Yuin Kuringal being an example.
Eliade, nos. 1
Yuin Kuringal
Initiation rite of boys to men. (Separate rites for women.)
Karangal gathers several tribes; from Manero, Shoalhaven,
Braidwood.
Together they form a group from which a partner is found.
Similar enough. (Culturally.)
Diﬀerent enough. (Genetically.)

From Howitt, A.W. (1904). The Native Tribes of South-East Australia.
New York, MacMillan and Co. Page 202.
Eliade, nos. 1
“You Yangs Bunjil geoglyph” (2007) by TheOriginal BicMac (cc-by-sa-2.5)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:You_Yangs_Bunjil_geoglyph.JPG

Eliade, nos. 1
Bunjil, “Our Father”
“Eagle-Hawk”. (Previous slide.)
His “real name” is seldom used.
More common with Mami-ngata,
our father. (Wurunjery)
Mungan-ngaua. (Kurnai)
Daramulin. (Kuringal-cluster of
tribes)
Or Baiame, the maker. (Kamilaroi)
Eliade, nos. 1
Bunjil (cont.), “Our Father”
Antropomorphic. (Old man.)
Benign.
Incarnates; has taken human form.
Begets children.
Will return.
Takes care of the dead.
Looks at man from above.
Is everywhere — and in heaven.
(Omnipresent paradox.)
“Ku-ring-gai Chase - petroglyph” by Peter Woodard (public domain)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ku-ring-gai_Chase_-_petroglyph.jpg

Eliade, nos. 1
“Biamie’s Cave”[sic] av Tammin Wright (cc-by-sa-3.0)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Biamie%27s_Cave.jpg
African religion
Common Misconceptions
Ancestral worship Yes. But African religion can’t be reduced to
this.
Superstition Neither more or less than other religions.
Animism Yes. But just a part of a larger whole. As with ancestral
worship.
Magick Yes. But not central. See above.

African Religion
General
Cosmogony
Universe is created by the divine.
No common view as to how (or by exactly whom).
As the world is created by god, it’s essentially religious.
God is still creating.
African Religion
General
Cosmology
Two-part world: the visible (earth) and invisible (heaven).
…or…
Three-part world. Heaven; earth; underworld.
In both cases, the parts are not that separated.
Heaven is on earth.
Levels of existence, not substantially diﬀerent.
In both cases, the world is ordered, not chaotic.

African Religion
General: ordered universe
Natural laws, the world is not random. It works in a certain way.
(As the divine intended.)
Moral laws, as stipulated by the divine. For the good of mankind.
So that we shall live happily and harmoniously.
Mystical force, inhabiting the universe.
It’s origin is the divine.
Accessible by some. (Visions, telepathy, clairvoyance,
healing, rainmaking…)
African High-Gods
Common traits
Eliade, nos. 2–7
A maker.
Benign.
Omnipotent.
Omniscient.
A bit ‘higher up’; more distanced.

African High-Gods
Nzambi Mpungu of the Bakongo
Invisible, omnipotent maker.
Lives ‘above’.
Looks upon man, and punishes her.
Doesn’t need worship. Is ‘unreachable’.
Has given rules, which are to be obeyed.
‘Takes away man’ at the hour of death.
African High-Gods
Cghene of the Isoko
“Figure,SouthernIsokopeoples,Nigeria,Earlytomid-20thcentury,
Wood”bycliﬀ1066(cc-by)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2922778845/

African High-Gods
Cghene of the Isoko
Invisible, omnipotent maker.
Is ‘beyond human comprehension’. (Mysterious are his ways…)
Lives ‘above’.
Sends rain, sun and thunder.
Is called ‘Our Father’, but is sexless.
Sexlessness is actually quite common. But (a) diﬃcult to
fathom from our, cultural point of view; (b) hard even to
express in our language.
Punishes evil; rewards goodness.
No temples; no priests; no worship; no rituals. —But an oyise,
a 2.5m high pole used as an intermediary when communicating
with Cghene. Only used in great need.
African High-Gods
Ngai of the Kikuyu
One god; the maker.
Invisible.
Lives ‘above’ and on a mountain. (Omnipresent paradox)
Thunder and lightning are signs of/from him.
Punishes evil; rewards goodness.
Invoked in crisis and life-cycle rites.
Isn’t worshipped in good times. (If all is well, then Ngai must
be happy.)
His name should not be used unnecessarily. (Not used in vain.)

African High-Gods
Ndjambi of the Herero
“Namibieherero0702a”byYvesPicq(cc-by-sa-3.0)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Namibie_herero_0702a.
jpg
African High-Gods
Ndjambi of the Herero
Lives in heaven — but is everywhere. (Omnipresent paradox)
Benign. Only worshipped in crisis or when giving thanks.
Has both a name that is most holy (Ndjambi); and one that
may be used (Karunga). (Cf. [Jehova/Yahve]/Adonai.1)
1
When reading the Hebrew scripture, and God’s name was written, what was
read aloud was Adonai (“Our Lord”) instead of the actual name, Jehova/Yahve.
God’s real name is too holy to use. In fact, Adonai, too, is by some considered
too holy to use when talking about God outside of ritual purposes, and so they
instead refer to God as HaShem (“The Name”).

Africa and Christianity
Gifford
Three stages
Missionary churches.
Independent African churches (AIC).
Peaked around 1960.
Charismatic churches.
Will be focused on here. Increasing rapidly.
Charismatic Churches
Five Themes
Worldly success.
Material wealth.
The holy, the supernatural, is everywhere.
Liberation theology.
Demonic influences hinder the success that would naturally be
there.
By removing said influences, success and wealth is achieved.

Fits well with the worldview of traditional, African religion.
Control and success — harvest and animals; children etc.
The spiritual is everywhere. The sacred and the profane are
two sides of a coin, not substantially diﬀerent.
Religion should explain, predict, and be a tool for controlling
future events.
“Normally” one of Christianity’s weak spots.
“Corrected” through the third wave of charismatic churches.
The charismatic churches receives converts primarily from other
Christian denominations.
Not a uniﬁed group; very varied.

Kenya, statistics
39 million (2009).
22% Kikuyu.
Religious Adherence
83% Christian
11.2% Muslim
2.5% non-religious
1.7% Ethnic religion
50 000 Hindu
Baha’i.
Christian Denominations
47.7% Protestant
23.5% Catholic
621 000 Orthodox
133 000 Quakers
Africa (1033M): religion
A statistical overview
488 Million Christian (47%)
421 Million Muslim (41%)
109 Million ethnic religious (11%)
6 Million agnostic (0.006%)
3 Million Hindu (0.003%)
2 Million Baha’i (0.002%)

Native American
General
Omnipresent life-force, one name used (Dakota) is Wakan.
Everything has Wakan. Living as well as inanimate objects.
Even phenomena like wind and such.
Belief in spirits.
…in visions.
Medicinmen/shamans.
The three life-crisis: birth; puberty; death.
Much variety between the tribes — of which there are a great
number.
Native American
General
Religion, is to live.
To live with the divine is to live in creation — as everything
has got Wakan.
To perform rites is to endeepen your relation with creation.
Theological discussion is less interessting — but to breath is to
pray.
Adherents don’t necessarily claim religious adherence — the
culture as a whole, and ways of living, are seen as spiritual.
Cf. Sami religiosity.
Today, most forms of indigenous belief is inﬂuenced by Christianity.

North-American High-Gods
Wakan Tanka of the Dakota Sioux
“IndianchiefSittingBull(1831–1890)”,photoca.1885.Source:United
StatesLibraryofCongress(publicdomain)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:En-chief-sitting-bull.jpg
Wakan Tanka of the Dakota Sioux
Every object — animate as well as inanimate — has wakan;
spirit.
Wakan is not born; nor does it die.
You can communicate with wakan.
The sum of all wakan, is Wakan Tanka.

Gicelĕmû ’kaong of the Lenape/Delaware
“ Lapowinsa, Chief of the Lenape, 1737”, source: Library of Congress, Washington (public domain)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lapowinsa01.jpg
Gicelĕmû ’kaong of the Lenape/Delaware
Gicelĕmû ’kaong created the earth through his agents, called
mani ’towuk.
Gave the Creation to the Lenape.
Gicelĕmû ’kaong isn’t worshipped directly.
The mani ’towuk are more easily approached.
The Great Spirit lives in the twelfth heaven — but is
everywhere. (Omnipresent paradox)
Only spoken to during important ceremonies.
Twelve shouts to reach. “—Count to ten before you…”

High-Gods of the Pacific Ocean
Io of the Maori
“Maorigodsymbols” from J. White, The Ancient History of the Maori
(Government Printer, Wellington: 1887-1891). (public domain)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maorigodsymbols.jpg
High-Gods of the Pacific Ocean
Io of the Maori
Io is a holy name. —The missionaries completely missed him.
Eternal; omniscient; the maker.
No images is made of Io; no sacrifices.
Esoteric? Maybe. Or: the believers didn’t want to inform the
missionaries of their most holy of holies.
Male-dominated? Maybe. Or: was it the missionaries pre-conceived
notions that gave them this idea? In many ways, the Maori
are more gender-neutral than we are. For instance,
women-priests is not uncommon.

Myths of Creation
Virtually all collections of myths contain an account of how the
world came into being.
They fall, more or less, under one of the following motifs:
Ex Nihilo
Earth Diver
Division of the primordial . . . .unity
Division of the primordial . . . .Being
Cosmogonies
Ex Nihilo
“From nothing.”
Winnebago-tribe (Nebraska)
Our father’s thoughts ⇒ water ⇒ light ⇒ earth ⇒ man’s body ⇒
tongue ⇒ soul ⇒ breath of life.

Cosmogonies
Ex Nihilo
“From nothing.”
Omaha (Nebraska/Iowa)
All was in the mind of Wakonda.
Wakonda, the Maker.
All beings, including man, wandered about as spirits.
They came to earth, which was covered with water.
Suddenly, the ground came to being.
Cosmogonies
Ex Nihilo
“From nothing.”
Uitoto (Colombia)
In the beginning, all there was, was an illusion.
Illusion came to be through our father’s, Nainema’s, dream.
Nainema, who is only an apparition.
Nainema took hold of the illusion; explored; thought about it’s
being. It was a nothing-ness. Something which did not exist.
N. draws the apparition down and stomps on it. Then he could
rest on the earth this turned into.
He now owned this apparition-earth. He spat so that the forest
could take hold; he lied on the earth and put the skies above.

Cosmogonies
Ex Nihilo
“From nothing.”
Abrahamic
“Let there be light.”
Cosmogonies
Earth Diver
The primordial water, from which earth is brought.
Maidu (Northern California)
Everything is covered by water.
The turtle A’nōshma surfaces from a six-year long dive, to the
raft.
There’s some soil under his nails.
This soil grows into the world. The raft drifts ashore.
Light is created; trees, and so on.

Cosmogonies
Earth Diver
The primordial water, from which earth is brought.
Yauelmani Yokut (California)
Water everywhere.
A thin tree grows. On it, a nest.
Different animals, eagle being the most prominent.
The first duck fails, diving for earth.
The second fails, but has soil under it’s nails when it floats to
the surface.
The soil is recovered, mixed with seeds.
Eventually, the earth has grown into being. The thin tree now
grows from the earth.
Cosmogonies
Division of the primordial unity
Division of heaven and earth.
Division of a formless mass; of chaos.
Division of an cosmic egg.

Cosmogonies
Polynesia
Ta’aroa, the maker and unmade; his own parent.
Sat in a shell.
There was no heaven, no earth; no water, no stars.
Only darkness.
Ta’aroa breaks the shell, which becomes heaven.
He lies in a new shell, which becomes earth when he walks out
of it.
Cosmogonies
Shinto (Japan)
In the beginning, heaven and earth were not separated.
In and Yo were one.
They composed an chaotic mass.
The clearer, purer substance became the sky.
The heavier, more gross substance sank down, became the
earth.

Cosmogonies
Division of the primordial being
A being is, one way or another, divided into pieces.
These pieces will become the world.
The sacriﬁce can be made with consent (Ymr, Purush…).
Or against the will of the being (Tiamat, for instance).
Cosmogonies
Mesopotamia (1)
There was nothing, but Apsu and Tiamat.
Both water-deities. Apsu over freshwater; Tiamat over
seawater.
They are mixed, and the ﬁrst generation of gods are born.
Lahmu and Lahamu. Anshar and Kishar, who begot Anu, who
begot Ea.
Ea was mightier than all his siblings, greatest among the gods.

Cosmogonies
Mesopotamia (1)
Apsu finds the gods annoying, wants to kill them.
Apsu is murdered by Ea.
Tiamat gets angry, but is killed in battle by Marduk, the son of
Ea.
Marduk cuts Tiamat in half; this creates heaven and earth.
Kingu is said to have misled Tiamat into battle. man is made
of his blood.
(Marduk:) “I will establish a savage, ‘man’ shall be his name. […] [The
gods] imposed on [Kingu] his guilt and severed his blood (vessels). Out of
his blood they fashioned mankind.”
Cosmogonies
Different ways of framing creation — different worldviews.
Man made in different ways — is seen having different roles.
Compare with Gill (handout).
What kind of world do we live in, according to the
Mesopotamian myth? What kind of creature is man?
What kind of world do we live in, according to the Christian
myth? What kind of creature is man?

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