Journey through the attributes, rituals, healing gifts, and histories of many of the world's great goddesses. Learn about the necessity to manifest the Heiros Gamos, or Sacred Marriage of the masculine and feminine housed within each of us. Choose to see and unite dualities in order to bring about the higher frequencies of the ONE.
Journey through the attributes, rituals, healing gifts, and histories of many of the world's great goddesses. Learn about the necessity to manifest the Heiros Gamos, or Sacred Marriage of the masculine and feminine housed within each of us. Choose to see and unite dualities in order to bring about the higher frequencies of the ONE.
Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is a family of linked religious cultures bound by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, pilgrimage to sacred sites and the questioning of authority.
This is the first presentation on The History and philosophy of yoga in 3 parts that we teach in our Yoga teacher training certification program.
Visit our website at www.atmayoga.net to become a certified yoga teacher.
These four vedas are in turn each divided into three parts: samhita (collections of hymns), brahmana (details of sacrifices) and upanishad (moving from ritual to
Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is a family of linked religious cultures bound by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, pilgrimage to sacred sites and the questioning of authority.
This is the first presentation on The History and philosophy of yoga in 3 parts that we teach in our Yoga teacher training certification program.
Visit our website at www.atmayoga.net to become a certified yoga teacher.
These four vedas are in turn each divided into three parts: samhita (collections of hymns), brahmana (details of sacrifices) and upanishad (moving from ritual to
Native American Religion Native American ReligionBecauseEstelaJeffery653
Native American Religion
Native American Religion
Because of the long history and wide diversity of Native American cultures and societies, the notion of one single Native American religion is probably false. The people we call North Americans arrived on the North American continent 15,000 to 20,000 years ago, lived in many different locales, and practiced differing lifestyles. Some tribes were hunters and gatherers, others developed agricultural communities. Some lived as nomads, while others built towns and cities. Our vision of Native Americans hunting bison was only true on the western plains, and we sometimes forget that it was the Europeans who introduced the horse that made such hunting possible. We also have to remember that written sources for a study of Native American religion tend to be relatively recent and influenced by a long Christian history of forced conversion. Archeological evidence gives few clues about religious practice. To describe Native American religion, we have one of two options: we can either describe one specific religion of one tribe at a certain time and place; or, we can make general statements about the entire field. In this course, we will take the second approach.
To begin, we might ask whether Native American religions are polytheistic, monotheistic, or monist. On the one hand, they are polytheistic. All nature is alive with spirits: the spirits of the animals and plants, who sometimes appear in visions; the guardian spirits of various animals; and the spirits of the dead, who live in the land of the dead. At the heart is Mother Earth, who provides the bounty of the earth. Thunder and lightning are considered separate deities. On the other hand, many Native American religions hold that there is a single Supreme Being. Above and beyond the lesser deities, there is a High God. However, this high God is above daily matters and only appealed to in extreme emergency. Some Native Americans see the High God or Great Spirit as personal, while others see the High God in a more impersonal way. The Dakota (Sioux) belief in Wakan Tanka is a good example of this abstract understanding of God. Wakan Tanka, or the “Great Mysterious,” is a creative force found in all beings and spirits. Any object or being that has influence over the course of life is seen as a manifestation of this divine power. Thus, Native American religions have some elements of polytheism, monotheism, and monism
One of the principal characteristics of Native American religion is animism. An animist is one who believes that the trees, rocks, rivers, and animals are spiritually alive. The spirits that live in nature can help or harm, and so some form of worship is normally offered to these spirits. And so nature is to be respected and lived with in harmony. Hunting is a good example of this attitude. Hunting played an essential role in survival and the huntee was viewed as a kindred spirit. The hunter praye ...
TaoismTaoists normally worship privately at home using altars. Hou.docxdeanmtaylor1545
Taoism
Taoists normally worship privately at home using altars. Household worship includes altars for ancestors, home gods (like the Kitchen God discussed earlier), or regional deities. Li represents the sacred rituals associated with ancestor worship; like in other religions, a family’s ancestors react positively and negatively to respect and disrespect.
Public celebrations include Grand Masters (priests) presiding over religious rituals and ceremonies. All facets of the rituals must be flawlessly performed. Four assistants aid the Grand Master when invoking the ancestral spirits; they dance, play music, or read a text the Grand Master enacts. The ritual representation includes the soul ascending to join the ancestors or other deities.
Local priests serve as intermediaries between the natural and supernatural worlds. They function somewhat like spiritual mediums and shamans in that they use a variety of rituals and chants to get in touch with the spirit world and funnel powerful energies down to the human level. By doing so, they seek to help communities heal imbalances in the social Tao brought about by deaths or other calamities.
Priests can marry and have children, and they pass their knowledge on to their eldest sons. They usually work for a fee and are sometimes traveling itinerants.Shinto
Shinto priests or elders manage the community-financed shrines around Japan. The Ise Grand Shrine (Figures 4 and 5) is the most sacred to the culture for its dedication to Amaterasu (the female supreme sun goddess) and Toyouke, the harvest goddess. This most sacred of shrines is rebuilt for preservation purposes every 20 years.
Fig. 4: The Ise Grand Shrine (Ancient History Encyclopedia)Fig. 5: The Ise Grand Shrine (Wu’s Blog)
People honor the kami (spirits) at festivals: Some walk in parades, others impersonate deities, and most people observe the Japanese New Year’s festival. Also, Sumo (wrestling) is rooted in Shinto nationalistic tradition and kami worship.
3. Indigenous Religion in AfricaDeity Distinction
The formation of religion begins with experience. Indigenous religions, also known as traditional or primal religions, are rooted in a supernatural experience with deities, spirits, ancestors, and nature. Although many tribal peoples worship numerous spirits, deities, and ancestors, there exists a distinct, supreme spirit above all others. This Great Spirit (known by various names) can be male, female, or genderless. The Great Mother, for example, represents the giver of all life; for this reason, many tribal communities remain matriarchal as opposed to patriarchal. The Mother spirit can represent birth, goddess, and/or earth.
Worship of deities and ancestors varies from group to group and depends upon the region and historical familial community. A crucial truth in one group may not be the same in another group. So, even though you will encounter similarities between groups—for example, the Great Mother deity—not all of these groups wil.
TaoismTaoists normally worship privately at home using altars. Hou.docxbradburgess22840
Taoism
Taoists normally worship privately at home using altars. Household worship includes altars for ancestors, home gods (like the Kitchen God discussed earlier), or regional deities. Li represents the sacred rituals associated with ancestor worship; like in other religions, a family’s ancestors react positively and negatively to respect and disrespect.
Public celebrations include Grand Masters (priests) presiding over religious rituals and ceremonies. All facets of the rituals must be flawlessly performed. Four assistants aid the Grand Master when invoking the ancestral spirits; they dance, play music, or read a text the Grand Master enacts. The ritual representation includes the soul ascending to join the ancestors or other deities.
Local priests serve as intermediaries between the natural and supernatural worlds. They function somewhat like spiritual mediums and shamans in that they use a variety of rituals and chants to get in touch with the spirit world and funnel powerful energies down to the human level. By doing so, they seek to help communities heal imbalances in the social Tao brought about by deaths or other calamities.
Priests can marry and have children, and they pass their knowledge on to their eldest sons. They usually work for a fee and are sometimes traveling itinerants.Shinto
Shinto priests or elders manage the community-financed shrines around Japan. The Ise Grand Shrine (Figures 4 and 5) is the most sacred to the culture for its dedication to Amaterasu (the female supreme sun goddess) and Toyouke, the harvest goddess. This most sacred of shrines is rebuilt for preservation purposes every 20 years.
Fig. 4: The Ise Grand Shrine (Ancient History Encyclopedia)Fig. 5: The Ise Grand Shrine (Wu’s Blog)
People honor the kami (spirits) at festivals: Some walk in parades, others impersonate deities, and most people observe the Japanese New Year’s festival. Also, Sumo (wrestling) is rooted in Shinto nationalistic tradition and kami worship.
3. Indigenous Religion in AfricaDeity Distinction
The formation of religion begins with experience. Indigenous religions, also known as traditional or primal religions, are rooted in a supernatural experience with deities, spirits, ancestors, and nature. Although many tribal peoples worship numerous spirits, deities, and ancestors, there exists a distinct, supreme spirit above all others. This Great Spirit (known by various names) can be male, female, or genderless. The Great Mother, for example, represents the giver of all life; for this reason, many tribal communities remain matriarchal as opposed to patriarchal. The Mother spirit can represent birth, goddess, and/or earth.
Worship of deities and ancestors varies from group to group and depends upon the region and historical familial community. A crucial truth in one group may not be the same in another group. So, even though you will encounter similarities between groups—for example, the Great Mother deity—not all of these groups wil.
An attempt at understanding Miskito cosmovision and it's relation to traditional healing and medicine. All errors or misinterpretations are mine alone.
1
Lecture Outline
Chapter 2
1
Independent
Ethnic
Land-bounded
Individuals negotiate their identity in both modern countries and native groups
Help to understand early religions
2
Chapter 2
Religion’s origins
100,000 years ago
Artifacts from hunter–gatherer societies
Stories
Axis mundi
Shamanism
Central to understanding origins of religion
View of time as circular
Physiology, biology, and intelligence same in humans now as 30,000 years ago
3
Chapter 2
3
Homo religiosus
Religion always been at center of human culture
Past 100,000 years, increasing mastery of tools and development of language
Highly bonded groups of 50
Division of labor
Indigenous peoples rational and highly skilled
By 30,000 BCE humans performing ceremonial burials, indicating belief in afterlife
4
Chapter 2
4
Indigenous religious traditions
Group part of everlasting cycle of nature
Group eternal; part of the never-ending group; “collective” identity (not individual identity)
Soul belief
Spiritual bond with each other, animals, plants, the dead
Religion expressed in an embodied engagement with world
World’s ecosystem alive and fertile; part of larger, ordered cosmos
Religion sung, danced, fasted, and tranced by collective group experience
Spirit beings ultimate reality
Ancestors still connected with the living
Dreams and visions represent reality
5
Chapter 2
5
Believed that a nonmaterial component lived on after body perished
Function of burial to open a gateway to afterlife
Group symbol, or totem, used for identity, to maintain solidarity in group, to regulate relations with outsiders
Émile Durkheim—“sacred totem”
6
Chapter 2
6
Around 30,000 BCE humans acquired capacity to think symbolically; start asking “What if?” questions
Venus figurines related to concerns about birth and survival of children
Female power behind mystery of conception and birth and the miracle of breastfeeding was revered
After 15,000 BCE dead buried in mounds or graves in fetal position, suggesting earth a womb from which resurrection was expected
7
Chapter 2
7
Shamanism
Roles far back as 30,000 years ago included healing, dealing with death, traveling to realm of dead
Binds community together in face of crisis
Brings harmony to group when discord
Uses altered state of consciousness or trance to communicate with unseen spirits, gain insight into a situation, intervene on behalf of afflicted party
8
Chapter 2
8
Spirits coexist with humans in a layered cosmos
Role universally regarded as mortally dangerous
Train through long apprenticeships
Universal reliance on drumming, dancing, chanting, and fasting to induce trance
Still pivotal figures in societies around world
9
Chapter 2
9
Indigenous religions today
Expansion of the West into indigenous cultures
Brought disease, plundering, enslavement
Destroyed and changed ancient religious traditions
No indigenous groups remain today that have not been exposed to outsiders
Some groups successful in assimi.
What Should be the Christian View of Anime?Joe Muraguri
We will learn what Anime is and see what a Christian should consider before watching anime movies? We will also learn a little bit of Shintoism religion and hentai (the craze of internet pornography today).
Homily: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2024.docxJames Knipper
Countless volumes have been written trying to explain the mystery of three persons in one true God, leaving us to resort to metaphors such as the three-leaf clover to try to comprehend the Divinity. Many of us grew up with the quintessential pyramidal Trinity structure of God at the top and Son and Spirit in opposite corners. But what if we looked at this ‘mystery’ from a different perspective? What if we shifted our language of God as a being towards the concept of God as love? What if we focused more on the relationship within the Trinity versus the persons of the Trinity? What if stopped looking at God as a noun…and instead considered God as a verb? Check it out…
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way.pptxCelso Napoleon
Lesson 9 - Resisting Temptation Along the Way
SBs – Sunday Bible School
Adult Bible Lessons 2nd quarter 2024 CPAD
MAGAZINE: THE CAREER THAT IS PROPOSED TO US: The Path of Salvation, Holiness and Perseverance to Reach Heaven
Commentator: Pastor Osiel Gomes
Presentation: Missionary Celso Napoleon
Renewed in Grace
In Jude 17-23 Jude shifts from piling up examples of false teachers from the Old Testament to a series of practical exhortations that flow from apostolic instruction. He preserves for us what may well have been part of the apostolic catechism for the first generation of Christ-followers. In these instructions Jude exhorts the believer to deal with 3 different groups of people: scoffers who are "devoid of the Spirit", believers who have come under the influence of scoffers and believers who are so entrenched in false teaching that they need rescue and pose some real spiritual risk for the rescuer. In all of this Jude emphasizes Jesus' call to rescue straying sheep, leaving the 99 safely behind and pursuing the 1.
The Good News, newsletter for June 2024 is hereNoHo FUMC
Our monthly newsletter is available to read online. We hope you will join us each Sunday in person for our worship service. Make sure to subscribe and follow us on YouTube and social media.
The PBHP DYC ~ Reflections on The Dhamma (English).pptxOH TEIK BIN
A PowerPoint Presentation based on the Dhamma Reflections for the PBHP DYC for the years 1993 – 2012. To motivate and inspire DYC members to keep on practicing the Dhamma and to do the meritorious deed of Dhammaduta work.
The texts are in English.
For the Video with audio narration, comments and texts in English, please check out the Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF2g_43NEa0
The Chakra System in our body - A Portal to Interdimensional Consciousness.pptxBharat Technology
each chakra is studied in greater detail, several steps have been included to
strengthen your personal intention to open each chakra more fully. These are designed
to draw forth the highest benefit for your spiritual growth.
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian exile.
1. 1
Primal Religions & The
Goddess
PHIL 220 Week 22: Primal Religions, The Goddess & The Axial Age
2. 2
Black Elk Homework Questions
Please get in groups of 3-5 people and go over these questions. Comment on anything that surprised,
delighted or annoyed you!
1. Black Elk makes an ‘offering of the pipe,’ first to the four directions he identifies as spirits, then says ‘but
these four spirits are only One Spirit after all.” Which ‘–ism’ does this sound most like to you?
2. He also identifies the sky and earth using gendered language—are there any other faiths or belief systems
that gender them the same way? What are they?
3. The story about the two scouts and the sacred women teaches us a lesson about how we should approach
the sacred—what is it?
4. Black Elk talks about the Wasichus wanting to make the Lakota and animals live on ‘islands’—what is he
describing? Where do many American Indians still live?
5. Black Elk discusses the ‘summer he first heard the sacred voices’ calling to him. What religious orientation
is it when a person ‘hears a voice’ and then tells the others around him/her what the voice said? Outside of
religious orientations, how does modern western society generally view people who talk about hearing
‘sacred voices?”
3. 3
Primal religions developed in paleolithic (c.30,000
BCE) and neolithic (c. 10,000 BCE) times.
Paleolithic people were nomadic hunter-gatherers
living in small bands. What would their primary
concerns be?
Neolithic people transitioned from hunter-gatherers
to settled agriculturalists. What would their
concerns be?
What kind of art would the two eras of people
generate?
How did the hunter-gatherers and early
agriculturalists transmit their culture?
We can call primal or basic religions ‘oral.’
Primal Religions
4. 4
Oral People
Oral peoples often have prodigious
memories, but no written records.
Their stories tend to be mythic accounts
of creation, the rise of their culture, and
where their time will end.
All cultures have been oral, but peoples
that develop writing change their
cultures, because writing starts to
change relationships:
official, personal ,religious, economic.
Education becomes more reflective.
6. 6
Primal Religion: Embedded in Place
When the Australian Kurnai go on walkabout specific, concrete items interest them. The springs,
major trees and rocks are not interchangeable with others; each triggers memories of the
legendary events they were a part of.
Do you have that kind of specific connection with a piece of land?
7. Primal Time
Primal time is not forward-looking, as in the religions of the west, or cyclical as in the Asian religions.
Primal time is atemporal, an ‘eternal now.’
The Hopi language gives an example: ‘past’ means closer to the gods, or beings who first made the world and
ordered it…those beings continue to exist, but the past is considered the golden age, when all was perfect and
right.
How would primal people view their elders?
Dreamtime of the Aborigines - Ancient Civilizations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOWzcLuupi0
7
9. The wisdom traditions of earth's first people, and the source for
primal religious patterns.
Many of their stories have themes later found in ancient and the
modern major religions.
Daily life and religion are not separate- everything a tribal person
does has a religious meaning.
A Lakota Sioux saw his body as having a sacred function even when it
was dead- the bones would help the grass to grow season after
season.
Tribal religions support a life lived in the sacred world-- a holy life, in
tune with the divine force of life or in harmony with nature and
the spirit world. Why?
Tribal religions do have a notion of what is profane-- that which is not
holy, not in tune with the divine force, or not in harmony with
nature or the spirit world.
10. Very diverse
Not relics of the past, but ever changing
Over 700 nations recognized today in the U.S. alone
Most teachings in sacred narratives, or myths
Few religions have creed or statement of belief
11. Creation Narratives
Creators and Sacred Power
Human Origins and Human Ancestors
Life Lessons
The Importance of Balance: Humanity and the NaturalWorld
Sacred Places and Sacred Spaces
Sacred Language and SacredTime
12. Activity 1
1. Get out your Native American myth, your interpretation and an image or
object you brought to help explain your myth.
2. Tell your partner your myth (try not to read it!)
3. Ask your partner what s/he thinks the myth is trying to teach and why.
Compare your interpretations.
4. Switch!
5. Turn in your interpretation.
13. Because the world is not perfect now,
steps have to be taken to restore the
world to its original condition.
These steps are rites of renewal, which
primal
religious people ritually enact.
The annual Sun Dance of the Plains
Indians
is called, ‘The Dance forWorld and Life
Renewal.‘
Which religious orientation do they have?
14. For a Native American, the natural and supernatural worlds are
tied together by spirit power.
Spirit power is neutral, (it can be used either positively or
negatively by the shaman.)
Spirit power is the source of knowledge and abilities.
Like a kind of energy-- a spiritual essence that resides in all
living beings, all forms and forces of nature and all material
objects.What ‘ism’ does this sound like?
When objects are inhabited by spirit power they are considered
alive.
These objects can be used by shamans as sources of power to
cure illness or provide protection or for harmful activities
like causing disease and misfortune.
15. The energy of spirit power is released
through prayers, songs and in dance.
Spirit power is experienced collectively by the
community that prays, sings and dances together.
Have you ever been part of a community like this?
Dancers in sacred dances express their respect
for spirit beings and are vehicles for
transmitting spirit power to their communities.
What religious orientation does that sound like?
The hoops are the circles of life with no beginning
and no ending.The dancer begins with one and
keeps adding and weaving the hoops into
formations that represent our journey through life.
Each added hoop represents another thread in
the web of life.
Native American Hoop Dance by World
ChampionBrian Hammill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=GGzrF8LoHWs&list=PLB47AB5F1325F4310
19. 19
Hopi Mythology
The emergence of humanity is the starting point of Hopi
mythology, the Kiva is the point where people first
emerge from darkness to light.
The circle represents what the Hopi call the sipapu; the
womb or the place of emergence. “We were not the first
ones to come to this world. The plants were already
here; the insects, the, the animals, the birds -- were
here. The clouds were here; the lightnings were here;
the stars were here. All of these are life forms for
us."
Handout 2 Hopi: Songs of the Fourth World
20. Myths and Ultimate Reality
Myths contain sacred knowledge about ultimate reality and
the nature of the world.
The world is believed to have been created by creator deities.
The entire world, and the many elements within it—including
human beings—may be believed to be infused by the spiritual
essence of a Supreme Being, or Great Spirit.
21. How Should We Live inThis
World?
Myths provide the foundations for the way people
should live their lives.
Humans are one part of the general order of existence
and live in a reciprocal relationship with the land,
plants, and other animals.
Myths teach that it is the responsibility of humans to
maintain balance, order, and right relationships with
other elements of creation.
22. What Is Our Ultimate Purpose?
Some religions focus on humanity’s role in maintaining
balance with the natural world.
Maintaining this balance can improve the human
condition, and upsetting the balance can have terrible
consequences.
Many Native American religions conceive of life and
death to be cyclical in nature.
In some religions, the deceased transitions to the land
of the dead, which may resemble this life.
23. The Great Goddess was the most common
deity worshipped in Europe, Asia, and the
Middle East for at least 30,000 years.
Later, the Goddess manifested many
different forms, some that shatter the
stereotypes commonly associated with
womanhood.
Europe- Paleolithic Goddesses
The earliest images are from 27,000 to
26,000 BCE, from areas spanning major
parts of Europe.
The goddess worshippers were tribal people
in the beginning:
-20-30 people per tribe
-hunter gatherers
-dependent on nature
-fertility was important
The Female images were probably used as
a form of ‘fertility magic’ in seasonal rights. http://www.thearchetypalconnection.com/EROS%20.htm
24. Neolithic Goddesses existed in Europe, Middle
East, North Africa, and India
Neolithic images (beginning 10,000 BCE) to
Paleolithic images are similar, suggesting goddess
religion continued through the ages.
-Neolithic people were agricultural, mostly peaceful
-Practiced ‘fertility magic’
-Time of growth in power for women who were
traditionally tenders of the soil and had knowledge
of medicinal plants.
-Male ‘sky gods’ were worshipped, too.
-The earth itself became deified as ‘Mother Earth,’ ‘Gaia.’
When God Was a Girl | BBC Documentary | Women and Religion
until 15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye5-_71NQhk
26. 26
Goddess Culture
Goddess worshippers were artists, peaceful. Example of Catal Huyuk, a neolithic village in Anatolia, Turkey, dating
from about 7,000 BCE.
A large settlement, 5,000+ inhabitants at its peak, lasted some 1200 years, in equality, peace, and surprising levels of
prosperity and comfort.
Art in the form of layered frescoes, statues, etc. was found. No weapons or surrounding walls. The settlement was
near a swamp with clay.
The start of the mother goddess—the giver of life? The creator of life and death?
26
28. 28
The Mother Goddess
Tara-- an all-embracing, compassionate and merciful mother.
An altar is a mediating place between the divine and humans.
What does Tara’s iconography reveal about her?
What kinds of offerings are made to a compassionate mother?
Other compassionate mother figures:
The Virgin Mary, The Virgin of Guadalupe
Tonatzin, Kwan Yin, Demeter, Isis, etc…
29. 29
The Great Mother Archetype
The great mother archetype is universal. An archetype is a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or
emulated.
How do archetypes function? Jung thought there is a similarity between the 'mythological mind' and a child's mind.
Jung thought the primary, universal human experience is that of gestation in the mother, and that this view is
reinforced after the birth.
A child first views her or his mother as divine, or all good.
As the child grows older the mother says ‘no’ and the child can view the mother as all bad.
The most mature view of the mother is as a mixed human being; good and bad.
29
30. A 'mixed' goddess. Durga’s
iconography and meaning:
-She was created by the Hindu
gods to defeat the buffalo-demon,
Mahisa.
-She is a warrior goddess who
has weapons, rides alone, and
rides a tiger or lion.
-She was created by gods
because the special power of a
woman was needed.
-Durga creates female warriors
to help her, such as Kali, and
Durga is often pictured alone,
without a consort.
http://grrrltraveler.com/countries/asia/india-asia/varanasi/durga-puja-festival-in-varanasi/
32. 32
Hindu Deity Presentations
Choose a deity that is interesting to you: one of the Goddesses: Lakshmi (health & wealth), Sarasvati (Music,
art & learning), or one of the Gods: Ganesh (remover of obstacles), Krishna (shown with his lover Radha),
Shiva (destructive and erotic), Hanuman (monkey god, warrior). Form groups and look at homework handout!
34. Coatlicue, the Aztec goddess of the
earth and duality of life and death Ix Chel The Mayan Moon Goddess
34
35. 35
The Axial Age (c. 700 BCE to 200 CE)
The Axial Age
During the Axial Age, civilization developed along with the faiths which continue to nourish humanity:
Rationalism in Europe (500 BCE)
Taoism and Confucianism in China (500 BCE)
Hinduism and Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent (8,000-500 BCE)
Monotheism in the Middle East (2,000 BCE-570 CE)
36. 36
The Axial Age
Islam was the product of the Arabian Axial Age,
which started app. 300 CE.
Social Concern, Social Conditions
Why did social concern and compassion become
an essential part of the great world religions?
All pre-modern civilizations were based
economically upon a surplus of agricultural
produce.
Where would people go to barter surplus crops?
What other activities would be available at
marketplaces?
37. 37
Pastoralists and Elites
What were the lives of those who labored in the fields
to produce a surplus of food like compared to the lives
of those living in the manor or castle?
-The elite depended on the labor of the pastoralists for food.
-The pastoralists could not enjoy high culture, which was only
for the elite.
The new faiths stressed the importance of compassion and
concern about the fundamental injustice of their society.
What were some of the injustices concerning health, wealth,
literacy, and mobility?
Do we still have some of these injustices today?
Do the major world religions still emphasize compassion?
Editor's Notes
Sacramental Rituals and
ceremonies performed regularly
and correctly as the path to
salvation; some religions believe
rituals influence the processes of
nature.
Snake goddess minoan crete 16,000 BCE
he goddess of: fire, lightning, wind, and volcanoes Pele is also known for her creative power, passion, purpose, and profound love. Every incident with a volcanic eruption in Hawaii it is said to be Pele's way of expressing her longing to be with her true love, in many stories a young chief named Lohiau, but she's a fickle and dangerous lover who sometimes kills her husbands.
Aztec Godess of the earth and the duality of life and death.Coatlicue, She who Wears the Serpent Skirt, is a unique figure, even in Mesoamerica. The Aztecs recognize her both as a serpentine form of the Earth Mother, and more importantly as the mother of their patron deity Huitzilopochtli, the war god who brought the Aztecs to the island in Lake Texcoco from which they would build their empire.Ix Chel is the Maya Goddess of the Moon, Water, Weaving and Childbirth. She is shown here in three of Her many aspects. Left to right: Chak Chel, the Old Moon Goddess, called the Midwife of Creation; Ix Chel in Her main form as Mother Goddess and Weaver who set the Universe in motion; and the Young Moon Goddess, shown with Her totem animal the rabbit.