Brodd Chapter 2 Class Notes

Brodd Chapter 2 Class Notes

Indigenous Religious Traditions

Indigenous = native or first peoples

Indigenous religions originated with tribal, non-literate people with oral materials of myths and stories that are passed from generation to generation—from region to region these religions can be very diverse

Religion of the Australian Aborigines

Isolated until about 200 years ago and remains relatively intact today

The Dreaming: The Eternal Time of the Ancestors

From a formless world emerge the Ancestors who appeared and roamed the earth—they give shape the landscape and for various forms of life including the first human—they form tribes, specify the territory which each will occupy, determine the tribes language, social rules, and customs—when finished the Ancestors leave the earth but there presence is seen in landmarks, rock paintings, and the like.

This time of the Ancestors is called the Dreaming—the Ancestors persist in the symbols they left behind which are charged with sacred power—the sites are off limits to most and must be approached by special routes—these are the paths established by the Ancestors during the Dreaming—these are ritual reenactments of the Dreaming—by doing so the world is recreated as it was in the beginning—this gives access to the sacred powers of the site

The geography of the land is mythic—this is part of the Aboriginal cosmology

The spiritual essence of the Ancestors lives in individuals—the essence of the Ancestor through a ritual animates an unborn child—each individual therefore represents an Ancestor—the relationship is symbolized by a totem—a natural element or entity that symbolizes an individual or a group—here the totem is the symbol left behind by the Ancestor

Totemism, the belief in totems is common to many primal traditions

The Ancestors nourish the world, but for the Ancestor to act the individual associated with the Ancestor must perform proper rituals

Animating the Power of the Dreaminig: Aboriginal Religious Life

Aboriginal religion = ritual reenactment for re-creating the mythic past of the Dreaming in order to tap its sacred power

Because the Ancestors established the structures of society, they must be maintained and specific rituals must be performed—these rituals were taught to the first humans by the Ancestors and are the only way to access the sacred powers—myth is attached to each ritual and each ritual reenacts an action of the Ancestors

Taboo: The Basis of Aboriginal Social Structure

Taboo = system of social ordering that dictates that specific objects and activities, owing to their sacred nature, are set aside for specific groups and are forbidden to others—common among indigenous people

Some religious sites are limited to men while others are limited to women—maturity and religious training may also restrict groups—therefore older individuals are often in charge of rituals—the young gain knowledge and maturity through initiation rituals

Initiation: Symbolic Death, Spiritual Rebirth

Initiation rites awaken the young to their spiritual identity, their totemic Ancestor,--it also defines their social identity in the tribe—the rituals provide a ritual death to childhood which prepares the way for spiritual rebirth as a step to adulthood—myths of the Dreaming are taught to the youth during this time—these are the essential truths of their world and how they are to act in it—see examples at pp.30-31

The power of myth and the reenactment through ritual is basic to primal religions

An African Tradition: The Religion of the Yoruba

Several hundred religions exist in Africa—the Yoruba will serve as an example—the religion is more than a 1,000 years old and consists of nearly 30,000,000 people—they live in the western regions of central Africa

The Yoruba and Their Universe

While not confined to one nation, the Yoruba have a common language and culture, they also tend to live in cities

The center of the religion is in the city of Ife where the god Orishanla began to create the world

Yoruba cosmology = two separate worlds of heaven and earth—the gods and ancestors live in the invisible heaven, while earth is the visible world of humans who descended from the gods—earth also is inhabited with deviant forms of humans = witches and sorcerers who can cause harm if not properly controlled

Yoruba religion maintains a balance between humans and the gods while guarding against witches and sorcerers

Gods and Ancestors: The Inhabitants of Heaven

Olorun = supreme God of the Yoruba

Orishas = the many minor deities of the Yoruba

ancestors = Yoruba who have died

Olorun, the High God

Olorun is the primary and original source of power in the universe—he is now remote and distant with no contact with human affairs—he therefore rarely worshipped—there are no shrines or rituals are assigned to him

Mediators between humans and the many other gods are through the orishas

Orishas

Hundreds of Orishas are important lesser deities—they are the sources of sacred power and can help or harm humans—to assure the Orishas help, rituals must be carried out properly

Some Orishas are worshipped by all Yoruba while others are limited to family groups

Orisha-nla is a very important orisha as the creator of the earth

Ogun is the orisha of iron and war—he was originally a human and the first king of Ife who became a god after death—he inhabits the area between the ancestors and the rest of orishas

Esuis an orisha with both good and evil qualities—Esu therefore mediates between heaven and earth—Esu is included in the worship of any other orisha and has a place in every shrine—Esu is also a trickster figure = a mischievous supernatural being

The Ancestors of the Living

Dead relatives who have achieved supernatural status—they also possess sacred power which may aid or harm the living and therefore are also worshipped through rituals at special shrines

Two types of ancestors exist—

Family ancestors become supernatural by earning a good reputation and living to an old age—they are worshipped by their families

Deified ancestors are those who were known throughout the Yoruba culture and are worshipped by many people

Connecting Heaven and Earth: Ritual Practices

Whatever a worshipper’s needs, a specialist facilitates communication with the appropriate deity or ancestor

The head of a family is responsible for the worship of the family’s ancestors at a shine within the family home

The king or chief of a city is in charge of the city’s annual festivals and performs other religious functions

The priests perform the rituals carried out at the shrines of each orisha

Diviners are priests who practice divination = the art of telling another’s future—the role takes years to learn and is usually passed from parent to child—ascertaining one’s future is critical as it determines how one proceeds with one’s life—the diviner knows hundreds of wisdom stories from which he chooses the ones that are relevant for an individual—from the proper stories the diviner interprets the person’s future

Other specialists mediate between the ancestors and the living—they become the living representations of ancestors by dancing at festivals—when an important person dies, the specialist imitates the deceased and speaks consoling messages from the deceased to the living

The balance between heaven and earth must be maintained—most indigenous religions hold that the boundary between heaven and earth are very easily crossed

Religion of the North American Plains Indians

More than 30 tribes speaking 7 languages—bordered on the west by the Rockies and on the east by the Mississippi River, running from Canadian provinces to the Gulf of Mexico

These tribes emerged after the introduction of the horse by European explorers which enabled the natives to hunt bison and other game—multiple tribes appeared on the plains and they communicated through a common sign language—they shared religious ideas and a pan-Indian religion emerged which is growing in popularity

The Lakota is the most influential tribe—all of these tribes share the Vision Quest and the Sun Dance

Basic Beliefs of the Lakota

Lakota are the Western Sioux inhabiting western Wyoming and Montana, the Dakotas, and northern Nebraska—about 70,000 remain on reservations

Wakan Tanka = supreme reality = Great Spirit or the Great Mysterious = “Most Sacred” = 16 separate deities derived from 4 x 4 where four is the most sacred number = the four directions experienced by people living on the plains

The pictureAerial View, Kyle, Pine Ridge Indian Reservationwas uploaded and shared by userJohn Sidleon panoramio.com

Various supernatural beings are involved in the creation of the world—one is Inktomi (Spider) a Lakota trickster figure—he is a mediator between the supernatural and the human world—he taught the first humans their ways and customs—because Inktomi made mistakes and errors in judgment, he is used as an example of moral lessons for children

At death 4 souls depart the body—one follows the “spirit path” to the Milky Way—one meets an old woman who judges it and either allows the soul to go to the world of the ancestors or sends it back to earth as a ghost—parts of the other souls enter unborn children and become reborn in new bodies

The Vision Quest

Vision Quest = primary means by which an individual accesses spiritual power that ensures greater success in activities such as hunting, warfare, and curing the ill—while open to men and women, it is most common among men

Vision Quest is done under the guidance of a medicine man or woman who instructs the seeker before the event and interprets their experience after the event—prior to the Vision Quest the individual undergoes ritual purification in a sweat lodge

Sweat lodge = common among Native American traditions especially among the Plains Indians = the lodge represents the universe—heated rocks have water poured over them which causes profuse sweating which gives both physical and spiritual purification

Once purified the vision quester goes alone to a far off place usually a hilltop—there the quester endures the elements of nature for a set number of days without food or water—if recommended by the medicine man or woman the quester may perform necessary rituals structured around a central spot

Near the end of the stay the vision comes in the form of an animal, another object, or a force of nature—a message often comes with the vision which a medicine man or woman will interpret when the person returns—the message will influence the rest of the person’s life

At times the quester will acquire a guardian spirit in the form of an animal, object, or ghost—this spirit continues to protect and teach the person especially in times of great need

The Vision Quest is both a ritual and a form of a religious experience

The Sun Dance

The Sun Dance is a ritual for the sake of all and is common among the tribes of the plains—occurs at the beginning of summer as a part of the new year—in the past it was also preparatory to the bison hunt

A medicine man or woman leads the Sun Dance which is an honor and a grave responsibility

The Sun Dance lodge is constructed before the ceremony begins—a cottonwood tree is cut down and is ritually carried to the spot of the ceremony where it is set upright—the tree is the axis mundi or center of the universe—the tree is a link between heaven and earth and represents the supreme being—28 poles for the 28 days of the lunar cycle are placed in a circle around the tree—the lodge represents the universe with its four directions

The Sun Dance has long periods of dancing while facing the sun which is venerated for its life-giving powers—music and drums accompany the dancers—some dancers skewer the flesh of their chests and attach themselves to the center pole with leather thongs—they pull back from the tree and continue to dance until the skewers are torn from their flesh—only the body belongs to the individual so bodily mutilation is the only suitable sacrifice to the supreme being

While once outlawed by the US government, it is now legal again and commonly practiced among the Plains Indians

A Mesoamerican Religion: The Aztecs and Their Legacy

The Aztecs were a highly sophisticated civilization of about 15,000,000 people many of which were urban dwellers—Tenochtitlan or modern day Mexico City was one of 400 towns in Mesoamerica = Mexico to Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean

Like other indigenous religions there was an emphasis upon myth and ritual—Aztec religion had some influence on Catholicism which arrived with the Spaniards in the 16th century—indigenous religions have often influenced later religions

The Aztecs and Mesoamerican Culture

Mesoamerica has been inhabited for about 20,000 years—advanced cultures have been in the area from about 4,000 years ago until the arrival of the Spaniards about 500 years ago.

The last great civilization was the Aztecs (1325-1521)—they were preceded by the Toltecs (900-1100)

The Toltec Tradition: The Foundation of Aztec Religion

Aztecs came to Mesoamerica from the northwest and encountered the Toltec tradition upon which they built their own civilization

Aztecs believed the Toltec god Quetzalcoatl = Feathered Serpent had presided over a golden age of cultural advancement

Quetzalcoatl’s devotee Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl = Our Young Prince the Feathered Serpent = ruled as a priest-king who was the role model for the Aztecs’ authority figures

The golden age of the Toltecs provided the mythic pattern for the ideal civilization which the Aztecs would follow and also provided a great influence upon religion

“Truly with him it began, truly from him it flowed out, from Quetzalcoatl—all art and knowledge.”

Aztec cosmology attributes creation and the order of the world to Quetzalcoatl

Teotihuacan: Place of Origins

Even before the Toltecs Quetzalcoatl was worshiped at Teotihuacan (100-700)—the city exceeded 200,000 people—the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon remain there to this day

Teotihuacan is the origin of the cosmos, of both time and space

Cosmology: Time and Space

Pessimistic view of time, the human condition, and the need for human sacrifice

Age of the Fifth Sun

The sun was created at Teotihuacan—the current sun is actually the fifth sun—the four previous suns had run their course and were then destroyed, the current sun is also destined for destruction and is the last one—in order to preserve the current sun, it must be nourished through human sacrifices—each sun occupied its own location, the center, the west, the north, the south, and the current sun was in the east—here again the world was created around a center and the four directions

Four Directions and the Axis Mundi

The world was composed of four quadrants extending out from the center of the universe—each quadrant connected the earth to the many layered heaven and the many layered underworld—both Teotihuacan and Tenochtitlan were structured in this manner—in Tenochtitlan the center was occupied by the Great Temple or The Serpent Mountain—worship here focused upon a god of rain and fertility and a god of war and sacrifice

Among indigenous religions mountains are often the sites for an axis mundi

The Human Role in Sustaining the Cosmos

Two divine forces exist in the human person—these forces are concentrated in the head and in the heart as these nurtured the basic needs of the human person—these forces were so powerful that each person was a type of axis mundi connected the earthly realm to the divine—both of these forces could also nourish the sun and the cosmos—the heart was cut from the chest and offered to sun while the head was placed on a rack as an offering to the sky

Victims for sacrifice often offered themselves willingly as it would allow him to enter the highest heaven upon death

Sacrifices occurred at least every 20 days—victims were captured warriors or slaves and rarely included women and children—the need for victims often motivated Aztec warfare

The Mystery of Language

Besides human sacrifice other rituals also existed—religious power was also thought to be contained in language and its proper mastery—the language spoken by the Aztecs was Nahuatl which had advanced developments in poetry and other forms of speech—people with special mastery of the language called “knowers of things” could communicate with the gods and make special offerings to them through the language—wit was common and being able to answer riddles was a sign that one came from a good family

From Aztec Empire to Catholic Mexico

Tenochtitlan fell to Hernán Cortés in 1521—the Aztec king Moctezuma thought Cortés was the return of the priest-king Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (Our Young Prince the Feathered Serpent) who had left the earth but was expected to one day return possibly in 1519—when Cortés appeared two years later wearing a plumed helmet he was welcomed and gifted by Moctezuma