Diety Concepts of the Divine & ultimate reality

1. DietyConcepts of the Divine & ultimate reality In a two-tiered view of reality; • the divine & the profane • the immanent & the transcendent • the natural & the supernatural In a unitary reality • animism or • there is no divinity (a.k.adualism) (a.k.amonism)

2. Polytheism & the worship of nature Early man • Neanderthal hunters: revered the cave bear (burial chambers & rituals) • Paleolithic: rituals and sacrifices for the success of the hunt (magical) • Neolithic: Farming  gods of Sun, Sky and Earth. Dualism: male sky & female earth . Pleiades of Dodona (ancient Greek hymn): The Earth is our mother, the Sky is our father. The Sky fertilizes the Earth with rain, the Earth produces the grains and grasses.

3. The Sky god:A primal monotheism/henotheism Wilhelm Schmidt, ethnologist, found a sky god or high god almost universally in primal societies in Africa • High god is creator; far away and withdrawn (most of his work is done already) • Lower gods: deal with daily activities (the hunt, fertility etc)

4. The ancient polytheisms Greek, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Indian • Sky god is creator and also sovereign; guarantees cosmic order. Varuna is an all-seeing king in the Rg Veda (see p157) • IndoEuropean language group has similar names for the sky god: Persian Sanskrit Latin div deva deus Greek Zeus in Homer’sIlliadand Hesiod’s Theogony is a divine king. A pantheon of secondary gods are like the kings court. household protector Different manifestations of Zeus Zeus Herkejos: Zeus Polieus: Zeus Katharsios: protects the city-state purification

5. The mother goddess Nearly universal, but especially prevalent in the ancient near east and Mediterranean. • Paleolithic female figurines. Fertility: exaggerated breasts, abdomen, thighs. Venus of Willendorf

6. Egypt Mesopotamia Greece Isis Ishtar Demeter Isis is mother of Pharaohs. Ishtar is a prostitute goddess. Demeter is an earth – harvest goddess. • Neolithic (farming) rituals connecting human life cycle with agricultural cycle. Goddess of life, death and rebirth

7. Mother & child imagery Comparisons between images of Isis and her child Horus and Mary and the infant Jesus are commonly made. The mother & child image is an archetype; widespread and emotionally evocative

8. Hindu: Kali (time) • China: Bodhisattva Kuan Yin • R. Catholic: Virgin Mary

9. Female religious images

10. 2 sides to the mother goddess Pregnant …….. virginal. Chaste……..…..promiscuous. Protector……...demanding blood sacrifices. Creates…………..destroys.

11. Diversifivation of gods • Local deities seem to be variant forms of universal gods . • Animism: a spirit in every tree, mountain, lake. or Polytheism: a god of water, war, love. Greek: Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite

12. The Axial age Karl Jaspers calls the 8th – 2nd century BC Zoroaster Buddha This period sees big new ideas in religion appear independently in different civilizations in many parts of the world. Jaspers suggests man’s consciousness reached a new level of moral awareness. Hebrew Prophets Confucius Upanishads Socrates/Plato/Aristotle